Page 73 of Born into Darkness

“I’m starving,” I tell him, and he smiles at how frustrated I sound.

Before he steps back, he slides his hand between my legs, laughing when he feels how wet I am. “You’ve already soaked through your yoga pants. Today is going to be a beautiful day,” he says with a big smile.

“For you,” I mutter as he threads his hand through mine and pulls me out the door. Embarrassment gets the better of me when we reach the end of the hall, and before we turn the corner, I try to step behind him so he’s partially hiding me from view.

I hear the amusement in his voice when he pulls me back beside him and says, “I love you, Talia. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and as much as I don’t want to think about it, our parents have all been there and done that.”

“Eww,” I say, making him laugh again.

When we step into the main room, everyone turns to look at us. Bran notices the movement, and when he sees us, he shakes his head in mock disappointment and signs,Thanks for the most awkward breakfast I’ve ever been a part of. Dad could sense what you were doing. The man is barely hanging on.

“What did he just sign?” Max whispers. “I recognized the thank you.”

“He just thanked me for a really awkward breakfast and said my dad knew what we were doing,” I whisper back.

Max laughs. “For his sake, I sincerely hope not.”

“How’s your arm?” Simona comes walking over, cutting through the tension in the room like a woman on a mission. Her smile is genuine, and she doesn’t even hint at us being over an hour late. I really do like her.

“Still numb, and I’m really going to miss it when that goes away,” Max says.

“Well, hurry up and get a big plate of breakfast before you start feeling bad,” she says, giving me a big smile and waving us both over to the kitchen. She’s been keeping two plates warming in the oven, and when she pulls them out and sets them on the island, my dad comes over and gives me a hug.

“Sleep okay?”

I try very hard to not blush when I answer him. “Yeah, Dad, I slept great.”

We both pretend he has no clue that I snuck into Max’s room and slept in his bed. My mom gives a soft laugh and walks over to give me a hug.

“Give him time,” she whispers, and then gives Max a side hug. “You both look a lot better today. Your mom and I are in complete agreement about making you both put on some weight, so eat up.”

“I will. I’m starving,” I say, eyeing the plate of blueberry pancakes and bacon.

Once we’re settled at the counter and eating, Max asks, “So when is everyone getting here?”

His dad says, “You know your family, Max. I’m honestly surprised they weren’t here as soon as the sun was up. Your Aunt Katya must’ve distracted Vitaly this morning to keep him in bed.” He laughs and says to me, “Our family is a bit crazy, but they all mean well. Don’t be surprised when they all barge in like they own the place and then insist on hugging you like they’ve known you for years.”

“They seem great,” I tell him. “I didn’t really get a chance to meet everyone the other night, but I need to thank them for all they did.”

His dad waves a hand at me. “It was a joint effort, and we were lucky that it all went so smoothly.” He nods his head at Bran. “Your brother is one hell of a shot.”

I grin, unable to hide how proud I am of him. “He is,” I agree.

Both our moms try their best to not hover, but I see the relieved look they share when Max and I both clean our plates of everything. Before I can put them in the dishwasher, Simona is taking them from us and telling us to go sit down and relax. Max grabs my hand and sits with me on the couch. My brothers are already there with Niki. They’re playing some video game that seems to involve killing zombies and enough movement to ensure I’ll be throwing up if I keep watching it.

“What’s wrong?” Max asks, when I quickly turn away.

Dima laughs and answers for me. “She gets motion sickness really bad. Bran and I tried to get her used to it by making her play with us, thinking she’d just get over it if she stared at the screen long enough.” He laughs again at the memory that I will never forget before saying, “She threw up everywhere. It was awful.”

He makes a gagging noise, and I know he’s acting it out for Bran. When I turn my head to look, Bran gives me a sympathetic smile and signs,Sorry. We really did think it would help.

I smile and roll my eyes, letting him know there are no hard feelings. To be fair, we were ten and Dima was fourteen, so what the hell did we know?

“Poor thing,” Max says, giving my head a kiss. “I promise I’ll never play video games in front of you or make you watch shaky cam movies.”

“Why did they even start making those?” I ask, resting my head on his shoulder so I can’t see the TV screen. “Who wants to watch a movie like that? It doesn’t make me feel like I’m right there with them any more than a still camera would. It just pisses me off and makes me vomit.”

Max laughs and then turns his head when he hears the elevator. “Uh-oh, they’ve arrived.”

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