“I heard Nina met her great-aunt the other day.” Alexsey smiled. Nothing was secret in this family.
“She did. It was… pretty special.” I had a feeling Elena’s presence would help bring Selena to life, which was exactly what I wanted for my daughter.
Mikhail shook his head, his smile fading. “Life is getting back to normal. So you know, Liam O’Leary came through with payback of the favor he owed us.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning,” Vissarian interjected. “Our dear departed Uncle Yuri had contacted Tristen O’Shaughnessy years ago. The Irish boys were their eyes and ears. That’s how they were able to put two and two together about Selena and Nina.”
I sucked in my breath. “And exactly what did Liam and his clan do?”
Now Mikhail grinned. “Let’s just say we won’t need to worry about the O’Shaughnessy family any longer. In turn, Liam and his band of merry men are expanding their business. They’re going to open a resort with our help. At the location of the warehouse, since we weren’t certain what to do with the property.”
“Sounds about right,” Alexsey said.
“Agreed,” Kazimir said, lifting his glass. “What do you say, cuz?”
I thought about the suggestion and laughed. “Well, I guess we’re in the business of creating alliances and extended families. Why not? Here’s to new ventures.” I lifted my glass and while I still had my reservations, I was confident whatever issues we’d face, we would do so accordingly.
As a family.
During the last few weeks, my father and uncle had been more reflective. They’d also taken more time to be around their family. Maybe we’d all learned just how precious life could be, how lucky we were to have a close family. For the good times and for the bad.
But we’d all made one promise to each other.
No more secrets.
Well, I was breaking the rules a bit tonight, but that would be taken care of in a little while.
“Incidentally, I noticed Damien Kane’s public relations firm dropped him.” I couldn’t help grinning.
“So did his management company and I also heard,” Mikhail laughed, “no movie house will work with him.”
“Hurray,” Alexsey chortled. “Abusive pig.”
“He’s being crucified in the press as well.” Maybe I was a little too happy about his recent downturn in popularity. I would never say I was a decent guy. For the most part.
We clinked glasses and suddenly, we heard music. I’d be damned if Lainey wasn’t taking the stage with her acoustic guitar.
“Looks like I’m on,” Alexsey said as he backed away, winking at me.
“I thought we said no more secrets.” My cousin was talented including in music. After he’d written a song for Halle, the love of his life, singing it to her with Lainey during the first few nights of her residency, he’d dabbled in other music over the last few months.
However, whatever the two of them had cooked up, well, I might just need to punish her for it.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome to the stage Alexsey Dmitriyev, who will be accompanying me tonight for one song only. After that, I won’t bore you to death. This is a birthday celebration for someone very special to me.”
The crowd of around one hundred and fifty people cheered, some already shouting out for a full concert. I moved closer, pushing my way through the crowd. All I could see was the incredible woman that I’d fallen so damn hard for.
When I was standing in front of the stage looking up at her, warmth spread through me.
“This song,” she said with her lips close to the microphone, “is for the man I fell in love with the very first time I met him. Just don’t give away my secret. For you, Sasha. For all the sunrises and drips of ice cream I’ve licked from your face. For all the hard moments shared that we weren’t expecting and fearful we wouldn’t survive. For all the words of encouragement you gave me and all the kisses stolen on sweet nights. For you being the loving father and the best role model for a daughter I’ve ever seen. For all the little things that might go missed yet never do. This is for you, my love.”
As Alexsey began to play the piano, creating a soulful sound, I knew my heart had stopped.
And when she began to sing, there was no one else in the room. In fact, there was no one else in the world.
Only the two of us.
