Page 45 of Innocent Bratva Twins

“I remember,” Nico smiles, only one side of his mouth curling upwards.

“We were lined up oldest to youngest, so Nico was there on their end, and my dad said to him,'You are the man of this house whenever we are gone. Your brothers and sisters are your responsibility. No excuses. You take care of them.'”

Nico pulls his mouth tight, carrying the weight of those words in his memory.

I look between him and Yilian.

Luka nods his head towards Nico. “He’s been looking out for us ever since. I think he was ten at the time. But damn, he took our father seriously that day and every day after.”

Jade is walking past the table with a fresh bottle of wine. She hugs Nico from behind. “He’s the best big brother you could ever ask for,” she smiles. She leans over and tops up our glasses with a dark red pinot noir before moving away to make sure everyone has wine.

My smile spreads from cheek to cheek as I watch them. My heart is warm and happy. I lean close to Nico, who looks proud, but also a little embarrassed beneath all the praise and love.

“So, is this what it’s like to have brothers and sisters?” I whisper.

From across the table, half a potato comes flying and hits Nico on the chest. It bounces off him and rolls to the floor. We look up to see Arkady smirking. “Don’t go getting a big head about it, bro, or we’re hauling out the baby photo albums. You know Mom loved to put the most embarrassing pics in there—“

Nico, look at me. “No.Thatis what it’s like to have brothers and sisters.”

Everyone at the table starts laughing.

It’s the perfect night. I couldn’t ever have guessed it would be so much fun, so relaxed. His family is incredible.

My eyes are constantly wandering over Nico’s beautiful features. I’m imagining a life with him. It’s ridiculous to be thinking things like that, but I can’t help it. He’s kind and generous and caring. He’s drop-dead fucking gorgeous, andconfident and full of strength. The way he acts possessive and protective over me—it drives me wild with desire.

But he’s my boss.

He’s also the first man I’ve ever been unable to stop thinking about, every moment of every day. He’s always on my mind. No matter what I’m doing, I’m also wondering where he is and if he needs anything, and when I’ll see him again.

After dinner, we say goodbye to everyone. Nico keeps me close, his arm around me, in front of all of his brothers and sisters. I wonder if it means anything. I shouldn’t read into it, though. I’ll end up getting hurt at the end of the day, because I want this more than I dare to admit out loud.

Chapter 13 - Nico

Sera ducks into the car. She rubs her hands over her arms to fight off the cold air. I’m about to close the door, but I hesitate, remembering something I have to do. “Do you mind if we make a very quick stop at the office? I have a few things to deal with tomorrow morning, so I wanted to grab the files.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t mind at all.” Her smile is radiant.

She’s been perfect all night.

I close the door and walk around the car to the driver’s side.

Serafina got on with everyone tonight. My family loves her, I can tell. In general, they are relaxed and comfortable, but they would never have been that playful around her if they didn’t like her.

She’s impossible not to like, so I wasn’t worried about that.

And from the other perspective, I’m pretty sure she had a great time, too.

I smile to myself as I duck into the car.

“Wow, it got colder,” she says as the engine purrs to life. I flick the heating on; it’s dark outside, and the temperature is considerably colder than inside Luka’s place. He kept the heating at a reasonable temperature. I think Jade lectured him before we all got there.

I look over at Sera. She’s still rubbing her hands over her arms. “It’ll warm up in a second,” I say, reaching across and rubbing her leg.

Arkady gave her a lot of shit. He was causing mischief all night. But as soon as she realized what he was doing, she gave it right back.

And Aliyah and Serafina got on like a house on fire, which I loved.

“That was so much fun, Nico. Thank you for inviting me.” She smiles across the car, her eyes shining in the night. Her cheeks are rosy from the wine.

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