Page 56 of Her Darkest Possession

Anatoly nods, seemingly satisfied with this answer. "What is the bratva if not for a pakhan and his wife?"

"Nothing," Vassily responds without hesitation.

As I watch this ritual unfold between brothers, I can't help but realize just how wrong I was about the words of that oath when I first overheard them through this very door.

On that day, those words had felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I'd believed they were proof that I meant nothing to him. That I was merely a tool and a means to an end in his political chess game against Bennet.

I remember how I'd spiraled after hearing them, how quickly I'd convinced myself that everything between us was a lie. How desperately I clung to the belief that I should go as far as hating him, even when my body craved his touch and my heart ached for him.

But now, I understand that the oath isn't a rejection of love for others. It's a redefinition of what the bratva actually is.

The bratva isn't just an organization or a criminal enterprise. It's not just territory or money or power.

The bratva is family.

It's protection. It's the lives of those the pakhan holds dear.

The oath doesn't mean Anatoly can't love me. It means that the only thing hecando is to love me. It means that I've become part of what he's sworn to protect. That perhaps I was always part of what he's sworn to protect from the moment our paths crossed that day in Marcus' barbershop.

I was never something secondary to the bratva. I was always an essential part of it. Our child won't ever be an obstacle to his duties but will become the very thing that gives purpose to everything he does.

And perhaps the most profound realization: this is what marriage truly means to Anatoly. Neither ownership, nor possession, but a place in his heart that no-one else is allowed to inhabit.

"Do you understand now?" He asks Vassily, but in my heart, I feel like he's asking me.

"I do," Vassily replies.

Anatoly extends his hand, the signet ring with the double-headed eagle gleaming in the light. Vassily leans forward and presses his lips to the ring, a formal acknowledgment of Anatoly's authority.

"Then rise," Anatoly commands. As Vassily stands, Anatoly places a hand on his shoulder. "Never forget the oath you swore: that your life and your devotion are for the bratva, to your pakhan, and to the woman who holds your pakhan's heart. And no one else."

16

ANATOLY

The door closesbehind Vassily and I turn to find Indigo sitting on the edge of my desk, her eyes soft and thoughtful.

"Thank you," she says quietly.

I frown slightly, confused by her gratitude. "For what,printsessa? There's nothing you need to thank me for."

"For explaining the words of that oath." She tucks a strand of blue hair behind her ear, her hazel eyes meeting mine. "I heard you saying it that day... with Roma. Before Valentina pulled me into that other room."

Understanding dawns on me. That day when everything changed between us - when she pulled away and I couldn't understand why. When I thought I was losing her.

"I mistook the meaning," she continues, her voice barely above a whisper. "I thought it meant I was nothing to you. That this was all just..." She gestures vaguely between us. "A game or a means to an end."

I cross the room in three long strides, taking her face between my hands. "Never. You were never nothing to me."

"I know that now," she says. "After seeing this today, I understand what those words mean. What they really mean."

I press my forehead against hers, breathing her in. The scent of her hair and the warmth of her skin form everything that grounds me in this chaotic world.

"You are the most important thing in my life," I tell her, my voice rough with emotion. "You and the baby we made together." My hand drifts down to rest on her still-flat stomach. "You are my queen, Indigo. The bratva means nothing to me without you in it."

She tilts her head up, her lips finding mine in a kiss that feels like coming home. Like everything I never knew I needed until she crashed into my life with a straight razor and defiance in her eyes.

When we break the kiss, Indigo's eyes remain closed for a beat longer, as if she's savoring the taste of me on her lips. When those hazel eyes finally open, they're glittering with something I haven't seen before—a confidence that's both new and entirely natural on her.