Page 168 of Beautiful Trauma
I glanced between him and Mila. When she jerked her chin at me, I sighed. “Would you do me the honor of giving me your sister’s hand in marriage?”
“Fuck no.”
My eyes bulged. “Excuse me?”
The corner of Dima’s lip quirked. “I’m sorry, but I thought we needed a little levity.”
“You have a weird sense of humor, mate,” Dare remarked.
Dima laughed. “Yeah, I do.” Leaning heavily on his cane, Dima closed the gap between us. Clapping me on the back a little more forcefully than he had to, Dima said, “I willingly give my sister’s hand. You have proven your worth and your love for her time and time again.”
“Thank you.”
He extended his hand. “And I also owe you my apologies for shooting at you. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, and I was too weak not to listen to my father I owe you so much for your help sending the specialist my way.”
I put my hand into his hand. “I understand.”
Mila threw her arm around our necks. “You two can’t imagine how happy this moment makes me.”
Dima smiled at Mila. “Anything for you,zaika.”
“Zaika?” I questioned.
“It means bunny in Russian,” Mila explained. At what must’ve been my continued confusion, she replied, “I had buck teeth, okay?”
I laughed. “I bet you were a cute little buck-toothed girl.”
“She was.” At Mila’s roll of her eyes, Dima said, “I’ll have to show you pictures.”
“I would like that a lot.”
“Okay, that’s enough togetherness for you two.”
“Kellan, we need to get going,” Callum said.
Glancing at Mila, I said, “Would you like the two of us to stay? I mean, we’re already here. You might as well see Lev and Kira.”
She smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”
I turned to my brothers. “I can’t thank you enough for being there for me today–for being there for us.”
Dare grinned. “Don’t mention it.”
While Quinn and Eamon nodded in agreement, Callum gave me a sheepish look. “My apologies for not being on board sooner.”
“No problem.”
Stepping over to Mila, he held out his hand. “Welcome to the Paternal Annihilator’s Club.”
Mila appeared momentarily horrified, then a laugh burst from her lips. “While that’s so fucking twisted, I am proud to be a part of it,”
After shaking her hand, Callum and the others headed for the airport.
Grinning at Dima and Mila, I said, “So, what do you say we get out of here, so you two can tell Kira and Lev the good news.”
“That’s right.” Mila cocked her head at Dima. “Will you come, too?”
After flicking his gaze to me, I nodded. “Yes, you should come.”
