Born into Sin: An Age Gap Dark Mafia Romance (Devils Will Rise: Melnikov Legacy Book 1)

2. Natalya

“Mom and Dad are going to have a fit, Mia.” I look at my little sister, eyeing the new piercing she’s given herself. It’s just a second piercing on her earlobes, it could’ve definitely been a hell of a lot worse, but they’re still going to lose their shit when they see it.

“I wanted them,” she says, reaching up to touch the little skull earrings. “And I knew they’d never agree to it, so I just did it myself. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like I did my lip like I wanted.”

“Don’t you dare,” I quickly say, eyeing my fourteen-year-old sister. “You can’t just go around piercing yourself, Mia. You could hurt yourself.”

“Oh god, what’d Mia do now?”

We both turn at the sound of our brother’s voice. Sasha is sixteen, age-wise right in the middle of us, but he’s already more than a head taller than me. He grabs a coke from the fridge and I can’t help but notice his bruised knuckles. He’s always getting into fights at school. He’s very careful to not get caught, but trouble always seems to find him, or maybe it’s just that he’s always finding trouble. My brother is nothing but nice to his family, but I’ve seen the look in his eyes when he’s in the middle of a fight, and it worries me. Sensing my concern, he gives me a smile, letting me know he’s okay, and then he looks Mia over, trying to figure out what’s different about her.

When he spots the earrings, he lets out a soft laugh. “It could’ve been worse,” he says, mirroring my own thoughts. “Cool skulls, little sis.”

She smiles up at him and grabs a bag of chips. When our parents walk in, Mia untucks her auburn hair from behind her ears, letting it fall down and cover her disobedience. My dad gives us a big smile, and seeing him solves the mystery of Mia’s obsession with piercings. He has a lip and eyebrow piercing, making him stand out at every school function we’ve ever had. Well, that and his tattoos. The Melnikov family doesn’t blend. Our family is huge and tattooed and that’s not even mentioning all the illegal shit. My dad and uncles run the Melnikov Bratva, the most feared and dangerous crime organization in the city. It’s something that my cousins and I all know about, but we also know that it’s never to be discussed outside of the family. Loyalty is everything, and I’d never go against the people I love.

My mom gives me a quick hug on her way by while my dad kisses my head. “Hey, princess, how’s it feel to be a high school grad?”

I laugh and sit at the barstool. “The same as I felt last week,” I tell him, “except now I don’t have to wake up and suffer through math class.”

He laughs and kisses my head again before leaning down to hug Mia. Sasha and I try to distract him by asking about supper, but our questions die in the air when he pulls back a strand of Mia’s hair and sees the skull earrings that are impossible to miss.

“What the hell?” he growls in Russian, making our mom immediately look over.

“Mia, another piercing?” Our mom steps closer, eyeing the earrings and then meeting my dad’s eyes before sighing and looking back at their youngest child. “I thought we agreed that you’d just get your ears pierced for now.”

“It is just my ears,” Mia quickly says, and I swear my dad’s fighting a grin.

“One ear piercing,” our mom says.

“Did we agree on just one?” Mia looks between them. “I don’t remember that.”

Our dad examines her ears to make sure they don’t look infected. “Where was Grigori? How did you get past him?”

Mia shrugs. “I did it myself.”

Our mom lets out a heavy sigh and points a finger at our dad. “These are your genes at work here.”

He laughs and wraps an arm around her before kissing her cheek. Our dad looks between me and Mia and Sasha, a big smile on his face, making his lip ring stand out even more as he says, “Your mom’s clearly confused. Any disobedience is obviously coming from her. I’ve always been a rule follower.”

We all laugh because rule follower is the last thing that comes to mind when I look at my dad.

“It could’ve been a lot worse,” Sasha reminds them.

Our dad groans. “Don’t say that. I don’t want to think about what that could mean.” He points a finger at Mia with his other arm still securely wrapped around our mom. “No more piercings, Mia. I’m serious. No piercings or tattoos or whatever the hell you want to do that will give me grey hairs until you’re at least eighteen.”

She smiles up at him. “How old were you when you started getting piercings?”

“Not relevant, little witch” he quickly says, using the nickname she’d given herself years ago. Dad’s always called me his little princess, and when he tried to call Mia the same thing, she’d stomped her foot and insisted she was a little witch instead. I can always hear the love in his voice when he uses it.

Mia laughs. “Uncle Vitaly said you were fifteen when you got your lip pierced.”

Our dad groans. “You should never trust anything your Uncle Vitaly says.”

“So it’s not true?” Mia asks, letting out another laugh because she knows she’s got him.

“Malinkaya,” he says, using the nickname he always calls our mom, “our little wild child is asking too many questions again. What should we do with her?”

He tilts his head like he’s considering a million different punishments while our mom says, “Maybe we should make her do everyone’s laundry for two weeks.”

Mia cringes while our dad laughs. “Or maybe we’ll only allow her to wear pink for a week.”

“You wouldn’t,” Mia whispers, but she knows he’s only joking. As usual, she’s in jeans and a black T-shirt. Mia doesn’t do pastels. “I’ll take the laundry.”

Our mom laughs while our dad holds out his hand to Mia so they can shake on it. “Laundry for two weeks?”

“Agreed,” she says, and we all know it’ll be done. We may joke around and Mia might like to bend the rules and Sasha may like to fight, but if we give our word on something, it’s a done deal.

While our dad gets a drink from the fridge, our mom cups Mia’s face and kisses her forehead. “Please don’t pierce yourself again. I don’t want you getting an infection and having your ears fall off.”

Mia smiles and lets out a dramatic sigh. “Fine. I won’t pierce my earlobes again on my own.”

We all know Mia is very precise in her promises. All she’s agreed to do is not add another hole in her earlobes, the rest of her body is fair game.

“Anywhere, Mia,” our mom says. “I can’t stand the thought of you shoving a needle through your lip or eyebrow. I realize piercings are in your blood,” my mom says, giving our dad a pointed look. He smiles and winks at her. “But please wait a few more years. We promise that if you still want them when you turn eighteen, we’ll drive you to have them done ourselves.”

Mia considers it. “How about I won’t pierce myself again, at all, anywhere, if you agree that you’ll take me when I’m seventeen to get a nose ring?”

When our parents look to one another and hesitate, Mia adds, “Come on, it’s just a nose ring, and I’ll agree to wait until I’m seventeen.”

I can tell our dad doesn’t care, but he waits until our mom says, “Okay, I can agree to that,” before he smiles and says, “Sounds good to me.”

Satisfied, Mia goes back to eating her chips while I grab a yogurt from the fridge. Sasha finishes his coke, but before he can throw it away, our dad grabs his hand.

“Another fight?”

Our dad’s eyes run over Sasha, looking for any signs that he might’ve gotten hurt. Sasha can’t hide his smile when he says, “He’s a couple years older than me and couldn’t even get a punch in.”

Before he can decide if he’s mad or not, our dad asks, “Why’d you do it?”

Sasha shrugs. “The guy was a jerk. Niki was focused on his phone, not paying any attention, and the guy tripped him. Niki wanted to fight him, but I held him back. He’s a good fighter, but this guy’s a senior and outweighed Niki by a good fifty pounds. I knew I could take him, so I did.”

Most dads would lecture about how fighting is wrong and how you should never do it unless it’s an absolute last resort, but most dad’s aren’t Bratva bosses either. Our dad squeezes Sasha’s shoulder and gives a soft laugh. Family is everything, and there’s no better reason to get your hands bloody than to do it protecting your younger cousin.

“Just be careful, son. You know that damn pretentious school doesn’t allow bodyguards on the property, but they’re always waiting close by, so you text them if you need them, and don’t ever underestimate anyone in a fight.”

“I know,” Sasha says. “I remember everything you taught me, Dad.”

Our dad can’t help but give a proud grin.

“Wow, can you girls still breathe with all the testosterone in the room?” our mom asks us, waving her hand in the air like she’s trying to clear a path for some fresh oxygen.

Our dad laughs and walks over to her, easily picking her up and making her laugh as she wraps her arms around his neck. He whispers something in her ear that I’m glad I can’t hear and then smacks her ass.

“Dad,” I groan, rolling my eyes and sharing a grimace with my siblings. Our parents are very affectionate, and I really love that they’re still so happily married, but that doesn’t mean I want a front-row seat to everything.

“I love your mom,” he tells us, “and I won’t ever be able to act like I don’t.”

That’s actually really damn sweet, and I can’t even muster up a fake eye roll for him. I’d love to have what they have one day, but so far I’ve had zero luck in that department. The boys I went to high school with never did anything for me, and the only other guys I see are those in the Bratva, and there’s just two problems with that—I don’t want any of them, and even if I did, none of them are stupid enough to go against my dad and uncles. Aside from Mia and me, there are two female cousins. Yelena is seventeen and Svetlana is eighteen, and every man in the Bratva is under strict orders to keep things professional and not lay a hand on any of us unless our lives are in danger. My dad and uncles are fair men, but everyone knows that doesn’t extend to where their daughters and nieces are concerned.

My dad kisses my mom again and then sets her down and looks over at us. “Let’s order pizza tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to the farmhouse for supper with everyone. Dominic’s just flown in from Italy, so he’ll be joining us.”

I started calling the house out in the country that Uncle Danil bought for all of us the farmhouse when I was little. I’d just read a book about a little girl on a farm, and every time we’d drive out to it to spend a weekend with our cousins and aunts and uncles, I thought of it as our farmhouse. There weren’t any chickens or pigs or horses, but there’s still acres of woods and a lake that’s hidden in them. With all the wildlife and space, it felt like a farm to my young mind, and so the nickname just kind of stuck.

“Dominic’s coming?” Sasha asks, already pulling out his phone to call his favorite pizza place for a delivery. “Is everything okay with his side of the city?”

“You’re only sixteen,” our mom reminds him. “Still way too young to be worried about business stuff.”

Sasha looks to our dad, trying to get some help. “It’s important I know these things.”

“It’s important you know some things,” our dad says, “and all you need to know right now is that everything is fine and running as it should be. We invited Dominic because we haven’t seen him in over a year, and we need to get caught up on a few things.”

I know that one day Sasha and all our male cousins will be taking over for our dads, and I’m still not sure how I feel about that. I don’t want my brother getting hurt, but I think I’m more afraid that stepping into this role is going to unleash a dark side of him that might be better off contained.

“It’s important I know these things, too,” Mia cuts in.

Our mom barks out a laugh before she can stop herself while my dad looks at his youngest like she’s lost her damn mind.

“And why is that?” he asks

“For when it’s my turn to join the family business.” She gives a small shrug like it’s a no-brainer while our dad softly shakes his head at her.

“Not going to happen, little witch. The Bratva is for men.”

Mia scoffs and tosses back another chip, the loud crunch making it clear she doesn’t give a damn about any past rules because they clearly don’t apply to her.

“Jesus,” our dad groans and then points at his full head of hair that’s only just recently started to show some grey. “You see these? I don’t want them to multiply, but I can tell you’re not going to be satisfied until it’s all white.”

He looks to our mom for help, but she just laughs. “I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about grey hair. I’m only thirty-nine.”

“Oh, you’re in for it now, malinkaya,” he says, picking her up again while she laughs. “I can’t believe you’re all ganging up on me.”

“We would never,” our mom says. “If Mia gives you a full head of grey hair, then you’ll just be one hell of a silver fox.”

Our dad laughs and smacks her butt again. “Sasha, order the pizza. Your mom needs to eat. She’s obviously in need of calories and not thinking clearly if she’s talking about me being a silver fox anytime soon.”

Sasha laughs and shakes his head before making the call, just another typical night for us. Most of my nights are spent with my family. The private high school I just graduated from is the same one my siblings and cousins go to. We’ve grown up together, and instead of fighting and hating one another, they’re my best friends and I can’t imagine not having them in my life.

After the pizza gets here and we stuff ourselves while watching a movie, I head for bed, flopping down on my fuzzy, pink comforter before grabbing my phone so I can text Svetlana.

You’re going to the farmhouse tomorrow, right?

Her response is immediate. Duh. Have you met my dad?

I laugh because she’s right. Uncle Vitaly would never let her skip a family dinner. Before I can respond, she sends another text.

Want to go shopping tomorrow? I’ll pick up Yelena on the way and then we can just go from the mall to the farmhouse.

Sounds good, I tell her, already thinking about the new pair of shoes I want to get.

I’ve just finished helping Mia sort out some laundry, partly because I feel bad she has to do it but mainly because I don’t want her ruining my clothes, when I hear Svetlana knocking at our door.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” I ask Mia.

Her hazel eyes widen before she gives a soft laugh. “A day at the mall? I’ll pass.”

I laugh and leave her to the laundry before walking into the living room in time to see my dad wrap an arm around Svetlana’s shoulders and kiss the top of her head as he leads her into the kitchen.

“So you ladies are off to the mall?” he asks while grabbing us both a drink from the fridge. He always speaks to us in Russian. My mom speaks it pretty fluently now, and all the kids in the family grew up speaking and hearing it. It’s as familiar to me as English at this point.

He tosses Svetlana a bag of the gummy snacks she likes so much, smiling when she laughs and says, “Thanks, Uncle Lev.”

I see a lot of her twin brother, Valentin, in Svetlana’s face, but her honey-brown eyes are identical to her dad’s. I’m told she also has his ability to talk himself out of just about anything and his knack for being an all-around smartass. Apparently, my Uncle Vitaly was quite the handful when he was younger. Our parents are pretty tight-lipped about what all they got up to, but I’m guessing it was a lot.

“Yeah, we’re going to pick up Yelena and head to the mall. We’ll just drive to the farmhouse when we’re done,” I tell him. “Don’t worry, we’ll be there in plenty of time for supper.”

He’s already on his phone, texting a few of the guys to let them know where we’re headed. Bodyguards are just a daily part of life. We’ve all learned that there’s no escaping it, no matter how much we complain or, in Svetlana’s case, how many times we try to dodge them.

When he’s satisfied that we’ll be properly guarded, he smiles and gives me a hug. “Have fun, princess. Try not to max out the credit card.”

He laughs when he says it while I hug him back and say, “You know I’d never do that, even if Uncle Danil could just go in and erase it all.” I don’t add that our cousin Niki could do it just as easily, because I’m not sure if our parents are aware yet of how damn good he is. On more than one occasion he’s saved my ass by going in to change a few grades on my report card. I would’ve still graduated without his help, but he did save me from having to retake algebra my senior year.

My dad tells me he loves me and then pulls his niece in for a hug goodbye. “Drive safe, Sveta,” he tells her. “Sergei said you were speeding the other day again.”

Svetlana laughs. “You all keep way too close of an eye on us,” she tells him. “You know it’s not normal, right?”

My dad laughs. “Nothing about our family is normal. Surely you’ve picked up on that by now.”

Svetlana tilts her head and thinks for a second. “I might’ve picked up on that over the years.” She darts her brown eyes to mine. “Maybe it was when they invited everyone from the Bratva to our dance recital when we were eight and Yelena was seven. Hmm,” she muses. “Yeah, I’m guessing that was the first clue.”

My dad laughs and points a finger at her. “A smartass, just like your dad, and it wasn’t the entire Bratva.”

Svetlana laughs and gives him another hug goodbye.

“We only did it because we were so damn proud of you three. We didn’t realize all the Russians with neck tattoos would draw so much attention.”

“I thought our dance teacher was going to have a heart attack,” I say, smiling at the memory of all that muscle lined up against the back wall, watching us perform the ballet routine that couldn’t have been all that good. The three of us loved our ballet classes, but I wouldn’t say any of us had a real talent for it. We were just excited about wearing the tutu and getting to jump around in front of our families. All the top Bratva members had stood there and smiled before giving us a huge round of applause when we’d curtsied at the end. The other parents hadn’t known what the hell to do. I still laugh when I think about it.

Before we can walk out the door, Sasha comes running up to us. “Hey, Sveta, mind if I ride with you guys? I promised Evgeny I’d come hang out.” He looks back at our dad. “Uncle Matvey said it was okay if I just ride with them tonight.”

“Sounds good,” our dad says, ruffling Sasha’s hair and then smiling when Sasha immediately smooths it back into place.

“Mia’s still working on the laundry,” I tell him as we head to the door. “I asked if she wanted to come, but she didn’t want to.”

He lets out a soft laugh. “Big surprise there. Don’t worry. I’ll let her punch the bag with me later.”

I smile and grab my purse because if there’s one thing Mia loves, it’s sparring with our dad in the home gym he set up. Why anyone would choose that over a day of shopping, I’ll never understand, but my sister’s her own person, and I respect the hell out of her for it. I pity the man she falls for because he’s going to need to be one tough son of a bitch to keep up with her. The thought of some man trying to tame her makes me laugh again as I kiss my dad’s cheek and follow my cousin and brother into the elevator.

On the way to Yelena’s, Svetlana tries to stick to the speed limit, but it doesn’t stop her from weaving in and out of traffic. The black SUV that’s been following us since we left the parking garage doesn’t have any problem keeping up, though. They’re used to her driving by now. Plus, thanks to my dad, they know exactly where we’re headed. All our families live close together, so within minutes we’re pulling into the parking garage beneath the apartment building our Uncle Matvey and Aunt Alina live in.

While we walk to the elevators, I nudge Sasha with my shoulder. “You need anything from the mall?”

“Can you get me one of those soft pretzels?”

“That’s what you want me to bring back for you?”

He shrugs. “I buy all my shit online. You know that.”

“It’s not the same thing as actually going to the mall and getting to see everything and try things on,” I tell him. We’ve had this conversation a lot over the years. He just doesn’t get it. “Fine, I’ll get you the damn pretzel.”

He smiles and pats the top of my head, a move he’s been doing since he hit a growth spurt when he was fourteen and shot up taller than me. “Thanks, sis.”

When we get out of the elevator and walk to the door, it opens before we can even knock, surprising no one. Our parents keep constant tabs on us, and when I see my Aunt Alina’s smiling face, I can’t help but understand their worry. I don’t know all the details, but I know enough to know that our aunt was kidnapped by a really nasty sex-trafficking ring and held for two years. From what my mom said, it nearly destroyed my dad and uncles, but no one took it as hard as our Uncle Matvey. They finally managed to get our aunt back, but they all swore that nothing like that would ever happen to our family again, hence the constant texting between our parents and the ever-present bodyguards.

“Hey, Aunt Alina,” I say, giving her a big hug. My aunt is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and she’s also the most down to earth. Today, her dark hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail, she’s wearing jeans and an old T-shirt, and she still looks like she should be on the cover of something. When our uncle walks into the room, her blue-green eyes immediately find his before her face lights up in a smile. Uncle Matvey was in a fire when he was fifteen, and it left him with a scarred body and a rough-sounding voice, but even though he can look intimidating, he turns into such a giant softie with Aunt Alina.

Uncle Matvey walks over and wraps an arm around his wife and kisses her head before smiling over at us. Sasha’s already said a quick hello and run off to find Evgeny, and Svetlana is squatting down and petting their German Shepherd Rasputin.

“Raspy’s a good boy,” Svetlana says, laughing when he licks her cheek. Yelena had named him when she was younger and obsessed with the cartoon Anastasia. We’d all cried like a baby when Finn, their first dog, had died, but he’d lived a good life, and he’d been surrounded by his family when he took his last breath. His ashes have a special place on one of our aunt’s shelves, right next to a photo of her and Uncle Matvey on the day they’d gotten him.

I bend down to pet his big head and scratch behind his ears while Uncle Matvey says, “So, another mall trip, huh? Aren’t you girls tired of that place by now?”

I laugh and look up at him. “Uncle Matvey, that’s not possible.”

Svetlana smiles up at him and says, “We’d love to check out some new places. Think our dads would be okay with us hitting a nightclub later?”

Aunt Alina laughs while Uncle Matvey groans and shakes his head. “I know you’re teasing me, Sveta. You’re so much like your dad it’s scary.”

She gives Rasputin one last pet and stands back up. “Speaking of my dad, he wanted me to tell you that he’s been practicing his pool game, and he’s pretty sure he’s taking you down later. He and Val are planning on challenging you, so come prepared.”

Uncle Matvey laughs. “He’s never going to beat me, but it’s so much fun to watch him try.”

Yelena comes into the room, tossing her phone in the oversized bag she has slung over her shoulder. Her eyes are just as dark as her dad’s, but her laid-back attitude is all her mom. While she asks her mom if she needs anything, my eyes stray to one of the framed photos on their wall. It’s my favorite one. My dad and all my uncles are twenty-four in it, and my Aunt Alina is seventeen. She’s standing next to Matvey, looking up at him with a big smile on her face while everyone else is smiling at the camera. She’s been in love with him her whole life, and I think it’s the sweetest thing ever.

“I could never seem to take my eyes off him,” she says, coming to stand next to me. She gives a soft laugh and points her finger at my dad. “Your dad had just gotten back from a fight. You can see his bloody knuckles if you look close enough.”

“They’re just like Sasha’s,” I mutter, shaking my head. “He’s fighting more and more.”

“He’ll be okay.” I turn to see my Uncle Matvey wrap an arm around his wife as he smiles over at me. “He’s a lot like his dad. He’ll get a handle on his rage, but until then, I’m guessing he can hold his own with the high school kids. Plus, that little shit deserved it for picking on Niki.”

I smile because he’s not wrong.

“You know, your Uncle Danil was picked on a little bit at school.” Uncle Matvey’s dark eyes are filled with amusement when he adds, “Until your dad taught him how to fight.”

I’ve heard stories about how good of a fighter my dad is, how he used to do a lot of underground fighting and that’s how he met my mom. Apparently, she was a big fan and stalked him a little bit. I can’t picture my mom doing that, but I think there’s a lot about my parents I don’t know.

“You guys ready?” Yelena asks.

“Heck yeah,” Svetlana quickly says. “We need to get going because this one,” she says, pointing a finger at me, “takes forever to decide on anything.”

“I’m not that bad. Besides, I’m only looking at shoes today.”

“Good god,” Svetlana groans, looking at our aunt and uncle. “This could take days.”

They laugh and then hug Yelena goodbye.

“You have your phone, right?” Uncle Matvey asks her.

Yelena reaches into her bag and pulls it out so he can see. “We’ll be safe, Dad. I promise.”

He still looks like he doesn’t want to let her out the door, but instead of giving in to that fear, he kisses her head again and tells her he loves her before wrapping his arms around Aunt Alina and looking at the three of us.

“Be careful. Keep your phones on and text if you need anything at all. Sergei, Aleksandr, and Feliks are watching you today. Let them know if anyone makes you uncomfortable.”

“We will, Dad. Don’t worry,” Yelena tells him, giving him another hug. She’s always been extremely close to him, and where most daughters would get annoyed with how overprotective he can be, Yelena’s always understood it and never once tried to make him feel bad about it. “I’ll even bring you one of those cinnamon pretzels you like so much.”

“Thanks, honey. Make sure you get your Uncle Vitaly one, too. You’ll never hear the end of it if you don’t.”

“Better just get enough for all of them,” Aunt Alina says with a laugh. “They can munch on them while they grill our supper.”

“Good thinking, malishka,” he tells her, kissing her head.

After promising to bring back more than enough pretzels for everyone, we finally leave the apartment and step into the elevator.

“Okay, I wanted to wait until we were all together before I said anything, but guess what I heard,” Svetlana says as soon as the doors shut. Before giving us a chance to guess, she smiles and I swear her honey-colored eyes sparkle with mischief. “Dominic Alessi just bought La Dolce Vita.”

“What?” I quickly ask, thinking of the nightclub that I’ve thought about trying to sneak into on more than one occasion. The Bratva owns a few strip clubs, but they don’t own any place that I’d want to hang out at, and even if I wanted to, our asses would get caught the second we walked through the door.

“You have to be twenty-one to get in,” Yelena reminds us.

Svetlana raises her brows at me and gives a soft laugh before walking out of the elevator when the doors open. “Dominic’s going to be at supper tonight. Maybe we can convince him to let us into his nice club.”

I laugh and shake my head, following her to her car. “You’re out of your mind, Sveta. We haven’t seen Dominic in years, and I doubt he even remembers us. Plus, there’s no way in hell he’s going to go against our dads and let us sneak into his club.”

“Maybe he will.” Svetlana gets in the driver’s side and looks over at me when I sit down in the passenger seat. “I mean, your dad did shoot him.”

“Yeah, and then Dominic saved his life,” I say, because we’ve all heard our parents teasing my dad about it.

Svetlana ignores me and looks back at Yelena. “What do you say? Are you in?”

Yelena laughs and shakes her head. “No way. Sorry, guys, but I can’t do that to my dad.”

I smile back at her, letting her know we’re not mad that she wants to sit this one out. “I’m pretty sure this is doomed to fail anyway,” I tell her.

She looks between me and Svetlana. “Please don’t do anything stupid.”

“No promises,” Svetlana says and then turns the radio up so she can sing along. She’s equally loud and off-key, and Yelena and I can’t help but bust out laughing.

We spend the next few hours at the mall. Most of the time is spent on me trying to find the perfect pair of shoes, but when I see them, I know every second of the hunt was worth it. They’re the exact same shade of pink as my dress, and they have the cutest straps that wrap around my ankles.

“Oh my god, please tell me you’re finished,” Svetlana groans from the chair she’s lounging in. Yelena’s on her phone, but her lips quirk up at Svetlana’s tone.

“Yes, I’m done,” I tell her. “But you have to admit the wait was worth it. Look at these things.”

They both look over. Svetlana nudges Yelena’s shoulder. “Are you at all surprised that her toes are already painted the exact same shade of pink as her dress and shoes? Because I’m not.”

“I think they look amazing,” Yelena says. “And no, I’m not at all surprised.”

“I like pink,” I say in my own defense. I shove the shoes I’ve been wearing in my bag because I plan on wearing these for the rest of the day, and then walk over to pay for my new favorite shoes.

We spend another hour looking around. I grab a shirt I think Sasha will like, and then pick out a pair of earrings for Mia with little witch faces on them that I know she’ll love while Svetlana and Yelena each grab a few things. Before we leave, we place a huge soft pretzel order, and when we head back to the parking garage, I wave Aleksandr over, handing him three of the pretzels. He immediately tries to wave them away.

“Please take them,” I tell him. “We got extra for you guys. It can’t be all that much fun following us around the mall all day.”

“It’s fine,” he quickly tells me like this is the most exciting job ever.

I laugh and insist he take the pretzels. “You can still tail us to the farmhouse while you eat them.”

He gives a soft laugh and finally takes them from me. “Thanks, Natalya. Appreciate it.”

I smile at the man who’s been watching over me and my cousins since I was born. His wife, Anya, used to dance at Pink, one of the strip clubs the Bratva owns, but she quit after she started dating Aleksandr. They’ve been married for almost fifteen years now and have three kids.

“Tell your family I said hi,” I say and then walk over to get in Svetlana’s car.

“Will do,” he hollers out to me. “Thanks again for the pretzels.”

We wave at them as they get in their black SUV before following us out of the garage. We’ve got an hour-long drive, and we munch on our own cinnamon pretzels on the way. By the time Svetlana is pulling onto the long, gravel road, we’ve come up with a plan of sorts. Svetlana and Yelena are going to run interference so that I can approach Dominic and ask him for a miracle. I don’t remember much about him—just a man with a light beard, an expensive suit, and an aura about him that makes it clear he likes his space. I’m fairly confident he’s going to laugh off my request. I’m just hoping like hell laughing is the only thing he does. The last thing I want is my dad and uncles knowing what we’re up to.

When Svetlana parks next to a stunning, red Lamborghini, my heart speeds up and my throat goes dry, because the man getting out of it is not at all the Dominic I remember. This man is stunningly gorgeous, a few days’ worth of stubble on his face, and wearing a suit that was obviously tailored specifically for him. It accentuates his broad shoulders and trim waist, and when he turns his head towards our car, his eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses, and I’m suddenly not feeling all that confident about our plan.

“Damn,” Svetlana mutters, giving a soft laugh. “Does he have any sons?”

I laugh, but the last thing on my mind is any possible sons he may or may not have. I’m too busy running my eyes over the older man who should most definitely not have caught my attention, but he has, and I can’t seem to look away.