Chapter Thirty-Three
“Alexi, wait.” Lily rushed after the man who never ceased to surprise her, the corridor empty except for the two of them. Her palm met hard, hot steel as she grabbed his shoulder. “I never expected…”
He turned toward her, lines at his eyes that hadn’t been there before, his body stiff. “I know, but it’s the right move.” He offered a tight smile. “I understand you don’t like my interference, but—”
“I will never forget it. What you said about me…how you defended me…it means everything.” Reaching up, she cradled his jaw in her palm. “But what about Lena? What about her legacy? What about Anastasia and everything you fought for?”
His eyes sunk shut. “Yeah.” His shoulders drooped and for the first time he looked almost broken. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?” His eyes flared open, boring into her. “But it doesn’t matter. I will choose you every time.”
Wonder spiraled through her. She moved until they were standing chest-to-chest, heart-to-heart. “I will choose you, too.”
His thumb whispered across her cheek. She seized his hand, pressing it to her lips, wanting the last of his hesitation gone. Needing to find the words that would take away the shadows in his eyes. “Alexi—”
“You’re more forgiving than Lena or I deserve.”
“I disagree. She did right by you when you were a child. She loves you. For that, I will forgive her anything. As for you,” she moved closer, “I will say it again. There is nothing to forgive.”
The shadows remained. “Promise me you won’t pull anything like this again. Kicking me to the curb to protect me. Hiding the truth to save me pain. If we’re going to do this, we do it together. No exceptions.”
Her breathing hitched. “No exceptions. I promise.” She hesitated. “But…you should know…I’m not as strong as you think. These last few days I waffled more than I care to admit.” She bit her lip. “I won’t always be strong. I won’t always be fierce.”
Soothing hands glided up and down her spine. “Lily, those bastards in the conference room, they’re businessmen. They come to you for decisive action. But me? I’m not coming to you as a businessman. I’m coming to you as a man.”
“Yes, but—”
“I started to fall for you the moment you picked up that phone and threatened to knock me out.” His wobbly smile matched her own. “But I reached the point of no return when I saw that file from your past.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
“I love all of you, Armageddon. The fierce, wild parts, for sure. But also the not-so-strong, damaged parts that need me.” He paused, swallowing hard. “Just like I need you.”
Eyes blurring, she raised on to her tiptoes. Kissed his jaw. His chin. She knew what an admission like that cost a man like him. “Oh, Alexi. Thank you for needing me, too.”
“I do, Lily.” His mouth found hers, his voice a low, reverent rasp as he spoke against her lips. “Strong or weak, I don’t care. Just be with me. Always.”
“Yes.” Desperate. Frantic. She squeezed him tight, pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth, then the other side. “I want that, too.” Closing her eyes, she sent a silent message upward. I promise, Anastasia, I’ll take good care of him. I’ll always make him feel like enough. I know you loved him, too, even if you couldn’t stay and fight for him. But I will. For both of us.
“Then maybe you should put me out of my misery and tell me you love me, too?” His demand, only half in jest, jerked her back to the present.
Had she not said it aloud? “Yes. Absolutely.” Grinning like a loon, she peppered his jaw and chin with more kisses. “I’m crazy, head over heels in love with every inch of you.”
“I know.” There might still be shadows in his eyes and a new hint of vulnerability, but his wide smile was arrogant as ever.
And I wouldn’t change a thing about him.
Strong hands gripped her backside, dragging her flush against him. “You are my home, family, compass, and heart.” He nipped at her nose, his tone once again solemn. “We’re going to be unbeatable.”
Every hard moment that came before was worth it, she realized, because it had led her here. To him.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I can’t wait to face whatever comes next together. We—” She stumbled forward, his strong body no longer pressed against hers. “What in the heck?”
“We have somewhere we have to go.”
“Now?” She’d been hoping to slip into one of the empty office rooms and re-create their first conference table make-out session, but with a far more satisfying ending. “Before we kiss some more? Maybe declare our love by talking dirty and getting it on?”
Nostrils flaring, he reached for her. “Hell, yes. We—” But he never finished, breaking off in midsentence, his expression shifting to one of pain. “No.” He shook his head and sucked down a fortifying breath. “No, has to be now.”
He tugged her toward the door.
And because she was crazy about the man, she let him. Even as they barreled past the shouting board members, bypassed the shocked stares of Jim and Jessie, and ignored the crazed media and their flashing cameras to slip into his Maserati and jet away.
They’d been driving in Alexi’s car for twenty minutes while he intermittently shot her hot, hungry looks and muttered about all the ways he’d be making up for lost time very soon when she realized where they were going.
Her heart squeezed. “Why are you driving to the cemetery?”
Alexi’s innocent look wasn’t very convincing, especially since his hold on the steering wheel had gone tight. “No reason.”
“Alexi,” she admonished.
“I need to ask someone’s permission for something.”
The organ inside her chest stuttered and then took flight. “Don’t you think you should get mine first?” she asked at last.
The look he shot her way was pure Kazankov and full of heat. “Babe, the minute you said you loved me, that was a done deal, but don’t worry.” He took her hand from her lap and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss on each knuckle. “I’m going to pretend to ask real nice when it’s time.”
All she could do was laugh. “You really are a Neanderthal.”
“And yours. All yours.” His expression turned somber. “But first Russell and I need to chat.”
“And you need to gloat?”
His laugh held an edge of pain. “Maybe a little.” His hold on her hand tightened. “But mostly I just want to fall down on my knees and thank him for taking care of you when I couldn’t, for protecting you all those years, and for marrying you and keeping safe the greatest gift I could ever have asked for.”
Her breathing hitched.
“I may never fully forgive him for what he did to Lena and Anastasia,” he continued, “but he will always have my gratitude for what he did for you.”
She slid closer, needing to be skin to skin. “Thank you for loving me, even with all the craziness in my past.”
“I don’t love you in spite of it. I love you because of it. I’ve spent my life looking for a fighter like you and I’m never letting go.”
She pressed her lips to his cheek. Alexi Kazankov was everything she’d never known she needed and everything she’d ever wanted.
Which was why—along with the fact that she was every bit as competitive as he—she leaned over her seat and whispered in his ear first, “Will you marry me?”