Page 74 of Born into Sin

“I know he’s going to be pissed, and I’m planning on telling him after the threat is gone. Natalya’s safety comes first. I won’t do anything that puts her life at risk.”

“We can agree on that at least.”

“I want to be the one to tell him.”

Vitaly lets out a harsh laugh. “Thank fuck, because I really don’t want to do it. I’ve seen him break a man’s jaw with a single punch on more than one occasion. No fucking thanks.” He scrubs a hand over his jawline. “Katya would be so sad if the next time I smile at her, I’m missing half my teeth. It’s hard to look sexy when you’re all gums.”

The corner of my mouth twitches, but I’m too depressed about having to let Natalya go to muster up a full smile. He smacks my back and shakes his head.

“This is not going to be easy for Lev to accept,” he warns. “You have several things going against you,” he says and then proceeds to make a list in case I was confused about all the ways I’m going to come up short. “You’re old enough to be her goddamn dad, you’re a friend that he trusted to keep his daughter safe, and you’re Italian.” He shakes his head when he says that last one.

“What’s wrong with being Italian?”

He frowns and says, “It’s not Russian.”

“She’s half American,” I remind him like Natalya had reminded me.

Vitaly laughs. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

“Our kids are going to be unbelievably stubborn and headstrong.”

The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I’m not sure who’s more stunned, me or Vitaly. His brown eyes widen in surprise before he lets out a disbelieving laugh. “Wow. I wish I could stay and laugh at you, but it’s my niece you’re talking about and this shit is getting weird. I remember you holding her at Matvey’s wedding.” He shakes his head. “That’s fucked up, man.”

“It’s not like I planned this, and I sure as hell wasn’t thinking that I was going to marry her one day when I held her at the wedding.”

He sets his glass down while I take the last swallow of mine.

“I kind of hate you for making me keep this goddamn secret. It’s a curse to be this damn observant about sexual vibes.”

“It’s a heavy burden indeed.”

“Don’t fucking crack jokes. I’m being serious. How the fuck am I supposed to look at my brothers now?” He sighs again, making sure I know how pissed he is about this. “Katya will know what to do.”

“You’re telling your wife?”

He turns back to me. “I tell my wife everything.”

“Everything?” I ask because for the first time I’m curious about how marriages work within the Bratva.

“Pretty much. I mean, I may leave out some gruesome details, but Katya grew up in a Bratva. She knows what I do, and besides,” he says with a soft laugh, “she’d just get the information out of me some other way. The woman can be very persuasive when she wants to be.”

He smiles at some memory of Katya extracting information from him and gives another soft laugh. Envy hits me hard. I’ve never been jealous before, especially not of married men with families. I used to look at them with pity, not envy, but hearing Vitaly talk about his wife makes me wish I had that with Natalya. I want the memories, the intimacy of a shared life, and the freedom to talk about her instead of feeling like we need to hide what we have.

“I’m talking to Lev as soon as this is over,” I tell Vitaly. “I love Natalya, and her place is here with me. He’s going to have to accept it.”

Vitaly just laughs and smacks my shoulder. “It’s been nice knowing you, Dominic.” He’s still laughing when he walks out of the room, leaving me alone with a head full of Natalya and an ache in my chest from missing her.

I pour myself another drink and make my way back upstairs to my room. I feel the loss of her even more when I step into the bedroom. She permeates every inch of this place now, and it feels so goddamn empty without her. Refusing to even look at the bed, I walk past and take a quick shower. When I’m done, I shave for the first time in a week and grab one of my suits. Her pink dress and sandals are right where I left them earlier, and the sight of them makes me feel slightly better. It’s a reminder that I’ll be getting her back.

Before I leave the room again, I text her a quick message.

I miss you like crazy, principessa. Your Uncle Vitaly knows about us, but he’s not going to say anything. Your dad’s focus needs to be on ending this threat. He doesn’t need to be worrying about anything else right now, but once this is over, I’m telling him how I feel about you and I’m bringing you back here where you belong.

After I’ve sent it, I text my cousins and tell them to meet me downstairs. They each have their own rooms here, but they’re rarely at the house. The next text I send is to Vitaly because the fucker spent the whole time giving me hell about Natalya and forgot to actually tell me what their plan is for taking down the Zolotovs.

The first person to text me back is the one I want to hear from most. Her message effortlessly pulls a smile from me and releases the tension in my chest.

I miss you too, Dominic. I’m glad you’re telling him. I hate lying to my family, and I know they’ll eventually learn to accept our relationship. They have to, right? Anyway, I’m going to pack some bags. We’re all being brought out to the farmhouse, but they’re doing it in some sneaky, covert way that’s going to require several cars and take forever. I also need to take a quick shower because someone left me a sticky mess. I can’t believe you made me drive home like that.

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