Page 75 of The Bratva's Innocent Forbidden Bride
He was the easiest to convince this wasn’t a midlife crisis or grave mistake. He took to Tati at once, never bringing up any embarrassing stories he might have remembered from when she was much younger. She admitted that she never actually had any kind of crush on him, and she only said that to get under my skin, so I could rest easy with her being around my handsome eldest son.
Lukyan, who had been living in Italy until his younger brothers showed up, had returned to Moscow when Sofiyaarrived to try to wrangle the twins. He was enjoying LA far too much and I suspected he was going to stay a while, if not put down roots in this eternally sunny city. He held out three champagne glasses and urged Mik to open the bottle, wanting to continue the bachelor party I had given up on early, but they continued well into the night with their older cousins.
“Where’s Sofiya?” I asked.
While Mikhail jumped on board easily, and Lukyan decided Tati and I were meant for each other after only a few days into their first visit, Sofiya had dragged her feet. She never really knew Tati well, and while she liked her and extended her friendship during her school days, she was worried that Tati might give up on me the way she gave up on college.
As soon as Tati understood what the reason for her dropping out was, she not only volunteered to track down her past bullies, but she insisted on being in charge of the operation. It looked like it might have reached a dead end until only a week ago, but she had a breakthrough when someone finally gave up all the names of the people involved.
She had only arrived back in LA last night, and I wanted a report before I went downstairs to wait for my bride.
Sofiya poked her head in, swatting away the glasses and the bottle. “Just because you two are running on alcohol fumes, you don’t need to drag Papa down with you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m as sober as a judge,” I assured them.
They laughed at that, because the judge we were most familiar with, who was firmly in the Fokin’s pocket, drank vodka for breakfast with his oatmeal. It was great having my kids around me on such an important day, and I had stopped them from speaking poorly about the twins for refusing to come.
It stung, but they were always wild, and perhaps a little bit angry at my part in making them that way. Why should they drop everything for something they didn’t believe would last? Tati promised she’d see to it that they visited us for Christmas, and if not, then she was already planning the trip to Milan. The fact that she was younger than they were by a couple of years didn’t help their feelings, but she was certainly being the more mature person in the situation.
“Stop smiling so much, Papa,” Sofiya teased. “It’s weird.”
I faked a scowl. “Better? I hope you’re not about to give me news that will wipe the smile off my face for real?”
She shook her head, plopping down in one of the armchairs in the big bedroom that had become groom central. “The opposite. Consider this part of your wedding present. No one who was part of that crap is ever going to do anything like it ever again. I did just like you said. The ones who seemed redeemable and felt true remorse got off with a warning… okay, a little more than a warning.”
“And the others?” I asked. I trusted Sofiya to be able to recognize when someone was no longer a danger to society, or more importantly, anyone I loved.
“Out of the ones who didn’t think it was a big deal, one was already in jail. He’ll probably be getting into a fight he won’t win pretty soon, according to my contacts on the inside. The other two are on Hector’s schedule.”
“Excellent work,” I said, not feeling a shred of pity for sending my main bone breaker after them.
“Look at little sis trying to show us up,” Luk said, nudging his big brother. “Our wedding gift is us. We’re both staying in LA for a while.”
“Yeah, this seems to be where all the fun is at,” Mikhail said, surprising me since he usually liked to keep busy with his quiet brewery and only jumped into Bratva business when he was really needed.
And we needed all hands on deck, as usual. Riku still hadn’t been found, but the Yakuza were the least of our worries. There was always going to be some other organization that wanted what the Fokins had. Things were popping off in Moscow, too, and if I was going to stay here, that meant the twins would have to eventually return home to hold down the fort.
It was all just part of being in a family. A family that half the world wanted to kill.
Good thing we were better at it than most.
Since Tati had also opted to stay in LA for the foreseeable future to begin learning some highly specific weaving techniques with an expert in town, we’d just moved into a mansion of our own.
“So now you think because I’ve got eight spare bedrooms that you’ll be welcome?” I asked, only half joking. Come on, Tati, and I were going to be newlyweds.
“That’s fine,” Mik said. “We’re staying with Dan. Paisley likes the idea of having some built-in babysitters.”
Sofiya made a crack about thinking Paisley had more sense than that, then she needlessly straightened my tie and wished me luck and happiness.
“Already have both,” I said, following them out of the room to take my place under the flower-laden arch at the end of the aisle.
Everyone waved or winked at me, and my best man, Mat, stood at my side. The familiar music swelled, and my heart skipped a beat as Tati appeared at the end of the long aisle, on the arm of her crotchety father.
He had been the toughest nut to crack, but when push came to shove, he couldn’t face her being unhappy any more than I could. When she said all she wanted was to be married to me, but wouldn’t do it unless he was there to give her away, it was game over.
And he knew as well as I did that we had a knack for making businesses successful. There was a wealth of opportunity waiting for us out here. Thankfully, he was going to be a long-distance partner, the only one who didn’t like the perpetually hot weather.
After he solemnly gave her away, and managed to give me a sincere smile as well as a look of warning, Tati hurried forward, throwing back her veil to a ripple of laughter. The rest was a happy blur. I barely remembered saying I do, and the kiss was over too soon. I took care of that when it came time for our first dance, after an interminable amount of toasts and speeches.
