Page 76 of Born into Darkness

I pull back so I can look at him, and when I turn to Yelena, she’s crying from watching our reunion, but she smiles when I give her a big hug.

“Thank you, Max,” she whispers. “Thank you for saving him for us.”

I nod, not trusting myself to speak. Pulling back, I point to her stomach and ask, “How are you feeling?”

She puts her hand on her stomach and smiles. “Really good.”

Unlike our other cousins, she doesn’t look like she’s showing yet to me, but she’s definitely got the glow part of it down, because my cousin is beaming. Val wraps an arm around her as I say, “Yelena, this is Talia.”

Yelena slips out of Val’s arm just long enough to hug Talia. “It’s nice to meet you. Val told me all about the hell you went through. I’m so sorry.”

Talia brushes it off like it’s no big deal, but we all know it was horrible for her. “I’m okay.” She looks at Val and tells Yelena, “He told me all about you and the baby. It was so easy to see how much he loves you.”

Yel smiles up at Val and he leans down to kiss her. Turning back to me, he motions towards my hand, “So how long before you can play again?”

“I don’t know. I have so much physical therapy ahead of me. I’m guessing it’ll be a few months at least. I have an appointment with the specialist tomorrow, and he’s going to give me a schedule and hopefully a timeline.”

“You’ll be playing again in no time,” he tells me. “Just wait until you hear him, Talia. You won’t believe how good he is.”

I turn to Talia. “Don’t listen to him. I may sound horrible.”

“Impossible,” she says, giving me a smile.

I smile down at her, remembering how amazing it had felt to wake up next to her and already looking forward to doing it again. The truth is my arm is really starting to hurt, and I’d like nothing more than to lay down and take a nap, but I’m not about to say that, not when we’re here and surrounded by our families, all the people who worried about us and put their lives at risk to come and rescue us.

My Uncle Vitaly pulls me from my thoughts by wrapping his arms around me and giving me a big hug. He ruffles my hair and then pats my cheek. “Damn, it’s good to have you back. We missed the hell out of you, Max.” He ruffles my hair again and then gives me a loud kiss on the cheek that makes everyone laugh. Grinning, he asks, “Did you hear I’m now the proud owner of Get the Scoop?”

“I did, and I’m not at all surprised,” I tell him.

He nods. “It’s a sound investment. I’ve always had a head for such things. Roman thought it was stupid,” he says loud enough for his brother to hear, “but your dad was able to work his magic and buy it for me.” Looking over at Talia, he says, “You two should come in. Free ice cream for family.”

“Yeah, he’s got a real head for business,” my Uncle Roman says with a laugh. “He’s eating and giving away everything. He’s not gonna make a dime.”

“Be honest,” my Uncle Lev says. “You just bought the place so you could eat ice cream all day.”

“Why the fuck else would I buy it? Why does anyone buy an ice cream shop?” he asks.

“To make a profit, maybe?” my dad says.

Vitaly laughs like it’s an absurd notion. “If all I ever do is come out even with this place, I’ll be thrilled. I just need it to keep me in ice cream. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake, which reminds me,” he says, snapping his fingers with a neurotic sort of glee. “I added ice cream cake to the menu.” He points a finger at Isabella. “You hear that, honey? I’ve got every birthday covered in this family from here on out.”

Isabella squeals and claps her hands.

“She gets it,” he says with a grin. “I can’t wait until Samantha’s birthday. I’m gonna load that sweet girl up with so much sugar she won’t sleep for a week.”

“Like hell you are,” Vitya says, walking over with Samantha in his arms. As soon as my uncle sees his granddaughter, he reaches out for her, smothering her face in kisses until she’s squealing with a laughter that’s so infectious we all can’t help but join in.

“Good to see you, Max,” he says, giving me a quick hug. “Sveta and I were really hoping you’d get back before the twins arrive.”

“I’m glad I didn’t miss it.” I look over at Natalya. “I can’t believe I got back in time for your baby. You’ve got, what? About a day or two before you go into labor?”

She pats her belly and laughs while Dominic leans down to kiss her head. “Our son is eager to meet everyone,” he says, “but don’t go into labor just yet,principessa. You still have ten days until your due date.”

Natalya sighs. “I’ll try not to, but I feel like I’m about to burst.”

Damien and Evgeny come over to give me a hug, and then go to join Niki and Talia’s brothers. They’re still gaming in the corner, and I smile when I see them using a bit of sign language with Bran. We all have a long way to go before we’re fluent, but I love that they’re already taking the time to learn a few signs.

“Oh my god,” I hear Talia mutter. “This is so embarrassing.”

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