I ignore the rest of them and focus on the person standing closest to Athena.One thing at a time.
“Anka, this is Athena. Athena, this is Anka, my sister,” I say. Athena’s eyes glimmer with relief for a second.
Behind her, Raya and Sofie arrive too. Damn. Thewholecrowd is here.
I glance around the room, realizing how overwhelming this must be for Athena.
“Athena, these are my brothers and sisters,all of themapparently.” There is no point in rattling off names to her now. No one could remember that many so quickly.
They start saying hello and introducing themselves, but I can see that they’re all perplexed about who she is.
“Are you keeping secret girlfriends?” Kirill leans close and whispers in my ear, knocking my arm with his shoulder.
“Athena is my wife,” I say loud enough for everyone to hear. May as well just get it out there.
The entire room goes silent, and everyone’s eyes are on me. Then on Athena. Athena looks panicked all over again.
“Athena, yourwife?”My sister blurts out, emphasizing the word wife. Anka’s eyes are wide with shock. Our relationship has only just started to heal after all the shit from the past, and I don’t want to mess that up. She will be so mad that I kept this from her, so I need to handle the situation carefully.
“Adrian, what in the world is going on?” she demands.
“Yes, Athena, my wife,” I smile, speaking gently and trying to make it sound like it’s not a big deal. I pull Athena close to my side because she looks like she’s about to have a heart attack with so many eyes on her.
“Hi,” she says nervously. “Are you maybe hungry? I made way too much spaghetti.” A grin spreads over my face. This girl knows how to pull a crowd together. Offering food? What a brilliant idea.
The innocence of her question disarms Anka, and she lets out a soft sigh.
“Spaghetti?” she repeats, shaking her head and smiling. “Um, sure, but I really do want to know how this happened. When it happened… who…I mean…” she sighs again.
“Let’s eat something,” I say, grabbing the chance to change the subject and redirect. “Who else is hungry?”
Thank goodness Athena made enough to feed an army. I have the feeling she was nervous cooking, and lucky for us, it worked in our favor.
“I’ll get some plates,” Raya says. “I’ll grab the cutlery and set the table,” Sofie joins in. Soon, the whole family is moving back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room to set up an early lunch. By the time they’re done, someone has made a salad, someone has grabbed a few bottles of wine, and the dining room table is a warm bubble of conversation.
My stomach is flipping over with hunger.
Athena is sitting very close to me, still nervous around everyone.
For the duration of dinner, Anka lets up on her interrogation, and we have a relaxed afternoon. Athena begins to enjoy the back-and-forth banter with everyone, which thankfully makes her feel welcome. My sisters seem to take a liking to her quite quickly and easily find things in common.
It’s actually fun.
It’s relaxing, unexpected, and a nice break from the chaos of yesterday.
After lunch, the table gets cleared in a matter of minutes because everyone joins in to help again.
Anka, Raya, Sofie, and Athena end up staying in the kitchen to clean up a little. I think Athena is happy to join them to escape the massive group for a little while.
We’re standing in the living room. Trifon is tossing fresh logs into the fire, and everyone is settling down with a drink. I don’t feel like sitting anymore. My side hurts, and standing feels better.
The whisky should help, though. I might take a few more painkillers later.
Matvei and Kirill don’t waste any time getting to the point.
“Ok, what the hell has been going on, man? The warehouse got attacked—we came here to check on you and find out you’re married. No more dancing around the truth. Just spit it out,” Matvei demands.
I shift position, shoving my free hand into my pocket as I swirl the golden liquid in my glass over the ice blocks.
