Page 104 of Born into Blood

Lara reaches out and hugs her mom again, promising that we’ll get her an appointment set up. She leads her back to where she was sitting while my Aunt Katya gets her a cup of tea. Svetlana walks over with Pip, and as soon as Chloe sees the cat, she smiles and reaches out for him.

“Thanks for watching him,” I tell her.

Svetlana smiles and waves it off like it was no big deal. “Anytime. He’s a cutie. He even managed to pull a smile from Vitya.”

I look over to where he’s standing in the corner, but he’s back to wearing a mask, all traces of any past smiles long gone.

“So what now?” Max asks while I sit down in one of the chairs and pull Lara into my lap.

My mom smiles over at the two of us. “I think we’re planning another wedding.”

Sasha switches to Russian and asks, “What happens if her mom can’t accept the truth?” He’s leaning forward, forearms resting on his knees, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s offering to take her out should the need arise.

“She will,” I tell him, making it clear that he’s not allowed to kill Lara’s mom.

Whatever he hears in my voice has the corner of his mouth lifting up in a slight grin. “Only asking," he says, leaning back against the couch again.

Mia nudges his side and laughs, proving that my cousins are absolutely fucking insane.

“What’s going on?” Lara whispers.

I kiss her cheek. “Nothing, baby. Just sorting some things out.”

She studies my face and gives a soft laugh. “Yeah, I’m going to need to learn Russian.”

“I’ll help you learn it,” Sveta says, not even bothering to look ashamed at eavesdropping. “I’ve got a few designs ready for you to look at, by the way.”

“What designs?” I look at Lara’s blushing cheeks while she shrugs her shoulders.

“It’s nothing,” she says. “Just some tattoo designs.” She crosses her arms over her chest in a shy move that has me holding her even tighter.

“For your arms?” I whisper so only she can hear.

“Yeah,” she whispers back.

“I can’t wait to see them,” I tell her. “You’re going to look sexy as hell all inked up, baby.”

She blushes harder, and when the smile she’s trying to hide turns into a big yawn, I position her so her head is resting on my shoulder while I ask my family, “What else do we need to take care of tonight? I want to get her home soon so she can rest.”

I know we won’t be talking Bratva business in front of everyone, so I’m not surprised when my dad says in Russian, “We just wanted to make sure her mom wouldn’t be an issue. There’s no reason to not take Lara home to rest. We’ll be watching the Turgenevs, but I’m guessing Vladimir will keep his word. There’s too much for him to lose if he doesn’t.”

“Bring Lara over for supper when she’s feeling better,” Vitaly says. “We’d like to get to know our niece.”

“Or we could all go to the farmhouse for the weekend,” Evgeny suggests. It’s unusual for him to speak up, but he and Damien are old enough to ride the dirt bikes now, so he uses every opportunity he can to suggest we go out there.

“Not a bad idea,” my Uncle Danil says. “I think we could all use a break after this. I know I need one.” He looks over at Niki. “I can’t believe my own son hacked into my computer. I still don’t know if I should be furious or proud.” He laughs and answers his own question. “Proud. Definitely proud.”

Niki can’t hide the cocky grin on his face, and when his dad sees it, he points a finger at his youngest and says, “You better not ever do it again, though.”

My Aunt Simona leans over, looking like she’s about to be sick, because even though Russian isn’t her native language, she understands every word of it. “Niki, what all did you see? Were you digging around for information about the Lebedev Bratva? Did you see the files your dad has on them?”

I don’t miss the subtle shake of my uncle’s head before Niki smiles and says, “Don’t worry, Mom, I didn’t see anything like that. I just saw a few documents with their names on it and pieced it together.”

My aunt visibly relaxes, and I see the relief in my uncle’s eyes. He doesn’t want her to worry, but the truth is Niki saw every damn thing. My dad and uncles will make sure he’s okay, but they’re going to shield Simona from ever having to know about it. There’s no reason for her to have to worry or feel guilty about it. The men in my family protect their women, even if we are a little overbearing about it.

“Just be happy he didn’t look at the file with your name on it,” my Uncle Vitaly jokes, trying to get my aunt to think about other things.

She turns beet red and glares at Vitaly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

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