“Might as well be,” Evette said. “It started with Axel’s mom, Sylvie, and her best friend, Ninette. Axel and Ninette’s boy, Jace, ended up being best friends, too. They picked up a few brothers they claimed as their own over the years, and now the brothers all have wives. Imagine one huge family with a whole lot of big personalities and even more heart, and you’ll get the idea.”

“And Sylvie and Ninette basically rule the roost.” Lizzy pointed the knife she’d used to slather some butter onto her bread at Dorothy. “Though, I gotta say, you’re the first person I’ve ever seen them defer to, so it could be there’s a new alpha in town.”

Lizzie frowned at her husband a second later and lowered her voice. “Don’t tell your mom or Ninette I said that.”

“My lips are sealed, pet,” Axel said with a wink.

Cassie looked to Sergei. Then Roman. Then Kir. “How does that figure in with the three of you?”

Kir dipped his head toward Sergei. “The mothers essentially adopted him when a woman he’s close to from Russia ended up married to one of their own. Darya and Knox Torren.”

Evette’s chuckle was low, but full of understanding. “Don’t try to understand it all at once. Easier to just roll with it.”

“Amen to that,” Dorothy added.

The waiter wandered up to the table, thankfully offering Cassie a minute or two to get her bearings. Another respite came in the form of a gift for Sergei from Emerson in honor of Father’s Day—two tickets to a superhero movie Cassie had never heard of, but that practically made Emerson bounce in his chair.

“Mom said she can get two more if Roman and Kir wanna go,” Emerson said. He cast expectant glances at each of the men.

“Nyet,” Roman said with a shake of his head. “Movies are better at home.”

“Nuh-uh,” Emerson argued with all the indignation of a young boy. “You gotta see it on the big screen with the awesome sound system.” He looked to Kir. “You wanna go?”

“I think a Father’s Day gift is best spent one-on-one with your father.” On the surface, Kir’s response was both diplomatic and thoughtful, but Cassie could have sworn there was a bitterness behind it, too.

“He is correct.” Sergei tucked the tickets inside his suit jacket. “I spend too much time with those two as it is. Better for you and I to make a night of it on our own.”

He meant it, too, the words offered with the utmost sincerity and an unflinching gaze. Mob boss or not, Sergei Petrovyh had a soft spot for his boy. And his wife.

And from the way he studied each person around the table a second later, maybe even for everyone else. “Thank you all for joining me today. I’m blessed to have Emerson for a son and to have each of you to help me celebrate my first Father’s Day.”

Lizzy smiled and elbowed Axel. “You better not let your momma hear anything like that. They’ll be hijacking my birth control pills.”