A more audible curse left him, but again, he signed. “How much?”
“I think the cost of rebuilding plus all profits she normally would have made until the club is up and running again,” Adrian told him. “Anya ran the numbers this morning. Seven million, two hundred thousand. But we will give you a break and say an even seven mil.”
Franco nearly swallowed his tongue. “That’s outrageous. Surely, you had the place insured.”
“Of course. But as Cristiano said, you would want to pay restitution to make up for what your grandson and heir did.”
“My woman and son nearly died yesterday at the hand of Gianni,” I reminded Franco, my voice turning dark and cold. I leaned into his space, causing him to flinch once again. “Seven mil doesn’t even come close to replacing what potentially could have been lost to me. Don’t you think?”
Franco swallowed roughly. “I…I will have a cashier’s check brought over from my bank.”
“No checks. Cash.”
The old man got slowly to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane. “I will have the money to you by the end of the week.”
“Very kind of you,” I told him as I walked him to my office door. Opening it for him, I glanced at the two men he’d brought with him who hadn’t been allowed into our meeting standing with Vince and Rob. “Thank you for your cooperation,” I told Franco. “Vince will show you out.”
Head held high, Franco left the room, and I stood there watching him walk down the hall until he was out of sight before shutting the office door.
“That went smoother than I anticipated,” Dante admitted as he took the seat Franco just vacated. “I figured he would put up more of a fight.”
“It was Adrian,” Ciro told him. “Franco didn’t want to be tortured by him.”
“Couldn’t have been any worse than what Cristiano and I did to Carlos Junior five years ago. The rats ate him alive, man. By the time we remembered him, there was nothing left but bones.”
“Sick,” Adrian said, making a face, causing the rest of us to laugh.
“If we’re done for the day, I have to head upstairs,” Ciro told us. “Scarlett is feeling sick today.”
“Yeah, I need to head home myself. Victoria has a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.” Adrian shook my hand on his way out. “If you have need for me, call.”
“Thanks, fratello,” I said, slapping him on the back. “Go, take care of my sister. Give her a kiss for me.”
“The only kisses I give her are from me,” Adrian told me with a smirk. “But I will tell her you send your love.”
Dante was the last to leave, and once he was gone, I went upstairs to find Anya. Our room was empty, as was Ryan’s. Following the sound of children laughing, I found them in Ciana’s room.
“Tell us more, Anya!” Zariah said as I opened the door enough to look in on them. “How did you save the princess from the mean diamond baron?”
“Yeah, Anya,” I said with a smirk. “How did you save the princess?”
Her head lifted from where she was drawing what looked like a princess in a purple and yellow dress. “I not only saved her, I stole his biggest blood diamond. When I sold it, I got enough money that it paid for college educations for ten of the girls from the village where the princess lived. And with the rest of the money, they were able to provide clean drinking water, build new houses for everyone, and provide free vaccinations for all the children.”
“That doesn’t sound very exciting,” Zayne complained. “College doesn’t sound fun.”
“For those girls, it was like giving them the moon,” Anya assured him. “And they lived happily ever after with careers that made them independent women who never had to rely on a man, diamond baron or not, for their next meal.”
“I don’t need a man either,” Zariah informed us. “Papa takes care of me, but he won’t have to when I grow up. I’m going to be like Momma and Anya.”
“Me too!” Ciana announced. “Me too!”
“But I want to take care of the woman I love, Anya,” Ryan told her, upset. “I want to be like Papa. He takes care of you, right?”
“Of course he does, l’venok. But that’s because I allow him to take care of me, not because I need him to do so.” She winked at him, making him laugh. “And that is exactly the kind of woman you should love. Someone who can hold her own, pay her own way through life, make her own decisions. But lets you appreciate and love her, and loves and appreciates you in return.”
“I’m going to marry someone just like you,” he vowed.
“That’s my boy,” I told him, bumping fists, and getting eye rolls from my nieces. “What? You don’t want to marry a man like your papa?”
Ciana’s nose scrunched up. “Papa is too old!”
“No, stupid,” Zariah admonished. “Someone like Papa, not actually Papa.”
“Zariah, it’s not nice to call anyone stupid,” Anya scolded gently. “I think you should tell your sister you’re sorry.”
“Sorry, Ciana,” the older girl muttered, her cheeks filling with embarrassment.
“It’s okay. I’m used to you being a meanie-head to me.”
“Ladies, let’s not call anyone names, okay? Your mom isn’t feeling well, and it would be nice if you could get along for a few hours so she can rest peacefully.”
“She’s always sick,” Zariah said sadly. “When will she be better?”
“Soon,” I promised. “Very, very soon. But until then, how about helping her out and getting along.”
“We can do that, I guess.”
I ruffled her hair, which had her slapping at my hand. “Good. Now, I’m taking away your storyteller for a while.” Taking Anya’s hand, I pulled her to her feet and then swung her up into my arms. “Ryan, stay out of trouble.”
“Yes, Papa.”
As I carried her out of the room, I heard Ciana giggling to the other kids. “I bet he’s going to kiss Zia Anya!”
“Ciana, that’s what mommies and daddies do,” her sister told her exasperatedly.
“But Zia Anya isn’t a mommy.”
Anya, having been silently laughing at the girls, went completely still in my arms. Catching her eyes, I saw the pain in them and hurried down the hall. Fuck. I tightened my hold on her perfect ass and sprinted to our room.
Inside, I closed and locked the door, making sure we weren’t walked in on. Carrying her to the bed, I set her on the edge and then fell to my knees between her legs. “You are, in every way that counts, Ryan’s mother. Don’t let something a child said hurt you, tesoro. When someone hurts you, I want to destroy them, and I kind of love Ciana a little bit. I don’t want to have to destroy her.”
A choked laugh left her. “Yeah, don’t do that. It’s fine. I’m fine. And technically, I was a mother. I gave birth, I held him in my arms. I loved him for five months. I…love him still.” Twin tears spilled from her eyes unexpectedly.
Gutted by the sight of them, I kissed them away. “Did you name him?”
“I didn’t legally name him. There was no paperwork or anything like that for me to fill out, but I did have a name picked out, and when I would talk to him in my belly, I would call him by it.” She bit her lip, looking unsure of whether or not to tell me.
“I would like to know, Annie. Please?”
She lowered her eyes to where my hands were caressing up and down her legging-covered thighs. “Christian. I wanted to name him after you.”
“Even though you hated me, you still named our son after me?” I was in awe of her.
“He was a part of both of us. To love him fully, I couldn’t hate you.”
“Ah, baby, I’m so damn sorry. I wish I could take it all back. Hit rewind and redo everything.”
She shook her head, a few more tears spilling free. “If you had, maybe it would have changed our fate. Maybe we wouldn’t have ended up where we are now. Ryan might not be here. We might not be together. Yes, I admit, it hurt and it sucked, and at times, I wanted to die. But if it mea
ns that we get to be together now, that we have Ryan, and we love each other, then I don’t want to redo anything. I just want our future. The past no longer matters.”
“And if that future includes another baby?” I murmured, kissing the corner of her mouth.
Her lips tilted upward. “I would be okay with that, too.”
“I wouldn’t mind a miniature version of you running around this huge house. Scarlett has two clones of herself, maybe more on the way. I think one who looks just like you is needed.”
She stopped me with a hand on my chest. “Cristiano, moya lyubov. Love of my life. Keeper of my heart. You should think about that really, really, really hard. Do you honestly think you—or the world, for that matter—would be ready for a little terror that is just like me?”
I pressed her back onto the bed, following after her, and told her truthfully, “Probably not. She would probably turn my world upside down, just like you do. But I would love her unconditionally. Just as I do you.”
Epilogue
Anya
Glass of champagne in hand, I mingled my way through the four-hundred-plus guests who’d shown up for the opening of the brand-new Iron Hand.
The rebuilding had taken a lot longer than anticipated, but that was mostly because something kept popping up that would distract me from rebuilding. Scarlett having the new twins, identical sons who looked exactly like their father, followed quickly by the removal of the diseased gallbladder that had given her pure hell throughout the rest of her pregnancy.
Then, just a few months later, Scarlett and Victoria underwent the kidney transplant.
I couldn’t let anything, not even the rebuilding of my once-sanctuary, distract me from helping both women recover from that major surgery. For Victoria, it had been a breeze. There had been no complications. No infections. No rejection of the organ. She was better in no time, back to her old self and even better than before. She was given back something vital that she desperately needed.
For Scarlett, on the other hand, it hadn’t been nearly as easy. She was giving up something she needed, sharing half of herself with her twin. But after a few long weeks, she was back to her old self as well. And with her recovery came a relief that my friends were going to be okay. We no longer feared we were going to lose one or the other, and everyone—especially Ciro and Adrian—could breathe easier once again.
That was all over a year ago, and now we could celebrate Iron Hand’s opening night together.
“Anya!” Allegra waved from the second floor, and I lifted my hand, letting her know I was on my way.
It took nearly ten minutes to reach her and her cousins, and once I was up there, my glass was empty. Scarlett and Victoria embraced me, both of them practically glowing, and I couldn’t help remembering the night I was introduced to them. It felt like a lifetime had passed since then, rather than just seven years. I knew then that they were going to become a part of my life in a big way, even if I’d had misgivings over Victoria falling for my then-married brother.
If I’d known then what I knew now, I probably would have tried to fight everyone’s fate, would have told them and myself that the pain we would have to go through wasn’t worth it. But having lived that pain, having experienced the joy along with the suffering, I wouldn’t go back and change anything.
“You’re looking thirsty, tesoro,” Cristiano murmured, wrapping an arm around me as he placed a new glass of champagne in my hand.
“Thank you, moye zoloto,” I told him, accepting his kiss.
He winked and then suddenly called everyone to attention. The DJ stopped the music that was flowing in the background. Without a microphone, Cristiano commanded the focus of more than four hundred people easily.
“Everyone, thank you for joining us tonight. I know it is something Anya has dreamed of for quite some time now, and it means the world to the both of us that you could all be here to share in the hard work she has put into this place once again.”
“It would have been better if Ryan were here,” I muttered to him, but he laughed and lifted his own drink.
“To Anya.”
Everyone returned the toast, lifting their glasses and drinking in my name.
But when I thought everyone would go back to enjoying the party, I felt a tug on my dress.
Looking down, my heart turned over when I saw Ryan in a tux identical to his father’s.
“Are you surprised?” he asked excitedly. “Papa said it was our secret.”
I bent and wrapped my arms around him. “Yes, I’m very surprised. I’m so happy to see you, l’venok.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
I kissed his cheek and started to straighten, but he took hold of my hand. “Papa and I want to ask you something, Anya.”
Laughing, I gave him my undivided attention. “Ask away, my little love.”
His adorably handsome face scrunched up, and he paused for a moment, as if trying to get the words right. “Will you marry my papa, Anya?”
My heart felt like it was going to explode. “Wh-what?” I whispered. Turning my head, I looked up at Cristiano, only to find him not standing where I last saw him. I swiveled my head around, desperate to find him, sure that this was all a dream…
Only to find him on one knee right behind me. In his hand, he had an open ring box with the biggest diamond I’d ever seen, even bigger than that damn blood diamond I killed a man over to save that silly princess I once told the children about.
“Did I say it right, Papa?” Ryan asked earnestly. “Did I get it wrong? She’s not saying anything.”
Around us, several people chuckled, but I was deaf to everything but Ryan, blind to everything but the uncertainty in Cristiano’s eyes. “No, figlio. You did great. I think we just stunned Anya is all.”
With a gasp, I realized that this was real and not the dream I thought I had fallen into. Tears blinding me, I threw myself into Cristiano’s arms. “Yes,” I cried, kissing his now smiling mouth. “Yes, I will marry you, moye zoloto.”
His arms contracted around me as he kissed me back, and the entire club seemed to roar with applause.
When I felt Ryan hugging us both from the side, I lifted my head. “I love you so much.”
“We love you too,” Ryan assured me. “And now you can be my mom!”
Cristiano unfolded one of his arms from around me to pull his son into our hug. “Which brings us to our second question. Will you, Anya Volkov, take us both to be yours for eternity?”
Happy tears poured down my face, ruining my makeup in front of all those people, but I didn’t care. “Yes,” I told them quietly, even though I wanted to shout my answer. “Yes.”
Playlist
“A Reason to Fight” by Disturbed
“Consequences” by Camila Cabello
“Je te pardonne” (ft. Sia) by Maitre Gims
“I’m a Mess” by Bebe Rexha
“Killing Ourselves to Live” by Halestorm
“So Cold” by Ben Cocks
“I Wanna Know” (ft. Bea Miller) by NOTD
“IDGAF” by Dua Lipa
“Tears” (ft. Louisa Johnson) by Clean Bandit
“Alone in a Room” by Asking Alexandria
Her Mafioso King (The Vitucci Mafiosos Book 4) Page 19
