A small chuckle escaped my lips. “He can be moody sometimes. But yes, that Max. He’s my father’s right-hand man in the Thieve's Guild.”
Nova’s eyes went wide. Her mouth had practically dropped to the floor and it took a moment to recover. By the time she did, I heard a crazy commotion, and all of a sudden people had descended upon the kitchen. Another pregnant woman with a small child holding her hand entered. And then I saw them. Copper-colored hair, a boy and a girl with Apple Air Pods in their ears, and catholic school uniforms. My breath hitched in my throat and I turned back to Nova.
“And who is this?” A baritone voice with a slight accent asked. I found myself taking in two men instead of one and you would have thought they were twins, both with extremely green eyes. The one who had spoken went to Nova’s side and kissed her cheek.
“This is…”
Neither of us knew what to say but I was quick on my feet. With lightning speed, I answered. “I’m an old colleague of Nova’s.”
Sticking out my hand, I waited for it to be shook.
“Another thief,” I heard him murmur to his wife.
“Don’t be rude.”
She hunched him and turned back to the stove. Finally, Liam Safaryan took my hand and shook it, followed by his cousin. Everyone introduced themselves, including the little girl and the twins before they went into the family room and turned on cartoons. Teen Titans and their colorful array of costumes and silly antics took over. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the twins. It was real. I had family other than my father and Albie.
“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Nova interrupted my thoughts.
“Is that wise?” Valentin spoke.
“God the two of you are being super rude. What is going on?” Astrid asked and she too waddled to grab plates down. “Girl, don’t mind them. Please stay for dinner. I’d love to hear more about how you know Nova.”
Nova’s eyes met mine across the room and I shrugged. “Thank you that’s very kind. Can I help set the table?”
Everything became a flurry after that. Behind me, the children were laughing and playing. Sitting the white plates down on the long dining room table, Nova came in touched my shoulder.
“Once we sit down and tell them,” she said. “They’re going to be happy to know about you.”
“You think so?”
“They’ll have questions. We’ve always wondered about their dad but my mother was mum on the subject.”
“For good reason. I hope you don’t blame her.”
Nova’s hand went to her stomach. “This baby just kicked. We’re having a boy and he’s been making my life hard. He’s sitting on my bladder. Be right back.”
She rushed off to the bathroom and then Astrid came in with a salad bowl. A colorful array of toppings were seated in the bowl on top of a bed of lettuce. Placing it in the center of the table along with the salad dressing, I watched as she stood back and admired her work.
“Do you guys do this often?”
“Do what?”
“Ah, family dinners I guess…I don’t have much family anymore.”
Astrid gave a wistful smile and tucked her perfectly platinum blonde hair behind her ears. She was beautiful and I was interested in how she’d gotten married to Valentin. I’d have to get the story from Nova one day soon.
“We do it often enough.”
“I love that,” I nodded.
Growing up had been lonely.
Albie had mostly been off at his mother’s house unless my father had gotten us together for a small playdate, an attempt at ice cream. The one thing that my mother and Albie’s mother had had in common was that our father had never loved them. He had pimped out both our mothers. He had run a brothel and only put the women out to “pasture’ when he’d gotten them pregnant. My mother had finally left that life and wound up as a receptionist with the help of Max, thankfully. Albie’s mother had left eventually as well and was somewhere in the heart of California far away from Chicago.
Eventually, we all sat down to eat, laughing. Nova was the perfect host and served me food first. Before we could all dig in, the mansion’s doorbell rang and everything stilled. Liam and Val looked between themselves and I read their face. They both had sinister grins and I didn’t know if I should run or hide.
Maybe both.
