Semua Bab CLAIMED BY THE DEVIL DON.: Bab 91 - Bab 97

The morning light, filtered through the thick, imported silk drapes, found us tangled in the deep center of the bed, the linens rumpled proof of the previous night’s desperate, confirming reunion. The room was warm, filled with the scent of spent passion and the profound, intoxicating reality of her safety.I woke first, as always, my internal clock refusing to recognize peace, even when it was finally achieved. I didn't move, unwilling to break the quiet perfection of the moment. Isabella was draped over me, her cheek resting against my chest, her breaths soft and even. Her hand, the one that had so tentatively reached for mine in the dark hospital room, was now securely fastened over my heart, a heavy, warm weight that felt like an unbreakable shield.I am a new man. I am the same monster, but the monster has a purpose greater than survival. She has rooted me. She has given me sons, an empire, and a reason to care about the dawn. I will never let that fire die again. I will feed it

The sunlight in the Conservatory was a blessed, gentle thing, spilling through the glass ceiling and warming the air around the tropical plants Vladimir kept meticulously maintained. It was the only room in the Volkov estate that felt entirely removed from the cold Russian landscape and the darker operations run beneath it. It felt like Milan, a deliberate choice, I knew, made for my mother.We were gathered for a late, intimate lunch. Not a feast, but a simple spread of Italian comfort food prepared by a nervous but attentive chef. Vladimir was across from me, speaking quietly with Viktor about a new security detail for the compound’s perimeter. I watched my mother, Chiara, sitting opposite me. She was dressed in a soft lavender dress, looking beautiful but small against the sprawling velvet upholstery of the antique settee.She had arrived two days ago, having officially closed down her life in America. This time, she wasn’t a guest fleeing danger; she was relocating permanently, a

The idea of a “date night” in the Volkov fortress was inherently absurd. It wasn't just the sheer logistics of preparing a meal behind several metric tons of reinforced steel; it was the psychological dissonance of trying to foster candlelight romance with a man who could, and often did, sign a death warrant between sips of wine. Yet, here we were.I stood in the dressing room, smoothing the silk of a simple, deep-ruby dress. I hadn't worn anything that wasn’t a suit or a silk robe in weeks. The simple act of choosing perfume felt like a rebellious act of normalcy. Chiara was in the nursery, utterly in her element, rocking Giovanni to sleep while Ivan snored softly in his cot. Knowing she was there, a solid, loving presence holding the center, allowed me to step away without the crushing guilt that had haunted my first few weeks of recovery.Vladimir entered the room, having completed his last video conference of the day with Ivan and Viktor regarding the distribution of the former Sp

The waiting was the most surreal part of my new life. In the past, waiting for Caroline meant ordering a second round of espresso at a café, discussing my latest disastrous date, or gossiping about work. Now, waiting involved reviewing the perimeter camera feed with a capo named Alexander, ensuring that the armed convoy bringing her from the private airstrip had been cleared through three separate security checkpoints.I stood in the smaller drawing-room, a beautiful space of cream and gold that still managed to feel like a high-end prison. My old friend, my anchor to the life I left behind, was arriving. Caroline. The thought felt like holding a fragile, delicate bird in the middle of a blizzard. She was coming to the fortress, to the 'Black Vault,' and I knew the sight of it would terrify her.“The convoy is approaching Gate Five, Knyazhna,” Ivan—not my son, but my husband’s most trusted logistics capo—announced, stepping into the room. He was impeccably dressed, sharp, and, as alwa