“I think that’s my line.” His lips touch the side of mine, ever so gently so he doesn’t hurt me. “I love you, too. With all of my heart and soul. You are meant to be with me. I feel that in my heart.”
“I do, too.” I snuggle into him for just a moment. “We’d better get me cleaned up so I can face my father. I don’t know what he’ll do.”
“He’ll love you,” he says simply. “And he’ll grieve.”
“Yeah.” I nod as Carmine reaches for a washrag. “We’ll both do that.”
* * *
Six of us sit in my father’s living room in Atlanta. Carmine and his brothers flew me here this afternoon, and their father, Carlo, met us.
We didn’t meet at an office.
We came to Igor Tarenkov’s home.
“Your mother is lying down after taking a sedative,” Papa says as he reaches for me. His eyes are shadowed and sad, but he touches me with tenderness. “How do you feel, little one?”
“A bit sore. It’s not as bad as it was in Seattle when I got—” I stop talking at my father’s furious look and swallow hard. “Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you about that.”
“I suggest you tell me now.”
I look over at Carmine, who’s sitting next to his father. All four men are imposing. Carmine nods. “It’s time, sweetheart.”
So, I take a deep breath and tell them all about getting attacked in Seattle, and how Carmine and his people helped me get well.
“But that wasn’t the first time.”
I tell him everything, going back to when I was jumped in Atlanta, and my hair was cut.
“It seems your brother has been terrorizing you for a long time,” Papa says quietly. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I never saw it. I should have known.”
“He was good at covering his tracks,” I remind him. “Papa, I understand if you don’t want to see me again. If this is goodbye—”
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
“I killed your son.” I bury my face in my hands and weep. “I murdered my brother in cold blood, and I would do it again. What kind of daughter does that make me? What kind of boss would I make?”
“No one asked for my opinion,” Carlo says, catching my attention, “but I’m going to give it anyway. You would make an excellent leader, my dear. Because you did what you had to do to keep the rest of your family and those you care about safe. Your brother was the bad seed. And I hope I’m not speaking out of turn when I say we all saw that.”
“You’re not,” Papa says. “I will grieve for the son I had and the man I needed him to be. But the punishment fit the crime here, Nadia. Don’t torture yourself. You were defending yourself. And me.”
Relief floods me. “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry for the way this ended,” Carlo says to my father. “If there is anything my family can do for you, we are always at your disposal.”
“Thank you, old friend,” Papa says. “And likewise.”
“We still haven’t figured out who killed Elena’s parents,” Rafe points out. “That goes back farther than Alex.”
“That’s something we’ll have to keep digging into,” Shane agrees. “We’ll find them.”
“I have something to say,” Carmine says. “Mr. Tarenkov, I’d like to ask for your permission to marry your daughter.”
My eyes fly to Carmine’s in surprise.
Our fathers share a smile.
“Well, it’s about damn time, my boy,” Papa says. “Carlo and I have been throwing you at each other for years.”
“I thought they’d never come to their senses,” Carlo says with a laugh. “A couple of stubborn children we have here, Igor.”
“Wait. You wanted us to marry?” Carmine asks.
“Of course. Why do you think we’ve allowed you to spend so much time together?” My father winks at me. Winks! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wink a day in his life.
“How do you like that?” Shane says with a laugh. “Pop’s a matchmaker.”
The brothers both laugh as Carmine crosses to me with humor in his chocolate brown eyes.
He lowers to one knee.
“Will you marry me, Nadia, and be the best part of my life until I’m no longer on this Earth?”
“Let me think about it.” I grin as he digs into his pocket and comes out with a rock the size of a baby’s fist. “Geez, Carmine. Did you have to get something so fancy?”
“Yes.” He slips it onto my finger and then kisses my knuckles. “I’m going to give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
“I believe you.” He kisses me carefully.
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s a hell yes.”
Epilogue
~Ivie~
It’s been a long-ass day at the clinic. Annika took off for home about an hour ago, but I decided to stay and clean up a bit. Annika just hasn’t been herself over the past month or so, not since her husband died.