Twisted Throne (Bratva Born #2)

24. Dimitri

Dimitri

I don’t know if she came and passed out, or came and fell asleep, but either way, she’s pliant, warm, and soft in my arms, and her breathing has gone even and deep.

I’m still hard, and I stay where I am. My cock is right at home here. My arms hold her tight, and I snooze, waking half-hard only to get fully hard again when she moans and squirms against me. She’s hot and so wet and tight. I groan against her, and she murmurs something then turns over, so I slip out of her, but that’s okay because she’s in my arms, all soft curves and kisses peppered against my chest.

“You broke me,” she says, sounding happy about it.

“I think you’ll mend. I’ll break you over and over because you fucking ruined me, littleblue.”

“Then we’ll mend,” she says softly.

“Then we’ll mend.”

“Stronger than before.” Her words remind me of my thoughts about bones breaking and mending, and I pull her even closer so not even a whisper of air can get between our bodies pressed together.

She sleeps, and I just rest, my soul at peace, the ringing in my ears nothing but a soft murmur with her here. I glance at the clock on the bedside table and realize Mamma and Nataliya will be home in an hour or so.

“Hey, littleblue, wake up.”

I tip her face up and kiss her nose. Her eyes blink open, and my chest squeezes as she owns me all over again, the exact way she did that first time she looked up at me. “What?” She yawns.

“I have dinner for us downstairs. Let’s take a navy shower and head on down.”

“What’s a navy shower?” she asks, yawning again.

“It’s fast. Like two minutes.”

She giggles. “I can do that. I’m used to saving water when I was a student.”

She had a lot of debt from being a student, and I wonder how she’ll react when I tell her it’s gone now. I’ve just made Adriana a rich woman. Independent of me. I’ve really given her the choice to flex those wings and fly away if she wants to.

With the money I’ve gifted her, she can afford security for years.

I want her to stay for the right reasons. I want her in my life forever, not being angry at me ten years later because she regrets her decisions now. I need to know she’s with me for real. Because she’s mine, and she wants to be mine, not because she has no other choice.

Our shower is super quick, and we both throw on joggers and T-shirts. She’s borrowing Nataliya’s, and I make a mental note to take her to Hana’s tomorrow, which two of our men are currently guarding, and get her stuff. I grab the box from my drawer along with the papers and shove them in my pocket when she’s not looking.

We enter the dining room, and I pull a seat out for her. I pour some champagne and then head into the kitchen to fetch the dinner Mel prepared. The casserole is warm in the oven, but not dried out, which is good. We have freshly made bread and salad, too. When I have all the food out, I sit opposite her, and we eat and chat.

“This is delicious,” she says. We have already had half the champagne, and I want her to be fully aware when I talk to her about all of this. I take the paper out of my pocket, straighten it out, and pass it to her. I go to the bureau in the corner where Jacob keeps a spare pair of readers and hand them to her.

She looks down at the paper and frowns as I return to my seat.

“What is this?” She reads more, and her face pales. She looks up at me. “Dimitri, I don’t understand. How? What? This … where is my loan debt? What’s all this money?”

“The loan is paid off,” I say.

“No.” She shakes her head.

I smile to myself. I knew she’d react this way.

“Baby, Adriana, listen. It’s paid off. There is a million dollars in your account.”

“No, you can’t buy me.”

I grab her hand across the table. “This isn’t that. This is the opposite of that. We’ve given everyone else that Ari and Dorian dragged into hell compensation; this is yours. This isn’t me buying you. This is me giving you your freedom and owed compensation.”

She stares at the paper. “A million dollars? In my account?”

“Yes, and this means you are free. To leave … here. It’s enough money to start afresh. Hell, I can get you a new name if you want it. But ... I hope you stay.”

She opens and closes her mouth, but she doesn’t speak.

“We can give Cade and his grandparents a house here, on our land. We can have a room for Cade in what I hope will be our home so he can visit often. You can do what you want with the house.”

“Throw cushions?” she asks, her voice higher than usual.

“Throw cushions. A library. Hell, I’ll even let you fill the place with candles and potpourri or whatever it is women like.”

She blinks at me, looks down at the paper, yet she still doesn’t speak.

“Do you get what this means?” I tap the paper. “I made you a promise. In this I will ask. This is me giving you the freedom to say no, if that’s what you want.”

Christ, my heart is hammering, and my throat and mouth are dry. No man, no matter how big or armed and dangerous, has ever scared me as much as my littleblue is right now.

I stand, walk around to her side of the table, and take her hand. “Adriana, the first fucking moment I saw you, I fell. My life isn’t going to be easy. Running this place isn’t going to be easy. Keeping everyone safe, none of it will be easy. But it’s my life, and I want you in it. You’re the Andromeda to my Perseus, and I’ve fallen so fucking deep.”

I sink to one knee, and her eyes widen. Still, she doesn’t speak. Taking out the box, I snap open the lid, and she gasps at the emerald inside, sparkling, almost as beautifully as she does.

“Adriana.” I clear my throat. “I love you. Will you be my wife?”

Her eyes fill with tears, and her throat works, and I think she’s going to say no. My heart stutters, and my stomach churns. I might fucking throw up. But then she grins and nods.

“Yes. I will. Yes.”

She throws her arms around me, and I hold her before pulling back so I can slip the ring on her finger.

“But,” she says. “I can’t keep that money, Dimitri.”

“You can and will. It’s non-negotiable. Remember, when it comes to your safety, I’ll always be the asshole. This means you could get away if you ever needed to. What if something happened to me and the accounts were tied up? This means you can take Cade and flee. I always want you to be safe and have an out.”

Her face grows serious, and she reaches out, holding my cheeks in her hot palms. “There’s something I’ve never told you. You’ve said it to me, but I’ve not said it to you. I’m in love with you, Dimitri. I’ve tried very hard not to be.”

Ouch, that hurts, but I don’t interrupt her because I know she’s right, and my life isn’t a good one.

“Because of what you do but also because of myself. I always get too up in my head. Always have, and it gets in the way. I overthink. You’ve found a way of breaking that cycle with me. The … um, the things we do.” She breaks off, her cheeks red, and dips her head. “They, um, they make me reset in a way. Clear my mind. Let the panic go.”

I kiss her forehead, her nose, her eyes. “We can clear your mind as often as you need; it’s hardly a chore.”

She laughs softly. The murmur of voices outside catches my attention just before the front door opens, and Mamma and Nataliya burst into the hallway chattering.

“He’ll be ornery about doing the exercises, so we’ll both have to nag him,” Mamma is saying. “Work together.”

They pause by the door, look in, and Mamma’s eyes go wide. She walks into the room and stares at me, and then right at Adriana’s hand.

Adriana flushes red and pulls her hand to herself as if hiding the ring.

“Are you… Is this…” Mamma points to Adriana’s hand, and I nod.

“Yes, we’re engaged.”

“Oh my word! This is wonderful. Oh, Dimitri, you’ve made me so happy. Adriana, darling girl.” My mother pulls Adriana to her feet and into a hug. “Welcome to the family.”

Nataliya enters the room and congratulates us too, and Alexis who is now her shadow strolls in from the hallway, grinning from ear to ear and claps me on the back.

“Well done, both of you,” he says. “Thought you’d never get here, and I’d need to knock your stubborn heads together.”

“This will be wonderful news for your father to come home to,” Mamma says.

I look at Adriana, her eyes shining, and know that nothing has ever felt more right.