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Roman points a finger at him, trying to look mad. “Don’t push it. I’m still pissed at you for the Porsche prank you played on me.”
Vitaly laughs. “I gave it back.”
“After two months!” Roman shakes his head, still pissed but unable to stop smiling at the prank that, if we’re being honest, was one of Vitaly’s best yet.
I’m still laughing when Dominic walks over to us. Alina and I are going to have a wedding party next week with the Bratva, but we wanted our vows to be private with just family to witness it. Dominic’s our one and only guest, but it felt right to have him here today. He’s been a regular visitor since he took Lars on a little trip to Italy. Like me, he was obsessed with getting his revenge, but we both know that killing the men responsible doesn’t make everything go away. He’s still left with the loss of his sister, but I can tell that ending Lars’s life has brought him a little bit of peace, which isn’t much, but it’s more than he had before.
“How’s Antonio?” I ask him.
“Enjoying Italy. I’m flying out tomorrow to join him for afew months. Try to behave yourselves while I’m gone. I’d hate to come back to a city that’s in complete chaos.”
“No promises,” Vitaly says with a laugh.
When Natalya lets out a squeal and reaches for Dominic, I see the man visibly stiffen beside me. “What’s she doing?” He eyes her like he has no idea what to make of her.
Lev laughs and holds her out to him. “She wants her Uncle Dominic.”
The smug grin on Lev’s face has Dominic grimacing and holding his hands up. “I don’t know how to hold a kid.”
“Better learn quick,” I tell him as Lev presses his daughter against Dominic’s tux so he has no choice but to wrap his hands around her. He holds her so one hand is under her butt and his other hand is splayed out across her stomach, keeping her back pressed tightly against his chest. She turns her head so she can see him. Her light blue eyes follow every move he makes, and when she gives him a big, gummy smile, the corner of his mouth lifts up the tiniest bit.
“You spoil her,” he says in his slight Italian accent.
“Always,” Lev says, smiling at his daughter. “She’s my little princess.”
“Principessa,” Dominic murmurs, flicking a finger over Natalya’s pink tutu. “Just wait until your little princess is a teenager. You keep spoiling her, she’s going to be a nightmare.”
Lev scowls at Dominic before smiling at his daughter. “You’re not going to be a spoiled brat, are you, Princess?”
Natalya laughs at her dad’s baby talking, her eyes darting between the two men. She lets out another squeal and wraps her hand around one of Dominic’s fingers. Vitaly snaps a quick photo of the two of them, laughing when Dominic raises a brow at him.
“What?” Vitaly asks with a laugh. “You need to get used to all this anyway.”
“I need to get used to this because of all the babies Iwon’tbe having?” Dominic asks.
Danil laughs and kisses his son’s cheek. “Yeah, we all said that once too.”
Natalya looks between all of us and then puts her blue eyes back on Dominic and smiles.
“She likes you,” Lev says. “Clearly she’s not the best judge of character. That’s something we’re going to have to work on.”
“Well, she’s enamored with you,” Dominic says, “so there’s really no accounting for taste.”
“You know I can’t hit you while you’re holding my daughter.” Lev smiles back at Natalya and reaches out for her. She smiles and kicks her legs while Lev baby talks. “But he’s not going to be holding you all night, is he, Princess?”
Dominic smiles and lifts Natalya up so he can whisper in her ear, “I saved your daddy’s life,principessa.”
Lev groans but can’t help laughing. Natalya giggles while Dominic hands her over and then brushes the jacket of his tux to smooth out the wrinkles her wriggling body had created. He’s still working on it when Emily walks up to us. She looks over at me, tears already threatening to spill over when she says, “She’s ready, Matvey.”
She gives me a quick hug, something I’ve been slowly getting better about, and then takes Luka from Roman, giving her son a big smile when he lunges for her. Roman kisses her and then smacks my shoulder before leaving the veranda and going back inside so he can walk his sister down the aisle.
Dominic walks over to the seat we set out for him while Jolene and Simona walk out, smiling at me and then taking their places next to Emily and opposite where I’m standing with Vitaly, Danil, and Lev. Katya follows closely behind, giving Vitaly a quick wink and me a big smile. She looks like she’s about to give birth any second. Alina had picked black bridesmaid dresses that aren’t tight around the waist, but even then it had to be specially altered to accommodate the very pregnant belly. Vitaly had looked so damn proud when he’d heard that.
“Ready, brother?” I hear him ask from right behind me. All my brothers are my best men, and that’s why they’ll be lining up shoulderto shoulder behind me instead of one in front of the other. I wouldn’t be here today, minutes away from marrying the love of my life, if it weren’t for every single one of them. They got me through the worst two years of my life, and then Roman took a bullet so I didn’t have to. I owe them everything, and I can’t imagine my life without any one of them. They’re my family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m ready,” I tell them, knowing I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.
When I hear one of my sisters-in-law give a soft gasp, I turn my head and get my first glimpse of Alina in her wedding dress. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of her, and all I can do is stare. Her blue-green eyes meet mine while she squeezes Roman’s arm and walks slowly towards me. Her long, dark hair is hanging loose like she knows I love it, and I want to memorize every single detail of this moment. The wedding dress she chose is strapless, and she’s wearing the diamond and ruby necklace and earrings that I’d bought for her while she was gone. She’s beautiful, absolutely stunning, and I can hardly believe that she’s mine.
