Page 114 of Auctioned to My Bratva Boss

Evelyn led her to me.

"Mr. Bykov." She met my eyes with gravity and resolve. "I'm giving you my sister."

"Remember what you promised me. For the rest of your life."

"I remember." I gripped Riley's hand tight, holding Evelyn's gaze. "I'll take care of her."

Evelyn smiled and stepped aside, eyes glistening.

I took Riley's hand and turned toward the altar.

The priest began reciting those ancient, solemn vows. I didn't hear a word. My head was full of nothing but the woman beside me.

When it came time for my vows, I turned to face her.

I held both her hands and spoke with every ounce of certainty I possessed. "I, Matvey Bykov, take Riley Quinn as my wife. From this day forward, through prosperity and hardship, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, I will love you, cherish you, protect you, until death parts us."

Silence fell, then soft applause rippled through the church.

I bent down and, before everyone watching, slid the wedding band onto her finger, right against the ruby.

She looked up at me, eyes brimming with tears. "I, Riley Quinn, take Matvey Bykov as my husband. From this day forward, through prosperity and hardship, wealth and poverty, health and sickness, I will love you, honor you, stand by you, until death parts us."

She slipped my ring onto my finger.

Then she leaned close to my ear and complained. "You made me cry again. Didn't you promise Evelyn?"

I smiled and gently wiped the tears from her face.

"These tears don't count." I kissed the corner of her eye. "Because these are happy tears."

When I bent to kiss her lips, the entire church erupted in thunderous applause.

The day after the wedding, I temporarily handed the pakhan position to Anton, then took Riley on our honeymoon.

Our first stop was the Maldives.

I rented her an entire private island and an overwater villa perched above crystalline blue water. The world shrank down to just the two of us.

During the day, I walked with her along beaches where the sand was fine and white as powdered sugar. Pregnancy made her tire quickly. After a few steps, she'd complain. So eventually I just carried her.

"Put me down." She laughed and pounded my chest.

I let her wrap her arms around my neck and giggle in my ear, but I wouldn't set her down.

I had to admit—only with her would I do things I'd never have even considered before.

I helped her apply sunscreen carefully. She lay stomach-down on a beach lounger, sweeping her long hair aside, facing away from me.

Her entire bare back stretched before me.

She'd untied the straps of that pale sundress herself. They hung loose off the sides of the lounger. Afternoon sunlight spilled generously over her, gilding her fair, delicate skin with warm gold.

In that moment, what flashed through my mind was anything but decent.

I squeezed sunscreen into my palm, warmed it between my hands, then covered her shoulders. The white cream spread under my fingers, leaving a gleaming sheen across her back. In the sunlight, her entire spine looked dangerously appetizing.

This was testing my restraint.