Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(104)
“Fifteen hours is nothing.” Trevor jerked his head in Knox’s direction. “With the jump Knox and Darya are making to Maui, they’ll spend damned near a full day flying.”
With his arm wrapped around Vivienne’s shoulders and his hand smoothing affectionately over her shoulder, Jace chuckled and eyed Knox across the table. “He’s got the G6 with the bed in it. After all the hoopla the last few days, I’m not thinkin’ he’s gonna mind quality alone time with his woman no matter what altitude they spend it at.”
The band shifted from one slow ballad to another and those crowding the dance floor traded places with a new crew. Zeke and Gabe were the first back to the table, followed tight behind by Levi and Sylvie.
Trevor held his arm out for Levi and pulled him tight to his side, pride an evident stamp on his brother’s face. “You give Nanna Sylvie a good turn, bud?”
“I tried,” Levi said, “but it’s no fun when you can’t reach over their head and spin ’em around like you do, Mom.” He frowned and scanned the crowd, no doubt looking for the pretty eight-year-old blonde he’d been palling around with since yesterday. “Can I go see if I can find Anna again?”
Trevor scratched his nose and tried to hide his smile. In the year and a half since Levi had been introduced to all the brothers, Levi had done everything in his power to emulate his new dad and uncles, including the appreciation of beautiful women.
Before Trevor could give Levi a thumbs-up, Sergei strolled up with Natalie on his arm. “You’re looking for Anna?”
Levi spun and beamed a huge smile up at Sergei. “Have you seen her?”
Sergei dipped his head in the direction of the overflowing dessert buffet. “Your mother and I passed her coming off the dance floor.”
“Cool!” He knocked back a swig of his Coke and plunked it back on the table, ready and raring to go. “I’ll be back.”
“You stay on this side of the hall where me and your uncles can see you,” Trevor said. “No leaving the building.”
A smart move considering some of the men milling through the room were unquestionably dangerous.
Levi stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at Sergei. “That includes you now, too, right? Aunt Darya says you’re like a brother, so that makes you my uncle.”
The table grew quiet and every eye turned to Sergei.
If he was unnerved by Levi’s open question, he didn’t show it. Only held the boy’s stare with the utmost solemnness. “You are my family. Never doubt it.”
Like lightning, Levi’s smile whipped right back into place. “Awesome! Another uncle.” His gaze slid to Natalie, who’d moved in close to Trevor’s side and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Next Christmas is gonna be huge!” With that, he was gone, his quick strides winding him in and out of the finely dressed couples swaying on the dance floor.
Zeke barked out a sharp laugh and rested his hands on Gabe’s hips. “He’s got a point. We keep this up, Haven’s gonna need an expansion.”
Eyes still tracking her son’s progress, Natalie squeezed Trevor’s shoulder. “I think I’ll tag along just to make sure he stays out of trouble.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sylvie said, moving around the table. She motioned for Gabe and Vivienne to join them. “Come on you two. They loaded up a new batch of pastilas while we were dancing and I saw a new cake I have to try.”
Vivienne and Gabe traded good-natured eye rolls, slid their chairs back and stood, but it was Vivienne who spoke, her comment aimed toward Axel. “Your mother isn’t safe for my waistline.”
Jace caught her wrist before she could glide away, slid his hand low on her back and pulled her close. Even with the band behind them, there was no missing the growl in his voice. “You want to have a chance winning that argument, you’re gonna have to stop wearing tight red dresses that say otherwise.” Not the least bit fazed by the men gathered round the table, he kissed her belly through the shiny fabric and let her go, but not without a quick palm of her ass.
“You’re very blessed men,” Sergei said as he watched them go.
Never one to let an opportunity go, Zeke took advantage of the moment alone with the men to cover the topic that had been on all the brothers’ minds. “Enough so I’d sleep a whole lot better knowing any blowback from the last six months never so much as whispers their direction.”
Sergei’s gaze slid to Zeke, then scanned the rest of the men at the table. He looked to the empty chair beside Knox and cocked an eyebrow.
He wasn’t Haven. Not even close. But he was special to Darya and had brought a gruesomely gratifying end to Ruslan. For that alone, he had Knox’s never-ending gratitude. “You said it yourself. You’re family. Have a seat.”
In all the time Knox had known Sergei, not once had he seen a full smile out of the guy, but the semi-smirk he’d seen on the rare times Darya got him to let go crooked one corner of his mouth. He sat, crossed one leg over the other and scanned the crowd. “Your family will not be touched. Only a few know of your involvement. Yefim. My crew. Anton and myself.”
“Your crew had five men we don’t know from Adam,” Beckett said. “They know their shit in a crisis and how to go unnoticed, but how’s that stop them from sharing with other interested parties?”