Daniel

When I said to Catrin I wanted more kids, I wasn’t joking. We were married a year after Gleb brought her to visit me in Colorado. Barely ten months later, Lidiya was born, followed by Andrej and finally Nikolai, our baby. Three kids in the space of eight years… after which we decided our family was complete.

Or rather, Catrin decided enough was enough, and booked me in for a vasectomy. Ha!

We’ve had to build an extension onto the house so that all five kids can have their own room. Gleb got in touch with Claire, Ben’s old nanny, and arranged for her to come over and work for us, helping Catrin manage our tribe… as I like to think of them. It gives her time for her writing, a new career that she loves. She’s a bestselling author and the money she makes, added to what I get from selling my paintings, as well as continued access to my trust fund, means we have a comfortable lifestyle.

Life has been good these past ten years, but I’m not complacent. Whenever I look at Catrin, I give thanks to the powers that be for bringing her into my life. Without her, I’d still be a broken recluse. She healed me and made me whole again; I’m surrounded by love and have no need for solitude, no need to lick my wounds like an angry bear.

Ben and Becca are teens now… as close as ever, shielding each other from what they think of as their annoying younger brothers and sister. They’ve started dating other kids they’ve met at high school, although they’re protective of each other at the same time. Becca has grounded Ben, made him less volatile, only he isn’t a saint by any means. There are too many Sokolov genes in him, and he’s as bold and brash as they come.

As for Gleb… he’s still single, still wheeling and dealing like before. He’s moved out of New York to a town in New Jersey. I’m not sure what his business involves… and I don’t want to know as I’m almost certain it isn’t entirely legal. He has my back, has always had my back. I wish I’d realised that years ago.

Gleb keeps me up to date with what’s going on in the underworld. The Brotherhood gang that was after me for revenge has been eliminated by a much larger organisation, the Solntsevskaya, which has the protection of the Russian Security Service. They have much bigger fish to fry than me, bigger fish like Eric. He ended up double-crossing them as well and was killed in a gun battle in a Prague hotel.

Gleb is forty years-old now. He dotes on my kids... he’d make a great father.

Shame he hasn’t met anyone he’d like to settle down with.

Today, Catrin and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary with a party for friends and family. It’s a warm summer evening so we’re having a cook-out by the lake. I’m standing on the deck, looking down at Gleb who is grilling hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, chicken and veggies with Ben and Becca’s help.

Any minute now, our guests will arrive. Eleri, Luke and Gabe are visiting with their kids. They come over every summer and stay in a B&B.

This year we have Catrin’s parents and sister staying, as well as Josh’s parents, who’ve come from Florida. They’re mainly here for Catrin and Becca, although they’ve accepted Ben and the rest of the kids with noble hearts.

There are blow-up beds all over the house. It’s mad, but I love it. I have a new, close-knit extended family, which helps ease the ever-persistent ache in my soul resulting from Papa’s betrayal. God only knows why he did what he did. And we still don’t know if that accident was really an accident or something else. I don’t think we’ll ever know…

As for the country of my birth, I wouldn’t go back there for all the money in the world. I remember Gleb’s words, they KILL you in Russia.

Despite the warmth of the summer evening, a shiver creeps up my spine.

The sound of barking draws my attention to two mutts running around in the garden. Offspring of Toby, who had a ‘liaison’ with a bitch in the village in front of half the elementary school shortly after he got here. Toby went over the rainbow bridge last year, and we all mourn him he was such a character and hero.

“Daniel,” I hear Catrin’s voice.

I turn, and my beautiful wife comes into my periphery, Nikolai in her arms. She hands me our youngest son. “Daddy will look after you now.”

I hear a car arriving. That’ll be the Aldridge House contingent. I’m relieved for Catrin’s sake that they’ve let the unpleasantness between us become a thing of the past. And for my sake too; I like Gabe, Luke and Eleri.

I bend and kiss the top of my youngest boy’s head. He reminds me so much of Ben at his age that my chest squeezes. Andrej and Lidiya are more like Catrin… fair and slight of build.

There’s a shout from down by the lake. “Food’s ready,” Gleb calls out, and we all make our way towards the barbeque pit.

* * *

Catrin

Claire has taken the little ones up to bed, leaving us ‘oldies’ and ‘not so oldies’ to sit by the dying embers of the fire. Music is playing on the outdoor PA system, and the kids are gyrating on the flat area of grass by the lake.

Daniel puts his arm around me, and I lean into him, breathing in his masculine scent. He never fails to stir me, to make me want him. We still ‘play’ when the kids are at school and Claire has taken the little ones on playdates.

It’s our escape valve, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

A slow song starts, and I notice Becca and Jack, Ben and Olivia have paired off and are swaying to the music in each other’s arms. Gabe, Eleri and Luke are also dancing together… the two men holding her sandwiched between them. Matt is with his little sister, Zoe, and Gleb is whirling my sister, Megan, around. She’ll be immune to his charms, though; she’s committed to her boyfriend back in Wales.

Daniel stands and holds out his hand. “Will you dance with me, Mrs Collins.”

He holds me pressed against him as we rock to the music. His hard planes against my soft curves. Our gazes lock together. I remember the time when his eyes were so broken, so filled with despair. He bends his head and kisses me. “I love you, my darling. Happy Anniversary.”

“Happy Anniversary, Daniel.” I return his kiss. “I love you so much.”

* * *

Thank you for reading Brute. I hope you love Catrin and Daniel’s story. Look out for the audio book, narrated by Hugo Wylde and Hannah Martin, coming very soon!

Gleb’s story “Beast” will release late August/early September 2018. Add it to your Goodreads TBR

Would you like to read Eleri, Luke and Gabe’s book? Find out about their taboo romance by downloading it on your Kindle Unlimited Subscription or one-click Their Virgin Nanny!

Catrin and her first husband, Josh, make a bit-part appearance in . One-click or read on KU.

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