Page 55 of Born into Blood

“So you gonna tell us what’s going on?”

Right as I’m about to start talking, my younger brother walks in. He grabs a croissant and sits in the chair by Niki, saving me from having to repeat myself. While the rest of them eat, I fill them in on what’s been happening. I leave out some of the more personal details, like the oral sex on the roof and her mom foiling their windows, but I tell them about Osip Lebedev and the conversation we had with Lou.

It’s Yelena who breaks the silence when I’m done. “Do you think this is about my mom?”

She’s not saying anything we’re not already thinking. Our family is tight-lipped about anything involving her mom’s disappearance, but we all know something big happened around the time I was born.

“Do you know anything more about it?” I ask her. “All my dad will say is that his sister was kidnapped and that it took our dads two years to find her. When I ask him who did it, he just says they’re all dead and for me to not worry about it.”

“That’s what mine says,” Val adds.

“Same here,” Max says.

Yelena shakes her head. “Anytime I mention anything about it, she gets the saddest look on her face, and I can’t ever bring myself to push it. It’s like making her open up a painful wound that she spent years trying to heal. I just can’t do it to her, and my dad,” she gives another soft shake of her head, “don’t even think about mentioning it in front of him. He’s crazy protective of my mom and refuses to do or say anything that might cause her pain. I asked him about it one time.” She holds up a finger for emphasis. “He told me that those two years nearly destroyed the both of them and that she’d needed him and he hadn’t been able to protect her. I’ve never heard my dad sound so distraught before. He asked me to please not ever bring it up again because it hurt too damn much to talk about. I never have, and I never will.”

She looks at me when she says that last bit, making sure I understand her. I do, so I nod back and turn to Niki.

“Want to test your skills?”

His eyes are the same blue-grey as his older brother’s, and the mischievous glint in them is all the answer I need. Nothing makes Nikita happier than being able to use his computer skills in new and illegal ways.

Fingers poised above his keyboard, he asks, “What do you need?”

“I want anything you can find on Osip Lebedev, and his brother’s name was Konstantin.” He’s already started navigating through god knows what when I ask, “Do you have any moral qualms about hacking into your dad’s computer?”

He laughs without taking his eyes off his screen. “I have very few morals, Luka, you know that, but if I see any home videos involving my mom, I will never fucking forgive you.”

I laugh while Val says, “You know he has some. I’ve heard my dad making enough jokes about your parents to know they’re into some kinky shit.”

“I just ate,” Max reminds him, “and I’d like to keep it down.”

We all laugh, but the truth is all our parents probably have secret files on their computers that none of us want to know about. Our parents have never hid their affection, and instead of the simmering-down phase most married couples seem to experience, we’re all convinced our parents just get hornier the older they get. I’m happy for them, but that doesn’t mean I want to sit around thinking about it, and I sure as hell don’t want any visuals.

Val grabs the bowl of chips and looks over at me. “So what are you going to do about Lara’s mom? You’re going to have to meet her at some point.”

“I’m not sure yet,” I admit. “The only thing I do know is that there’s no way in hell she’s going to keep me from her daughter.”

“So when do we get to meet her?” Yelena pops a grape in her mouth and smiles at me.

“My dad already told me he wants me to bring her to dinner, but if I know our family, then every single one of you will be crashing it before we’ve even gotten to dessert, so I guess I’ll just save everyone the hassle and bring her with me to Dominic’s on Sunday.”

“Wow, throwing her in the deep end,” Val says with a grin.

“I don’t have much of a choice. Our family doesn’t do subtle.”

“No,” Max agrees. “We’re good at a lot of things, but being subtle isn’t one of them. If she can survive a family supper at Dominic’s, then she can survive anything.”

“She can survive it,” I say, having complete confidence in my girl, but she won’t have to do it alone. I’ll be right by her side the entire night.

When Val and Yelena pick their controllers back up, I reach for the bowl of chips and tell them my plans for moving into the penthouse. I don’t tell them Lara will be joining me as soon as I can pack up her stuff, but they know me well enough to know where this is going, so I’m not surprised when Max looks at his brother and says, “When you’re done with the Lebedev stuff, start looking around for another apartment. I’m guessing Luka’s not going to want us barging in at all hours of the night.”

I think about Lara splayed out on the hammock—pink pussy swollen and dripping for me.

“No, definitely not.”

He laughs and reaches over to lightly smack his brother on the arm. “Try to find a standalone. I’m getting sick of apartments.”

“You could always move out to the farmhouse,” I tease. Natalya had nicknamed the property our families share when she was little, and the name stuck. It’s not really a farmhouse, though. It’s a huge house on a lot of land that’s about an hour out of the city. We used to go out there all the time when we were younger and still spend at least one weekend a month there. It’s the perfect place to go and forget about the city and the Bratva stress.

---