AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mikhail nods and gives Lev and me a little, informal bow before he reaches for his wine glass and clears his throat. His wife Aria, with a slim pair of glasses perched on her nose and her wild mane of curly hair momentarily tamed in a bun, eyes me with curiosity.
“Tell me again about Aria,” I whisper to Lev. “I couldn’t find much about her online except that she’s good with computers and married to Mikhail.”
Lev leans in. It feels somehow intimate whispering like this as if we’re friends. Allies. And even though we’re married, we’re neither friends nor allies… yet.
But we could be.
“Aria’s the world’s best hacker,” he says with no hint of exaggeration. He simply states this as fact, which gives veracity to his statement, in my opinion. “There’s no one she can’t find, nothing she can’t do. She sees the world’s most impermeable firewalls and encryption as a personal insult and challenge."
“Oh, wow.” Oooh. Now, that is awesome. The more I think about it, the more it would make sense for me to lean into the Romanov family and all they bring to the table. Here, each one of their skills builds a solidified front, whereas in my family, one only sees another’s strengths as a personal threat to their safety.
World’s best hacker… world’s best hacker. Hmm. I could do something with that.
I take a sip of the wine and look at Mikhail.
“A toast,” he says, clearing his throat as he waits for the ensemble of guests to quiet. “Ever since Lev joined our family, he’s had to make a show of himself. Prove his worth as younger and smaller than the rest.” Mikhail’s lips twitch. “It was nothing we demanded of him but something he did on his own because Lev is fierce and proving himself mattered to him.”
The room quiets down. Viktor looks at Lev with pride, and Aleks sits up straighter in his seat. “And some of us thought we were better by sheer age and brute force until Lev taught us otherwise.”
Lev smiles, but there’s a sadness in his eyes. I, too, have borne the pain of not being enough for my family based on where I came in the lineup and having nothing at all to do with my actual talents, gifts, what I could do, or who I am.
“I know what that’s like,” I mutter to him in a low voice.
“Having to get stronger than five brothers?” Lev asks, his brow lifted teasingly. “Glomming endless YouTube videos on how to best someone bigger and stronger than you in a match like David defeating Goliath? How many of your older brothers did you have to beat up?”
I shrug and stretch, mimicking buffing my nails.
“All of them,” I say with a yawn.
He snorts. “I thought you only had one brother.”
“Well, yes, but that’s all of them.”
Mikhail continues and Lev’s eyes twinkle a bit. He whispers in my ear, “I’d like to hear that story sometime.”
I whisper back, “It seems we both have some stories to share.”
“And now,” Mikhail says, holding his glass up. “We’ve seen the youngest among us rise to the top. He’s fought every adversary that’s come his way and proven himself tirelessly the most loyal, the most dedicated, the most dependable brother we could ask for.”
“Hey,” Aleks says with mock effrontery.
Mikhail ignores him, and his mother, a regal woman with gorgeous silver hair and twinkling blue eyes, laughs. “It’s not a competition, son.”
“Oh, but it is,” Lev whispers to me. “I might have to knock you up with triplets. You game?”
I bury my face in the wine glass and pretend I didn’t hear him. I absolutely love sex. Love. It. I swear to God, people who don’t aren’t doing it right. But the thought of other little humans occupying my body—well, I’m not quite there yet, especially if said humans contain Romanov blood.
What have I gotten myself into?
“Do you have like… breeding competitions?”
Lev seems to be mulling this over. “Well, that’s a crass way to put it.”
I feel my brows shoot into my hairline. “Is there another way to put it?”
“Mmm,” he says but nods toward Mikhail, who’s finishing up. We’re putting a pin in this conversation, pronto.
“On behalf of the entire Romanov family, we want to thank you, Lev, and welcome you, Isabella. Though our future is uncertain, know this: By marrying into the Romanov family, you are now one of us, and we welcome you.”
