Page 113 of Marked By the Devil

Yet, each time I looked at Wren, that surge of protectiveness and love filled me and I couldn’t handle the idea of not calling her mine.

For real.

By giving her my ring and my name.

So all the world could know she was my wife and would always be the woman I’d choose to have at my side.

As the discussions wound down about who would tackle what part of the next steps, I wondered if I was just too scared to propose to Wren. If I was too intimidated by all this bad news and the threats looming over us to feel like we could deserve to be engaged or married.

“I’ll start checking out more about those docks,” Nikolai said, volunteering after another mention was made of how so much energy had been put into that massive sting operation at our big warehouse.

“What about, um, me?” Wren asked. She sat up, giving me a nervous glance. “With what was said at the press conference and how I’m wanted now, I don’t want anyone trying to find me and locate wherever I might be living to arrest me. Now that I’d be seen as a target to get to all of you.”

I frowned. “Wherever you might be living? You’re not going anywhere, Red.”

Adrik raised his brows. “Those charges were dropped.” He flicked his hand dismissively.

“Dropped?” Wren raised her brows.

“Oh, yeah.” Elena smiled. “Yeah. Trojan did some adjusting of notes and documents and all…” She shrugged.

“Wherever you might be living?” I repeated.

She glanced at me. “Yeah. Because you said renovations and…”

“You’re going to be living with me,” I stated. “Because there’s no way my wife is going to be living in another location than the one I’ll be.”

She turned to face me, her lips parting. “Your… what?”

“Wife.” I smiled, loving the pure shock on her face. This wasn’t the place I wanted to do this, but hell, everyone else was already here.

Lowering to my knees as I turned to face her fully, I watched her mouth hang open even further. The bright green in her eyes contrasted sharply with her red hair, an exotic combination I’d never tire of.

“My wife,” I repeated as I kneeled in front of her. I set my left hand on her thigh and reached for the ring box that had been in my pocket all morning. “I would like it if you might forget about ever leaving or having a purpose somewhere else. Because I’m very hopeful that you might be interested in that. In swearing your allegiance to my family. Your allegiance to me. And your allegiance to⁠—”

Her eyes opened wide as she thrust her hand out to cover my mouth.

I grinned, loving how she panicked that I’d remind her that I really liked it when she swore her allegiance to my dick. But that was only part of our bond, the intrinsic, physical need to complete each other.

I tugged her hand away and kissed her palm. “In swearing your allegiance to our family.”

She relaxed somewhat, smiling as she placed her hand on her stomach.

“Wait, are you preg⁠—”

Carina elbowed Alexei to be quiet. “Shh. He’s proposing. I never heard a proper one of those before.”

Maksim gave her a side-eye.

“Wren Green, would you do me the honor of agreeing to become my wife? To be my partner and always be with me no matter all the ups and downs we’ll face on this journey?”

She licked her lips, gazing at me before lowering her attention to the ring I offered her.

I knew those old biases were still in her mind. She’d been on the other side of the fence, on the other spectrum of the law, and now, I was asking her to fully swear her life and identity to be on my side. With my Volkov Bratva.

“I love you too much to ever consider not having you in my life,” I told her, knowing I had to make this case the best I’d ever sincerely share. “I love you too much to entertain the chance that this might not be the altruistic future you’d always dreamed of. The future that your parents would have wanted you to take.”

She leaned forward on her seat, pressing her lips together in what almost seemed like a smile she was fighting to hide.