Chapter 249

And now… I wonder if I’ll ever see it again.

Now that the monsters are gone, as Willow would put it… what do I have to be afraid of?

When I walk back to where Tolya and Pavel have the Yakuza rounded up, I can feel the shift in the air. The women are quickly filing out with a few of Demyen’s men guiding them, while more of his men are slowly but steadily positioning themselves around the Yakuza captives on their knees.

I don’t know if I want to be around for the execution I know is about to happen.

But I also don’t know if I’ll regret not seeing it through. Getting the closure.

I scan the crowd for any sign of Demyen. It’s a bit of a challenge, given that everyone in his Bratva is wearing the same style of dark tactical clothes and heavy utility belts.

But then I see a blood-stained hand run through a mess of familiar thick, dark hair.

And my heart skips a beat.

He’s alive. He’s alive and I think… I think he’s looking for me.

“Dem?”

He spins around. Sees me between passing men.

And in two solid strides, he’s pulling me into his arms and crushing my lips to his in a searing kiss.

Everything falls away. I don’t hear the shouted orders; the engines rumbling to life in Hummers loaded with Raizo’s rescued victims don’t reach my deaf ears.

I hear nothing but the pounding of my own heartbeat. The groan that rumbles through his chest.

I feel nothing but the warmth and strength of his arms wrapped around me. His hands cupping my face and tangling in my hair.

I want nothing other than him.

“I thought…” he murmurs when he’s able to wrench his mouth from mine. He presses kiss after kiss to my face, holding me in place like I’m a work of art to be worshiped. “God, Clara… I thought I’d lost you.”

So did I. For the briefest of moments, the thought had crossed my mind. “I’m right here,” I reassure him. I pull him close for another passionate kiss, and it’s all we can do not to melt into each other right here in the middle of the battle-torn shipping depot.

“It’s over.” Demyen presses his brow to mine as he says the words I so badly needed to hear. “It’s all over. Raizo’s dead. He’s gone.”

Deep, deep down, way down beneath everything in my adulthood and even my teenage years… underneath all that I’ve had to endure and everything Raizo put me through…

I mourn for him.

I grieve the loss of my Uncle Raizo, the man who might have actually loved my mother the way she deserved. The man who resurfaced, even for just a sliver of a second, in order to help me help myself out of the spiderweb Martin intended to trap me in for the rest of my life.

But the truth is, I should have mourned him a long time ago. Because, like he said, sometimes, people die along with the ones they love. When Mom died, so did Uncle Raizo. The good parts of him, at least.

I need to mourn him later. And then move on.

Because right now, Demyen needs to know how much I appreciate his determination to rid my world of the monsters that haunted it.

“I love you.” Demyen kisses the corner of my eye and holds me closer. “I love you so fucking much. Clara. My Clara.”

I bury myself in his arms and breathe in his wonderful scent.

I could live here.

I want to live here, in his arms, for the rest of my life.

“Let’s go home.”

Neither of us says a word.

I’m not sure what there is to really say.

All I do know is that I want to show Demyen how much I appreciate everything he’s done for me, for Willow, for us as a family. And for those victims he doesn’t even know and yet has already gone through great lengths to protect and give shelter in the middle of the night.

He may call himself a fallen angel, but at some point, even he’s going to notice his halo’s starting to glow a little brighter.

I help him peel off the blood-encrusted shirt and use the motion as an excuse to examine his body. He’s a little bruised and beat up, a few grazes marring his skin, but nothing worrisome catches my eye.

When I undo his belt, I try to be all businesslike about it. We’re home, we’re in his bathroom, and we both need to get into the shower and crawl into bed.

But that doesn’t mean my mouth doesn’t water at the sight of him.

When he’s completely naked and successfully passes my scrutiny for grievous injuries, Demyen gently turns me around so he can do the same for me. I stand there and simply let him move me as he wants, enjoying the way his hands knead and press my sore muscles while he strips my sticky, itchy clothes from my skin.

We stand in the shower together, embracing each other as the warm water cascades down over us. I don’t know for how long. I don’t know if it matters. All that matters is being here, together. Alive and safe.

We bathe each other. I do my best to ignore the rust color in the water that pools and swirls along the shower floor until it’s swept away down the drain. When a soft whimper escapes me, Demyen instantly stops what he’s doing just to hold me close. To remind me that it all really is over, and he’s right here.

He’s not going anywhere.

We dry each other off and by the time I slip on one of his huge shirts, I’m practically sleepwalking toward the bed. Demyen pulls the blankets back for me as I climb in, and I’m able to muster a sleepy smile for him before I feel myself drift off to sleep.

A few moments later, I hear the bedroom door open. Then shut.

Hot breath puffs against the back of my neck. A heavy, four-legged weight climbs over me onto the bed and quickly curls itself over my feet.

And then a small body is carefully laid in bed next to me. My arm is lifted and tucked around her, and even in my half-sleep, I smile.

The bed dips again. Another warm weight drapes around my waist, holding me as we both curl around our sweet little girl.

“I love you,” I hear him whisper.

“I love you, too, Clara,” I whisper back. “More than you’ll ever know.”