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 reminds 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.