Their Rivalry

EPILOGUE

It's just the beginning.

Maldives, South Asia ~ Ava's POV

I turned over in my bed at Villa Nautica to see my husband wide awake, and engrossed in something on his MacBook.

Bloody hell!

I thought I'd told him to leave that thing in Moscow. We were on a honeymoon. A moment away from the mafia to just relax and enjoy the warmth of each other's bodies should be cherished.

Nevertheless, I was curious about what had caught his attention. I leaned over his shoulder to take a peek. It was an email from Sasha. She had forwarded a message to Vlad.

The Americans definitely weren't pleased with the condition in which their goods arrived, and were prepared to retaliate.

It would be very stupid on their part to try to make enemies out of four very powerful mafias, and expect to win. Anthony would surely get what's coming to him if he made a wrong move. Although he hadn't blown up the targeted businesses as promised, they still remained closed off to the public.

If the feud between the De Los Santos and Ivanovs had thought me anything, it was to not underestimate the lengths to which an enemy would go to have you put down permanently. Another thing I learned was not to pick a fight with Vladimir if you expected your future generations to live in peace.

"I will wipe out his entire bloodline if he tries anything stupid."

Here we go again.

"We, my love." I said and kissed him longingly on the cheek.

Vlad put his MacBook aside and pulled me into his lap, so he could take the kiss further. His lips were hot on my neck and breasts. We'd made wild passionate love last night, and we were both still naked.

As his mouth found my most sensitive body part, I suddenly felt the remnants of the garudhiya I'd eaten for dinner, threatening to force its way out of my mouth. I pushed Vladimir off me to run into the bathroom.

I leaned my head over the toilet bowl and let everything out. I felt my hair get held back, and I gratefully continued to throw up all I'd eaten. When I was done, I flushed it all and grabbed a toothbrush to clean up my mouth.

"Ayana, is everything alright?" Vlad asked when I was done.

I leaned against a wall, feeling drained of energy. He walked over to me when I didn't respond. "There's only one way to find out." I said.

My dad had persuaded me into going off the pill. Heirs were important and I didn't need to miss any opportunity at having at least one. I could die at any point in my life. I had a very active enemy now.

I returned to the bedroom and pulled open a drawer. I picked up a pregnancy test kit I'd stashed in there amongst my unused sanitary pads. Vladimir's eyes widened at the contents of the drawer, but even more when he realised what exactly it was I'd picked out amongst the lot.

"Come on." I smirked, and returned to the bathroom.

"You stopped taking the pills?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No...not at all..." He sighed, "I've just never actually thought of having kids.

"Why not? You'll need an heir." I said, turning to face him.

My husband had an emotion in his eyes I'd never seen on him before in my life. Fear. What was Vladimir Ivanov III afraid of? I think I might have asked that out loud because he answered.

"Failure to protect my kids." He blurted, "Not being able to watch them grow up and live their lives because I got taken out of the game too soon. What if something happened to you, and they went off the rails because I wasn't able to get over the grief of losing you? What if..."

I shut him up with a kiss. Ignoring how serious the situation was, this side of Vladimir was actually cute. He feared that history might repeat itself, and that it'd end badly for us.

"Alek, look at me." I whispered and palmed his cheek lovingly, "You're going to be a great dad. No matter what happens we'll do everything in our power to make sure that whoever we bring into this life together, is well protected, loved and raised to take over after us."

He nodded, relaxing into my palm. I could tell he felt better now. He kissed me on the forehead and encouraged me to take the test. I peed into a clear container Vlad provided, and dipped half of the absorbent pad into it for a few seconds.

Two lines, although faint, they were there alright.

"I'm pregnant." I announced even though we were both looking at the results.

"You're pregnant." He said with a grin.

He lifted me up and spun me around before walking towards the bed to lay me on it. He hovered over me, and kissed where my womb was supposed to be. I'd have sat up to pull him into kiss if we weren't interrupted by a notification sound.

Vladimir had received a text from Sasha, and I had about ten missed calls from Henry. Bloody hell, I'd put my phone on silent. I called my brother back and he answered immediately.

"Sis, you're going to have to end your honeymoon and return to England." He said.

It sounded like he was in a moving vehicle.

"Why, where are you?"

"On my way to Canterbury. The pub there just got blown up, and so did the ones in Cambridge and Oxford."

"The fuck? That means..." Vlad trailed off.

"Yes, the three targeted storage facilities in Russia, the strip clubs in Italy, and the casinos in Spain, met the same fate at the exact same time. The wrong people are starting to ask questions." Henry informed.

"Keep us updated, and send out an alert to the others still on honeymoon. We've got work to do." I said and hung up.

"Well so much for a week without the mafia." I sighed, getting up to pack our stuff.

"Don't worry, my love." Vlad said, pulling me into him. "Those bastards will get what's coming to them."

"Definitely." I replied and kissed him.

~THE END~