5. Evgeny
Evgeny
Ipull my car into the parking garage of the large mall before getting out and handing the keys over to Pavel, who quickly holds out his helmet.
Without a word, I take off the blue jacket I’m wearing and pull on a black one instead before taking the helmet from him.
He nods, tells me in Russian that he’ll be waiting for me when I’m ready to go home, and then slips into my car and drives away while I pull the tinted helmet over my head, completely hiding me from view.
I glance up at the security cameras that I know Niki has already altered before hiking a leg over the motorcycle and starting it up.
It’s always a risk to visit my family, but we’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years.
Pavel will drive my car around until I text him, and no one is going to recognize me on the motorcycle.
Even if someone were tailing me and watched me drive here, they’re not going to be expecting me to leave on a different vehicle while wearing a different colored jacket.
Easing into traffic, I drive around for several minutes, making sure I’m not being followed, and only when I’m convinced that I’m not do I turn and head towards my sister’s apartment building.
I drive through every level before parking on the top floor near the private elevators that my family uses.
I spot several vehicles that I recognize.
None of them flashy sports cars or motorcycles.
Instead, it’s top-of-the-line, bulletproof SUVs that will keep their families safe and also play DVDs so the kids don’t get bored.
I keep the helmet on until I’m safely in the elevator.
Once the doors shut, I pull it off and grin up at the camera in the corner, knowing someone, probably multiple someones, are watching.
The doors open straight into Yel and Val’s penthouse, and as soon as I step off, I hear Veya yell, “Uncle Ev!”
I drop to one knee and open my arms so she can jump right in them. I still can’t believe she’s almost nine. Soon, she won’t be so excited to see me, and it’s going to break my heart when that day comes. The older kids are already hitting that age, and I hate it.
Squeezing Veya back, I tell her I’ve missed her and then kiss her cheek when she starts to pull away.
“I’ve missed you too. I wish you could visit more,” she says, and I hate how sad she sounds.
Right now, all the kids know is that my work keeps me very busy.
They’ll know soon enough why things are the way they are.
Veya’s eyes are the same dark brown as her mom’s, and every time I look at her, I see my sister.
“Hey, man, good to see you,” Val says, walking down the hallway towards me with Valentin right by his side. When I stand, he gives me a hug and says, “We saw you in the elevator. Yel will be right out. Lena decided to get into Veya’s markers.”
Veya groans and looks up at me. “She’s always getting into my things.”
“It’s a compliment,” I tell her. “She wants to be just like you.”
I pull Valentin in for a hug and ask, “How are you?”
“I’m good,” he says. He grins up at me, and I feel like I’m staring at a younger version of my Uncle Vitaly—the same whiskey-colored eyes, same dark-brown hair, and same devilish grin.
“My god, every time I see him, he looks more like your dad,” I tell Val.
Val laughs and ruffles his son’s hair. “Thankfully, so far that’s where the similarities end. Maybe once he gets out of his shy stage it’ll come out, but for now, he’s way more sweet and quiet like his mom.”
“Uncle Ev!”
We both turn at the sound of Lena’s exuberant voice. She runs down the hall before flinging herself in my arms, laughing like a maniac while she does it.
“Now that one, on the other hand,” Val says with a grin. “She may look like Yel, but she’s all my dad.”
I hold the squirming four-year-old, kissing her cheek before setting her down so she can go careening back down the hall like a little tornado.
Yel appears a few seconds later, hands full of toys she’s picked up and a big smile on her face.
I’ve always been close to my sister. I remember listening to her throw up every morning and realizing she was pregnant and how scared she’d looked when she’d told me she was terrified to tell Mom and Dad.
It had all turned out well, of course, but since she and Val were raised as cousins, it’s understandable that she’d be worried it might not be accepted.
Our family is used to going against the norm, though, so after they’d all wrapped their heads around it, we’d had a wedding and celebrated the birth of Veya. It’s been perfect ever since.
“Hey, Yel,” I say, wrapping my sister in a big hug. She may be older by two years, but I’ve been towering over her since we were kids.
“It’s good to see you,” she says, squeezing me back. “It’s been too long, Ev.”
I pull back and give her hair a playful tug. “I know. I’m sorry. I’ll figure out a way to get over here more.”
“You better,” she says. She turns to give Val a quick kiss before scooping up Lena when she makes another run past us. My niece throws back her head and laughs until the elevator door dings, capturing her attention.
“Here we go,” I say, watching my family members start to spill out, knowing it’s going to take several trips before we get them all in here.
Sasha steps out, Hazel in one arm, Riley in the other, and Reese wrapped around his back like a little monkey.
Piper is the only one walking like normal next to her mom.
Cindy laughs when Hazel and Riley want down and Reese takes the opportunity to wiggle around so she has all of her dad’s attention.
He laughs at her and kisses her cheek. I have to remind myself of all the men I’ve seen Sasha kill.
Growing up, I wondered if he was capable of love, of any desire outside of killing, but as soon as he met Cindy, he was obsessed.
She became the center of his crazy world, and now his four daughters are right there with her.
I walk over to them, giving him a questioning look when Reese holds up her doll to me, the one that’s missing both her arms and one leg.
“Don’t ask,” he says, giving me a smirk. “We’re figuring things out.”
I take the doll she’s offering and try to think of something normal to say.
I settle on, “Nice hair,” which makes her laugh because she must’ve also decided to give her a haircut after dismembering her.
The short blonde strands are sticking up in all directions and there’s a visible bald spot where her bangs used to be.
Reese has red hair like her mom but light blue eyes like her dad, and right now the look she’s giving me is eerily like the one I’ve seen her dad give, usually right before he stabs someone.
I look at my cousin and huff out a laugh while smacking his arm. “You want me to give her my business card now or wait until later?”
“Very funny,” he says, but then he adds, “Don’t worry. I already have your card, but when the tooth fairy gives her a dollar, maybe I’ll have her pass it on to you just in case. Never too early to get her on retainer, right?”
“Yeah,” I tell him. “Having a four-year-old as a client won’t raise any red flags at all.”
“Well, if they figure out who her dad is,” Val starts to say before laughing at the look Cindy gives him. “What? We all know it’s true.”
Before she can answer, the elevator opens again, and I spend the next several minutes hugging and saying hi to everyone.
Niki’s son Evan, and Damien’s daughter Wren are the youngest at three, so they’re easy enough to snatch up and hug, but the others I just have to wrangle up as I see them.
Dario and Mia are the last to arrive. My cousin Mia married into the Alessi Mafia, just like her sister Nat did.
We’ve had a great working relationship with them ever since.
I made them pay me a dollar, too. Four years ago, I helped Mia and Dario find the best adoption lawyer in the state so they could adopt Nicolás and Daniela.
They’d been ten and six at the time, stuck in foster care with very little hope of being adopted since they were older and didn’t want to be separated.
“Don’t worry, streghetta mia, you’ll get it one day,” I hear Dario tell his wife.
My cousin glares up at him. Mia is the only woman who’s ever been allowed into the Bratva. She’s Sasha’s and Nat’s younger sister, and right now she’s looking a lot more like her brother.
“Careful, Dario,” I warn him. “She looks like she’s about to reach for a weapon.”
He grins down at her, not even slightly intimidated and bops the tip of her nose. If it were anyone else, she’d kill them, but all her husband gets is a smirk and a slightly irritated noise before she leans into his side.
She looks over at me. “I’m just frustrated because he’s picking up Spanish five times faster than I am.”
Dario gives her a wink. “It’s a romance language. Right, kids?”
Dani and Nico look at their parents and roll their eyes with a laugh when they see them cuddled up together. They’re fourteen and ten now, fully into the my parents are embarrassing stage of things.
“Mom’s getting it,” Dani says, sticking up for her.
Mia smiles at her daughter. “Gracias, sweetie.”
Dario laughs and kisses her. “See? You’re practically fluent.”
I smile at how easy it is to fall back into things with them. My family is always the same. We may constantly be growing in size, but the core of who we are is always the same. It’s a comfort, one I hadn’t realized I was missing so badly.
“Hi, honey,” my mom says, and I turn around at the sound of her voice so I can hug her.
She squeezes me tightly, making it clear that she’s missed me and she thinks it’s been too long.
I return the long embrace, letting her hug me for as long as she needs.
I know my career choice has made things very difficult for her, and I hate that.
She’s been through enough, and I hate that I’ve had to cause her more pain.