Judith sagged against him, rubbing her face over his steadily beating heart. “Thanks for coming back for me even when I was angry with you and told you to go.”
He wrapped his arm around her and dropped a kiss on her upturned face. “Next time, angel, there’s no breathing room for you when we have an argument. We’re making a rule right now that you stay in my sight at all times until it’s resolved.”
Very gently he picked up Jean-Claude as if he weighed no more than a child. “We’ll have to call an ambulance. We’ll have to say we found him wandering in the yard. He’s unrecognizable so if you say you don’t know who he is, it will make sense. They’ll identify him through his fingerprints and take him to a hospital.”
“Stefan.” Judith held her breath until he looked down at her.
She drank him in, a tall Russian, with blue-green eyes and scars. He was so gentle with Jean-Claude it turned her heart over. Hers. She gave him a shaky smile. “I love you.”
His smile reached his eyes. “I know that better than you do.”
21
“YOU’RE
certain you want to do this?” Judith whispered to Stefan. She tightened her fingers around his and glanced over her shoulders at her sisters and Lev. “You don’t have to do this for me. The civil ceremony we had together is enough. I don’t mind being Mrs. Thomas Vincent. I’ll keep my name Henderson for my work, because my name’s established, but seriously, you don’t have to take such a chance just to prove something to me.”
Stefan settled his arm around her shoulders. “I have always wanted to give you my name and this is a way for us to be married as Stefan Prakenskii and Judith Henderson. It is legal in the eyes of both our countries, although as I don’t exist I suppose our civil marriage is more binding. This man is a friend of mine and he’ll make certain this is done properly. Lev wants to marry Rikki the same way and we have arranged for it to be done.”
San Francisco in the dead of night was not nearly as busy as during the day, and the cars had easily maneuvered up and down the steep hills. The small church was set deep in the middle of the Russian community. When they had parked their cars, it seemed as if they were the only ones there, but as they approached the steps, the door creaked open and a man in robes stood waiting.
“He is a holy man, a priest, and he’s traveled a great distance to come here to America to marry us,” Stefan whispered. “We did not use the local priest because if the paperwork is discovered, we don’t want it traced back to him and this man is a ghost, such as Lev and me.”
She understood what he was saying. The priest had been raised like his brothers, a political orphan ripped from his home and sent to those schools to shape them into killers. Like Lev and Stefan, he’d found a way to escape—different, but still, he’d found a way out.
“We’re not putting him in any danger?” She needed reassurance after what happened to Jean-Claude. The man was still incoherent, locked in a mental hospital.
“He wouldn’t have come if he’d thought he’d be discovered,” Stefan said. “And if I thought he was followed, we wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t risk you or my brother.”
He glanced back at her sisters, following in a tight knot. Lev brought up the rear. Both men were armed to the teeth, and this time, he’d followed his brother’s example, taking care to openly prepare for a small war should there be trouble, right in front of Judith. She had watched him in silence, sliding knives and guns into various hidden compartments in his clothing, but she hadn’t protested.
“For your wedding present,
moi padshii angel
, I will get you a protection dog. Each one of your sisters should have one. Lev and I have agreed upon this.”
“Don’t think you’re going to get all bossy on me,” Judith warned. “It isn’t happening. We have rules on the farm.
All
of us have a say.”
He laughed softly. “Two Russians versus the six of you Americans? You are beautiful, my wife, but you don’t know how hardheaded we can be.”
“Is that some kind of warning? You should have told me that
before
the civil ceremony.”
He laughed as they approached the priest. Only a single light burned low in the church and it didn’t give off enough light to illuminate the priest’s face. Stefan greeted him in Russian, but didn’t introduce Judith to him. Rather, she noticed, he kept his body between hers and the holy man at all times. She wasn’t certain who he was protecting—her or the priest.
Stefan stepped aside to allow the women to follow the priest inside while he and Lev took another slow look around before following.
Blythe walked beside Judith. “I’ve been here before,” she whispered, her voice uneasy. “And I’m certain that’s the same priest who performed the ceremony.”
“What ceremony?” Judith asked.
Blythe frowned and shook her head, twisting her fingers together tightly, pressing her thumb deep into her palm. “Are you certain you want to do this, Judith? Rikki, I know is so deeply in love with Levi she would do just about anything he asked her to, but you still have time to get out of this. Now’s the time to back out if you have any doubts.”
“I have doubts about myself, Blythe,” Judith admitted, “but not about him. I can be myself with him. He gets me. I don’t have to hide and I need that in my life. He gives that to me, that freedom, and I feel loved by him. He wants children right away, and so do I. I’ve never thought I’d have that chance and he’s giving me so much.” She looked at her oldest sister. “I need to know that you can accept him in our lives. He swears it’s the life he wants. He’s buying the art gallery from Frank and Inez and he’ll go with me to the art shows. But mostly, he wants us to live on the farm with all of you and lead a quiet life.”
“Quiet?” Blythe said with a small smile. “With how many kids did you say he wanted?”
Judith laughed, the tension draining out of her. “I have no idea what he’ll do after the first one is born. We’ll see.”
Stefan took her hand and leaned down to brush her mouth with his. “It’s time, angel. The ceremony will be entirely in Russian.”
“And you’re certain it’s legal?” Blythe asked with a small frown.
“Of course. This will make our marriage undeniably legal.” He pulled Judith close. “She won’t be able to officially use my Russian name, but she’ll have it.” He glanced at his brother. “As will Rikki. I have to say, my brother looks very happy.”
“So do you,” Blythe admitted, stepping back.
Judith listened to the priest as he spoke in low, firm tones, the language magical to her. Her entire wedding seemed surreal, her sisters close, Rikki and Lev standing beside her and Stefan, Stefan’s hand tight in hers. She murmured the appropriate responses when the priest prodded her and listened to Rikki doing the same. At no time did she fully see the holy man’s face.
Stefan slipped a ring on her finger and she turned into his arms so he could fasten his mouth to hers. Her heart leapt, happiness blossoming through her as she wound her arms around his neck and kissed her husband thoroughly.
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Titles by Christine Feehan
RUTHLESS GAME
STREET GAME
MURDER GAME
PREDATORY GAME
DEADLY GAME
CONSPIRACY GAME
NIGHT GAME
MIND GAME
SHADOW GAME
HIDDEN CURRENTS
TURBULENT SEA
SAFE HARBOR
DANGEROUS TIDES
OCEANS OF FIRE
SAVAGE NATURE
WILD FIRE
BURNING WILD
WILD RAIN
SPIRIT BOUND
WATER BOUND
DARK PREDATOR
DARK PERIL
DARK SLAYER
DARK CURSE
DARK HUNGER
DARK POSSESSION
DARK CELEBRATION
DARK DEMON
DARK SECRET
DARK DESTINY
DARK MELODY
DARK SYMPHONY
DARK GUARDIAN
DARK LEGEND
DARK FIRE
DARK CHALLENGE
DARK MAGIC
DARK GOLD
DARK DESIRE
DARK PRINCE
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