Updated Apr 20, 2026 • ~5 min read
Chapter 28: Forever Job
Riot
The honeymoon is a private island in the Caribbean—the kind of place Riot never imagined he’d visit and Nadia insisted on booking because “if I’m finally safe enough to travel, I’m going somewhere with excellent beaches and zero Russians”—and watching his wife lounge in a bikini while the sunset paints the sky orange and pink is possibly the best view Riot’s ever had the privilege of witnessing.
“You’re staring again,” Nadia says without opening her eyes, a smile playing at her lips. “I’m starting to think you have a problem.”
“My problem is that my wife is gorgeous and I’m allowed to look at her as much as I want now,” Riot says, settling onto the lounge chair next to hers and reaching for her hand. “It’s literally in the marriage contract.”
“I don’t remember that clause,” Nadia says, but she’s laughing, squeezing his hand.
“It was in the fine print,” Riot insists, and pulls her into his lap despite her protest because proximity has become his favorite state of being. “Right next to the part where I get to tell you I love you every single day for the rest of our lives.”
“That’s a lot of days,” Nadia says, but she’s already wrapping her arms around his neck, settling into his embrace like she was made to fit there. “You sure you won’t get tired of saying it?”
“Never,” Riot promises, and means it with every cell in his body. “I could say it every day for the next seventy years and it still wouldn’t be enough to communicate how much I love you.”
They sit like that for a while, watching the sun sink toward the horizon and listening to the waves, and Riot thinks about the path that brought them here—the violence and the fear and the near-misses that could have ended with him never getting to hold her like this.
“What are you thinking about?” Nadia asks, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck in a way that’s become familiar and grounding.
“How different this is from six months ago,” Riot admits. “How we went from you running toward death to us sitting on a beach planning our future. It feels surreal sometimes.”
“Good surreal or bad surreal?”
“The best surreal,” Riot says, kissing her temple. “The kind where I wake up every morning and can’t quite believe I get to keep you.”
“You definitely get to keep me,” Nadia says, shifting to look at him directly. “Forever, remember? You’re stuck with me now.”
“Best thing I’ve ever been stuck with,” Riot says, and kisses her properly, slow and thorough and sweet.
“So,” Nadia says when they finally break apart, “what do we do now? Like…with our lives. I go back to running my company, obviously. But what about you? You can’t be my bodyguard anymore—there’s no one trying to kill me and also it’s probably inappropriate to employ your own husband.”
“Marcus offered me a partnership,” Riot says, because they’ve been dancing around this conversation for weeks and maybe it’s time to actually have it. “Hawke & Associates Security. Training other bodyguards, running operations, building the business.”
“That sounds perfect,” Nadia says, and there’s genuine enthusiasm in her voice. “You’d be incredible at that.”
“It does sound good,” Riot agrees. “But there’s another option I’ve been considering.”
“What option?”
“You’re expanding the company globally, right? Opening new offices, dealing with international clients, traveling to places that might not be entirely safe?” Riot watches understanding dawn on her face. “You’re going to need a head of security.”
“I’m going to need a head of security,” Nadia repeats slowly, and a smile is spreading across her face. “And you’re volunteering for the position?”
“If you’ll have me,” Riot says. “I know it’s a conflict of interest since I’m married to the CEO—”
“It’s exactly why you’re perfect for the job,” Nadia interrupts, straddling him properly now, her eyes bright with excitement. “You’re the only person I trust completely. The only one who I know will protect my people the way you protected me. And yeah, it’s a conflict of interest—but it’s also perfect. We get to work together, build something together, actually have a life that doesn’t involve you being halfway across the world on other assignments.”
“So that’s a yes?” Riot asks, his hands finding her waist and holding her steady.
“That’s a hell yes,” Nadia says, and kisses him with enough enthusiasm that Riot’s brain temporarily short-circuits. “I want you with me. In every part of my life. Work, home, everywhere. Is that too much?”
“It’s perfect,” Riot says, and means it because the idea of spending his days protecting Nadia’s company and his nights coming home to her is better than any future he’d imagined for himself. “I protect you because I love you. Forever job.”
“Forever job,” Nadia echoes, and when they make love on the beach with the sunset painting their skin gold and the future stretching out before them like an open road, Riot thinks: *This is what happily ever after actually looks like.*
Not perfect, not without challenges, but real and honest and built on trust and love and the absolute certainty that they chose each other and keep choosing each other every single day.
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