Page 4 of The Disputed Legacy
“What can I say?” I joked. “I’m her favorite uncle.”
Nik grunted from behind us, where he stood leaning against the wall. Damon looked half asleep on the other side of the room, slouched in another chair.
“You’re the only one who has the energy to act like a doting uncle,” Nik complained as he reached for his coffee cup that he’d set on the side table nearest to him. As soon as he picked it up and rattled the empty container, he scowled, if not at the fact that he was out of caffeine, then at the fact that he’d forgotten he’d already drained it.
“Nah. She just knows I’m the most fun,” I replied, making a funny face at her.
She giggled, loud enough that it startled Damon.
He jolted upright, tensing and looking around before sighing and running his hand over his face. “Fuck.”
Maxim chuckled. Even though he was the boss, the interimPakhanwhile Father recovered and returned to more of his old self, he could lighten up enough to find it funny that Damon had fallen asleep.
Again.
“Bad night?” he guessed.
Damon only glowered at him, then when Nik yawned loudly, he smirked at him.
Nik huffed and crossed his arms. “Hey, at least I’m standing.”
“You’re both useless,” Father grumbled. He wasn’t judging or being rough. I saw the slight smile on his lips. But it didn’t last long. He continued pacing and resumed frowning. His moods had been variable for months now. All the specialists on his care team assured us that it wasn’t anything to worry about for now. After the coma he was in with the stroke-like symptoms he’d suffered, his personality had been altered. For a long time, the four of us brothers worried that he’d never resemble the strong, brave father we once followed and respected. Father was a shell of the man he once was, but he no longer gave us as many reasons to fear his swinging too far. He wasn’t as bad as before, like when he’d hit Damon and threatened his wife. That happened when he was most vulnerable in his recovery.
The reason he didn’t smile for long at Nik and Damon teasing each other now was simple.
Too many enemies remained. Too many challenges lingered against us, and that would never be a good thing.
That was what we were supposed to be talking about in this office, all the things that I’d been reporting from news that my men on the street were sharing.
Over the fall and winter months, things had settled down. In the aftermath of taking out the Kozlov family and ending the rule of Anton Kozlov, we focused more on watching what happened in their void. We’d focused on our growing family, with Katerina and Nik expecting their daughter, Aurora, who was born just a week ago. Then Lucy and Damon had a belated reception and party to celebrate their rushed marriage. She’d given birth to twins—a last-minute surprise to us all that she was having not one baby but two. That added Roarke and Olivia to the family.
We’d all been busy, preparing for my nieces and nephew after all the headaches we’d suffered over the year. But while good times were overdue and here, we’d never forgotten the possibility that Anton Kozlov had not crusaded to bring an end to our family on his own. And now, since the proverbial dust had settled and Dominic Romano was getting braver to attack us again, I was reminded of howmyrole had truly changed.
I hadn’t only become an uncle to these babies.
I had become the last man standing.
The only one not married and taken.
The single guy who wasn’t sleep-deprived with a newborn or distracted by wanting a wife.
I had volunteered to head up the investigation and counter-attacks on the Romano family, but as I looked around this room, I hated how much I envied my tired brothers. No one could have prepared me for how much I’d want to settle down myself. Seeing them calmer and more well-rounded gave me hope thatI could also be like that, not tied down and obligated to be in a relationship—something I’d never wanted before—but that I could be one half of a pair of soulmates and therefore a better person myself.
Nik and Damon entered a contest of who was more tired. Maxim added that he was the clear winner of fatigue since Isabella wasn’t a newborn but older and able to move more and was therefore more work. They were all beat and exhausted as far as I was concerned, and it proved that I’d made a good choice when I said I’d be the go-to for addressing the collective threat of the Romano family.
They’re all whiny wimps, huh?I smiled at Isa getting heavier and still in my arms. Her lids couldn’t stay open for so long between her lazy blinks, and I knew she was two seconds from another nap.
Watching her doze gave me a sense of peace I appreciated because I couldn’t claim to feel this relaxed in any other way. Ever since Father was poisoned, a stubborn tension filled me. I was better at hiding my stress and anxiety than my brothers, but this feeling lingered for too long.
Before any of my brothers sought wives and started having kids, I’d only get this easygoing peace when I was with a woman. But that wasn’t happening anymore. Something had changed. A shift had come with the experience of seeing how happy and contented my brothers were to settle with their wives.
And it just didn’t make sense.
For so many years, the four of us would mock Grandmother for wanting us to get married and have heirs. All our teenage and young adult years were spent dismissing the motivation to stop sleeping around and get hitched.
Our mother was the most to blame for that. She’d cheated on Father and her affairs nearly ended with Maxim, Nik, andDamon being killed. Because of her, we’d all grown up jaded and without any desire to trust a woman.
It was why I never cared about being so loose and carefree, sleeping my way through New York and never bothering to think about having a wife or a child.
