Page 11 of Taken By The Bratva

I turn in his arms, reaching up to frame his face with my hands, studying the features I've memorized completely. "Then we wouldn't have appreciated it as much when we finally got it right."

"Maybe," he concedes, leaning down to rest his forehead against mine. "But I never want you to doubt again how much you mean to me, how proud I am to have you as mine."

"I don't doubt," I assure him, and it's true. The man who was too afraid to defend me in public six months ago now introduces me as his fiancée to business partners, holds my hand during family meetings, and makes sure everyone knows exactly where I fit in his life.

When he kisses me, it's with the passion that's never dimmed between us but also with something deeper—the security of knowing we've weathered our first real crisis and come out stronger. The promise that whatever challenges come next, we'll face them together, as partners in every sense of the word.

As we make love in the city lights streaming through our bedroom windows, I think about that scared waitress who was so afraid of wanting something she couldn't have. She couldn't have imagined this—the confidence that comes from being loved completely, the satisfaction of building something meaningful with someone who values her mind as much as her body, the joy of being part of a family that would literally go to war to protect her.

Sometimes the best relationships do start in the most unexpected places, between the most unlikely people. Sometimes, if you're very lucky and very brave, the man who notices you in the shadows is courageous enough to bring you into the light.

And sometimes, love really is worth fighting for—publicly, proudly, and with everything you have.

I am Brooke Madison-Volkov now, beloved fiancée, successful businesswoman, and cherished member of a family that chose me as much as I chose them.

And I couldn't be happier with how my story is unfolding.