Page 75 of Born into Darkness
I thought Max couldn’t get any sexier, but when I see him smiling down at his niece, he proves me wrong. Turning his head, he gives me a wink and surprises the hell out of me by asking, “You want kids, right?”
Chapter14
Maxim
Talia’s face heats up at my question, making me laugh as I put my focus back on the squirming toddler in my lap. Isabella chatters away a mile a minute, and I only catch bits and pieces of it before she cups my face, pulling me down closer so she can see me better.
“You got a boo-boo,” I hear her say before she presses a kiss to my eyebrow.
“Thanks, Bella. You made it all better.”
She gives me a huge smile, and my heart breaks a little at how much I’ve missed. Two months isn’t that much to anyone else, but it’s a lot for a toddler, and I swear she’s grown an inch and looks older.
I look up at Natalya. “She already looks so much bigger,” I say, and she smiles at the tone of my voice. I look at her very pregnant stomach and add, “She’s not the only thing that’s grown. You look like you’re about to pop, Nat.”
She pats her belly and plops down onto the cushion beside me, laughing at how ungraceful she is. “I feel like I’m about to pop,” she says, and then smiles even bigger as she reaches past me to squeeze Talia’s hand. “It’s so good to meet you. I’m Natalya, Dominic’s wife, this little gal’s mama, Lev’s daughter, and this guy’s cousin,” she says, giving me a gentle elbow nudge. “Did I leave anything out?”
“You’re also my daughter,” my Aunt Jolene says. “I did have a hand in your creation.”
My Uncle Lev walks by and smacks my aunt’s ass hard enough to make her yelp. “Hell yeah you did, baby.”
Natalya gives a dramatic sigh, even though she’s fighting a grin, and tells Talia, “Welcome to the family.”
“Save me a cushion,” I hear Sveta yell from across the room.
“Jesus,” I say with a laugh when I see my cousin come waddling over.
She points a finger at me. “Don’t you dare laugh at how pregnant I am. I have two boys growing inside me right now. The fact that I even got out of bed and dressed today is a miracle.”
Isabella crawls into her mom’s lap, so I can stand when she gets closer. She starts crying before I can even wrap my arm around her in a hug.
“Don’t cry, Sveta. I’m okay, and my hand will heal.”
“We were so scared and worried for you,” she whispers. “Val felt so guilty about you being left there.”
“Not his fault,” I say. “I forced him to go.”
“I know, but you know how stubborn he can be.”
I laugh, because we all know she’s the stubborn twin.
She gives me another squeeze and says, “Okay, I really do need to sit and put my feet up. It’s the only way Vitya agreed to let me come. He’s so damn bossy.”
I smile when she plops down on the other side of Talia and smacks my girl on the thigh like she’s known her all her life. “I’m Sveta, Vitya’s wife, mom to Samantha, pregnant with twins, twin sister to Val, and daughter of Vitaly and Katya.” She lets out a breath. “I think that covers it.”
“You’re Val’s twin?” Talia asks.
“Yep. I’m sorry you had to meet him the way that you did. It must’ve been awful stuck down there in that basement, but I’m glad you at least had Max and Val.”
“Me too,” Talia agrees. “They were treated way worse than I was.”
I look over and stand back up when I see Val and Yelena walking over. Reaching out for Talia, she quickly puts her hand in mine and stands beside me. Since I was passed out for the rescue, it’s my first time seeing my cousin since they ripped him from my arms in that fucking basement. I’d been so scared that he was dead, and even though my dad swore to me that he was alive and well, it’s still a fucking huge relief to see him.
He grins at me, hugging me while I try not to cry in front of both our families.
“I thought they’d killed you,” I admit. “I thought I’d pushed you to go and that they’d just taken you out into the jungle and shot you.”
With his arm still around me, he says, “I’m alive because of you. I never would’ve survived another month in that place.”
