Page 142 of Brutal Reign

She nods. “As long as you’re both alive and breathing, nothing else matters. Is everyone else okay? The compound?—”

“Everyone is fine. That breach should never have happened, but it’s a lesson learned. All I care about is that you’re safe.”

Her mouth falls into a thin line as she searches my face. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Kin before. I was going to. I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

I smile, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “I suspected early on, but Dinara found Kin’s birth certificate and Lukas Viklund wasn’t listed as the father. Daniel Ross was.”

Hope blinks a few times before giving me a sad smile. “Daniel was a friend from school, one of the few who knew about my family. I named him so that if anything ever happened to me, Simon wouldn’t get custody. Daniel would be very confused if he ever got that call, but I hope he’d figure it out.”

“Glad I didn’t kill him in that case.”

“What?”

“Kidding… sort of.” My throat goes tight, the weight of my failure crushing me. “I should never have let you go to that meeting. I thought I could control every variable, but I wasfucking wrong. It was a disaster. The worst feeling in the world was knowing you were in danger and not being able to help you.”

“Stop.” She rests her hand on my arm. “This nightmare is over. Worst eight hours of my life, and that’s saying something, but it’s behind us and I want to move on. I love you, Pavel, so fucking much.”

I don’t give a fuck that Simon’s corpse bleeds out on the floor between us; nothing can keep me from soaking in this perfect moment.

My hands shake as they cup her face. “You’re not just my wife. You’re my soul. You and Kin are my light in the darkness. I would rip through hell itself to get you back. Nothing in this world could keep me away from either of you.”

When I kiss her, it’s with the desperate hunger of a man who almost lost his reason for living, and she kisses me back with equal fervor.

“Now we go home to our boy,” I say, my voice rough with emotion. “He’s been through a lot. He’s going to need both of us, need the reassurance that we’re safe.”

“He’ll be okay because he has us.”

Her words soothe a part of my soul I didn’t realize was broken. But with her, I feel whole again. Ready to live, not just survive.

EPILOGUE

FOUR MONTHS LATER

HOPE

I carefully placethe last fondant dinosaur atop Kin’s cake, a towering chocolate creation that took me most of the morning to perfect. Nearby, Kira arranges fresh fruit around a platter of mini sandwiches, while Sofiya fills colorful bowls with goldfish crackers and pretzels.

The kitchen buzzes with the kind of comfortable chaos that comes from four non-domestic goddesses trying to coordinate the final details of a five-year-old’s birthday party.

“I still can’t believe you made that entire cake from scratch,” Liza says from her perch on a barstool, one hand resting on her growing belly as she supervises our efforts. “It looks like something from a professional bakery.”

“YouTube tutorials are a beautiful thing,” I reply, stepping back to admire my handiwork. “Plus, I had a lot of motivation. This is Kin’s first real birthday party with friends and family.”

Sofiya looks up from her snack prep. “First real party?”

“Yep. His other parties were just me and Kin’s nanny. I want this one to be special.”

“Well, mission accomplished,” Kira says, taking a sip of wine before gesturing toward the backyard. “Look at him out there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier kid.”

I follow her gaze through the massive glass doors leading to the yard, where Kin is in the middle of what looks like an elaborate game of superhero tag with Alexei, Damien, and even little Anna, who toddles after them with determined steps. His dinosaur-themed birthday hat sits crooked on his dark hair, and grass stains already mark his knees, but his face is lit with pure joy.

My chest feels so full it might burst. Seeing Kin like this is a gut punch in the best possible way. He and Alexei are inseparable, and they’re going to start kindergarten together next month at a nearby private school. I’m sure Pavel gave the principal a talking-to that scared him half to death.

Still, Kin’s so excited he’s planning their first day down to what they’re going to wear and eat for lunch.

A moment later, Kin breaks away from the group and runs straight toward Pavel, who’s manning the barbecue with Roman and Maxim. My husband catches him effortlessly, swinging him up into the air as Kin throws his small arms around his father’s neck. The sight makes my chest tighten with emotion.

“They’re so damn cute together.” Sofiya sighs. “Kind of makes me want to have a baby already, just to see Niko as a dad.”