“But that was before I showed up as your girlfriend.”
I can’t help but smile at what she’s said. “That just means they’re going to love you even more.” When she still looks worried, I say, “Don’t forget Cindy will be here. Family supper, remember? Everyone shows up for food.”
She brightens up a bit at that, and when I start to pull her towards the elevator, she quickly falls in step beside me. Our hands are still entwined when we get to the penthouse apartment, and the first person we see is my Uncle Vitaly.
His eyes immediately go to our hands before a huge smile lights up his face. “I see you finally got your head out of your ass,” he tells me in Russian before giving Savanna a hug andsaying in English, “I’m so glad you came. It’s good to see you again, Sav.”
“Thanks for having me,” she says, and then blushes like crazy when she adds, “I’m sorry we’re a little bit late. It took me a bit longer to get ready.”
My uncle laughs and gives me a wink. “You both look guilty as hell. It’s pretty fucking adorable.”
Savanna blushes a brighter shade of pink and grips my hand tighter, making my uncle laugh even harder before he takes pity on her and says, “Don’t worry. We’re all thrilled you two are finally done hiding how you feel.” He points a finger at me. “Your Uncle Lev owes me fifty bucks. He thought you’d hold out another six months, but I told him with the amount of sexual frustration coming off the two of you, there was no way you’d last that long.”
“Oh my god,” Savanna whispers while I tell my uncle in Russian to stop or I’m never going to erase his porny elevator footage again.
He holds his hands up. “I’m just happy for you. I won’t tease you in front of the others. Not even about your matching messenger bags, which I just want to say is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Turning so we can follow him into the living room, he says over his shoulder, “They’ll be more than happy to pick up where I’m being forced to leave off.”
He’s right. As soon as we step foot in the large living room, every mouth stops talking, and every eye turns to us.
Savanna gives my hand a hard enough squeeze to hurt. She whispers a quick, “Holy shit,” while giving my entire family a wide-eyed, caught-in-the-headlights look.
I ignore my well-meaning but imposing family and step in front of a still very terrified-looking Savanna. Hooking a finger under her chin, I gently force her gaze off of them and onto me.
“Relax, Van. Just remember they already love you, and even though they’re pushy as hell and have no understanding of personal boundaries, they mean well, and they’re just really fucking happy for us.”
I cup her face and give her a kiss. It’s a chaste one, but I still hear a collective sigh from every woman in the room, and quite possibly some of the men. My uncles have become just as sappy over the years so there’s really no telling where it originated.
“It’s just you and me, beautiful,” I whisper close to her ear.
I hear her inhale before she whispers back, “Okay, let’s do this,” right as she squeezes my finger for support. “I’m terrified,” she admits, “but you’re worth it.”
Chapter 10
Savanna
When Niki pulls back to meet my eyes, the look he’s giving me has me forgetting about every other person in the room, even though there are a ton of them. His grey eyes are filled with something that I’m too afraid to put a word to, too afraid it will ruin everything if I do.
His smile is just as sweet, and yet again I’m stunned by how perfect this man is. He can appear shy and a bit unsure of himself in the cutest way imaginable, but there’s another side of him. I caught glimpses of it when he took me for a ride on his motorcycle and when he so easily brushed Deirdre off with zero hesitation. He might appear shy at times, but Niki is no pushover. He knows what he wants, and he’s quietly confident in his abilities. He proved that tonight, showing me yet another side of himself, and I’m dying to see more of it. We may both be inexperienced, but this man easily excels at most things, and I’m guessing sex is going to be one of them. Just the thought of how amazing he’d looked while he’d been dragging his thick length between my legs has my body quickly responding to my desire for more.
He leans in close to my ear again. “Van, are you having dirty thoughts about me in front of my family?”
The wicked taunt to his voice and the way his words quickly bring home the reality of where we are has me letting out a soft, mortified groan while he gives a deep chuckle and then kisses my cheek before pulling back and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
Too many sets of eyes are on us, and when I scan the room and see my best friend standing in the corner with a huge smile on her face, I feel my body start to relax. Not a ton, but at least enough for me to breathe a little easier.
“You all know Savanna,” Niki says to the room.
Everyone is smiling at us when Vitaly pipes in with a “They’re dating.”
Niki’s dad laughs at his brother. “You think? The rest of us hadn’t quite picked up on that.”
Vitaly just smiles even bigger and waves the glass that I’m assuming is filled with vodka at the two of us and adds, “Did you notice their matching bags? That’s cute as hell, right?”
“Ignore him,” Katya says, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist and giving him a kiss that quickly pulls his attention off of us.
“We all do,” Roman says while the rest nod in agreement.
Niki’s parents quickly walk over to us. Simona and Danil have always been nothing but kind to me, but now they’re downright exuberant, smiling so big they can’t make it stop, and when Simona gives me a big hug, she whispers, “I knew you two would eventually get together. Danil and I are so thrilled for the both of you.”
