Chapter 23
Damien
“Ican’t believe my little brother is getting married and going to be a dad.”
I grin at my older brother and take one last look in the mirror, making sure everything looks okay. The tux is top of the line and tailored to fit me like a glove. Not even my bare feet can take away from the elegant lines of the thing.
“It feels too good to be true,” I admit. “Like any day now she’s going to come to her senses and realize she can do better.”
Luka shakes his head. “No way, man. Sitka is head over heels for you, and there is no one better for her than you. She lights up every time she sees you. That’s why you two couldn’t keep it a secret and your asses got caught,” he reminds me.
He laughs at the smile I can’t hide and squeezes my shoulder before pulling me in for a hug. “I love you, Damien, and I’m so fucking happy for you.”
I hug him back, telling myself to not start crying like a fucking baby. “I love you too,” I tell him.
We both turn when we hear a sob coming from the doorway. Our mom is standing there watching us, tears already falling while our dad wraps an arm around her and kisses her head.
“You boys are making your mom cry,” our dad says, but I can tell from his voice that he’s just as emotional as she is. He’s just much better at hiding it.
“Sorry, Mom,” I say, right before Luka does the same.
She smiles and leans into my dad. “Are you kidding? These are the best kind of tears. Don’t ever apologize for the happy ones.”
She walks over and wraps us both in a hug. She’s over a foot shorter, but she still manages to pull us both down so she can kiss our cheeks and squeeze us tighter. “I’m so proud of you two,” she says. “And I love you both so much.”
“We love you too, Mom,” I tell her.
Stepping back, she wipes the tears from her cheeks while our dad gives us each a hug. He smiles at me and says, “Your mom and I are happy for you, son. Sitka’s a great girl, and we couldn’t be happier about being grandparents again.”
“We’re so excited,” our mom says, beaming at the thought of a new baby to hold and spoil in all the best ways.
“I’m pretty excited about it too,” I say, making them all give me a sappy smile.
They all know I haven’t stopped smiling since Sitka told me she was pregnant two weeks ago.
Our families have been great, working like crazy to help us plan the wedding and make sure everyone could fly out to see it.
It’s been hectic but not a single moment has been bad or stressful.
It’s the good kind of chaos, and I wouldn’t change a second of it.
Things will slow down after the wedding.
We’re going to spend a couple of weeks here, enjoying the coast while we make plans to build a house on the property, and then we’ll fly to New York.
I can’t avoid work forever. I already feel bad enough for staying away for so long, even though my family’s told me over and over again that everything is fine and for me to stop worrying.
Niki’s already secured us a penthouse that’s in between my parents’ and Luka’s building so Sitka will only be a few minutes from either of them.
For security reasons, none of our properties are listed under our names, and a bodyguard has already been assigned to Sitka.
She will always be protected, but the city isn’t like here.
I won’t have acres of land, locked down and secure where she can wander around on her own.
It’s far more hectic and unsafe where I’m taking her, and the thought terrifies me.
My dad puts his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. When I meet his eyes, he says, “Stop borrowing trouble. She’ll be safe. You think I’d keep your mom there if it wasn’t?”
I’m not surprised he can tell what I’m thinking. He knows me too well, and he and my brother and I are all very similar people, especially now that I’m about to become a husband and father. The need to protect those we love runs deep in all of us.
“I know you’d never keep her anywhere unsafe,” I tell my dad.
“Yeah, me too,” Luka says. “My wife and kids are in the city. I think you know me well enough to know I’d never let anything happen to them.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll make it work, and she’ll have Nyx, so that’s basically like having a team of bodyguards,” I say.
“We should probably keep her away from Chort,” Luka says.
My dad grins. “You should keep everyone away from Chort.”
“He’s sweet to Maude,” my mom says, bringing up the mystery that’s dumbfounded all of us.
The Doberman is deadly to everyone, but took an instant liking to Cindy and the little Beagle puppy they adopted.
I’m hopeful one day he’ll learn to love the rest of us, but I’m also not willing to go give him a hug and see what happens.
“I thought my nephew was getting married today?” My Uncle Matvey peeks his head into the room, grinning at us while my Aunt Alina smiles and waves.
“You look so handsome, Damien,” she says, running over to give me a quick hug.
“Thanks, Aunt Alina,” I say, hugging her before she steps back to look at my dad.
Her eyes are glassy, filled with tears that are seconds away from spilling over when she grabs my dad and hugs him.
He hugs his sister back while sharing a look with Matvey over her shoulder.
My family’s been through a lot, but the two years they spent searching for my aunt and always fearing the worst was a pain that won’t ever leave them, not even after all this time.
Some pain never truly goes away, and they’ll carry the scars of this trauma forever.
It’s not what it once was, though, and when my dad kisses my aunt’s head and then my uncle quickly pulls her back into his arms, I see the look in their eyes.
It’s not a defeated look. It’s a we survived hell and made it through to the other side kind of look.
There’s a strength to it, and so much fucking love.
It makes me proud to be a Melnikov, and even prouder to have my wife take our last name.
She’ll always be a Medvedev, but now she’ll also be a Melnikov.
“Okay,” I say before I get too emotional. “I’m ready to get married.”
My Uncle Matvey grins and smacks my back. “We’re happy for you, Damien.”
My aunt nods and gives me a huge smile. “Sitka looks beautiful. I caught a glimpse of her earlier. She’s gonna knock you on your ass, honey.”
I grin and say, “She always does.”
Since Luka’s my best man, we both hang back while the others leave, and soon Ev and Sasha join us.
Sitka chose Talia as her matron of honor and Yulia and Allie as bridesmaids, so I’d had to limit myself to three choices.
My brother was always going to be my best man, and Sasha’s had my back since he was pushing down bossy little girls in elementary school to defend my honor, and without Ev covering my ass this trip, Sitka’s brothers would’ve probably tried to kill me way sooner than they actually did.
It felt right to have them stand next to me while I say my vows.
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Sasha says, looking down at his bare feet.
Ev laughs and straightens his bowtie. “You’ve just got to wear it with confidence. Everyone else is in their bare feet, too, so at least you’re not the only one.”
“It does look cute on Cyn,” he says.
“Trust me,” I tell him, “you’re going to be glad you aren’t wearing socks and shoes. The sand would drive you crazy.”
“Just as long as my feet stay dry, I’m fine going barefoot,” Ev says.
I look down at my own bare feet and shrug. “I’m getting used to not wearing shoes. I’m going to miss this when we’re in the city.”
“Our families used to take us to the farmhouse all the time when we were little,” Luka says. “I say we start the tradition again once your kids are born.”
Sasha nods and then nudges Ev. “We’ll still let you tag along.”
Luka laughs. “Someone needs to babysit while we all sneak off for a quickie.”
“It’s hilarious that you think I’ll have enough free time to babysit while you all go off to make more babies,” Ev says.
“You can’t study all the time,” I tell him.
“Yes, I can, and if I want to succeed at this, then I’m going to have to,” he says.
Sasha looks over at him. “I think you should just stay firmly on the bad side of things. It’s much easier that way. You’re killing yourself by studying all the time, and once you become a lawyer, you’re going to have to spend your days around other lawyers and cops. Where’s the fun in that?”
Ev raises a brow at him. “It’s not supposed to be fun. It might turn out to be really fucking useful one day, though. Maybe it’ll be your crazy ass I’ll be saving one day.”
Sasha grins and huffs out a laugh. “My ass is never getting caught.”
“But if it does,” Ev counters. “I’ll be saving it.”
“Okay, but until then, you can still be the favorite uncle and babysit,” Sasha tells him. “You can’t hide out at the university.”
“Agreed,” I say. “You’re still a Melnikov. Family time is mandatory.”
“Fine,” he says, “but try to space the babies out a bit. I can only change so many dirty diapers at one time.”
“No promises,” Luka says with a laugh while we all follow him to the door. “I like my wife pregnant too much to wait too long.”
“No, you like her nursing,” Sasha says, making us laugh.
Luka grins. “Don’t kink shame, man. Not cool.”
Sasha laughs and holds up a hand. “I would never. We all know I’m the last one to be judging anyone.”
The laugh dies in my throat when I turn the corner and see our family on the beach, already sitting and waiting for us.
Chairs were brought down, and someone set up an arch made from driftwood that we can get married under.
It’s decorated in wildflowers, the lavender and blue colors mixing beautifully with the cedar and pine sprigs.
As we get closer, the salty sea air surrounds us, so familiar to me now that I instinctively take a deep breath, wanting to fill my lungs with it because it reminds me so much of the woman I’m about to marry.