I glance back at Ariana and feel a burst of pride to have her by my side. “She’s mine.”

Ariana shoots me a disgruntled look, then turns her attention to Damien. “What your brother is trying and failing to say is we’re seeing where this goes.”

Damien tries not to laugh but then fails. “Now I understand.”

Meaning he gets why I’ve chosen Ariana after never being in a relationship before.

Flaming red hair catches my eye as Winter walks toward us, carrying my nephew.

I let go of Ariana’s hand, and moving to my sister-in-law, I lean down and kiss both her cheeks before taking my nephew from her. “Nikolai, look how you’ve grown. Soon you’ll be taller than me.”

I hear Damien introducing Winter to Ariana, and knowing my woman is safe, I focus all my attention on Nikolai, who doesn’t recognize me because I haven’t been around much.

“I’m your father’s brother, remember? Dyadya Demitri.”

The little boy that’s the spitting image of Damien and me gives me a shy smile and mumbles, “Hello.”

When Damien joins us, Nikolai instantly holds his arms out to his father, and I hand him over.

“He’s gotten big,” I mention to Damien. Glancing behind us, I notice how Ariana sticks to Alexei’s side and gesture for her to come while saying, “We’re safe here, so I expect you next to me.”

“Oh, how am I supposed to know that,” she mutters. “You can’t make up the rules as we go.”

After she takes my hand, we all head inside the house, where we’re greeted by Cillian, who’s a father figure to Winter.

Alexei heads to the dining room, and we all follow. Once everyone is seated around the large table, Damien asks, “Why are we going after Yuri?”

I get right to the point. “Ariana is Sergei’s daughter from an affair. Yuri wants her dead so she can’t have any claim to the inheritance. Lucian spoke to Sergei on our behalf, and Sergei asked us to keep her safe at all costs. He also changed his last will, so Ariana’s the only heir.”

Carson lifts an eyebrow. “And Yuri won’t back down?”

Alexei shakes his head. “He’s under the impression he’s already head of the Bratva.”

“And the other members of the Bratva?” Damien asks. “Seimon, Andrei, and Lev? Who are they standing behind?”

Alexei takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “We won’t know until the meeting where everyone will vote.”

“If they back Yuri, we’ll be going up against four powerful families,” Carson states the obvious.

“Against the four of us,” I say.

“Five,” Winter interjects, and then Damien’s wife, who’s the Blood Princess and head of the largest diamond smuggling empire, gives me a look of warning. “I’m going with.”

My eyes dart to Damien, and he gives me a nod, showing he’s okay with it. Winter was trained by Cillian, and I’ve seen for myself how good she is, so I’m not worried that she won’t be able to hold her own.