I sniffle, the onslaught of emotions ricocheting in my chest. “Even though I hid my identity from you?”
“Even then. That’s when I knew you were mine, and there’s no fucking changing that.”
“But my family—”
“I couldn’t give a fuck about your family. You’re the only one I care about. Besides, I have a big family as well and they’re more than ready to accept you as a member. We can be a little crazy, just so you’re warned.”
“Oh, Knox…I love you.”
He pauses, a gleam shining deep in his eyes. “You do?”
“Yeah, I think I’ve been falling in love with you since the first time I saw you.”
“I’ve been obsessed with you for just as long. I didn’t realize the nature of these feelings growing inside me at first, but I do now. They’re stronger than love, beautiful, they’re even more powerful than anything I’ve ever experienced and I’d be a fool to ignore them. You taught me to not ignore the ugly parts of myself. Hell, you even liked them and made me the better version of myself.”
“You made me the best version of myself, too. You helped me find my own strength and I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“You’ve always been strong. Just because it was simmering under the surface doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.”
“And just because you had a traumatic past, doesn’t mean you can’t rise above it.” I stroke his face. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“You sure as fuck will.”
“You’ll really have me?”
“The real question should be, will you have me, beautiful?”
“For the rest of my life, Knox.”
“Good, because I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.” He opens his arms and I dive right in.
I dive into the place that makes me feel wanted, safe, and alive.
The place I’ll never leave.
EPILOGUE - KNOX
TWO YEARS LATER
“I’m telling you, Ana, we used to beat his arse,” Ron says with his usual overdramatization and T shakes her head.
My wife, who’s snuggled in my lap, laughs. She just loves it whenever Ron or Dan tell stories about the past, which is why she gets along with them very well and demands we visit the UK any chance we get.
And yes, she’s my wife now. Anastasia Van Doren. I married her a few months after Sergei gave me the green light. I would’ve done it sooner, before he changed his mind, but there were a lot of things happening in the Bratva, so we had to wait.
Even though my beautiful wife keeps in touch with her great-cousin and the grumpy arsehole, Vladimir, we’re actually isolated from their internal and external wars.
Sergei made sure to keep her away from everything, as per her wishes, but she still visits him all the time, checking up on his health.
Anastasia doesn’t know this, but she’s a mafia princess through and through. Whenever the chance arises, she still helps the leaders when they need any hacking done and cares about whether or not they’re in danger.
Just because she was out of the house doesn’t mean she forgot where she came from, and I love that about her.
I love how she’s loyal to a fault and stands up for her friends, namely Gwen, Sandra, and my sister.
Yes, the usually closed off T doesn’t spend a day without asking about Anastasia. When she doesn’t pick up the phone, Teal calls me and tells me to pass it to Ana—without asking about me. The traitor.
Needless to say, I usually hang up, because my wife is a busy woman and I’m not prepared to share her free time with anyone else. She started her own IT company that works closely with several corporations, including V Corp. She’s an absolute genius, so I had no doubt that she’d do well, even if the beginning was a little hard.
It took some time to settle into the new routine, especially with my demanding job and the number of cases I was getting. At some point, I had to limit the number and forward many to Lauren.
She’s an excellent lawyer and a dedicated activist, so I know any sexual or domestic abuse victim will be in good hands with her—if Sandra Bell is any indication.
The scared young woman with the haunted eyes is also a successful businesswoman and an activist now. She got together with Lauren a few months after the trial and they’ve been in a happy relationship ever since.
Anastasia and I still meet with them whenever possible. They’re close friends and Sandra’s company was my wife’s first client when she was getting started.