Chapter Twenty-Seven: Sophia

A couple of days later…

My life has changed so drastically that I wouldn’t even know what to call it now. If I worked from the old playbook of what I wanted, by now, I would have finished my second year in law school and be ready to work on my summer law internship. Ava and I would be swapping notes, but it wasn’t to be, and currently, I’m breastfeeding my little girl, Anya in the living room, not wanting to be anywhere else but here. I smile, thinking back to the conversation I had with Ava, and she said the same thing.

“I can’t believe you just had a baby!” she squealed down the line. “When you’re all healed up, I’m going to be the first one on the doorstep for the coochie-coos.”

I laughed, glad that Ava didn’t want to leave me behind for her other single friends. Even though I know our friendship will now take on a different form. “Are you sure you want to see me covered in baby milk and maybe poop?”

“I bet you’re not. I know you’re going to have nannies, aren’t you? I swear, you’re living the high life.” She said it good-naturedly without an ounce of jealousy, and that’s why Ava and I were the best of friends. She’d been a real support system to me, the only support system after my mother and father tragically passed away.

“I am, but I’m willing to share it with you. Besides, I want to hear about law stuff. Once Anya gets big enough, I’m going to start back.”

I never told Ava all the gory details about the kidnapping or Dr. Perri. It’s a cloaked secret Andrei and I agreed to take to our graves. Nobody can know. All the bodies were taken by the Bratva, and Ava confirmed on the call all things I knew to already be true.

“I’m going to give you all the stuff! Don’t worry about it. You might even be able to catch up, but there’s something strange that happened and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

“What is it?”

“Well, Dr. Perri is on a leave of absence indefinitely. There was this article that came out about her. Some cuckoo stuff. I think you dodged a real bullet with that one.” A stab sliced through my heart, when I thought about the deep betrayal from Dr. Perri. I’d admired her so much, and she’d crossed me, all for her monstrous brother.

“Wow! I didn’t know that.” You have to talk to Andrei about it. See what’s going on. I didn’t let anything slip, playing along.

“Yeah, and apparently Christopher stepped down as CEO of the law firm and there’s some other old balding guy in his place. Do you think it has anything to do with New York? Maybe he was scared you were going to turn him in.”

“That’s probably what it was.” But I knew better. There would have been an internal decision made by the board of directors so as not to bring alarm to the public. God forbid they tell the truth and say he was murdered. Obviously, I don’t know all the ins and outs of the Bratva, but I knew them to be powerful enough to banish whoever they wanted to, whenever they wanted.

“Ugh. Meanwhile I’m in the dating slums of Chicago. You really did a good job. Let me know if Andrei has any brothers, I can corrupt into marrying me,” she joked, and Andrei does have a brother who I haven’t met yet.

“He does have one, but I haven’t sussed him out yet. I will report,” I joked, reminiscing about all our old conversations we used to have.

I let the memory from the recent conversation dissolve as Anya feeds. I think about everything, not able to yet comprehend or process how my life could have ended up being like this, and if I’m being honest, I’m not wanting what I asked for. I can’t be a single mother. And not because I can’t handle it, but because the love I have for Andrei runs deeper than I’ve chosen to admit to even myself.

You can rely on him. And at night when we’re together laying in each other’s arms, I know he loves me too. When will he say it, though? Letting the nagging thought clear, I do have to speak to him about a few things, but they can wait.

Anya is only tiny, but when her little eyes open and look at me, I know she’s everything to me. I wrap her up in a bundle, rubbing her back lightly, her eyes closing, and I know she’s fallen asleep. Once I arrive back at the bedroom, Andrei is already on the bed, reading. He smiles, but there’s a hesitant intrigue written on his face as he looks at me.

“I’m going to put her down. She’s sleeping,” I whisper, carefully placing Anya in her cot and immediately wanting to pick her up again.

“Great. You’re doing a good job,” Andrei struggles to say, smiling at me.

“What is it?” I ask him, wanting him to spit it out.

“Nothing—I mean there are things,” he splutters, his face reddening, which I’ve never seen before.

“Okay. I want to discuss some things with you too. About Dr. Perri. It’s probably not the best time, but I want to get a few things off my chest,” I assert, adamant that he doesn’t kill her. “It’s been on my mind since the family get-together, but we didn’t have time to talk about it, because I went into labor.”

“Okay. You go first,” Andrei concedes.

Sliding onto the bed next to him, I discuss my feelings. “I don’t want Dr. Perri to be killed.”

“Okay. I know that. We have found her, though.”

Surprised, I shift my hair back off my face. “Where was she?”

“Here. Under our noses in a downtown apartment. The doorman was covering for her.”

Warily, I look at him, knowing how ruthless he can be. “And what did you do to him?”

“Had him fired. Nothing much.” He grins. “I’m growing soft because of you.”

“Maybe that’s not such a bad thing,” I murmur. “What about Dr. Perri?”

“I found a solution that can work for the both of us.”

“Which is?”

“We’ve had her sent for psychiatric evaluation. This is where she will be admitted for her obsession with jailbirds and admitted to a mental hospital.”

I nod sadly, but also not wanting Dr. Perri anywhere near anybody else. “Right. I guess that’s that.”

“Want to know how?”

“No. It’s enough to know you won’t kill her.”

“And one more thing.”

“What?” He stills for a moment, staring at me with a sentimental gaze. “What?” I repeat, a little on edge.

“The Saints of Destruction members that killed your parents… every single one of them are dead. They were all killed in a shootout four years ago. It’s a good thing, because I would have killed them,” he replies evenly, the shocking admission bringing me tears of relief.

“Shit. I… I didn’t expect that,” I whisper as Andrei caresses my back.

“That’s what you don’t know. I would do anything for you, Sophia.”

Taking a few minutes to process, I think of my parents, hoping they’re road tripping somewhere in another place. Andrei’s investigation has lifted an old, scarred burden off my back that I didn’t realize I was carrying. I sit silently, rocking the cot, not hearing any noises coming out, that lead me to believe Anya is waking up.

“Thank you.” With my eyes full to the brim of tears, I stare at the man I swore I wouldn’t love, but now I do… more than anything.

“I have some other stuff to say…,” Andrei admits as he looks down at his hands, avoiding my gaze.

“What stuff?” I prod softly, waiting and hoping it might be what I want.

“Ah, why is this harder than it needs to be?” He sighs, raking a hand through his dark hair.

“What?”

“Our deal. I want to talk about it. The baby is here,” he states glumly, his eyes lifting to meet mine, a longing in them. My heart rate picks up, anticipating the worst. We bicker too much sometimes, and he loves to get under my skin at times, but often I think he does it on purpose. I think about sitting in my apartment feeding Anya, and not being here, and it breaks my heart.

Please don’t tell me. “Okay, then let’s talk about it.”

Andrei stares at me, nodding, eventually speaking. “I know I said I would make you fall in love, but I’m afraid the opposite has happened.” Frowning in misunderstanding, I shake my head, but he keeps going. “I’m… I’m,” he closes his eyes, opening them and taking my hand, the warmth seeping through, bringing me peace. “I’m in love with you. I’m the one who is. I fell. Hard. Call me selfish, but I can’t let you go. I don’t want a divorce.”

My heart soars, wanting to burst open as I squeeze his hand, tears glittering in my eyes. “So don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he asks, full vulnerability lining his face.

“Don’t let me go. I don’t want a divorce either because I’ve fallen in love with you, and you’re the only person I want to infuriate me forever.” Laughing, a look of sheer relief rides over Andrei’s face.

“Good. Wife.”

“Husband.” Andrei cups my face as I turn into him, his mouth crushing mine in a passionate rush of emotions.

“Damn. I love you, Sophia. This time I mean it,” he mumbles, the fire in his kiss igniting me. Panting from our make-out session, Andrei drags me onto his lap. “Come on. Let me show you how much I love you.” He strips me of my top, dropping sweet kisses to my collarbone. Placing a hand on his chest, I shake my head.

“No! No! We can’t.” I try to take back my leg and move off him, but he drags it back, smashing kisses into the side of my neck.

“Why not?” he growls, smacking my ass.

“I just had a baby, Andrei. You’re going to wake her! You can wait.”

“No, I can’t wait. Do I have to?” he whines, his dark, tousled locks hanging forward, the temptation almost as great. Kissing him tenderly on the lips, I warn him with my eyes.

“Yes. You have to wait. We have our whole lives together,” I remind him, a new level of calm washing over me now that we’ve cleared up our feelings for each other.

“Yes, we do.” He scoffs, a little annoyed, but smiling as he flicks on the TV. “I guess I can wait.”