Juri threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t leave the bratva. This is your family, Marek.”

“I can. The contract we signed when you became head of the bratva allows for me to request to leave once in my lifetime.”

Ria looked at me, shaking her head. “Marek, it’s…it’s okay. You don’t…”

I smiled down at her and brushed her cheek. “The both of us have done our time in this life, zhena. I’ve been thinking about what it would be like for us to live normally. The two ...