Page 88 of Paved in Hate
“I thought you were going to have your way with me,” I admit. “I’d be fine with it now, though.”
He smiles, but he looks sad at the memory. “I’m sorry you were so scared and that I couldn’t tell you the truth about things from the beginning.”
“It’s fine. It all turned out well, didn’t it?”
His finger trails a soft line down my neck. “It did, baby, better than I could’ve ever imagined.”
Reaching into his pocket, he brings out a black, velvet box. “I picked out our rings, but I understand if you’d rather choose something else.”
I stop him before he can continue, clutching my fingers into a fist at the mere mention of my ring disappearing from my finger. “I love this ring.”
He grabs my hand and kisses the back of it. “I’m glad you do. Even though I picked it out before I knew you, it’s still the exact same one I’d choose today. It just fits you.”
I look down at the beautiful pink and white diamonds, knowing he’s right. It’s perfect. He holds the box back out to me.
“I wanted to get you something else, though, something special to remind you that I’d marry you again in a second. I will always choose you,ptichka,over and over again. There’s no one else I want to spend my life with. I love you, Katya.”
He opens the box, showing me the beautiful diamond necklace inside. I let out a soft gasp and meet his eyes. “Just for the record, before you showed me this necklace I was already planning to say that I love you and would choose you again and again, too.”
“Uh-huh,” he says with a soft laugh. “I think we both know you’re just using me for my dick and for the diamonds I buy you.”
“Clearly. You should definitely keep both of those coming.”
He gives me a sexy smirk. “That’s not the only thing I’m going to keep coming.”
I laugh at his corny joke while he helps me put the necklace on. Spinning me around, he leads me to the mirror, and my hands immediately reach up to touch the diamonds.
“You know I’m just kidding about the jewelry, right? I don’t need any of this. I just need you.”
He leans his face close to mine, meeting my eyes in the mirror. “Not joking about using me for my dick though, huh?”
I rock my ass back against him. "You know how much I love your dick. I can’t apologize for that, but I promise it’s not the only thing I love about you.”
“Good enough for me,” he says with a laugh while kissing my neck. “Behave yourself today and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get what you love so much later.”
“I better.”
He laughs at my tone and stands back up, holding his arm out to me. “You ready to take some photos?”
I grab his arm and smile up at him. “Let’s add our faces to the wall.”
We walk downstairs together, and as soon as I see his brothers in their tuxes and their wives in the dresses they’d worn to our wedding, I start to get all emotional.
“Don’t you dare, baby,” he warns with a grin. “Happy photos, remember? If I wanted pictures of you crying, then we could’ve just used the originals.”
“But these are happy tears,” I argue.
“That’s impossible to tell from a damn photo. It’ll just look like you’re sobbing at the idea of being my wife, and my ego can’t take that.”
“No, it cannot,” Lev says, walking over and clapping his brother on the back before pulling me in for a hug. “We’re glad you’re a part of the family, Katya.”
I barely have time to hug him back before I’m passed down the line, hugged and welcomed into this family that I’ve come to love so damn much. I’m trying like hell to hold it together, but when the last arms to embrace me are Matvey’s, I lose the fight.
“Way to go, Matvey,” Vitaly says, but there’s not a trace of anger in his voice.
“Sorry, brother.” His gravelly voice is near my ear, and when he says in Russian, “Thank you, Katya. You helped us find Alina, and I’ll never forget that,” I lose the battle completely and start full-on crying.
“We’re framing these photos anyway,” Vitaly grumbles. “We’re blowing them up and framing them right in front of the goddamn elevator so everyone can see how happy my wife is.”
