Page 77 of Born into Blood

Mia huffs out a breath, pushing a strand of her newly dyed hair behind her ear, revealing the pink streaks and the line of piercings she talked her parents into letting her get. “I wouldn’t get so angry if you all would treat me the same way you treat the boys.”

“Sorry, little witch,” my Uncle Lev says, using her favorite nickname. “I love you too much, baby. You can train with Dario when you turn seventeen. That’s only a little more than a year away.”

“Can’t fucking wait,” Dario mutters before walking past his brother and back into the house. Alessandro just laughs and starts throwing hamburgers onto the grill. Just a typical Sunday night supper with the Melnikov and Alessi families.

Sasha comes walking out a few minutes later, having no idea what’s just taken place, but as soon as he sees Mia’s pouty face, he picks her up, tossing her into the pool. She comes up sputtering and cursing him to hell and back, but he just laughs and pulls off his shirt, jumping in after her. Sasha is almost eighteen, and I’d be lying if I said we all didn’t worry about him from time to time. Violence has always been a part of our lives, but Sasha fucking revels in it. Nothing ever fazes him. I’m not so sure he feels things like the rest of us. He loves his family and would do anything for them, just like the rest of us, but if you’re not a part of his inner circle, you’re absolutely nothing to him, and the dead look he sometimes gets in his eyes is enough to have most men pissing their pants. He’s going to be a hell of a Bratva boss when the time comes. He already joins in more than the rest of us did at his age, and soon he’ll be stepping up full time, and god help the poor fucker who tries to go up against him.

“Come on and sit down,” my Uncle Matvey says, pushing out the chair next to him and motioning for Lara to take it. My Aunt Alina is on his other side, tucked up next to him just the way Lara likes to sit with me.

Lara thanks him and takes the seat, keeping her fingers threaded through mine like she’s afraid I might actually walk off and leave her by herself. I squeeze her hand to let her know that’s never going to fucking happen.

My Uncle Matvey glances down at the long-sleeved shirt she’s wearing but doesn’t comment on it. He’s no stranger to sweating his ass off because he wanted to hide his scars. My dad said it wasn’t until after they found Alina that he started wearing T-shirts again. The burn scars on his arms are still obvious, even with the tattoos covering them, but he no longer cares about hiding away.

“Do you have a big family?” he asks her.

Lara fidgets with my fingers and shakes her head at him. “No, it’s just me and my mom. My dad died before I was born.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” my Aunt Alina quickly says. “Roman barely remembers our dad, and he died soon after I was born, so I don’t remember him at all. It’s hard growing up without a dad.”

She gives Lara a smile, and my Uncle Matvey runs his hand through her hair and kisses her forehead. All my aunts and uncles love each other, but there’s something especially intense about the way Matvey and Alina love one another. I’ve always assumed it’s because he lost her for two years and nearly went insane trying to find her, but my dad says his sister has always been deeply in love with Matvey, and as soon as she turned eighteen, Matvey fell just as hard for her. It’s exactly how I feel about the woman sitting next to me. Just the thought of someone taking her from me makes me feel like I can’t breathe. I don’t know how my uncle survived those two years. It must have been an absolute, unending hell. Even though he survived it, it definitely left its mark. He’s militant about his family’s security, and he doesn’t do well if he has to be away from them for too long, especially Alina.

A bark cuts through the air, and my uncle’s face spreads into a huge grin when he looks over and sees his daughter walking into the backyard with Val. Rasputin jumps around at Val’s feet, waiting for him to throw the ball. As soon as he tosses it into the yard, the dog gives another bark and runs after it.

“What a beautiful dog,” Lara says.

My Aunt Alina laughs at Rasputin when he comes bounding back to Val, wanting the ball thrown again. “Thanks. Raspy’s a great dog.” She looks at her husband and kisses him. “Matvey got him for me.”

“Anything for you, malishka,” he tells her, giving her a wink that still manages to make her blush and smile up at him like he’s her whole world.

Lara leans into me, and I kiss her head, breathing in the scent of her as I do. “Come on, baby. I want you to meet the rest of my cousins.”

I ignore all the sweet looks my aunts are giving me as I walk Lara over to where Val and Yelena are sitting by the pool. Max is heading towards us, and when we’re all together, I start making the introductions. Yelena quickly pulls her in for a hug while Svetlana runs over to join in the fun, and Max gives her a friendly smile. We sit around one of the tables by the pool, and I make sure Lara is completely in the shade because she has to be hot in her long-sleeved shirt and jeans.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Yelena tells her and then secretly gives me a thumbs up behind Lara’s back.

“Welcome to the family of ridiculously overbearing men.” Svetlana laughs and adds, “They mean well, though.”

“Thanks so much for that, cuz,” I tell her.

She smiles sweetly. “You’re welcome.” Nodding over at Vitya, she says, “This is what you have to look forward to.”

Lara looks at Vitya and then back up at me. “That’s not Arkady, is it?”

Svetlana laughs. “No, Arkady actually smiles and talks. This is Vitya. I saved his life,” she proudly declares while Val rolls his eyes. “You can see how grateful he is by that huge smile he’s giving me right now.”

I laugh at the hard, unreadable look Vitya’s giving Svetlana, having heard every word of our conversation. He surprises all of us by nodding at the woman in my arms. “It’s nice to meet you, Lara,” he says in his thick, Russian accent.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Svetlana asks him, crossing her arms over her chest. “We’re basically glued to each other’s asses twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and you’ve never said anything even remotely nice to me like that.”

His only response is a dead stare and a slight twitch of his lips as he fights the smile he no doubt wants to give. Vitya knows how to get under Svetlana’s skin like no one else, and he takes every opportunity to do so.

Svetlana looks back at us. She darts her eyes to mine and then back to Lara’s before asking, “You sure he’s worth all this?”

When she sees the look I give her, she laughs. “I’m just kidding, Luka. It’s obvious you two are smitten with one another and we’ll be having another wedding soon and another little Melnikov baby.” She sighs dramatically, a sound I’ve heard more times than I can count while growing up with her. “I guess it’s up to me and Mia to be the rebellious single ladies.”

Lara looks over at Yelena but doesn’t say anything. I tighten my grip on her waist and give a very subtle shake of my head that only she notices, letting her know to not ask questions, and then I give her a wink to tell her I’ll fill her in later.

“Well, if anyone can handle it,” Val tells her, “it’s you.”

---