Page 119 of The Last Hope

“Is it sweet, Auntie Sienna ?” Andrei asked, rushing toward her, followed by the others.

“Yes, it’s sweet, but be careful, or you’ll spill everything, okay ? Now sit down, and I’ll hand out the buckets, understood ?” she told them in a calm yet firm voice. The boys obeyed without a sound.

The kids settled onto the mattresses we laid out on the floor, while we, the adults, climbed onto the beds we’d pushed againstthe wall. Nikolai immediately pulled me into him, positioning me between his legs as I rested my head against his shoulder, sighing in comfort.

Roman jumped over the kids, landing beside us with a groan of pain.

“You’re such an idiot,” Elif grumbled from the other side of the bed, lying against Grigori.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Roman muttered, sitting properly between us and the projector placed on the bed. Sasha joined us on the other side of the projector, and I froze when I heard the bed creak.

“Don’t worry,Solnychko, it’s solid. We had no choice with the wildlings we’re raising,” Nikolai murmured against my ear, chuckling. I relaxed at his reassurance.

Sienna started the animated movie on the laptop connected to the projector and sat on the floor with the kids—right in front of Sasha. And something told me she’d done that entirely on purpose.

As the movie began, Mikhail walked into the room carrying two more buckets of popcorn.

“Sena and Velma said they’d rather have coffee in the kitchen,” he said, closing the door behind him before handing one bucket to Elif and another to me.

Despite the bodyguards posted outside the villa, Velma and Sena preferred to keep watch from the inside. “Come here, Mika, I saved a spot for you,” Sienna called, motioning him over.

Mikhail joined her, slipping under her arm.

And we had an amazing night filled with the children’s laughter, Sienna’s jokes that made them giggle even more, Roman and Sasha’s bickering, and Elif’s complaints as Grigori keptdistracting her from the movie—more interested in teasing her than watching the film.

But most of all, there were Nikolai’s soft whispers in my ear throughout the movie, his hand caressing my thigh, his lips pressing gentle kisses along my neck.

“Can we all sleep here tonight, please, Mom ?” Ivan asked Elif as we began tidying up.

Sienna vacuumed while I straightened the sheets, brushing away the fallen popcorn.

“It’s getting late, boys. You need to sleep,” Elif said, turning off the laptop while Sasha and Nikolai unplugged the projector.

“No, we’ll sleep, we promise, Mom !” Dimitri insisted, making me smile. These kids and their angelic faces—seriously.

Just as Elif was about to refuse again, Sienna stepped in after turning off the vacuum. “I’ll stay with them tonight. I’ll make sure they go to sleep quickly,” she reassured, ruffling Ivan’s hair.

He looked up again at his mother with puppy-dog eyes and Elif sighed, finally nodding, making all the boys cheer in excitement.

“But you have to listen to Auntie Sienna, promise ?”

They all nodded eagerly before rushing off to change and brush their teeth.

“If they become too much to handle, don’t hesitate to wake me—”

“Don’t worry, I can handle six boys,” Sienna interrupted with a confident smile before stepping out to put away the vacuum. Ironically, Sasha followed right after her.

“Don’t worry, Selina, the Ivanov brothers may be idiots, but they would never hurt a woman,” Elif whispered, slipping her arm through mine, catching the way I looked at Sasha.

I smiled at her words, though my concern remained. “It’s not my sister I’m worried about,” I replied, making her laugh.

“You’re not wrong,” she chuckled.

I tried to catch my breath between fits of laughter, pleading with Nikolai to stop tickling me. Finally, he relented, and tears of joy streamed from my eyes.

He hovered above me, his gaze never leaving my face. The soft glow of the moon filtered through our bedroom window, gently outlining his features. I reached up and traced the contours of his jawline with my fingertips.

Our bedroom.

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