Epilogue - Elena

I hold Tatiana on my hip as we walk down the stairs. Arseny is standing at the front door, waiting for the guests to arrive. I walk over to him. "My love, why are you so nervous?" I kiss him softly.

"Hello, Tiana," he coos, kissing his daughter"s head. "Because I hate it when the families get together; it's always so awkward."

"It's fine," I say. "Here, hold Tiana while I go make her a bottle."

"The guests are going to arrive soon," he says.

"And my child will be fed before I do anything else," I say with a huff.

He wisely doesn't respond to that. I bump into one of the maids on her way out with Tiana's bottle. "Oh, thank you, Helena. I'll take it."

"Yes, ma'am. Everything is ready to be served," she gives a little bow and goes back into the kitchen. I go back to Arseny and hand him Tiana's bottle so he can feed her.

"Go, it'll take your mind off things. Go to the dining hall and feed Tiana. I'm sure Kervyn and Penny will be here soon." I kiss his cheek, and he walks off, cooing again at our daughter as he carries her to the dining hall.

I run my hands over my clothes and straighten them as a car pulls up. To my surprise, it's not Kervyn or Penny who are normally early to these events, but it's Ethan and Sevan.

They walk up the stairs, with Ethan holding a wrapped box.

"We said no gifts…" I start to say, but Ethan interrupts me.

"This is for my niece," he chides me. "Where is she?" He kisses my cheek quickly. "Tiana," he calls, "Uncle Ethan is here."

Sevan smiles at me. There is still a sadness in his eyes, even though we've adopted him as our own brother. I kiss his cheek, and he walks in.

Kervyn and Penny arrive next. Penny carries little Natasha in her arms while Kervyn holds Samuels"s hand and lets him waddle up the short flight of steps. Samuel slips and Kervyn catches him, picking him up.

"Hi, Elena," Penny says, kissing my cheek.

"Hi, Penny. Is Natasha asleep? You can put her in Tiana's bed upstairs."

"Thanks," she says, going that way.

Kervyn kisses my cheek awkwardly and gruffly says hello before he goes inside.

People trickle in one after the other. Danil and Asher, who is pregnant. Luka and Hannah with the twin terror toddlers as they're now known. Mama Milov, who is always happy to see me, even if she hates my father"s guts. She's certainly come to love me. My father and my brother Kyle. And a few extended family members.

I walk into the dining hall where Arseny is still feeding Tiana, and there's a clear division between my family and his. It always starts like this. After a few drinks, they begin to mingle. Except for Mama Milov, who uses the excuse of babysitting the terror twins not to speak to anyone in general.

I had the hall specially decorated with our favorite colors, black and red, which might seem a bit morbid, but the shades complement each other. Red is for the blood we spill, and black is for the industry we find ourselves in. No one needs to know that, though. That's just between Arseny and me.

I look around, content with my crazy-ass family. It's been busy trying to get everything under control. Arseny now owns all the butchers in his area. I've been helping him revamp each one in its own time, and I've been running the books for all of them while acting as an informal consultant for my family. They're now laundering money through Arseny's business to show goodwill between both families. Arseny does it as a favor to my father. My father gives us a cut.

Arseny comes over to me with Danil. "Ask her."

"Ask me what?" I ask.

"How many knife specialty stores does he have, five or six?" he asks. "Because he's dead set it's five, but I swear it's six."

"The sixth one has been purchased but is not open yet, so I'll go with Arseny on this one because there isn't even a butter knife in the store." I smile and take Tiana. "Come, let's go to Nana Milov. It's time for toasts."

I carry her to Mama Milov, who gladly takes her in her arms and plays with her.

I then go back to Arseny, who has arranged some champagne for everyone. I tap the glass. "Everyone, your attention, please."

Everyone turns to look at us. Arseny is instantly uncomfortable, but this is my domain.

"Firstly, Arseny, Tiana, and I would love to thank you all for coming to celebrate our first wedding anniversary with us. It has been a wild ride, and we're thrilled to have had you all on it with us. As you know, Arseny is in the process of revamping his shops, and I've been doing his books for him, so we've had very little time to ourselves. This day just reminds us how we love each other and how love can conquer everything." I look at Penny. "Love can conquer fear." I look at Asher. "Love can conquer anger."

I turn to Hannah. "Love can conquer differences." Finally, I look at Arseny. "And love can conquer rivalry."

"Hear, hear," Kervyn says and raises his glass. Arseny kisses me before we sip our champagne.

I turn back to everyone. "Eat and make merry."

Everyone turns back to their conversations, and I nudge Arseny. "Excuse yourself and meet me out back."

He looks at me curiously as I slip away and walk to the back deck. I wait for a few minutes, wondering if he's been held up by someone when he sneaks out.

"What are we doing?" he asks quietly.

"Remember how I said we haven't had any time for ourselves?" I ask, taking his hand and leading him toward a room I had revamped. "And remember I said I was getting you something special for our anniversary. A room just for you?"

"Yes, and yes, but should we be doing this right now?" he asks. "The guests…"

"Penny will keep them busy. I'm sure we can do this before anyone else notices we're gone." I stand by the door.

"Close your eyes." He smiles and closes his eyes. I open the door and flick the light on, leading him inside. "Okay, open."

He opens them and looks around, shocked. "They're knives through each age, different blades through each time period. The ultimate collection that took me like a year to sort out."

He turns to me and kisses me deeply. "I love how you know me so well."

"But wait, that's not all," I say.

He looks around. "There's more?"

I smile and kiss him. "Yes," I murmur against his lips. I shut the door and push him against the wall, kissing him hungrily.

"Love, are you sure we have time…"

I press a finger to his lips and start unbuttoning his shirt. I kiss down his chest as I unbuckle his pants. "I've been waiting for this for a week."

"Only a week?" he breathes. "We haven't had sex…"

"I know because Tiana's been sick." I look up at him. "Enough talking, my love." I yank his pants down. "Happy anniversary."

He smiles and then tips his head back as I pull his boxers down and start to stroke him. It doesn't take him long to get fully erect, and then my mouth is wrapped around his cock. It leaves me little room to breathe. I deep-throat him, gagging on his girth as I sloppily suck on his dick.

He groans and touches my shoulder. "Up."

I move off him and get up. He looks around before he picks me up and carries me to a table in the middle of the room. He sits me down and kisses me, massaging my breasts. I groan into his mouth. He grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls it up and off me, tossing it behind me on the table. He then yanks down my bra and lowers his head, sucking on each nipple slowly. I run my hands through his hair as he does this, arching my back.

I feel his fingers snaking their way up my skirt, and when he discovers I'm not wearing underwear, he glances up and smirks before he starts rubbing my clit.

My jaw drops open, and I breathe hard while I move with his hand before he positions himself and pushes into me slowly. "Want to have another baby?" he murmurs.

"Yes," I groan. "We'll have to do this until I'm pregnant again."

"We'll do it even more when you are pregnant. I love you, Elena. Forever."

"I love you forever," I whimper as we move together. The table creaks under us as we move, and he gyrates his hips so his dick pushes and pulls in and out of me. He reaches between us and fingers my clit quickly as he moves his hips, and I start making little mewling noises that I know he loves.

"Who's pussy is this?"

"Ours," I grin before I groan again.

"I'm close," he says, slowing down. "I want you to cum first."

"I'm close, just a little harder." I gasp the words against his lips as he moves harder, thrusting into me with force while he flicks my clit. I don't know what it is that drives me wilder, but I start to buck as an orgasm tears through me.

With that, he starts bucking his hips wildly, and it tears another orgasm through me as he slams into me and spills his seed. He holds it there, kissing me deeply. I can never get enough of the taste of him. I don't know what it is, but even a year later, I'm madly in love with my knife-crazy, scarred, possessive little shit of a husband, and I would choose him over and over again.

*****

THE END