Epilogue

Epilogue

Alissa

Eight Months Later

“Mommy, watch, watch! You’re not watching!” Michelle’s little voice rose above the sound of waves and the plunk of steel drums down the beach.

I looked up from my perch on a nearby boulder, peering at the shimmering outline of my daughter against the pale sand.

She was crouched froglike on the sand where it was damp from the lapping waves, her bright purple bathing suit, shorts, and crocs almost glowing against a deepening tan. She had her father’s skin, thank God. Crouched beside her, he had gone bronze after the first week, while I was barely the color of weak tea after dealing with an unexpected sunburn on the cruise over. I spent a lot of time slathered in sunscreen, in the shade of an umbrella, taking the tropical sunlight in the tiny doses I could handle.

Michelle had learned how to make bucket towers, and now her bright orange bucket was upended, full of sand, sitting on the ocean-smoothed beach while she worked her little fingers under its rim. She lifted it carefully, revealing a perfect upside-down mold of the bucket.

“Yay! It didn’t break this time! See?”

“I saw.” I flashed her a smile. “Good job, sweetheart. I’ll have your banners ready for you soon.” I went back to coloring them in. I had learned to draw a little, in part to decorate her castles of Legos or sand, which were getting more ambitious with every week that went by.

Gregor laughed. “You’ll need more—we’re doing four towers on this baby.”

Michelle cheered, and he smiled that lopsided, just a touch awkward smile that I loved seeing on his face. It was the smile of a tough guy who loved his family.

The last eight months had seen more changes in my life than I had ever experienced. I was married. I was on a long honeymoon with my daughter and new husband. And my daughter was recovered enough to speak normally again.

Michelle had gone through a transition over four months, first only speaking to us, then speaking to people we introduced to her, then letting in fellow kids, and finally, a few months ago, she was chattering normally again to everyone who would listen.

It hadn’t been an easy road. Michelle and I had spent a lot of time in therapy, both for trauma and for Michelle’s speech issues. She had occasional nightmares, but the therapist reassured us it was normal, kind of like her brain starting to reset itself, and drawing and talking about it in a safe calm space would help her process the experience.

We had learned that no one had physically harmed her, and the older girls and women had protected her, but she’d seen things that no one ever should. The first time Gregor and I had an argument—nothing really serious at all—she had hid under the bed which all but broke my heart, she also did it at first when strangers arrived. But now it happened less and less, just like the nightmares and sometimes I’d find her reading a book under the bed with Feodor curled up beside her, so I guess as well as being a safe space, it was also becoming her happy place.

The police reopened investigations into several child abductions in the region after a search of the Ivanov property turned up the bones of a dozen girls. Dogged by the press for their mishandling of Michelle’s disappearance, they were desperate for a win, and I left them to it.

Alan, lead investigator on more than one of those cases, ended up with parents to inform and a million uncomfortable questions to answer. The press was showing him no mercy. His superiors had him on notice. And the IA investigation ground on.

He’d called me twice to whine about his situation, claiming that I was helping a criminal organization humiliate him and the police. I reminded him that he had taken Vasily’s bribes just like every other cop involved, and that he had tried to get me to give up on my baby when he’d known damn well that she was probably alive. I shouldn’t have had to go to anyone besides the police to get my little girl back, but Alan had been willing to let kids suffer and die in order to make some side money. What he was experiencing now were the consequences of his own choices. Alan, unable to take responsibility or even handle the truth, had hung up swearing both times.

He had tried to call a third time, but I had given it to Gregor to answer again. Alan had hung up immediately and thus far, had never bothered us again.

After Vasily’s death, Gregor had taken over his organization, with his friend Sergei as his right hand. Since then, Gregor had been cleaning house throughout the city, digging out every shady side operation of Vasily’s that had lined his pockets while children, women, and the organization’s reputation died. He didn’t give me too many details, but just from the hours he had put in before our getaway, I knew he had a huge mess to clean up.

Gregor still didn’t want to talk about the Vasily situation. I couldn’t really blame him. The man had been his mentor since his teens, and had done a lot to shape Gregor into the man he was today. But he had also lied, broken the trust of Gregor and the rest of his men, and caused atrocities to line his pockets and satisfy his perverse ‘needs’.

Chances were, nobody in his organization wanted to talk about Vasily anymore. I remembered what Gregor had told me about other criminals and what they did to people who hurt children. To them, Vasily’s death, and the shunning of his name, were justice.

Never in my life would I have believed that I would end up married to the leader of a citywide criminal organization. If wearing makeup and heels was a sin in the eyes of my parents, I knew my choice of partner would have made them detonate with outrage. But the further I got from my childhood, the more I realized that many of the things they had seen as sinful rebellion turned out to be some of the best things in my life.

I watched my husband and daughter together, he was showing her how to make crenelations and windows on one of her new sand towers. Both of them were smiling, laughing, enjoying a day I wished would never end.

My parents would never have believed that anything good could have come from a one-night stand, especially one that ended in a pregnancy. But what did my parents know? They didn’t even know how to love their own daughter, or their granddaughter either. The things they had said to me once the police had contacted them had made that very clear.

It was their loss and leaving them behind was my gain. Just like leaving behind Alan, another obsessive stickler to law and order who interpreted those terms in the worst way possible.

Good riddance.

I was finishing up coloring in the last of the banners when Gregor’s phone rang. His head shot up and our eyes met, I reached over, ignoring a stab of disappointment, and answered the call. “This is Gregor’s phone, his wife’s speaking.”

“Hello, my dear!” It was Sergei. He sounded cheerful instead of grave, which was a good sign. “My apologies for interrupting. How is the Caribbean?”

I couldn’t help but smile. Sergei was eccentric and a touch secretive, but I could see why he was Gregor’s best friend. Besides, Michelle adored him. “Beautiful, but the sun’s trying to kill me. What’s up?”

“I have to get a couple of answers from your man. Nothing awful, I promise, just finance stuff. Our bankers won’t wait.”

“Sure, sure, give me a few seconds.” I hopped off the rock and padded over to Gregor, smiling apologetically. “It’s Sergei. He needs final say on some financial decisions, says it can’t wait.”

Gregor put on a fake-stern face and took the phone. “This had better be an emergency. I’ll have you know that I was having a serious consultation with my favorite architect.” Whatever Sergei said in return made most of the scowl slip off his face immediately. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll send photos of the latest castle when it’s done. Now seriously, what do you need?”

I grabbed my umbrella and sat down on the sand nearby to watch Michelle while Gregor was busy on the phone. She labored carefully at the bucket tower, tip of her tongue caught between her teeth in concentration as she added details. I smiled and went back to coloring in her banners.

***

We were sitting on the veranda sipping cocktails and listening to the waves break on the shore. Michelle was in bed, and it was just me and Gregor.

“Happy anniversary, my little rose,” he said as he lifted his glass to toast us.

I raised my cocktail glass in response, but gave him a confused look. We’ve barely been married for a month.

Catching my expression he added, “Today is six years since we first met. Well yesterday was, but I’m sure you forgive me for the oversight, we were traveling.”

Of course I forgave him, it had actually slipped my mind too, but in that moment I was transported back to the dark bar where I had first laid eyes on my strong protector.

I ran my finger down his cheek as I gazed into his storm-grey eyes. I saw a glint in his expression as he smiled lazily at me.

“I spent all these years running from closeness because I thought it wasn’t compatible with my lifestyle, but you have shown me that if anything, having someone to live for makes me a stronger and more powerful man.”

I looked into his eyes, my man was now pakhan, equally feared and respected across the whole city. I didn’t know all that he was involved in, I doubt I even knew a quarter—and truth be told, I didn’t want to know. It was enough to understand that whatever he did, he would never willingly put me or Michelle in danger, and he had put an end to all of Vasily’s trafficking operations. There were those who were no doubt displeased with this change in business, and for that reason we were not alone on our romantic getaway, and in the neighboring beachside cottage three of his lieutenants were also enjoying the pleasures of the Caribbean. But given the secluded nature of our hideout, and the discreteness of Dima, Kolya, and Roman, we were for all intents and purposes alone as a family.

“I love you Gregor,” I said simply. I shivered in the cool night breeze and felt my nipples tighten in the chill air. Or was it the thought of what would come later?

The smirk that flickered across Gregor’s face told me that he’d noticed, he knocked back the last of his drink and stretched his hand out to me.

“We are here to enjoy ourselves my dear, now I intend on enjoying every inch of my wife’s luscious body.

I was already wet thinking about it, after eight months together I had wondered if the thrill of sex with Gregor would wear off, surely you can get too much of a good thing? Nope… absolutely not true—and if anything, as we learned and explored one another’s bodies the pleasure had only intensified.

I took his hand and let him lead me to the bedroom, the beachside cottage had a bank of floor to ceiling windows that opened onto the veranda. The guards were posted at the perimeter and behind, so we were safe from danger or prying eyes. I could see the bulge in Gregor’s board shorts as they hung low on his hips. His abdomen was a sculpted work of art, and I never got enough of looking at his body, from the intricate tattoos that covered his arms, torso, and back, to his frankly magnificent cock. Though before I got a glimpse of that, there was something I needed to say to him, and I wasn’t sure how he would take it.

“Michelle is five now,” I started.

He nodded thoughtfully.

“Don’t you think she’s at a good age to have a little brother or sister? She’s recovering well from her ordeal and maybe now would be the perfect time?” I’d been thinking about it for a while, but had put it on the back burner as Michelle was our sole priority and I didn’t want to do anything that might hurt her new-found stability. But she’d actually said something the other day that got me thinking, a friend of hers at kindergarten had just gotten a new brother and she’d asked if she could have one too.

“Well, we won’t be needing these then,” Gregor grinned and threw the pack of condoms he’d been holding into the trashcan.

I guessed he was on board.

He crossed the room in two steps and before I knew what was happening his lips were pressing against mine and I could feel his rock-hard cock against me. My mouth opened in response as our tongues entwined. We were kissing frenziedly as we pulled one another’s clothing off, soon my loose beach kaftan and his boardshorts were on the floor and he scooped me into his arms as if I weighed nothing and carried me to the bed.

The next thing I knew I was sprawled on the mattress naked as he kneeled over me. His cock long, thick, and rigid. My mouth was practically watering, wondering what he was going to feel like inside me, skin on skin and I arched my back in anticipation.

“My little rose is impatient for me,” he chuckled.

“Mmm” was all I could say, as I parted my legs, desperate to be filled by him.

“Not so fast. First, I’m going to make you come, and I’m going to do it over and over again until you beg me to stop.”

With that he trailed kisses down my neck to my breasts, his tongue flicked my nipple, teasing it into a hard peak before his lips captured me and he sucked hard, pulling my nipple deep. My toes curled with pleasure, and I could feel the wetness between my thighs in response.

Moaning, I squirmed on the bed.

He lifted his head and his eyes met mine, “I love seeing how you come alive for me. You like to feel me doing that?”

I nodded, still squirming.

He moved his lips to my other breast and repeated the action, his tongue flicking and circling me as he teased my nipple.

“Fuck,” was all that escaped my lips.

There was a dark, masculine laugh, “Soon, my little rose. You want to feel this, yes?” He shifted his hips, so his cockhead rubbed against my slit, but almost as soon as the movement happened, he shifted away leaving me begging for more.

His lips left my breasts, and he started trailing more kisses down my stomach until he reached my slit, then I felt him pause and inhale and groan. “So good, you are always so good.”

With that his tongue found my clit and he started gently sucking it. My pussy was so wet, and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold out. “I’m gonna come if you keep on doing that,” I gasped.

“So come for me, come on my lips. I told you, this is only the beginning, we have all night.”

With that, his mouth went back to me, his tongue lapping and circling, flicking my clit as his fingers parted my lips. I felt his tongue dive into my wetness and shuddered.

“Good, that’s it. Let go.”

His hot breath against my wet pussy sent a shiver through me and once more his lips were all over me. Sucking my clit, he pushed a finger inside me.

“Fuck, Alissa, you’re so wet,” he groaned. “Wet and tight and perfect.”

His finger started working me and I could feel my pussy clenching with need.

“Does my little rose want more?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

He added a second finger, the sensation making me buck against him, riding his hand as he brought me to the brink of orgasm.

“Come for me, lyubimaya,” he said, his voice low and rough with lust. “Come for me.”

“Gregor,” I whimpered. “I’m so close.”

He increased the pressure on my clit, flicking it with his tongue as he pumped his fingers in and out of me, and I exploded.

“Fuck,” I cried out, my body shuddering as waves of pleasure washed over me.

When I finally stopped shaking, he lifted his head and looked up at me, his eyes smoldering.

“You’re so beautiful when you come,” he murmured, his voice thick with desire. “So beautiful.”

He kissed his way up my body, pausing to slowly lick my nipples, circling them with his tongue. They were sensitive, and each velvety touch sent shivers down my spine.

“I love you, Alissa,” he says, cupping my breasts in his large hands. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Gregor,” my voice was barely above a whisper.

His mouth captured mine again and his kiss was hungry and demanding, his tongue sliding against mine as his hands roamed over my body.

I could feel his cock, rock hard and throbbing against my thigh, and I reached down to stroke it. The soft skin contrasting with hardness within, I couldn’t get my whole hand around his girth, and the way he filled me was beyond compare.

“Fuck,” he growled, thrusting into my hand.

“I want you inside me. I want to feel your cock, all of you with nothing between us,” I moaned, wrapping my legs around his waist. “I need you.”

“You have me,” he murmured as he shifted his hips.

I gasped as the thick head of his cock slid down my slit. My wetness coating his shaft. I needed this man more than I needed air to breath. I had been right all along, he had totally ruined me for others.

My legs opened in response to his gentle nudging, and he sank into me, inch by inch, filling me up and stretching me open.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You feel so good.”

I rocked my hips, urging him deeper, and he slipped into me until his cock was buried to the hilt.

“You’re so tight,” he moaned.

“I love how you fill me,” I gasped, and I lifted my ass wanting to feel him as deep as possible.

“My perfect rose.”

“Take me,” I whispered, looking up at him through half-closed eyes. “I want to feel you come inside me.”

“Fuck.” He gripped my hips as he started to move, thrusting in and out of me, his pace increasing with every stroke.

“Harder,” I begged.

He fucked me harder, slamming into me, his hips bucked against me as he pounded his cock deep.

I clung to him, digging my nails into his back.

He groaned, his voice hoarse with lust. “So hot and wet for me.”

I didn’t want him to stop, I didn’t want this moment to ever end. The sensation was beyond anything I had experienced. My pussy tightened around his shaft as he thrust deeper. I could feel another orgasm building inside me, coiled tight and hot and ready to burst.

“Oh,” I cried out.

“Are you ready to come for me again?” he ground into me harder, each thrust punctuating his words.

“Yes,” I gasped. “Oh God, yes.”

His cock pounded me, his rhythm becoming erratic as he got closer to his orgasm. “Come for me, Alissa,” he moaned.

I shattered, screaming his name as I came, my pussy spasming around his cock, milking him.

He gave a roar and his whole body tensed as he came.

I clung to him breathlessly, his cock pulsing deep inside, filling my pussy with his seed.

We stayed like that for a while, his weight pressing me down into the bed, his breath hot on my neck.

When he finally shifted, he pulled me close, wrapping me so tightly in his arms it was almost impossible to tell whose heart I could feel beating in my chest. “I love you, Alissa,” he said, his breathing still ragged, as he kissed my temple.

“I love you too, Gregor,” I murmured.

I snuggled closer to him and laid my head on his chest, as he stroked my hair. I couldn’t imagine being happier than I was in this moment. I was safe and protected and lying in the arms of my daughter’s father, as she lay sleeping peacefully in the room next door. My mother once told me that the big city was full of danger, evil, cruelty, and corruption. And that was true. But what she didn’t tell me is that the city is also full of good people who fight back against the tide, and that those good people, like the evil ones, don’t always look like what you expect.

Like a heartless cop who let me and my daughter suffer for the sake of bribe money.

Like the criminal, the killer, who had risked everything he had to bring my baby back and keep us safe.

THE END

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Other recommended books by Aria Ray:Check out my bestselling Mafia Romance,Surprise Quadruplets for the Mob