Page 67

I let out a deep sigh, running the last strand of my dark hair around the curling iron and holding it.

I have finished makeup, and after I curl this last piece of hair, I can get changed into my dress.

Tonight is the annual gala.

I never attended last year's gala given I had something to work past with Sevan.

Specifically, the fact that she killed my father.

And then sure I killed her right-hand man, but technically she killed my father first.

She claimed she didn't know me at the time, and then telling me would've dredged it all up again.

And... very messy was the way she put it.

I was still very angry.

She was not allowed to touch me until we did couples counseling.

Very weird, I know.

Paying someone to discuss thoughts and feelings feels like scam.

But Ivan said it would be very beneficial for us.

The only issue was we had to pay the therapist a lot of money to sit through what we had to say.

There may have been threats made as well.

Fear and money work very well together.

And counseling seemed to somewhat work.

After around two months of consistency with it, I finally let Sevan look at me without insulting her.

Then a few months later we finally moved into more... sexual territory.

But only I was allowed to touch her.

She did not touch me until much later when I allowed so.

"Sev," I called out as soon as I heard footsteps echo into our room.

"Come here, Zi," I heard her say, causing me to let out a dramatic sigh, lowering my curling iron and unplugging it now that I had finished my hair.

"What is it?" I said, walking out of the bathroom toward our bedroom.

Where Sevan stood already dressed in black dress pants and a low-cut blazer that exposed her chest—where a black tie hung from her neck.

Her dark hair was slicked out of her bare face, wearing her usual silver jewelry.

I like this look.

Very sexy.

"I got you something," Sevan said as she carefully set the large black gift box down along with the pink bouquet of flowers.

"You always get me something," I mumbled with an amused smile.

Every day she manages to come home with something.

Not just for me, but Arina as well.

Especially if she had business to handle out of the country—we always end up with something from the city she was in.

"I think you're going to like this a lot baby," Sevan said as she gently grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to the large box.

Something I noticed had small holes poked in, causing my brows to furrow slightly.

"Very odd malyshka," I whispered, leaning into her as she naturally ran her hand under my robe to grip my ass.

"Open it," Sevan murmured almost in impatiently, which naturally made me grow more curious.

But maybe I should've stayed curious.

Because the last thing I expected to be in the box was a small fur ball.

Or... puppy as it seems.

A very tiny furry brown puppy.

It was excited, jumping up onto the side of the box as its tail wagged eagerly.

"I do not like it," I said in disapproval, eyeing the furry puppy as it let out tiny barks, "It is too energetic for my liking."

Sevan laughed slightly, "It is a he, baby," she said, naturally making my lips part in shock.

"You get me... boy dog?" I said in offensive, glancing over to Sevan, "Misha and Varya will not accept this."

Sevan only smiled at me, "They'll love him," she said, leaning down to briefly kiss my cheek, "You'll love him too—he's a toy poodle so he'll be small even full grown."

I pursed my lips, "I like big dogs Sevan—dobermans," I reminded her.

Sevan raised a brow at her full name that I used, noticing my irritation, "I know what you like, Zi, but a change of pace could be good," she tried to convince me, her dark eyes softening when I narrowed mine, "Come on baby, we could even name him Yuri."

I felt my face immediately relax at the name she suggested, hating that she had made an annoyingly good suggestion.

This small hyperactive puppy does look like a Yuri.

Maybe Yuri had this much excitement when he was much younger of a man.

"Fine," I mumbled, lightly nudging her away when her smile grew, "We keep him and call him Yuri."

Sevan hummed in approval, "You're going to love him, baby," she said, carefully picking him up from the box.

But only to hand him over to me.

Which naturally made my brows furrow, staring down at him as he laid on his back in my arms.

He looks... annoyingly cute.

And his fur is very soft and his dark brown eyes are adorable.

"Yuri," I tested the name out, hesitantly reaching up to pet his stomach.

And almost immediately he began licking my hand in response, nuzzling his head against my wrist.

Sevan definitely trained him to make good first impression.

"You are banned from gift-giving for a week, Sev," I told her, still not letting this entire thing slide.

A puppy is a very big gift to me.

Especially a non-doberman.

This will be a very weird change.

"That's not happening," Sevan immediately said, sliding her arm around my waist as she petted his head.

Meanwhile, I continued petting his soft furry stomach, "Either no gift-giving or no touching me—it is up to you," I mumbled, now pulling away from her entirely and handing Yuri back to her, "I finish getting ready now."

Sevan shook her head as she held Yuri, who managed to look at me just like she did.

It's the brown eyes.

They both have them.

"Typically people don't make threats after receiving a gift," Sevan pointed out as I walked over to my closet.

"Typically people do not gift random puppy that someone wouldn't choose as first choice," I called out as I undid my robe, "A Doberman would have been very nice, Sev," I reminded her as I grabbed the strapless pink gown to put on.

"A change of pace is nicer, Zi," Sevan tried to tell me.

I rolled my eyes, stepping into the gown, "Did you at least make sure Arina is ready to go?" I asked as I pulled the dress up.

"Yes, baby," Sevan didn't hesitate to assure me, "She's downstairs with Ivan playing chess."

I hummed, "Very good," I said, now walking out of my closet as I held the unzipped dress up around my body, "Zip me up please?" I asked, turning around for her.

"I would rather take it off of you completely," Sevan murmured mostly to herself, setting Yuri down in the gift box on the small velvet pillow, "But we're on a time crunch."

I nodded once as I felt her gently grab my zipper and guide it up, "Da, but we won't be on time crunch later," I subtly added as she fully zipped me up.

"We will not hermosa," Sevan said, pressing a soft kiss to my bare shoulder, then below my ear, and lastly against my cheek, "We'll have a lot of time," she added, pressing a kiss to my jawline.

I hummed, "Hours," I said, leaning back into her as she ran her hands down my back that lingered with the scar slashed down it.

It was fully healed now along with the scar I left her with on her stomach.

Sevan hugged me close to her body causing Yuri to let out a tiny bark—gaining our attention immediately.

Which managed to make me unconsciously smile, lightly nudging my elbow into Sevan as I pulled away to put my heels and coat on.

Which she seemed to openly watch me do, showering me with so many compliments that it made my heart rate pick up.

Until soon we finally left our bedroom and headed downstairs to Arina and Ivan.

Who both emerged from the hallway, meeting us halfway as we made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"We have puppy?!" Arina gasped in excitement, running over to us to take him from her arms.

Given his tiny legs couldn't handle going down the large marble staircase at his current size.

"Da... Sev, picked him out," I mumbled dryly, glancing over to her with a narrowed look.

"Well, I love him very much—you do very good job, Sev," Arina said, petting the small puppy in her arms.

Meanwhile, Sevan managed to flash me a smile—clearly happy that Arina approved of her choice.

Which earned an eye roll from me.

"Very nice," Ivan said lowly, reaching over to pat the puppy's head.

"We name him Yuri," I announced to them both, "Ari are we comfortable with that?" I asked her, ensuring that it wouldn't be hard to call this new addition by her late grandfather's name.

Even if it's been a year since his death, grieving is a never-ending cycle.

I learned that throughout the ups and downs of these previous months.

Sometimes I think of Yuri and I am okay.

Other days, it is very hard to get out of bed.

Arina nodded, "I think it is very nice—maybe he will live through him," she whispered, petting behind his fury ears, "Do you think he will?"

"I think he's already present now—always watching you over you," Sevan didn't hesitate to tell her.

Arina nodded a few times, "Da," she whispered, still focusing on petting him as she avoided our eyes.

I could suddenly sense her sadness, which made my lips purse into a small frown.

"I'm sure he can agree that you look really pretty in your gown," Sevan said, taking a step closer to her and lowering down to her height, "You make him proud every day, Ari."

I watched as Arina nodded again, unable to say anything as she leaned into Sevan fully—wrapping her free arm around her neck as she held Yuri in her other arm.

Her eyes were squeezed shut as she buried her face in Sevan's neck—who hugged her back even more presently.

It was a sight that made my chest ache, wishing I could take all of the pain away from Arina.

"Your words are very comforting, thank you," Arina whispered to Sevan as I stepped closer to them both.

Until I hesitantly lowered down to their level, running my arms around them just to feel closer.

It was a weird urge I suddenly developed throughout this year.

But I enjoy hugging more than I had previously imagined.

It is very nice.

Especially right now, with the calm silence between us three as Ivan politely excused himself to ensure the car was ready.

And after a few moments of the long hug—even with the puppy, we managed to get ourselves together again.

Then we left Yuri with one of the groundskeepers and headed out into the crisp cold air where a line of SUVs waited for us.

Sevan instinctively opened the door for me and Arina as usual, not allowing any guard to do so for us.

And once we were situated in the backseat, we were off to the gala.

Which was hosted at a venue on the outskirts of Moscow.

Last year, it was in Sweden, but Sevan ensured it would be in Moscow this year for our convenience.

As we pulled down the large wide cobblestone driveway dusted in snow, I immediately noticed the numerous luxury cars.

There were different groups of guards dressed in all black, helping guests out of each expensive car.

Also by the front, I quickly noticed Viviana and Reniro both waiting for us.

Along with Mireya, who I somewhat get along with now.

She is nice.

Now that I have established clear boundaries with her about Sevan.

I think she was more scared than anything, which was very enjoyable to me.

"Vivi!" Arina called out as soon as she hopped down from the SUV, running over to Viviana who opened her arms for her.

And as Arina hugged her, Sevan helped me step down from the SUV while Ivan closed the door for us both.

"Via—Sevan," Mireya greeted us both with a smile, briefly hugging us both, "I'm so happy you both made it this year."

"Da, this looks very nice," I said, glancing over when Viviana took a step toward us with Arina by her side.

Arina likes Viviana very much, especially after our past couple of stays in Colombia.

I like Viviana as well—she is just as direct as me.

She is also nicer when I am not a threat to her daughter.

"You look lovely in pink, Via," Viviana said as she pulled me into a gentle hug.

"It looks perfect with her hair," Sevan said, her dark eyes trailing my appearance as they had already done numerous times prior.

"It does," Viviana agreed, now hugging her daughter as Reniro gave me a brief side hug—and then hugged Sevan as well.

"I match very well with Via," Arina said as she did a small twirl in her dress that was partially exposed under the fur coat I had picked for her.

"Sí, you look really pretty," Mireya didn't hesitate to agree, causing Arina's smile to widen as Viviana grabbed her small hand in hers.

"We're going to sample the desserts," Viviana told us before whisking Arina off, gently grabbing Reniro's hand to pull him along too.

Then Mireya seemed to subtly walk off with Ivan, something I've noticed she has been doing frequently these past few months.

If they are involved romantically, then I have life-threatening talk with Mireya about hurting him.

"Vodka, baby?" Sevan asked me as we entered the warm venue hanging with chandeliers.

"Da," I murmured, leaning into her side, "Please."

Sevan hummed, pressing a soft kiss to my temple, "A vodka for the beautiful Russian," she murmured.

I smiled slightly, "And a bourbon for my sweet Colombian," I said back, giving her arm a gentle squeeze as we contently walked toward the bar together.

I think this is everything I never imagined my life to be.

But somehow it's the only thing I've ever wanted.