Page 98 of Born into Madness
“You too,” I say while Sasha caresses the nape of my neck.
When I look around, it’s obvious everyone is staring at us but trying to not make it obvious. All eyes quickly dart away, but I see the smile Nat shares with her mom and hear the soft laugh his dad gives.
“Sorry, little witch,” Sasha says. “It was kind of a last-minute thing. You and Dario can come over for supper whenever you want.”
“Or you guys could come to our place,” Dario offers. He grins and says, “Your dog scares me.”
“He’s really sweet,” I start to say, and everyone looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. They laugh when I add, “He’s actually a big baby and loves belly scratches.”
“I told you,” Sasha says, grinning at his family. “Chort’s a sweetheart, and he loves Cyn.”
His dad laughs from where he’s sitting with Bell. She’s already pulled out some toys and is building a tower of pink building blocks. He looks at me when he says, “Even my brothers are terrified of that dog.” He laughs again and says, “Of course most people are scared of Sasha, too, but you don’t seem to be.”
I can’t help but join in and say, “Well, I was at first. I’m not gonna lie.”
“I’d be a little worried if you weren’t,” Dominic says, smiling when his wife nudges his arm.
“Don’t listen to him. Our brother is not scary,” Nat says.
I smile at the protective, older sister vibe she’s putting off. She’s very different from her little sister, but even though she’s in a pink dress and I can’t see any visible tattoos or piercings, she has the same fierce instinct to defend her family that I see in her brother and sister.
“I beg to differ. Your brother is incredibly scary,” a deep Russian voice says before another large, tattooed man steps into the room followed by so many people that I instinctively take a step closer to Sasha.
His thumb strokes my neck before he wraps his arm around me and says, “Cyn, this is my Uncle Vitaly, the family gossip. Don’t ever tell him anything that you don’t want the entire family to know within twenty minutes.”
Vitaly laughs as he takes a small baby from a much younger woman with light brown hair. For just a second I wonder if this is a massive age gap romance, but then a beautiful blonde woman comes up and wraps her arm around him and kisses the baby’s cheek. The way she touches Vitaly makes it clear that he’s her husband. I can’t for the life of me remember all the names Sasha told me before we got here.
Once the baby is situated, Vitaly walks over and tells me, “Don’t believe a word he says about me.” He points to Dominic and Nat. “I knew about their relationship and kept it to myself for days.” He looks back to Sasha. “For days,” he says, the emphasis making it clear it wasn’t easy. Next he points to a couple near the back. The dark-haired woman is holding a baby that looks about as newborn as you can get. Vitaly says, “I knew my son was sleeping with hiscousin,” he stops to raise a dramatic brow at me, “and didn’t say anything for hours.” He lets out an easygoing laugh, one that comes so naturally I know it must be something he does all the time. “I admit that juicy tidbit was a lot harder to keep to myself.”
His son groans from across the room and then meets my eyes when he says, “We’re not really related. I didn’t marry and have a baby with my cousin.”
Vitaly laughs and gives me a wink. “I mean, he kind of did.”
I laugh, already knowing I like this guy. There’s a mischievous glint to his brown eyes that makes it clear he likes to stir up trouble, but there’s nothing malicious about it. He's just the kind of guy who really enjoys making people laugh.
Over the next few minutes, I’m introduced to everyone in the room, and I feel like my head is spinning by the time Sasha leads me over to the last of his cousins. I’m grateful to see Niki’s familiar face and quickly tell him hi.
“This is Ev,” Sasha says, pointing to the last remaining Melnikov I haven’t met. “He goes to the same university as you.”
That piques my interest, and when I take a spot on the couch near him, I ask, “What are you studying?”
When he turns his head to answer, I notice his eyes are a pretty blue-green, and unlike the other men in his family, I don’t see any visible tattoos on him. He’s wearing a long-sleeve tee, though, so he might be hiding them.
He grins when he says, “Law.”
A laugh slips out before I can stop it, because of course the big bad mafia guy is studying to become a lawyer. It’s actually pretty brilliant, and when I tell him that, he smiles over at Sasha and says, “I like her. She’s perfect for you.”
“She is,” Sasha agrees, pulling me closer to him while we continue to visit with his family. They’re not at all what I’d been expecting. I’ve never met professional criminals before, but I didn’t think they’d be so nice. I’m not so naive that I think they’d be this kind to me if I wasn't engaged to one of their own, but when I look around the room and see all the smiles and the way these big men are getting on the ground so they can play with their grandkids, all the fear I had dissolves. You can fake a lotof things, but you can’t fake this kind of love, and the Melnikovs have it in abundance.
Sasha’s mom and aunts place an enormous pizza order because no one wanted to spend the day cooking for this large of a group, and I learn that Vitaly owns an ice cream store called Get the Scoop, so dessert is covered.
When Sasha gets up to refill my drink, Sveta takes his seat and gives me a big smile. “I never thought I’d see the day. Oh, Cindy, the stories I could tell you.” She laughs and looks over at her twin brother who’s sitting across from us. He’s holding his sleeping daughter while his wife finishes up her piece of ice cream cake. “Remember when he almost got expelled for beating the shit out of that jerk in high school?”
They all laugh at the memory, while Sasha walks back over to us. Without a word, he sets my drink on the coffee table, lifts me up, takes my spot, and puts me in his lap. With his arm securely around me, he kisses my neck and then looks at his cousins. “What are you all laughing at?”
Sveta’s mouth is hanging open as she looks at us, and the others aren’t doing any better at hiding their surprise. Yelena does her best though, pretending to be very interested in tucking the pink blanket around their daughter. Val’s too busy smiling at his wife and newborn baby to keep gawking at Sasha, but everyone else’s attention is still on us.
Sveta looks around at her cousins. “It’s bizarre, right?” She quickly looks back at me and says, “We love having you here. That’s not what I’m saying. I’ve just never, and I mean never, seen my cousin be affectionate with anyone.”
