Updated Apr 20, 2026 • ~4 min read
Chapter 29: Mrs. Hawke
Nadia
One year after Viktor’s death, Nadia stands in her corner office on the fortieth floor and looks out at the Seattle skyline with a sense of accomplishment that has nothing to do with business success and everything to do with the fact that she’s alive, she’s free, and she’s building exactly the life she wants instead of just surviving.
Her company has doubled in size since she came out of hiding, the global expansion is ahead of schedule, and the security division that Riot heads is already being recognized as one of the most elite protective services in the industry. They’re hiring, training the next generation of bodyguards with the same fierce dedication to keeping clients alive that Riot brought to protecting her, and watching him thrive in the role is possibly Nadia’s favorite part of running the business.
“You have that look again,” Riot says from the doorway, and Nadia turns to find her husband leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and a smile playing at his lips. “The one where you’re plotting world domination.”
“Not world domination,” Nadia corrects, crossing to him and looping her arms around his neck. “Just appreciating how far we’ve come. A year ago I was hiding in Alaska convinced I’d never be free. And now look at us.”
“Look at us,” Riot echoes, pulling her close. “Married, thriving, disgustingly happy. We’re basically a rom-com ending.”
“A rom-com with extensive firearms training and a body count,” Nadia points out, and laughs when Riot grins.
“The best kind of rom-com,” he says, and kisses her with the easy familiarity of someone who knows exactly how she likes to be kissed and has made it his life’s mission to do it as often as possible.
“I have a meeting in ten minutes,” Nadia says against his mouth, even though she’s making no move to pull away.
“Then we have nine minutes,” Riot says, already walking her backward toward her desk, and Nadia thinks—not for the first time—that hiring her husband as head of security was either the best decision she’s ever made or the most problematic, depending on how you measure these things.
“This is wildly unprofessional,” she says, even as she’s hopping up onto the desk and pulling him between her thighs.
“You’re the CEO,” Riot points out reasonably, his hands already working on the buttons of her blouse. “Who’s going to fire us?”
“Fair point,” Nadia concedes, and gives herself over to being thoroughly ravished by her husband in her corner office because apparently this is her life now—successful, safe, married to a man who looks at her like she’s the most important thing in his world even when they’re supposed to be working.
They make it with thirty seconds to spare before her meeting, both slightly disheveled and absolutely shameless about it, and when Riot straightens her collar with a satisfied smirk, Nadia thinks: *This is what winning looks like.*
Not the company success or the money or the recognition.
This—having someone who loves her enough to make her late for meetings, who protects her people with the same fierce dedication he brought to protecting her, who chose her and keeps choosing her every single day.
“I love you,” she says, needing to say it even though they’re both due in separate meetings.
“I love you too,” Riot says, and kisses her one more time before heading toward the security division offices. “See you tonight, Mrs. Hawke.”
“See you tonight, Mr. Hawke,” Nadia says, and watches him go with the absolute certainty that this—them, their life, their future—is worth every moment of fear it took to get here.
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