Page 25 of Bratva Holiday

“Kiss me and you die.” Aleksandr grunted.

“You won’t kill me. I’m your favorite brother.” I winked.

“Nikolai’s my favorite,” he instantly said back.

Drea rammed her elbow into his side again, making him grunt. “That’s not true. He loves you both equally.”

I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “But me a little more, right?”

Drea snickered. Aleksandr rolled his eyes, but a small smile played on his lips.

Staring out at the field, I watched Illayana and Arturo take their places opposite of Nikolai and Tatiana. My father and Autumn were the lucky ones who got to automatically move onto the final round because their names weren’t pulled from the hat during the selections. But I wasn’t worried. Lyla and I had this game in the bag.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lukyan Volkov

Fuck this shit.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Aleksandr Volkov

That cheating motherfucker.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lukyan Volkov

HOW DARE HE!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Dimitri Volkov

“Okay. No more drawing on the board!”

Aleksandr yelled out, “Lukyan started it!”

At the same time, Lukyan screamed, “It was Aleksandr!”

If I rolled my eyes any harder, they’d have flown out the back of my fucking head.

“I don’t care which one of you it was! Do it again and you’ll sit out the next game!” I yelled over my shoulder. Autumn’s not-so-held-back snicker made me spin, my finger flying up to point at her. “Don’t you even start.”

Her hands flew up in surrender. Autumn didn’t say a word, but then again, she didn’t have to, thanks to that humorous chuckle.

“Have I said already how much I love your family?”

“Yes. And I have no idea why. They’re a bunch of deviants.”

It was halftime. Everyone was taking a short break to recharge their batteries and have something to eat. The family was gathered on the back porch, spread out amongst the various patio furniture, laughing and talking as they sat in their couples. Lyla held a bag of frozen peas to Lukyan’s slowly forming black eye, thanks to the punch in the nose from his brother. Aleksandr was wrapping Drea’s ankle. Illayana was on her feet, recounting what had happened during the tug-of-war battle to Arturo, who sat in front of her. It didn’t seem to matter that the man already knew everything that had happened. He was right there, after all. Arturo’s smile was wide, his eyes and focus never wavering from his wife as she recounted every detail, getting more and more excited with each word she spoke. And Nikolai and Tatiana each had one of their children in their arms, feeding them snacks and laughing, the twins the entire center of their attention.

My lips pulled into a heartfelt smile. Watching my children with their loved ones filled my soul with contentment. Knowing they were happy, that they’d found people who cared for them, loved them, was the one thing I’d always wished for them. It was all I had ever wanted for them.

One of my biggest fears was they would end up alone. Have no one to lean on. In our line of work, having someone you could trust wholeheartedly, who you could depend on, no matter what the situation, was a hard thing to come by.

Somehow, all four of my children had found their special someone.