Page 123 of Born into Chaos

Nat holds up a hand to her. “We’re just celebrating well-hung, beautiful men.”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Lara says, smacking Nat’s hand.

Mia walks in and looks around at all the feminine, lacy material and gives a visible shudder. She’d been waiting outside with the bodyguards, and when she sees what we’ve loaded up our arms with, she just sighs and says, “Gross.”

I laugh and put my arm around her. “Just you wait, Mia. You’re going to be wearing all this one day.”

“I will not,” she says, tucking a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear, revealing all the piercings she has. “I like boy shorts. They’re comfortable, and any man I end up with is going to be strong enough to rip them off or he doesn’t deserve to get inside.”

I laugh and pull her closer. “You better not ever change, cuz.”

“I’m not planning on it. You guys ready? I’m starving, and you all have been shopping for hours,” she groans.

I’m still laughing when we bring our stuff to the counter to pay for everything. The bodyguards assigned to us are waiting outside the store, trying not to draw too much attention to the fact they’re there. The other men are with our moms, who’ve gone to get us a table at the restaurant on the corner.

When we get there, I’m not at all surprised to see that they’re taking full advantage of the bottomless margarita deal that’s going on. I snap a few photos of my mom and aunts raising their glasses in a toast and then quickly send them to my dad and uncles in a group chat with the message:Prepare yourselves. There’s bottomless margaritas at this restaurant.

I laugh when the responses quickly come in.

Uncle Danil:

Thanks for the heads-up, Sveta. Is there karaoke there? For your sake, I hope not.

Uncle Roman:

I’m not surprised by this at all. Anyone else shocked?

Uncle Lev:

Not at all, brother. Be sure and take embarrassing photos, Sveta.

I’m not at all surprised to read my Uncle Matvey’s response.

Uncle Matvey:

Are our men close enough? Do you need more?

Me:

No, Uncle Matvey, we’re surrounded and Aunt Alina is perfectly safe. Promise. :)

Uncle Matvey:

Thanks, kiddo.

Dad:

Tell your mom her drunk ass is mine when she gets home.

Me:

I really don’t want to deliver that message, Dad.

Dad:

LOL. I just texted her. Have fun, honey.

I look up in time to see my mom staring at her phone. Her eyes are already glassy, and the laugh she gives is a little louder than it would usually be. I really don’t like thinking about my parents’ sex life, but I am happy for them, and I know that Vitya and I will be embarrassing our kids one day soon enough.

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