Page 75 of Born into Blood

“I’m Lev,” he tells me. “One of Luka’s uncles.” He points to a dark-haired woman walking out of the house with a plate of food. When she sees us, she smiles and gives me a wave. “That’s my beautiful wife Jolene, and I think you met Natalya, our oldest, last night. Sasha and Mia are around here somewhere,” he says with a laugh. “You’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em.”

“Just look for the girl with all the piercings,” Vitaly says with a laugh.

Lev groans and gives me another smile before walking over to his wife and immediately wrapping an arm around her.

“I really like your family,” I tell Luka, leaning closer so only he can hear me.

He smiles and kisses my cheek before whispering, “You’ve still got a lot of people to meet, kisa. We’ve barely scratched the surface.”

I laugh and lean into him as he guides me over to another big group of people. As nervous as I still am, I really do like his family. They’re nice and laid-back, and I love seeing who Luka was raised around. I’m glad he’s been surrounded by such a loving family, and it makes me happier than I ever thought possible to know our kids will grow up the same way.

Even though I’m thrilled, it doesn’t stop me from keeping a tight grip on his hand as I start meeting the newest group, scared to death he’s going to walk away and leave me surrounded by strangers.

Chapter 12

Luka

Lara looks adorably overwhelmed when I lead her over to meet everyone else. My aunts smile and give her big hugs while my uncles welcome her in with smiles and friendly jokes. My younger cousins get introduced as they come and go. Evgeny stops to tell her hi while Niki does the same before going back to the laptop he has set up at one of the tables.

“Where’s Dominic and Natalya?” I ask, making Vitaly laugh as he shoots a look at my Uncle Lev.

“They’re checking on Isabella,” he says and then nudges my Uncle Matvey’s arm. “They’re taking their sweet time, though. I mean, how long does it take to check on a sleeping baby?”

“Would you stop hinting at what you’re hinting at?” My Uncle Lev gives his brother a look that’s equal parts I’m going to fucking hit you and please for the love of god, shut the hell up.

My Uncle Vitaly ignores both, of course, and says, “I think we all know what he’s doing to your daughter up there.”

“Jesus,” Lev groans while my other uncles laugh. “I’m going to throw your ass in the pool if you don’t shut the hell up.”

My Uncle Vitaly grins at Lara and points a finger at Lev. “He’s the grumpy brother.”

Lev looks at Lara. “I’m not grumpy.” He then turns his gaze to his brother. “I just want to pretend certain things aren’t happening, and someone insists on ruining that for me.”

Vitaly looks around with an innocent look on his face. “Who’s doing that? I’m guessing it’s some insanely good-looking bastard with the best of intentions at heart.”

Lev can’t help but smile, and Lara surprises me by jumping in and saying, “Maybe Isabella woke up and they’re changing her diaper and getting her ready.”

Lev laughs and smiles over at her before looking back at Vitaly. “See? That’s how you play the game. Is that so fucking hard?”

Vitaly grins. “Sure. They’re changing a diaper, if by changing a diaper you mean they’re squeezing in a quickie while we all wait patiently to eat.”

“You fucker,” Lev starts to say, but then we all turn when Dominic and Natalya step out with a grinning Isabella in her dad’s arms.

“Her hair is messed up, and his buttons look crooked,” Vitaly whispers loud enough for us all to hear.

Lev glares at him, but he just laughs and holds up his hands. “I’m just saying. It must have been one hell of a dirty diaper.”

Before Lev can punch him, he laughs and walks off, but we all know he’s safe. My uncle would never do anything in front of his granddaughter that might scare her. He beams at her, and as soon as they’re close enough, he reaches for her, snatching her from her dad’s arms while telling her in Russian that he loves her and that she’s the sweetest, most perfect baby ever. Dominic murmurs something to her in Italian and runs his fingers over the soft, dark hair that covers her head.

Natalya laughs. “Our daughter is going to be so confused by all the different languages. She probably won’t speak her first word until she’s ten.”

Lev just smiles and kisses her head while she smiles up at him. “And when she does, it’ll be dyedushka. Won’t it, Bella baby?”

“Our daughter’s first word is not going to be the Russian word for grandpa,” Dominic says.

Lev raises a pierced brow at him and then looks at his daughter. “Is he finally learning Russian?”

Natalya laughs. “He’s picked up a few things.”

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