Page 55 of Born into Darkness

After a few seconds, Dima says, “So, do we get to meet him, Talia, or are you planning on keeping him all to yourself?”

I grin at my older brother and wipe my face dry. “Sorry.” Looking up at Max, I say and sign so Bran can know what’s going on, “These are my brothers.”

“Hey, man. I’m Dima,” my older brother says, holding up his hand to avoid an awkward left-handed shake. “You were out of it the first time I saw you.”

“Yeah, apparently I was roofied,” Max says while Dima signs the conversation.

“What?” I ask. “He said they were aspirin.”

Max grins. “They were a little stronger than that.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I had no idea.”

“It’s okay. It gave me a nice break from the pain,” he says, refusing to let me feel bad about it. “Can you introduce me to Bran?”

I turn to my other brother and smile while I sign and say, “Bran, this is Max.” Looking up at Max, I say, “This is Bran, my partner in most crimes.”

Bran grins when he sees what I’ve signed and signs back,Partner? More like I’m the guy who tries to talk you out of trouble.

I tell Max what he’s signed and then say, “Don’t believe him. I never get in trouble.”

“Of course you don’t,” my dad says, overhearing and stepping closer. Instead of trying to shake Max’s good hand, he surprises me by leaning in and giving Max a hug, being careful to not touch his arm. “Thank you for saving my daughter. I know what you did for her, and I’ll never be able to repay you for that. It would’ve killed all of us if they’d abused her like they’d wanted to.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I’d allowed that to happen to her,” Max says. He turns to me when my dad lets him go and says, “Can you tell Bran that I’m glad I got to finally meet him, and that I’m sorry I don’t know sign language. As soon as my hand is better, I’m going to start learning.”

“Really?” I ask, so surprised it takes me a second to remember I’m supposed to be passing on the message. I sign everything to Bran, who gives a nod of approval and then signs to me,I told you it would be fine. I’m glad I don’t have to shoot him. I kind of like the guy.

I’m still smiling when Simona says, “Please, make yourselves at home.” I watch her and decide very quickly that I really like Max’s mom. She’s sweet and obviously loves her family immensely. I see genuine warmth in her eyes when she looks at her two boys and husband. Danil wraps an arm around her, and he looks at her like my dad looks at my mom, and that right there tells me everything I need to know about him.

Simona waves for my brothers to follow her down a hall, showing them the rooms they can stay in while his dad pours my parents a drink.

“Thanks,” my dad says. “I could definitely use one.”

They take a seat in the living room while Max uses his good hand to guide me down another hall. We step into a large bedroom that looks lived in but clean. Aside from the king-sized bed and flatscreen TV mounted to the wall, there’s a few pieces of clothing thrown over a chair, a stack of books on the nightstand, and in the corner, there’s an upright piano with several stacks of paper littered along the top. The room is obviously being used, but it doesn’t feel permanent.

I lift a brow at him. “Is this where you live?”

He walks to the large chair in the corner and sits down. “Before Val and I were taken, we were on lock down. We knew there was a threat against us, and we thought it would be safer to not be spread apart, so I moved back in here. I have a house not too far from here. I’m going to stay here while I recover a bit more and my mom has time to convince herself that I really am safe.”

I smile over at him while I walk towards the piano to snoop a bit. “Your family seems really nice.”

“They are. Yours seem nice, too.”

“They are,” I say, mirroring his answer as I peek at the nearest stack of papers. “Wow,” I whisper when I see the pages and pages of sheet music, all of them covered in handwritten musical notes and abbreviations. It’s utter nonsense to me. You could sit me down with these pages and give me hours to study them, and they’d still make zero sense to me. I look over my shoulder at him, smiling when I see that he’s still staring at me. “What is all this?”

“Songs I’ve been working on,” he says, and then runs his eyes over me.

He looks unbelievably sexy in his joggers and T-shirt, relaxed and clean with a grin playing at his lips. Hooking his finger, he motions for me to come to him. I do as he wants, crossing the large room until I’m standing before him. I hesitate, making his grin grow, and when he pats his thigh, I can’t hide my own smile as I sink onto his lap.

I try to not put too much weight on him and to keep myself completely clear of his arm, but he sees the stiff way I’m holding myself and lets out a soft grunt of disapproval before wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me firmly against him. I let out a surprised laugh and then sink into his embrace, relaxing and molding my body to the side of his.

“Much better,” he murmurs, dragging his nose along my hair and breathing me in.

“It’s nice I don’t stink anymore, right?”

He kisses the side of my head. “You never smelled.”

“That’s incredibly kind of you to say. I washed my hair three times,” I admit with a laugh. “It felt like pure heaven.”

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