“I want to see it,” I gasp, and he quickly pulls out, grasping his cock and jerking it fast as his orgasm sprays onto my belly, up to my breasts in white streams.

  “Oh my God, that’s so hot,” I moan.

  His ejaculation slows, and he shoves into me again, holding my arms and slamming faster, moaning deeper as he continues thrusting. My core bursts into violent flutters as another orgasm blazes through me, and my back arches off the bed.

  Releasing my arms, he leans back, using two fingers to slap my clit repeatedly until it happens again, wetness leaks from my body, and I scream, squirming to get away from the intense pleasure blanking my mind.

  “Come here,” he growls, pulling me under him and covering my shaking body with his big, warm, muscular one.

  My pussy clenches wildly around his cock, and my thighs tremble with aftershocks.

  “Fuck you feel amazing,” he groans.

  “I can’t take anymore,” I gasp. “I’m going crazy.”

  Warm lips cover mine, and I open my mouth for him, hungrily finding his tongue, curling it with mine and sucking, pulling his lips. I’m desperate for more of his kisses, and I drive my fingers into his hair as he moves his lips lower, pulling the soft skin of my jaw between his teeth.

  His mouth moves to my ear, and he whispers, “One more.”

  His hips move, and he’s thrusting into me again, hitting that spot and making me scream as our skin slaps together. He slides his warm hand over my breasts, squeezing my hardened nipples and closing his eyes as he groans raggedly. His hips shudder and hold as his cock jerks inside me, filling me.

  I’m breathing fast, the intense sensations in my body unlike anything I’ve ever felt. He slides his warm body over mine, holding me tightly, smoothing his hands down my back and whispering in my ear.

  “That was amazing.” Soft lips touch my temple, my cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

  I stretch higher to find his mouth again. Our lips seal, and as I taste him, soothing waves of comfort flood my body. My arms are around him, and our breath slowly returns to normal. I’m slowly aware of my surroundings again.

  Lifting his head, warm hazel meets ice blue. “How are you feeling?”

  Blinking slowly, I smile, tracing my finger over his square jaw and that dimple in his cheek. “I’ve never fucked like that before.”

  “Was it too much? You are still recovering.” He leans down to kiss me again.

  I start to laugh, and our teeth clink together. “I think you healed me.”

  Standing, he goes to the bathroom, returning with a warm cloth he uses to clean me gently, then himself. I’m loose and sleepy, and when he returns, he smiles, tracing his eyes over my body.

  “Come here.” He pulls my back to his chest, and I slide my hands over his strong arms holding me so close.

  I drift to sleep for a little while, and when I open my eyes again, he’s still holding me in the same position, only now he’s also holding The Goblet of Fire.

  “When I would read this after mom died, I wished we had a Molly Weasley, even if she was a bit much.” His voice is quiet, and I thread my fingers with his, a pinch of sadness in my chest. “Hutch did his best, but it was never the same.”

  Turning in his arms, I place my hand gently on his cheek. “I’ll take care of you.”

  He lowers the book, sliding his finger along my hairline, seeming like he wants to say something, but instead, he changes course. “You never told me what you got your degree in.”

  Lifting my chin, I give him a little smile. “Education. I wanted to be a teacher. I thought the kids could be like my family, and that way, I could get a little of what I’d lost.”

  His eyes warm, and he kisses me gently. “And now you have a family of your own.”

  “I do.” My eyes shine, and I snuggle close in his arms.

  “And you’re going to be my assistant at Thornton starting next semester.”

  “What?” Pulling back, I study his face. “Can you do that?”

  “Of course.” His tone is so sure, so final. “We have field experience together. You’re just as qualified as I am, perhaps more, since you have educational training. You can help me with my research.”

  “Okay,” I laugh. “What are we researching?”

  Hesitating, he looks around the room as if he’s deciding. “The effects of… Ah, I know, the effects of explosive chemistry on the marital habits of college professors.”

  “Marital habits?” My chin pulls back. “You don’t think it might be a bit sudden?”

  “They say when you know, you know.” Bending his elbow, he leans his head against his hand… so sexy. “Do you know?”

  “I knew the first day I saw you I’d do anything to have you. Now I’m in love with you.” His hand smooths the hair off my cheek, and his expression turns serious. “It hit me like a ton of bricks when we were stuck in Scar’s house. I realized even with all that had happened, even before I knew the truth, I was still in love with you. I wanted to get you away from that life. I wanted to take care of you and keep you safe.”

  Heat floods my eyes, and my breath hiccups in my chest. “I would’ve done anything to know that. I was so miserable that I hurt you when all I wanted was to love you.”

  His mouth covers mine, and my hands are on his cheeks. Our tongues curl, and I roll us so he’s on his back, and my body is over his, ready to be joined once more. With a sigh, I lift my chin, rising to a sitting position with my legs straddling his waist.

  Looking down at his muscled torso and his hungry grin, I arch an eyebrow. “Will you still want me if I’m no longer your naughty student?”

  His eyes darken, and his hands slide up my thighs, squeezing my ass and flooding my core with heat. “You’ll be my naughty assistant.”

  I lean forward, peppering his lips with kisses. “We’ll never get any work done.”

  Reaching up he catches my cheeks, moving my hair back and looking into my eyes. “Just wait ’til you’re my wife.”

  Leaning down, I press my lips to his. “We should give it a year.”

  “You think you’ll be sure then?”

  “I’m sure now, but let’s go through all the seasons, and then you can be sure you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure.” His hands slide down my back, cupping my ass, and I slide my lips lower, kissing his neck, his collarbone, the top of his chest. It’s not long before we’re coming together, our bodies uniting the way our hearts are.

  Our love might have started as a scheme, a plot by evil people to do bad things, but the strength of what we have, the undeniable force of our attraction, broke through their plans. What started out as forbidden, dissolved under the strength of two lonely souls searching for family, for belonging, for the missing piece.

  We found it in each other. We’re silent yet strong, wounded, but still fighting, and we earned our happily ever after. I didn’t believe I deserved it. I thought it wasn’t mine to have, but he changed my destiny. We’re magical yet real, healing and transformative. From the ugly and the cruel grew beauty and life, and we made it ours.

  EPILOGUE

  Dirk

  Nine Months Later

  A cool summer breeze surrounds us as we descend from the private jet onto the tarmac of the small airport in Minsk.

  “It’s colder than Hamiltown in the summer.” Pepper leans into Rainey’s side.

  “It’s probably the same as Minnesota,” Rainey whispers back.

  The two of them have been tight since Rainey taught Pepper to drive last fall. It was when she was still recovering from the gunshot wound, and they started on the golf cart, ostensibly so Rainey could jump out if Pepper tried to wreck it.

  The only problem with that plan was Rainey couldn't have hopped out to save her life. Fortunately, Pepper caught on quicker than Carmen’s predictions, and by the end of the week, she was driving Rainey to all her physical therapy appointments.

  They became such good friends that Rainey insisted Pepper come with us on our trip to meet with the man from Minsk, who we now know as Dmitri Usmanov, who has been helping piece together what happened to their father and track down Scar and Rainey’s official records.

  “Oskar, my friend.” The older gentleman shakes Scar’s hand with both of his. “Is this your beautiful wife and son?”

  Hana is beside him holding eight-month-old Lourde, who is wearing a little blue beanie over his jet-black hair. His pale blue eyes are alert, and he smiles at Dmitri. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Mr. Usmanov.”

  “The pleasure is all mine.” He turns to look up as we reach the bottom of the steps. “And you are Reanna?”

  “I am.” Rainey takes the hand he offers, and I hang back with Pepper. “Of course you are. The resemblance is remarkable.”

  “Funny how we never saw it,” Scar notes.

  “To be fair, I wore a disguise most of my life,” Rainey replies.

  Dmitri frowns. “Why would you do that?”

  She glances down and shrugs. “I was alone. It felt safer.”

  Stepping up behind her, I take her hand in mine. “She’s not alone anymore.”

  The six of us climb into a waiting limousine, and Dmitri fills in the blanks. “With the help of local investigators, we located your father’s body, and using the DNA sample you sent, we were able to establish a clear identification. It was as you said, Reanna. Your father was murdered near his home. However, as you know, the killers took a page from the Bolshevik handbook, which is why we needed the DNA sample.”

  Rainey’s eyes move from mine to Scar’s, and her brother answers in a low voice. “They destroyed his body, covered it in acid, and burned his clothes to prevent a positive ID. Without our DNA, it would’ve been impossible.”

  Her lips tighten. I cover her hand with mine, but she keeps it together. “I saw them shoot him. I knew what they did.”

  “Yes, and it’s interesting they allowed you to live. In your brother’s case, they gave him a new name and a new birth certificate. He could have lived his whole life never knowing the truth. Perhaps because you were a little girl, they didn’t see you as a threat.”

  “I’m sure that’s what it was.” An edge is in her voice, and I give her hand a squeeze.

  “They didn’t know you very well.”

  Dmitri takes a large brown envelope from his case and hands it to Scar. “In any event, here are your official documents, your passports, and the deed to the house. All of the bank accounts are now in your name, and you are the legal owner of all your father’s properties as well as Aurora.”

  “Aurora?” Scar opens the envelope and two small, crimson booklets slide out. They’re printed with gold lettering, and I recognize them as Russian passports.

  Scar hands one to Rainey.

  “Aurora is the super yacht that belonged to your family. It's a two hundred and fifty foot luxury liner currently off the coast of Spain.”

  “I thought that was an exaggeration.” Scar’s voice is quiet, and he opens the passport studying the name. Hana slides her hand in the crook of his arm, and his brow furrows. “I still feel more like a Lourdnikov than a Petrovich.”

  “Yet that is who you are.” Dmitri claps his knee. “You’re a very powerful man, and as such, you can tell everyone to leave you alone.”

  Hana’s nose wrinkles, and she laughs. “Perfect.”

  We spend the night at Dmitri’s estate, which is the size of a palace. We dine on borscht, which is a sour red soup made with beetroots, and beef stroganoff. We drink expensive vodka and look at pictures of his granddaughter, who’s a grown woman now. He takes time to walk Scar and Rainey through the details of their properties and holdings here and in the United States.

  Most everything goes to Scar as the eldest son, but Rainey inherited a good bit of money stored in Swiss bank accounts. The investment group belongs to them along with interests in a few thoroughbreds and a certain club we’re all very familiar with.

  “I’m not interested in keeping Gibson’s,” Scar says under his breath. “Hana has too many bad memories associated with that place.”

  Rainey looks at me, and I shrug. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back there.”

  “I have no interest in the place,” she agrees.

  We decide to cross that bridge when we return home, and the next day, we take another small plane from Minsk to Odesa, where a car is waiting to drive us to the house on the coast of the Black Sea.

  It’s actually more of a small villa with a domed roof and a wrap-around porch. Dmitri says a caretaker has been managing the property, and it has remained virtually untouched following Zander’s death.

  Entering the arched doorway, the interior is dark, lit only by sunlight shining through oversized windows. A large, rough-hewn table is in the kitchen with bench seats, and Rainey reaches for my hand as she takes her first steps into a painful past.

  “I want to see my room.” Her voice is quiet, and I stay with her, following her through the silent halls to a small, pink bedroom.

  Stepping inside, her breath catches. She walks around the space with her hands clasped at her chest, looking up at the wallpaper, the pictures, the bed. When she reaches a small, wooden dollhouse, she stops, dropping to her knees in front of it and opening the doors.

  “It’s here,” she whispers, and her head bows. Her shoulders shake, and I rush to kneel beside her.

  Hesitating a moment, I put my hand gently on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  Turning to me, she takes my hand, opening my palm. In it she places a tiny painted object. It takes me a moment to realize it’s the smallest piece from one of those Russian nesting dolls.

  “I thought Natasha threw it in the fire?”

  “I had another one, left behind here in Papa’s house.” Our eyes meet, and hers are shining with tears and happiness. “I never thought I’d see it again.”

  Pulling her into my arms, I hold her as she rests her face on my shoulder. Her hand clutches my shirt, and if only to retrieve this one, tiny object from her past, this fixture of her nightmares, I’m glad we came.

  We stay at the house most of the day, collecting photographs and letters to take back with us. Scar holds his tiny son in his arms as he inspects his father’s tools and the furniture Rainey explains their father made.

  Hana and I hang back, and she’s alternately smiling and wiping her eyes as she watches the two of them discover and rediscover their history.

  “Isn’t it wonderful?” Hana whispers, and I put my hand on her back.

  “It’s pretty amazing.”

  Our trip lasts five days, during which time we explore Odesa. Rainey takes us to all the local sights. She takes us to see the places she would play as a child and the places her father worked. We visit an outdoor market where stooped little ladies sell more of the beautifully painted nesting dolls along with other tapestries, blankets, and pottery. One shop in particular catches my eye, and I slip away while Rainey helps Pepper choose her favorite of the matryoshkas.

  A special gift is hidden in my pocket when I return, and I find Pepper on the edge of her seat, listening as Rainey describes the underwater museum at the bottom of the Black Sea, the more than fifty exhibits, including statues of Lenin and Stalin and a replica of the Eiffel Tower. We make a note to include time for scuba diving on our next trip, and when we’re finally on the plane back to America, she seems content.

  In our private sleeping quarters, her cheek rests on my chest, and I thread my fingers in her hair as we listen to the noise of the jet engines. “Did you get what you needed on this trip?”

  She slides her arm around my waist. “I had what I needed before this trip, but coming here and seeing it all again, seeing his grave, gave me closure.”

  Eleven hours later, we’re touching down in South Carolina. The drive to Hamiltown is quiet but content. It seems everyone got what they needed from the trip, except for Lourde, who’s fussy.

  “He’s ready to be back with his things,” Pepper notes. “I know the feeling, little buddy!”

  She takes him from Hana and bounces him on her hip as we stop by Hugh’s place, following a text from Blake asking us to meet them there.

  “We’ll keep it short.” I kiss the top of Rainey’s head, ready for my own things as well.

  One thing in particular.

  We enter the small kitchen last, and at Hana’s squeal, Rainey and I exchange a look before hustling up the steps to see what’s happening.

  “When did you get in town?” Hana cries.

  “Gia has a meeting with designers in New York all week, so I decided to take a little field trip down south to see my favorite neighbors.”

  The casual male voice is familiar to me, something out of the not-so-distant past.

  Rainey hesitates inside the door, her voice cautious. “Trip?”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” A slim man with longish hair and an expensive suit steps over to where we’re standing.

  They both start and stop as if they’ll hug then change their minds.

  Finally, Rainey laughs and steps forward, wrapping her arms around him briefly. “You look good.”

  “You’ve changed.” He sizes her up in a way I don’t care for. “In a good way. And Dirk. It’s been a while.”

  Trip Alexander turns to me, extending a hand. I carefully shake it. Hana slips her hand in the crook of his arm. “It’s okay, Trip’s a friend.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Is he?”

  “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen you.” Rainey jumps in, and I guess they were on the same team for a while. “Where have you been?”

  “Milan.”

  “He has a gorgeous Italian wife, and he’s turned over a whole new leaf.” Hana lifts her chin like she had something to do with it.

  He pats her hand. “Who would’ve thought when all the dust settled, we’d be the ones left standing?”

  “I knew.” Hana, the eternal believer, smiles at the group.

  Blake enters the room holding Lourde on her hip, followed by Pepper holding his chubby fist. Hutch is behind them, speaking in low tones with Scar, who appears to be filling him in on all we’ve learned.