Page 74 of Born into Darkness

The first thing I see is my Uncle Valeri followed by Max’s Uncle Vitaly. Both of them are holding large ice cream cones. My uncle sees my dad and gives him a big grin while holding up his cone.

“Can you believe this? Vitaly owns a fucking ice cream shop,” my uncle says, the awe in his voice making us all laugh.

“Well, I think we all know what you’re going to be doing as soon as we get back home,” my dad says.

“I mean, it’s brilliant,” my uncle says. “Free ice cream whenever he wants it.”

“This is what I don’t get,” Max’s dad says, looking over at his brother who’s still working his way through his own cone. “You have enough money to buy ice cream anytime you want it. Why is this better?”

Vitaly looks at my uncle, giving him aCan you believe this guylook. “Because it’s free,” he says like it’s a no-brainer. “It’s free, I can get it anytime I want, even if it’s after hours, I can have flavors named after me, and I can make the menu whatever the hell I want. It’s not rocket science, Danil.”

The rest of our families come bursting in while I hear Roman say, “I can think of a few names for that flavor.”

Vitaly takes another lick and looks at his brother. “Keep talking, and I won’t name one after you.”

Roman laughs and walks over to us while everyone else keeps piling in. He leans down to give his nephew a hug and then surprises me by including me in it.

“How you feeling today?”

Max grins and says, “My arm is still numb, so not too bad.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Roman tells him and then waves a beautiful woman over. “Talia, this is my wife Emily.”

“It’s so good to finally meet you,” Emily says, giving us both a hug like her husband had done. I can hear the emotion in her voice when she tells Max, “It’s so good to have you back. We were so worried about you.”

“I’m fine, Aunt Emily. I’m sorry I made you all worry,” he tells her.

She gives a soft laugh. “Who apologizes for being kidnapped? Of course we were all worried. We love you.” She turns to me with a sappy smile on her face. “I have the cutest pictures of him playing with my oldest son when they were both in diapers.”

“I can’t wait to see those,” I tell her.

She gives me a wink and then something catches her attention from across the room right before she yells, “Damian, come here, honey.”

I watch a young man start to walk over. He looks vaguely familiar, but I’d seen a lot of men the night of our rescue, and I’d been so out of it and worried about Max that I don’t remember everyone. He gets sidetracked when someone hands him a plate of food, so he gives us a smile and wave, making it clear he’ll be over as soon as he can.

The penthouse is quickly filling up, and before I can get overwhelmed by it all, Max wraps his arm around me and brings his mouth to my ear. “Just breathe, baby. They’re all just really curious about the woman I’ve gone and fallen in love with.”

I smile up at him when he turns his face to give me a quick kiss. When we pull apart, we see several women smiling down at us with watery eyes.

Max laughs and points a finger at the woman on the left. Going down the list, he says, “Talia, this is my Aunt Jolene, my Aunt Katya, and my Aunt Alina.”

“Hi,” I say, giving a quick wave.

The Melnikov family is as affectionate as mine, so they ignore my wave and instead take turns giving me a hug. I watch as they do the same to Max while they cry and tell him how much they’ve missed him and how happy they are to have him back. All the emotion nearly has my own eyes tearing up, and I’m not at all surprised when he squeezes my thigh, softly caressing me with this thumb while he continues to talk to his aunts. He’s in tune to my emotions in a way that’s uncanny, but it makes sense after everything we’ve been through.

I’m just as in tune to his, so when there’s a lull in the conversation, I lean close and ask, “You okay?”

He turns and gives me a grin. The mere sight of that beautiful smile is enough to make my heart speed up. “I’m fine, baby.” When it’s obvious I don’t believe him, he kisses the tip of my nose and adds, “My hand is starting to ache a bit, but I’m okay.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” I tell him. “I can get you a pain pill.”

“I’m fine,” he insists, giving me another smile.

“Promise me you’ll take one if you need one,” I say.

“I promise. Now, stop worrying. We’re about to be ambushed by my cousins and their kids.”

I turn to see a group walking over to us with an adorable, dark-haired toddler leading the way with a huge smile on her cute face. She runs up to Max and flings her arms around his neck while a very pregnant, gorgeous woman calls, “Sweetie, watch out for his owie!”

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