Page 35 of Born into Darkness

Chapter7

Simona

“Thank you for letting me stay here,” Nina says, taking the cup of tea I hand her.

I sit down on the couch across from her, sandwiched in between Emily and Jolene with Katya and Alina on the loveseat beside us.

“Of course,” Emily tells her. “I’m glad you came. Your daughter’s going to want to see you as soon as the plane lands.”

Nina nods and looks like she’s fighting tears at the mention of her daughter before she gives a half-hearted smile and says, “Well, my husband wasn’t thrilled about me tagging along, but I kind of insisted.”

“They can be stubborn,” Jolene says, giving her a friendly smile. “And way overprotective.”

“They certainly can be,” Nina agrees. She looks around the large living room we’re in. “You have a beautiful home.”

“Thank you. Believe it or not, we all lived here for a while,” Emily says. “When I met Roman, he and his brothers were all living here. After we got married, we decided to stay, but soon the guys were each marrying and we were all having babies and wanting more space. We all still live close together, though.”

“We live close to Vasily’s brothers, too,” Nina says. “I don’t speak to my parents anymore, so it’s nice to be surrounded by his family.”

“Same here,” Emily says, and we all nod.

My parents died before I met Danil, but I still wish they could’ve met him and our sons. The thought brings a lump to my throat as I fight the tears, just like I’ve been doing all day. I’d told my sisters-in-law about Max’s hand because I wanted to warn them about it before he got here, but we decided to wait on telling their daughters. Natalya and Sveta are both in their third trimester, and Yelena’s already had one miscarriage scare. None of us want to see anything like that happen again. We’ll warn them about it when Max is safe and on the flight home. There’s no reason to upset them now more than they already are. We’re not telling Mia because she’d just grab a gun and insist on going with them so she could exact her own revenge. They’re already having a hell of a time keeping her out of this.

Jolene asks what it’s like living in Oregon, and while Nina tells us about the land they have and how it butts up against the coastline, I try to ignore the sight of Vitaly sneaking up the stairs and pointing a finger at his wife. He, not very discreetly at all, winks at her and curls his finger in a beckoning motion.

When Nina turns around to see what’s going on, Vitaly grins and tries to not look guilty. “I just need to borrow my wife for a second.”

“For just a second?” Jolene asks and lets out a small laugh. “Lev will get a big kick out of hearing that.”

Vitaly grins and wraps an arm around Katya’s waist as soon as she’s close enough. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Jolene. I just need to talk to my wife about something that may or may not require more than a second.”

He’s about to pull his wife from the room when Val walks up the stairs a second later. Seeing all eyes directed at him, he gives us a sheepish grin and rubs a hand at the back of his neck.

“Let me guess,” Vitaly says. “You need to talk to your wife about something too?”

“Yeah,” Val says with a grin while Yelena’s cheeks turn red as she crosses the room to where he’s standing. He pulls her against him, kissing one of her blushing cheeks before whispering something in her ear.

Vitaly laughs and says, “Why don’t you talk to your wife upstairs so you don’t hear the conversation your mom and I are about to have down here.”

Val shakes his head like he’s trying to rid himself of the very unwelcome image and lets out a groan while pulling Yelena towards the stairs. The sound of the others starting to wander up from the lower level has Jolene letting out a soft laugh before she says, “Let me guess, all our husbands need to have a quick word with us before they leave.” She watches as her husband’s face comes into view, his blue eyes locked on hers, lip ring pulled back with the smile he’s giving her. “Yep,” she says before standing up. “We definitely need to discuss a few things before they leave.”

I envy their ability to push everything aside and share an intimate moment. I miss Danil so badly I can feel it in every part of my body, but neither one of us can push past our grief and fear to muster up anything more than a cuddle. It’s eating away at both of us, and I hate it. I’m not surprised when Nina and I are the only ones left on the couch. I knew they’d be the last ones up, wanting to go over the plan one more time, but I am surprised when Nina takes the empty spot next to me and says, “I don’t know about you, but I’d give just about anything to be able to lose myself in my husband for a few precious minutes.”

I let out a laugh that’s more of a sob and nod my head at her. “Me too, but just the thought of it makes me feel so guilty.”

She grabs my hand in a show of support and says, “I always thought losing my husband would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me, but then I became a mom, and I realized what true fear is.”

“I think I might wrap my son in bubble wrap when he gets home and never let him out of my sight,” I admit to her.

She gives me a small smile. “I think that sounds like a very reasonable plan, and I’ll be joining you.”

“My youngest is going with them tonight. The three people I love most in this entire world will all be together in a foreign country, surrounded by people who will actively be trying to kill them.” I let out a shaky breath. “Every second of this wait is going to be hell.”

“It will be,” Nina says, “but we’ll face it together, and at least they can text and let us know when they’ve landed and when they’re on their way back. It’ll be such a relief just to know they’re on that plane back. I think I’ll be able to breathe again once I know Talia is with her dad. They’ll both be safe, and then we start the bubble wrap plan.”

I don’t tell her about my son’s hand, about the screams I heard, the ones that will haunt me until the day I die, the way his beautiful fingers were left mangled as he almost passed out from the pain. I keep all that to myself because as worried as I am about Max, I know Nina’s going through her own hell imagining all the things that could be done to a young woman being held by a vile group of men.

Giving her hand another squeeze, I say, “This is almost over. We just need to keep it together for a little bit longer.”

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