Page 16 of Born into Chaos

My jaw drops at his words and the vivid image that pops into my head. In my mind, I’m not crying and receiving a punishment I don’t want. Nope, in my head we’re naked, and I’m writhing on his lap as he smacks my ass red and fingers my pussy. It’s so vivid I swear I can feel a soft sting across my ass.

“Don’t.” The sound of Vitya’s strained voice drags me from my fantasy and right back into reality.

“Don’t what?” I whisper, trying like hell to pretend I’m not sitting in a pair of wet panties right now.

“Don’t ever look at me like that again, Sveta,” he warns and then quickly turns away, putting the SUV in drive and whipping us back into traffic. I stare out the window, pretending he didn’t just rip my heart out and stomp on it.

We make the rest of the drive in silence, and when we reach Dominic’s house and his guards open the gates for us, I’m more than ready to get out and put some space between us. As soon as he’s parked in front of the mansion, I’m opening the door and hauling ass. He doesn’t try and stop me. We both know I’m secure in the Alessi fortress. I ignore the guards I see patrolling along the fence and make my way inside, not bothering to knock because thanks to the delay of me getting chewed out on the way here, I know Natalya and Lara are already inside waiting for me.

My sour mood takes a turn for the better when I hear Isabella happily babbling away in a baby talk that’s complete nonsense to me, but somehow makes sense to her mom and dad. As soon as I turn the corner and step into the gorgeous sunroom that Dominic had built for Natalya, Isabella squeals and comes running over. Her two-year-old body isn’t exactly graceful, but she’s the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen. I quickly drop to my knees and open my arms. She barrels into me, throwing her little arms around my neck and hugging me in the fearless, all-in way that kids do so easily. They don’t worry it’s going to be too much. They just put everything they have into it, never shying away from showing affection, and I love that so much. At what age do we start holding back? Why do we ever decide that our love is something we should tamp down?

My mind briefly goes to Vitya, wondering what he’d do if I just ran up to him and threw my arms around him. Just the idea of what his reaction could be answers my previous questions. Fear, a huge dose of fear and the possibility of rejection is why we hold back. Seeing Isabella’s huge smile makes me think it might just be worth pushing through my fear one day. She’s beaming, practically lit up from within.

“How’s my favorite niece?” I ask her, and then look over at where Lara is sitting. “As soon as you and Luka have a girl, I’m going to have to stop saying that.”

Lara smiles and kisses her son’s cheek. Roma gives me a big smile, showing off his new baby teeth and looking downright adorable.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got some time. I know Luka would be thrilled if I got pregnant again right now, but I think I’d rather wait a bit longer.”

“Good luck with that,” Natalya says with a laugh. “I said the same thing to Dominic, and here I am three months pregnant again.”

Despite her words, she’s practically glowing and giving us both a blinding smile. I kiss Isabella’s cheek before letting her go so she can run and play with the pile of toys in the corner while I sink into one of the plush chairs. Natalya and I grew up together, and she’s always been more like a sister to me than a cousin. I’m close with everyone in my family, and it’s never once been an issue that we’re not actually related by blood. That’s never mattered to any of us. When Lara and Luka got together, the last thing I was expecting was to find out that she is my actual cousin. A lot of secrets came to light, but it’s been for the best, and now I can’t imagine our family without her. She’s exactly who Luka needed in his life, and I’ve never seen him happier.

“Everything okay?” Natalya asks, eyeing me in that way that only best friends can. She knows something is off.

“I’m fine. It’s just Vitya.”

Before she can ask me for details, Lucia walks in carrying a huge tray of food, and I quickly jump up to help her. I ignore the huge salads with grilled chicken, my eyes going directly to the plate ofbombolone, making my mouth immediately start to water. I’ve become addicted to the Italian doughnuts, and when Lucia sees my reaction, she gives a soft laugh.

“I knew you were coming today, Svetlana,” she tells me in her pretty Italian accent. “You think I wouldn’t make your favorite?”

“You’re an angel,” I tell her, helping her to set the tray down on thecoffee table in front of us. Grabbing a doughnut, I sit back and ask, “So how’s married life treating you?”

She grins and waves her hand at me. Lucia has been working for the Alessi family pretty much her whole life, and she fell hard for Dr. Bianchi, the man who used to be Dominic’s live-in doctor, the one who treated all the members of the mafia. Since he’s in his seventies now and recently married, he decided to hand things over to Tony, the much younger med student he spent a couple of years training. Dominic keeps trying to get Lucia to retire, but she’s having none of it. She says she’s only in her sixties and still has lots of good years left, especially now that Natalya is expecting again, so as a wedding present he had an apartment built for them over his massive garage and insisted she take more time off. It seems to be working well for everyone.

“Mr. Alessi asked me to bring you this,” she tells Natalya, setting down a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice next to her salad and a big bowl of fruit. “He also said that you need to make sure and finish your lunch since you didn’t eat enough at breakfast.”

Natalya laughs. “He pays way too much attention to what I eat.”

“You are his whole world,” Lucia says, “of course he pays attention.”

Natalya smiles at her and takes a big drink of the orange juice, earning her a nod of approval from Lucia. The two of them are on a mission to make sure my cousin’s nutritional needs are met. They were the same way when she was pregnant with Isabella.

“So?” I ask, wiggling my brows at Lucia when it’s obvious she’s intending on ignoring my question.

She shakes her head and blushes. “Stop teasing me,” she says, but before she leaves the room, she looks over her shoulder and gives me a wink. “You’d never know the man was in his seventies. Some days, I can barely keep up with him.”

We all burst out laughing as she leaves the room.

“Must be an Italian thing,” Natalya says, waving Isabella over so she can eat her lunch with us.

“And a Russian thing apparently,” Lara adds with a laugh.

“Okay, stop bragging you two,” I tell them. “Let’s not forget that I’m not getting anyD-I-C-K.” I spell the word out because my niece picks up on everything. She gives me a grin and reaches for a cracker.

I shove the last bite of doughnut into my mouth and reach for Roma so Lara can eat some lunch. He gives me a big smile and laughs when I kiss his chubby cheeks. His blue-green eyes are the perfect mix of his mom and dad, and I swear he gets cuter every time I see him. Putting him in my lap so he’s sitting with his back to my chest, I stack some toys around us and hold him while he starts to grab at everything.

“So what happened this morning with Vitya?” Natalya asks while stabbing at her salad. “Or was it just the usual?”

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