He dressed in a black suit, a white crisp linen shirt, and a black tie. Mirella dressed Lidiya in a pale pink number, a pastel pink bow holding her curls together. I sat in the back seat with my chubby little angel, and wasn’t at all surprised when she fell asleep during the drive. It was so relaxing being a passenger that I felt I could have joined her.
It might have seemed strange to hold a wedding on a Wednesday night, but after Lev explained that it was only to be a small affair and that the club would likely be open to the public on the weekend, it kind of made sense.
We arrived at the club, parked, and made our way out. Lev pulled me into his side and held a sleepy Lidiya’s hand as we entered the party.
I was nervous, meeting more of the family. But I shouldn’t have been.
Lev’s cousin, Nik, greeted us at the door, grabbing Lev and heaving him into a long man-hug before pulling back and kissing both his cheeks. When Nik spotted Lidiya, his face changed. It seemed the guy was a sucker for kids. He got to his knees, smiled, and held his arms out to Lidi. Lidi, knowing a good thing when she saw one, didn’t hesitate to hug the man, and he lifted her, kissing her cheek. When Lev introduced us, I could have fainted dead away.
Why, you ask?
Because it went something like this.
“This is Mina. She was homeless. I found her. I’m keeping her. She loves me. So we’re getting married.”
And I died. Embarrassment seeped out of me like oozing slime. My gorgeous fiancée had unknowingly made me sound like a freaking gold digger.
I choked out a laugh. “He doesn’t mean that,” I told Nik, my cheeks flaming.
Nik grinned, and his single dimple came out to say hello. Lidi poked it with a small finger, and Nik gently nipped it.
Oh, my Lord. These Leokov men were stunning, every single one of them.
Lev frowned down at me. “That’s exactly what I mean, mouse.”
I glared up at him, stepped on my tiptoes, and whisper-hissed, “Maybe ixnay on the omelesshay, sweetie. Okay? Thanks.”
His face softened a degree. “I’m not ashamed of you, Mina.”
Nik coughed out a laugh before coming over and wrapping his free arm around my shoulders, leading us in. “Whatever, Mina. I’m not judging, sweetheart. Come meet the family.”
I spotted Nas and Sasha talking to another man who looked remarkably like Nik, and when we approached, the man spotted me, separated himself, and came at me like a bull going at a rodeo clown, only happily. He reached us, bent a little, wrapped his arms around me, and lifted me in a giant bear hug. I squeaked as he shook me around like a doll a moment, set me on my feet, and pulled back, beaming. “Lev’s woman! I’m Max, groom, cool dude, cousin.”
I couldn’t help but smile. This guy was crazy.
I looked him up and down. He wore a sophisticated three-piece suit with white Chucks, and still looked heavenly. When my eyes reached his face and landed on his smile, another Leokov dimple came out to play and my stomach flipped. Max put his arm around me and pulled me into his side, shaking me a little. “Don’t be shy, short stuff.” He grinned, and I swear his teeth sparkled. “We’re family.”
That was when Lev approached and Max pulled back, opening his arms wide. Lev smirked, walking into his arms. More hugs and kisses were exchanged then suddenly a gaggle of pretty women appeared, along with two other men—who were both sexy as hell, mind you.
What the heck were they putting in the water up here?
A brunette with a wide smile and green eyes stepped forward and eyed our gorgeous little princess, who was now resting her head on Nik’s shoulder and sucking her thumb. Smart girl. The woman smiled gently. “Hi there, honey. And who are you?”
“This little angel is Lidiya.” Nik jerked his chin to Lev. “Lev, this is my wife, Tina. Tina, baby. Lev, my cousin.”
Her face brightened and her excitement was completely genuine. She came forward and hugged a rigid Lev, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “Oh, wow. Hi!”
She pulled back and without an introduction, she came forward and put her arms around me. “I’m Tina!”
I hid my surprise the best I could and hugged her back. “Mina.”
She laughed softly. “No. Tina. With a T.”
I smiled at her. She was cute. “I know. I meant my name is Mina.”
She gasped. “Mina!” She pointed to herself. “And Tina!” She looked at her husband with wide eyes and spoke slowly. “Mina and Tina. That’s so cool.”
Nik chuckled under his breath and then laughed, shaking his head. Tina wrapped her arm around mine. “We were going to bring our girls with us, but,” she cringed, “we don’t get much time alone anymore. When Nik’s mom offered to babysit all the little ones,” she huffed out a laugh, “I almost threw them at her.” Her smiled faded, she stopped mid-step, and her face turned pained. “That sounded terrible.” Her lips pursed. “I’m a horrible mother.”
I laughed. She was adorable. “No, that sounds kind of reasonable, actually.”
“Really?” she asked, genuinely concerned.
I nodded. “You need time for yourself too.”
She smiled at me before turning to Nik, who was glaring at his brother and reluctantly handing Lidi over to Max. She went willingly, and Max pretended to eat her chubby cheeks. God, these men were destroying my ovaries, one sweet act at a time. She smiled and laughed through the sucking of her thumb. Tina told me, “Gosh, she’s beautiful, Mina.”
I grinned, pushing down the fact I had no right to feel proud of Lidi. “I know. And I think she does too.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know. Little girls know how to play their daddies. And it only gets worse as they get older, trust me.”
I mentally took note.
Tina brought me over to the other women, who all smiled up at me. “This is Mina. She’s Nik’s cousin’s wife.”
Another brunette spoke, but her head had a tinge of red to it, and her green eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen. “Which cousin?”
“Lev,” I told her, then I added, “And we’re not married. Not yet anyway.”
Tina’s face went slack. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed.”
I waved her off with a smile. “That’s okay. Really. Lidiya is Lev’s daughter.”
An olive-skinned man uttered, “I’m Trick.” He pulled a short woman with chocolate brown hair and big brown eyes into his side. “And this is my Lola.”
The reddish-brown brunette smiled. “I’m Nat.” She pointed to the tall ashy-blond man rocking a sexy five o’clock shadow. “And that’s my husband, Asher.” She lifted her hand and pointed to the gorgeous arctic blonde woman next to her. “This is Mimi.” She leaned forward and mock-whispered, “She’s our resident dyke.”
I choked on a laugh as Mimi winked at me. “Hi. Nice to meet you all.” This was a wedding reception, wasn’t it? I asked cautiously, “Where’s the bride?”
Nat rolled her eyes. “Helena, my sister. Max knocked her up good. She’s only a few months along so, you know.” Only, I didn’t know. My confused expression must have given me away, because her brows rose and she grinned before explaining, “She’s in the bathroom, yacking.”
Tina smiled happily then shrugged. “Happens to the best of us, right?”
Max approached with Lidi, and all the girls made cutesy noises as he spoke. “Tell Helena I’m leaving her.” He placed his cheek on Lidiya’s head, and the little girl smiled around the thumb she was sucking. Max sighed then smiled, “There’s another woman in my life.”
Mimi blinked at the little girl. “Would you look at those lashes?”
Nat grinned. “And that curly hair?”
Lola stepped forward and ran her fingers down Lidi’s cheek. “Oh, my God, she’s freaking adorable.” She looked to me with a pucker. “I’m in love.”
But Lidi blinked over at the hard-looking Asher, smiling hard. Nat clucked her tongue. “Of course she chooses to like the broodiest mofo in the group.”
Probably remi
nds her of her dad, I thought.
Lidi leaned forward, holding her arms out to Asher. He smiled then and his face transformed. He was smoking hot. He came forward and took her from Max’s arms. He pulled back to look down at her as she rested her head on his shoulder. His voice was low, rough. “It’s ‘cause she’s got good taste.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “It hasn’t escaped my notice that she’s only going to the men.” I turned to Tina. “Only gets worse as they get older?” Tina nodded solemnly. I huffed out a breath. “Crap. I’m going to have to watch this one with a hawk eye.”
The girls laughed as the men grinned, and then someone was wrapping their arms around me. I didn’t have to look. I sunk back into him and smiled, placing a hand on his at my waist. Tina happily announced, “This is cousin Lev.”
“Hello,” he muttered from behind me.
A few greeting were exchanged before Tina sighed contentedly, her face turning soft. “You guys look good together.”
Lev spoke an amused, “I think so too. Thank you.”
A young woman with long dark brown hair and green eyes came out of nowhere. She wore an elegant and fitted wedding dress in off-white lace that showed off her small baby bump. “Ugh, sorry, guys.” She sighed tiredly, but looked ridiculously happy. “Stupid Max and his mighty sperm.”
Tina chuckled. “Helena, this is Lev and Mina. Lev is Max’s cousin.”
The bride turned to us. “Whoa, hey. We don’t know many from the other side of the family. It’s nice that you could be here.” She smiled kindly as Max put his arms around her and kissed her head. “Thank you so much for coming.”
Max explained, “My dad and Lev’s dad were brothers.” He grinned at Lev. “Remember the shit we used to get up to?”
Lev shook his head. “No. But I do remember the shit you used to get up to and blame on me.”
The group of people burst into laughter and Max shrugged. “That’s ‘cause you were an easy target, bro.”
Nik shook his head. “Nah. You were just an idiot.”
“Yeah.” Max puffed out his chest. “Idiotically awesome.”
I laughed to myself. These guys were a hoot.
After all the fuss, I wouldn’t admit it, but I was glad we came. It was nice to hear about Lev amongst family that obviously loved him.
Sasha and Nas strolled by, and Nas handed me a drink. I took it gratefully and Max jerked his chin to Sasha. “Lev’s gettin’ married. Nas has Viktor wrapped around her pinkie.” I was sure I was the only person who noticed Nas’ expression turn sour, but Max went on, “When are you gonna settle down, Sash?”
Sasha smiled slyly. “Who knows, man?” He paused before adding a rather cryptic, “You never know what’s written in the stars.”
Nik nudged Sasha. “Yeah. Who knows?” He grinned at his cousin. “Even Sasha might find a woman to put up with his broody ass.”
Tina scoffed. “Excuse me, mister, but I remember meeting you, and you were the broodiest son of a gun I’d ever met.” She looked around at us and uttered a sincere, “I almost wet myself. He was so cold. He scared me.”
Nik pulled his wife into him and squeezed her tight. “Yeah, well, it took meeting you to thaw me out, baby.”
Nawww.
They were stupidly cute. I kind of loved them.
Nastasia cleared her throat and forced a smile. “I don’t know about marriage. It’s so… final.” She tried to cringe, but I saw the haggard sadness on her face.
Goddamn Vik. What was he doing to her? I was going to wring his damn neck.
Nat sighed. “Wow. You sound like me.” She pulled Nas over and threaded her arm through hers, smiling all the while. “Come here. You just became my new best friend.”
The conversation flowed effortlessly throughout the night, and my cheeks started to hurt from how much I was smiling and laughing. I felt at ease with these people. They were a good sort, women who had met their matches and men who had learned to love.
I held onto Lev and imagined where I would be if I hadn’t met him. A hard shiver went down my spine and my stomach knotted uncomfortably.
The thought was far too painful to consider.
We arrived home from Max and Helena’s wedding just past one a.m., and the funny thing about it was I didn’t want to leave in the end. I had a blast hanging out with the girls, and Tina had invited me down to her boutique to do some dress shopping. She promised that ninety percent of her garments were reasonably priced, with the other 10 percent being exorbitant purely because they were shipped from Italy.
The girls were lovely, and I couldn’t remember the last time I connected with a group of people as quickly as I had them. I promised I would come down with Nas and check out Safira’s Boutique.
Was tomorrow too soon?
Chapter Forty-Seven
Mina
They say all good things must come to an end, and I was afraid our good thing was close to breaching the safety barrier.
It happened three days later when I had just walked into the house to hear Lev let out an animalistic roar from the kitchen. My heart pounded and I rushed over to him.
I found my him hunched over the kitchen table in his sweats and tank, looking about ready to break the table in half.
“Sweetie,” I asked cautiously. “What’s wrong?”
It was then that I noticed a piece of paper scrunched in his fisted palm. He breathed so hard that his chest heaved. I took another careful step forward, placing a hand on his back. “Baby?”
His eyes closed and he rumbled out, “Igor Alkaev wants custody of Lidiya.” He let out a long breath. “He’s taking me to court.”
My brow furrowed. “On what grounds?”
Lev barked out, “I don’t fucking know, Mina. Shit. When are they going to leave me the fuck alone already?”
I tried not to take his anger personally. I knew he wasn’t angry at me, after all. “Have you called your lawyer?”
He squeezed his eyes shut and muttered a cold, “No. I want to talk to Igor.”
“I’m coming with you,” I told him, and I was not asking.
Lev shook his head. “No. I’m going alone.”
I didn’t want to be the voice of reason, but if I didn’t take that role, who would? “Sweetie, you know how you get when you’re angry. You can go a little cuckoo,” I uttered quietly. “Let me come. I won’t say a word. Just let me be there for you.”
Yeah, okay, let’s be honest. I was worried that Lev might kill the asshole.
I came up behind him and placed my hands on his hips, leaning in to press my body to his, kissing the center of his spine. “Let me come, baby. Please. I’ll stay out of the way. I promise.”
He turned in my arms and looked down at me. “I don’t want you out of the way. I want you safe, here with Lidiya.”
I blinked up at him. “And if it were me, would you let me go alone?”
His brow furrowed. “Of course not.”
“And that’s why I’m coming with you,” I stated.
Although Lev didn’t like it, he conceded, and we made a quick stop to Nastasia’s where Lev called Sasha, and then we were on our way to the Alkaev residence.
I pitied the fool.
Igor Alkaev answered the door, and I had to admit he didn’t look at all as I pictured him. I imagined a short, rotund man with a bulging belly, dark hair, and maybe a beard. What I got was a tall, slim man with greying blond hair, a sharp nose, cold dark eyes, and a constant expression of distaste.
Igor showed us inside without a word and told his apparently voiceless wife, Vera, to bring in some coffee. She left without a word and Igor smirked. “So, you got the letter, I see.”
Lev was too tightly strung to sit. Instead, he stood by my side as I sat on the leather lounge. “I did. I want to know what the hell you’re thinking, Igor, because you’re not getting my daughter. I had two long years without her, and I’ll be damned if I give her up now.”
Igor watched Lev closely. “You’ve changed,?
?? he stated. “Something is different about you. I can’t put my finger on it. You’re”—his brows rose—“poised or something.”
Lev grunted. “Tell me what you want.”
I watched both men carefully. I had pepper spray in my bag and I was not afraid to use it. I was no shrinking violet when my loved ones were involved.
Igor sniffed. “You have nothing I want, Leokov.” His face shuttered. “Not anymore.”
Lev gritted his teeth. “You’re not getting another dime from me, not ever again.”
The older man’s face blazed bright red. “My daughter is dead, you imbecile. You impregnated her then decided you didn’t want her. She loved you. Of course she became depressed. She dealt with your cruelty for years before she took her life.” He took a breath and let out an arctic, “And it is all your fault.” He sat up straight, adjusting his tie that did not need adjusting. “You’re toxic. Lidiya is better off with us. We love her.”
Lev swallowed hard, his jaw tight. “Think about what you’re doing. It may be the last thought you ever have.”
Igor smiled then, and it was slimy. “Is that a threat, Leokov?”
Lev replied calmly, “No threat. Accidents happen.”
Igor stood just as his wife returned with coffee for us all. “It seems we have nothing left to discuss. Please leave.”
I stood and took Lev’s hand as he said, “See you in court.”
We turned, and Lev’s hand gripped me tight enough to hurt. Just as we moved to open the door, it was thrown open and Corinna stood there. She looked as though she was on a mission and didn’t have time to stop and say hi. She strolled in like she owned the place, and with a snarky smile, muttered, “Mother.” She looked to her father and couldn’t hide the look of disgust. “Inconsequential sperm donor.”
And there she was, our teeny, tiny angel of vengeance. They say the best things come in small packages. We were about to realize just how true that saying was.