The thought of Savanna finding out I’ve been spying on her is an embarrassment I’d very much like to avoid. I’m doing it for my job, but everyone knows it’s more than that. It’s why I didn’t just assign a few guys to tail her. I don’t wantthemwatching her. I want to be the one to do it. Plus, I have control issues and the truth is I just don’t trust anyone else to do it as well as I can.
Wanting to change the subject, I ask him what he did today. He starts telling me about how his older brother Luka convinced him to babysit his niece and nephew while we wait for our food. Our dads grew up with shit families in Moscow, so they decided to ditch them and become a family by choice. They’re brothers in every way that counts and my cousins have always been more like siblings to me, with only Damien’s dad and our Aunt Alina being blood related, which is a good thing since two of our cousins decided to fall in love and get married.
I’m laughing at the dirty diaper story Damien is in the middle of telling when our food arrives, and then we’re both quiet as we chew. I’ve always loved the balance our family has between work and play. I’ve never been able to fully grasp it, and Sasha loves to kill too much to ever be able to really let that part of himself be silent, but everyone else is a master at it. The levity helps keep us all sane. Most Bratvas are harsh, not only to the people they rule over but also their families, but that’s not how our family does things. For us, family is everything, and they’re to be protected and loved, not terrorized and used.
I know we’re in the minority, but we’re not the only ones. My older brother married into the Medvedev Bratva, and they seem to be a lot like us. Max spends half the year in Oregon so Talia and their daughter Lyra can be near her family. He splitshis time working between the two Bratvas, and so far it’s worked out well for them. I try to visit every month or two when they’re there. I’ve grown close to her brothers, especially Bran, and we’re all learning ASL so we can communicate with him. He and his cousins have been trying to teach me to surf. At this point, it’s an exercise in humility and patience.
While we work our way through a couple of slices of cheesecake, I get a text from Sasha.
“What does he want?” Damien grins and adds, “Help with disposing of a body?”
“You know he gets the newer guys to help with that,” I say with a laugh. I read the text and say, “He wants me to come over there for supper tomorrow night.” I meet Damien’s dark eyes over my phone. “Am I the only one struggling to get used to a domesticated Sasha?”
“No, definitely not,” Damien admits. “I still can’t wrap my head around it. Although, I’m not sure I’d call him domesticated. Maybe lightly tamed when he’s around Cindy.”
I nod my agreement. “Yeah, that’s much closer to the truth,” I say while I respond and tell him I’ll be there.
“He’s up to something,” Damien says.
“What do you mean?”
Damien hands his card over before I can give the waitress mine, and says, “I’m just saying don’t be surprised if someone else has been invited over, like a certain blonde someone.”
“Well, that’ll be Cindy’s idea then,” I say, already dreading it. I know she means well, but it makes me uneasy, like Savanna is being forced to spend time with me.
Damien takes his card back and then scribbles out a messy signature before taking out several bills for the tip. The waitress is still hovering around, so he sticks to Russian when he says, “Niki, if she didn’t want to see you, there’s no way in hell her bestfriend would set this up. Cindy would never do that to Savanna. I’m guessing she begged Cindy to do this.”
“Yeah, right,” I say with a laugh, trying to imagine the girl of my dreams begging her best friend to arrange dinner with me. I’m still shaking my head at the outrageous thought when I stand and slip the messenger bag across my chest again.
Damien shrugs. “I’d say we could bet on it,” he says while pointing at my nose ring, “but you’re obviously very bad at that.”
I laugh and tell him to fuck off before saying, “It’s a good thing I lost that bet anyway. Mia found a key piece of info that night. At least now we know Cupid used to be an Alpha.”
“Yeah, it’s also a good thing she’s humble and never rubbed that in your face,” he says with a laugh as he follows me out and then smacks my back before grabbing his helmet. “Let me know how it goes tomorrow night.”
“Maybe I’ll make up an excuse and skip it,” I say.
“He’ll just come and get you,” Damien warns and we both know it’s true.
“Yeah, but I’m family, so I’m on the no-kill list,” I tell him, knowing Sasha would never go back on rule number one.
“No, but he will drag your ass back to his place and force you to eat supper. That would be way more embarrassing than just showing up.”
He’s right, so all I do is grimace at the thought and then shove my helmet on. Damien laughs and puts his own on before starting his bike. He gives me a quick nod before pulling out and racing into traffic.
I guess I’ll be shoving all my insecurities and nerves aside and going on a forced double date tomorrow night.
Chapter 2
Savanna
“This is so pathetic,” I tell my best friend as soon as I show up at her house. “Is it too late to cancel?”
“Yes,” Sasha says from across the room, and even though I know it’s safe for me to be around him, technically, I don’t think I’ll ever feel totally at ease around my best friend’s husband. It’s not an exaggeration to say he’s a psychopath, but for whatever reason, he and my bestie just click. I’d been worried about her at first, but I’ve come to learn that even though he makes me uneasy, the man would do anything for Cindy. It’s actually pretty fucking romantic, and I have to force myself to stop thinking about their love story before I get all emotional. It’s bad enough I’ve begged her to invite Niki over, but if he shows up to find me crying on their couch, I’ll never be able to face him again.
“This is not pathetic,” Cindy says, giving me a hug that she instinctively knows I very much need. “Trust thatPride and Prejudicefeeling,” she whispers near my ear, and I laugh at the memory of the promise we’d made. We both agreed to save ourselves for men who light us up like it’s the Fourth of July. Niki is the only guy to ever give me that lit-up feeling.
“I’m not so sure it works if I’m the only one who felt fireworks,” I tell her.
