Page 86 of Bride of Vengeance

I look at Mariana. "Change of plans."

"What kind of change?"

"The kind that means that we bring an army of our own."

Later that night, I can't sleep. Mariana is curled against me, her breathing deep and even, but my mind won't stop running through tomorrow's variables.

About the possibility of Pavel being alive and coming for us again. The man who kidnapped Mila's parents, who Mila and Alexei shot multiple times three years ago but somehow survived. The man who jumped off Pier 17 into the Hudson rather than be captured.

And I promised not to kill him on sight.

"You're thinking too loud," Mariana murmurs against my chest.

"Sorry."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Tomorrow. Too many unknowns."

She props herself up on an elbow. "We could call it off."

"And lose our chance at Harrison?"

"I can tell him it's too soon, that I need more time to regain your trust. There'll be other chances."

"Not like this. Not with him fully believing he has the upper hand."

"But?"

"But I'm terrified something will happen to you. Pavel is unpredictable, violent. He has nothing to lose. Nobody to protect but himself."

"He has everything to lose. His partnership with Harrison, his rebuilt empire."

"Empire." I snort. "If you can call that to a business built on trafficking women and destroying lives."

"That's not what all Bratva do though, right? Look at Alexei—he built something powerful, maybe did illegal things, but he's reformed now. He and Mila built something legitimate and now live to protect it."

"Alexei never trafficked innocents, even in his darkest days. He had lines he wouldn't cross. There's nothing Pavel has that he can't get again, a thousand times over. Nothing is irreplaceable to him. He is a different kind of predator."

"And you are a protector who uses predator methods." She traces a scar on my chest. "That's why Alexei trusted you, isn't it? Even when you were Ghost, he knew you had principles."

I pull her closer. "Yes. And I’m afraid that tomorrow he'll try to use that difference against us."

"We'll win. I have no doubt about it. I trust you so much that I feel there's no other possible outcome because you'll make it happen."

There’s a moment of silence, as if she were using my words to shelter herself from her own uncertainty.

"Mariana?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever happens tomorrow, I want you to know—these past days with you, this baby, this insane family we're building—it's been worth it."

"Don't talk like you're saying goodbye."

"I'm not. I'm saying thank you. For choosing me. For trusting me and giving me everything you've given me these past few weeks."

I roll over, pinning her beneath me. "We're going to survive tomorrow. Both of us. We're going to expose Harrison, deal with Pavel, and then go home and argue about baby names."