Chapter 21 #2
I look at my dad, but he just gives a subtle shrug in a you know I can’t stop him kind of way.
We all look at my uncle who’s rubbing his chin like he’s deep in thought and trying to come up with the most eloquent way to express himself.
He must give up because the next thing he says is, “Damien came here a virgin, and I know my nephew well enough to know he didn’t just fuck your daughter.
” He has the nerve to shoot me a quick wink before adding, “Although, I have no doubt he upheld the Melnikov reputation in bed.”
“Are you trying to help?” Volodya asks him. “Because all you’re doing is pissing me off even more.”
My uncle holds up a placating hand. “I’m just saying that I think made love to might be a little more accurate. Damien came here and made love to your daughter.”
“Jesus Christ,” I groan and shake my head while Niki tries to stifle his laugh and Luka nudges my shoulder with a barely audible huff of a laugh.
“Uncle Vitaly, please don’t try and help,” I say, knowing it probably won’t do any good but unable to stop myself from at least trying to get him to shut up.
He walks over and squeezes my shoulder. “Damien, I will always try and help you. You don’t need to thank me. It’s what uncles are for.”
He turns away before he can see the wide-eyed look I give him. This time my dad doesn’t even try to hide his laugh. Looking at the three Medvedev brothers, my uncle asks, “So when’s the wedding?”
It’s Misha who takes a step forward to get in my uncle’s face. His eyes dart to Sasha when my cousin mirrors him and takes a step closer. My Uncle Vitaly laughs when the two crazy guys start sizing each other up.
Misha’s eyes turn back to my uncle. “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough.”
My uncle laughs and reaches a hand into his back pocket.
Misha’s entire body stiffens, his own hand reaching around to where I know his knife is sheathed.
When my uncle pulls out a package of gummy snacks, Misha looks even angrier.
I think he would’ve been less offended if my uncle had pulled a knife on him.
Opening the bag, my uncle pops in a gummy and says, “Relax, kid. This is my serious face.” He chews another gummy as he looks around at all of us.
“The thing you don’t understand, Misha, is that a grandkid is involved here.
No one is going to risk losing access to Lyra.
A rift between our two families would affect Max and Talia, right?
” He looks back over his shoulder at me and smirks.
“I guess I should say grandkids, because I’m guessing Sitka’s already pregnant. ”
“Fucking hell,” Volodya groans, obviously not having allowed himself to think that far ahead.
I know how much cum I gave my girl, though, and my uncle isn’t wrong. My Uncle Vitaly sees the truth of it on my face and laughs before eating more of his snack. While he chews, he grabs another package from his evidently endless supply and says, “Hey, Valeri. Catch.”
Valeri snags the bag out of the air with a grin on his face, ignoring the scowl both his brothers are giving him.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you staring,” my Uncle Vitaly says.
“Thanks, man,” Valeri says, already ripping his bag open and digging in.
“Now that snack time is over,” my dad says, “maybe we can figure out how to handle this.”
“It’s always snack time if you do things right,” my Uncle Vitaly mutters.
“We’re handling this by me marrying Sitka,” I say again. “It’s already handled.” I look over at Volodya. “I love your daughter. I know you’re pissed at me for daring to even look at her, but this was never a game to me. I want to marry her, and I give you my word that I’ll never hurt her.”
I look over at her brothers. “I get why you brought me here. I would’ve been pissed too if I were you, but I don’t want this between us. Sitka loves you too much, and I refuse to be the person who comes between you and her.”
“So you’d let her go if it became a choice between you or us?” Yuri asks.
“No,” I tell him. “I’m never letting her go. You two need to get over it is what I’m saying.”
They look like they’re about to reach for their weapons, but before they can try, Volodya says, “He’s right.”
“What?” Misha asks, looking over at his dad.
Volodya looks at his sons. “I’m not losing Sitka over this, and I’m sure as hell not missing out on being a grandpa. Besides, if he really was fucking around with her, the show you put on for him would’ve scared him off. It obviously didn’t.”
“What show?” Yuri asks, trying to feign innocence.
Volodya raises a brow at him. “Nothing happens in this Bratva without me knowing about it, and that’s especially true if it involves my sons.”
“It needed to be done,” Misha says, not wasting time with any excuses that we all know would’ve been bullshit anyway.
“Debatable,” their dad says, “but I understand why you did it.”
“You okay with this, brother?” Vasya asks him.
Volodya turns his eyes to mine. Not mincing words, he says, “I will fucking gut you myself if you ever hurt my daughter.”
I swear I feel my entire family stiffen at the threat, but I’m completely unfazed when I hold my hand out to him. “It’ll never happen,” I say. “I’m completely incapable of hurting her.”
He searches my face, looking for any signs of deceit, and when he’s satisfied there are none, he shakes my hand. “I want to talk to my daughter alone before you see her.”
“Fine,” I agree. “She hated lying to you. It wasn’t something she did lightly.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything.
The peace is short-lived, because my Uncle Vitaly immediately asks, “So where are you two planning on living? You gonna do the six-month thing like Max?”
Before I can answer, Volodya growls, “He’s not taking my daughter all the way across the country and keeping her there.” He points a finger at me. “I’m serious, Damien. I’m not losing my daughter over this after I’ve already agreed you can marry her.”
“You’re not going to,” I reassure him. “I thought we could just fly out anytime she wants to come back. We have a private jet. We could easily make a couple trips every month.” I look over at my family.
“Assuming I’m not needed. Bratva business has to come first, but if they can spare me, then there’s no reason we can’t visit a lot.
She loves Oregon. I don’t want her miserable, and she would be if she was stuck in the city all the time. Plus, the place has grown on me too.”
Yuri actually grins when he says, “I knew you had fun surfing.”
“I didn’t,” Ev says. “If anyone cares.”
His dad looks over at him and says, “That’s because you're sane, son. That water is fucking freezing.”
“Hey,” Misha says, “what are you trying to say?”
My Uncle Matvey turns to look at him. “I’m saying you’re fucking crazy. You have to be unhinged to willingly go out there and freeze your goddamn nuts off.”
“See?” Ev says. “That’s how any sane person would feel.” He gestures between himself and his dad. “We’re the sane ones here.”
“So you haven’t fallen in love with Oregon yet?” Valeri asks him.
“Sorry, but no,” Ev says. “I love the city too much to ever leave it. It’s beautiful, but it’s not for me.”
“I’m relieved to hear you say that,” Valeri says, grinning at his brothers. “I just wanted to make sure there’s nothing going on between him and Yulia.”
“No, definitely not,” Ev says.
It’s Dima who asks, “What about Allie?”
“Damien’s the only one who’s looking to get married,” Ev tells him. “I’ve had nothing but friendly conversation with Yulia and Allie.”
“At least one of you knows how to follow the rules,” Vasya says.
When I grin, I swear he almost returns it.
“I’m going to go talk to my wife and daughter,” Volodya says. “I can’t believe they both lied to me.”
“Maddie knew?” Vasya asks. “Who else knew about this?”
I did, Bran signs. I like Damien, and I knew he was good for Sitka.
Well, thanks for filling me in on that, Volodya signs.
She was going to tell you. Bran looks between his uncle and Sitka’s brothers. Can’t imagine why she was scared to tell you three.
Volodya scowls but doesn’t argue with him. He starts to leave with his sons while Vasya tells my family they can stay at his house if it’s too crowded at Max’s.
“We’ll be fine,” my dad says, “but thanks.”
He doesn’t seem surprised that we aren’t eager to split up, and when they all start to pile into their vehicles and leave, we watch them before slowly doing the same.
“It’s fucking freezing here,” my Uncle Lev says, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.
“I can’t believe you all flew out here,” I say.
Mia scoffs at me. “Of course we came. They killed some guy in front of you as a warning. You think we were just gonna sit this out and hope for the best?”
“She’s right,” Sasha says. “We stick together.” His eyes run over my face, and I know he’s wishing he’d made them bleed for it.
“It was mutual,” I remind him. “And they fought fair.”
“It was still two on one,” he says.
“If I can’t defend myself against two guys, then I deserve to get my ass kicked,” I tell him. “Plus, they needed this. They saw me right as I was coming out of the woods with Sitka.”
“After you made love?” my Uncle Vitaly asks, already digging into a fresh bag of gummies.
I’m not the only one who laughs, and it’s one of the most infuriating things about my uncle. It’s too hard to stay pissed at him when he’s constantly making you laugh.
“I really wish you wouldn’t say that.” I shake my head and open the door to one of the SUVs. “But to answer your question, yes.”
He smiles even bigger at that and gets in after me. My dad drives while Luka takes the passenger seat. Ev and Sasha get in the backseat while the others head for the other SUVs. Before we’re even back on the main road, my Uncle Vitaly says, “Sasha has some news.”
I turn back to look at my cousin. “Oh yeah? What’s going on?”
Sasha looks at our uncle but doesn’t waste his breath with a comment about how nosy he is. Instead, he tells Ev and me, “Cyn and I found out we’re having a girl.”