Page 83 of Crimson Flames

“I’m in,” I say, making them both look at me with their mouths agape.

“What?” Placing the plates I just dried in the cabinet, I shrug. “You both had to know I was fully team Kai when he basically told the old man to fuck off and try harder.”

Nessa’s eyes widen. “When did that happen?”

Boris dries his hands before walking around the island to sit next to our girl. “When we were saving them. I told him to keep you safe. Apparently, he took that to heart because when I tried to come see you at the hospital, he said I had no business going to you unless I was certain I would never hurt you again.”

I can tell Boris is still ashamed of how he handled things, but I’d like to think we have worked through it.

“He said that to you?” Nessa looks stunned, eyes blinking in disbelief. “Well, feck.”

Boris chuckles, tangling their fingers together as I move to stand on her other side. “The moment you told him ‘together’, I knew,” I say, kissing her on the head.

“His eyes remind me of Enya’s,” Nessa says. “I think that was why I knew I needed to save him the second I saw him in my scope. It was like I finally got the chance to save her.”

“I think the kid and I still have a lot of trust to build,” Boris says. “But I am honored he would choose us over everyone else in the world.”

Nessa nods before looking between the both of us.

“I want him to have a normal life. I want him to have everything he was never given. So that means that these little training sessions you two do with him behind my back stop now.”

I laugh out loud as Boris’ brows furrow. “How do you know about that?” he questions.

Nessa rolls her eyes. “The two of you seemed to magically start getting along and spending time together on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out at some point?”

“Well, no,” Boris starts, “I did however believe that by the time we did tell you, somehow we could convince you to be okay with it.”

“Come on, Love. He’s in this world, already been exposed to some of the darkest corners of it, let's show him how we fight the darkness.” I say, trying to bring reason to the conversation.

I know, this is shocking for everyone here, myself included.

She stands, shaking her head. “I can live with the combat training, teaching him to be aware of his surroundings and scanning for tails and such, but I won’t get behind the weapons. No guns, no drugs, no murdering. Deal?”

“Deal,” comes a voice from the corner of the room. We all slowly turn to see Kai standing there, a Twizzler hanging out of his mouth and the biggest grin I have ever seen on his face.

I smirk, holding out my arms. “Welcome to the family, Kai. I think we need to make a call because whoever said bloodthirsty assassins and rich as hell mob leaders couldn’t adopt a child needs to be informed that we can, in fact, do whatever the feck we want.”

“I am aretiredmafia don,” Boris corrects, but I wave a hand in dismissal as Kai’s arms wrap around my waist. Ever so faintly, I hear him whisper, “Thank you.”

I tighten my grip, keeping him close as I whisper back. “No, thank you.”

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Apparently, popcorn and movie nights are a thing with Evie and her crew of men. They said we needed to celebrate Kai joining the family, so here we are. Dr. K is putting the adoption paperwork together, and Boris says it should be official in a week. Mafia money talks, which is also how both Boris and I can be listed as fathers and Nessa his mother.

So, in celebration, we’re watching what I believe to be one of the best Disney movies to ever be created.Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Seriously, can someone tell me why this movie didn’t blow up in the box office? It has humor, mystery, a bad guy, action, adventure, and so many cool giant, fighting things!

Okay, sorry, I’m getting worked up. But I’m still kinda pissed that this movie struggled because people expected ‘more singing’ and ‘less explosions’ from a Disney movie. I loved Moana too, but the adventure of Atlantis is like every ten-year-old boy's dream.

“I never knew this movie existed,” Kai says, taking a bite of Lev’s pineapple pizza. My stomach flips a little bit because the kid actually enjoys that shit. Between his pizza taste and Daddy B’s ice cream taste, I’m a little afraid of what my future may look like food-wise.

If family traditions mean we all eat weird shit while watching a movie, I plan to pick the movie from here on out so I will actually be able to sit through this.

“They made a second one,” I tell him, thinking about how excited I was for my mom to go out and buy the DVD the day it was released. I was pissed that they never even put it in the theater, but at least I had a hard copy I was able to watch over and over until I actually burnt out the disk.

Well, that’s what my mother claimed anyway. I never believed her.

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