Page 76 of The Russian's Bought Bride

My siblings are used to seeing me detached and avoiding deeper emotions whenever possible, but I want them to knowI’m capable of more. That I will always stand my ground on the things that matter, even if a small piece of me is terrified of this.

Roman rises first from where he’s seated near the fireplace with Victoria next to him. As always, he commands attention without even trying, both tall and broad-shouldered in a dark button-down with that same authority that makes grown men nervous.

But tonight, his expression softens slightly when he looks at Danielle. It’s completely the opposite of how their first meeting went.

“It’s good to see you again,” he says evenly, seeing her now as someone in the fold rather than an outside he needs to dissect.

Danielle nods carefully, as if she’s quietly afraid of saying the wrong thing. Even so, she speaks clearly and without hesitation. “You too.”

Then the introductions begin properly.

Mikhail is polite as always, Sergey is far too quick to grin at me like he’s about to become a problem despite how Kat tries to reel him back in, and Ivan looks more tired than usual thanks to Alexei’s sleep schedule, who is apparently asleep upstairs, according to Mila.

Of course, Elena wastes no time with her usual sweet words and open curiosity as she introduces herself, all the while Wyatt watches her with quiet, fond amusement. If Elena could adopt every woman as her best friend, she would.

It’s overwhelming enough that I can practically feel Danielle trying to keep up mentally beside me, but to my surprise, everyone slips into welcoming her almost effortlessly.

Really, it shouldn’t be surprising. Regardless of how intense everyone can be, they aren’t monsters. Each of them knows what it’s like to put their pride aside and bring the most important person to them around.

And given how rare a thing this is for me, they know this matters to me.

It matters so much that seeing Dani relax by even a fraction around them feels incredibly important and settles some of the tension in me.

“Is Nikolai keeping you alive in there?” Sergey asks her casually while handing her a drink in the kitchen. “We all know this can be a bit much.”

“Barely,” Danielle says dryly.

Sergey immediately bursts out laughing, not as composed as he tries to pretend he is. He grins and glances at me. “I like her already.”

“Don’t encourage him,” I mutter, but there’s something vaguely funny about seeing him this way.

Though I regret the thought immediately. It’s already too late.

Mikhail smirks from across the room. “You brought home a woman capable of surviving your personality. We’re all impressed.”

Danielle snorts softly into her glass like a traitor, and as expected, the teasing only escalates from there. Apparently, my siblings have collectively decided this is the funniest development of the year, or they’ve been keeping everything bottled up while they waited for this day to arrive. Likely both.

Roman at least stays mostly restrained, though I catch the occasional deeply unimpressed glance whenever Sergey gets toocaught up in trying to be entertaining and charming, to which Kat eventually cuts him off and hands him water as a hint.

“You must be very patient to handle all of this,” Elena remarks lightly while we gather near the dining area as the younger ones chase each other in and out of the room, cheeks red while they laugh hard.

“You’ll get desensitized eventually,” Ivan adds simply, which seems to be true. The girls haven’t run off yet, so it must be tolerable enough.

Danielle smiles faintly. “I’ll let you know when my ears stop ringing.”

Another round of laughter follows, and instead of irritation thanks to my siblings, warmth settles low in my chest thanks to the fact that Dani’s smiling.

She isn’t forcing it or pretending just to be polite. It’s real enough that I catch myself staring again before dragging my attention elsewhere.

I already know this is becoming something far bigger than I ever thought it would be. The more she fits here, the more natural this begins to feel, and the harder it becomes to imagine eventually letting her walk away from it all.

Which I’m still supposed to do. That is part of the agreement, after all.

That thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, but I force myself to push it down.

At some point during dinner, Alexei wakes up in one of the spare bedrooms and immediately becomes the center of attention after Ivan carries him down. He’s half-asleep and clinging to his father’s shoulder until Mila passes him over to Elena, who immediately starts cooing at him.

Danielle watches the entire thing with quiet fascination, and I can tell she’s doing her best to take it all in.