Chapter 8 #4
I grin and listen to it again. I love that he sent a voice message instead of a text because now I can hear his voice whenever I want. I send him a couple of my favorite photos of Nyx and then make a voice message for him too.
We end up talking for an hour, and the more I learn about him, the more I like. The last message he sends is to remind me to be careful and that he’ll see me at the race tonight.
My brothers only told me about the secret gambling races four months ago, and as soon as I learned about them, I wanted in on the action.
They were hesitant at first, but I convinced them I could do it and that no one would need to know it’s me.
I show up in gear from head to toe. All anyone else sees is what they want to see—a petite girl who looks like she’s easy to beat.
I won my first race, and then several more after that.
Sometimes one of my cousins will win, but even though I have a great record, the assholes who show up still keep betting against me.
We’ve made a lot of money from these races.
I always look forward to them, but there’s no denying I’m even more excited for tonight’s race.
I look at Nyx, who’s finally woken up and is stretching her long legs out in front of her. “I just need to make sure I don’t fall off the cliff,” I tell her.
She comes over and licks my face before I get up to get her some food. I still have a couple of hours to kill, but Nyx has a way of making me forget my worries, and when she gives a happy bark and runs off wagging her tail, I feel all my nerves and impatience start to fall away.
I follow after her while I try to figure out a way to bring Damien here so he can meet her. I think the two of them would get along. I’m still thinking about all the photos I want to take of them together when my dad walks in and kisses the top of my head.
“Don’t forget your mom and I are going out later.” He grabs a drink and tosses me one of the bottled teas I like before adding, “We’ll probably go for a walk when we get back.”
It takes everything I have and then some to not cringe as my mind desperately fights against the images that try to assail it.
I will never be able to forget what my brothers told me, no matter how hard I desperately try to.
It doesn’t help that my dad is fighting a grin before he hides it by taking a drink.
Jesus Christ, my family is insane.
The only thing I can think to say is, “I won’t forget.”
He sets his drink down and then pets Nyx when she walks over for some affection. “What are your plans?”
I laugh and rest my hip against the island. “Oh, I don’t know. I was thinking I’d go pick up Yulia and drive into the city, maybe get something to eat or catch a movie.”
He lifts a brow at my playful sarcasm.
“I’m just kidding, Dad. I’ll probably read and try to convince Misha and Yuri to take me for some fish and chips.” And because I really hate lying, I throw in a half-truth and add, “Maybe I’ll go for a ride later.”
He gives me a slow nod that I almost falter under before he finally says, “Well, be careful and have fun. Don’t go riding on your own at night, okay?”
“I won’t,” I tell him, because at least that part is true. I’ll have about twenty guys right on my ass the whole time.
When Misha and Yuri walk in, I drink my tea and let them take over the conversation. They’re much better at the whole scheming thing than I am. Our mom joins us a few minutes later, and our dad gives a low whistle when he sees the dress she’s wearing.
Kissing her, he says, “You look beautiful, kiska.”
Misha raises a dark brow at me, but I refuse to let him fill my head with more of our parents’ kinky shit. My dad has always called our mom kiska, and he’s always insisted it means kitty. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized it also just means pussy.
I swear, keeping my family G-rated in my head is becoming a full-time job. I’m not sure I have the mental bandwidth for this.
“We’ll be back late,” our mom says. “I think we might take a walk when we get back.”
I refuse to look in the direction of my brothers, even though I can feel them mentally begging me to.
“We won’t wait up,” Misha says.
Yuri laughs and points a finger at our parents. “You two go have fun, but not too much fun. Don’t embarrass the family name.”
Our mom laughs while our dad says, “Impossible. They’re too afraid of us to laugh at anything we do.”
“Well, I’ll try my best to not do anything embarrassing,” our mom says while she pats our dad’s chest.
“Just don’t dance on any tables,” Yuri says.
“That wouldn’t be embarrassing,” our dad says, “but it would make me kill every man in the place.”
“No dancing on tables it is,” our mom says.
Our dad grins and gives her a wink. “Well, maybe later.”
“And with that I’m leaving,” I say. “I love you guys. Have fun but please never tell me about it.”
My parents laugh and give me a hug, both of them kissing my head and telling me they love me before I head back to my room to get ready.
It’s time to go win another race.