Free Lev: a Shot Callers novel by Belle Aurora

wanting to interrupt. “Sorry.”
    “Don’t be sorry. Mirella will be here in a few minutes.” He answered my unasked question, “Lidiya’s nanny. You’ll be seeing a lot of her.” He handed me one of the coffee cups. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know how you took it.”
    “Straight up black,” I uttered, taking the cup with a smile of thanks. I sipped at it slowly and it was wonderful. I couldn’t help watching the chubby, long-lashed little girl. My chest tightened in awe. “She’s adorable, Lev.”
    He pulled back to look down at his daughter. His soft response nearly had me swooning in a dead faint. “She is my life.”
    Warmth flooded me, leaving me in a haze of wonder. What had I done so well in my life that I’d come across Lev Leokov? Whatever it was, I was thankful for it.
    The little girl turned and, finally spotting me, gabbed. “Zhena. Zhena. Zhena.”
    My nose bunched with my smile. “What is she saying?”
    Lev watched me closely. “She doesn’t know your name. She’s calling you her version of ‘lady’ in Russian.”
    “Oh, so you’re Russian then?” I asked stupidly.
    Patiently, Lev responded, and I commended him on not calling me a dumbass. “Yes, from both my father and mother’s sides.”
    “Oh, cool,” I said. And what followed was a long, awkward silence.
    Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lev asked, “Where is your family, Mina?”
    My response was curt. “Dead. I’m an orphan. I didn’t know my father. My mother died when I was twelve. My grandmother didn’t want me, and so I went into foster care. I ran away when I was seventeen.”
    Affected by my sudden change of manner, Lev whispered, “Okay,” and it sounded off. Almost childlike.
    The door opened suddenly, and a gaggle of people came through it, conversing loudly and openly.
    Nastasia came in first, face red, lips tight, arguing with the man behind her. “I don’t give a shit who she was, Vik.”
    The man, who I easily guessed was Viktor, came in behind her, grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Sure you do, baby.”
    Nas turned and her lip curled. “She was kind of pretty in that ‘I hope you don’t mind STDs’ kind of way.”
    Viktor was tall, brawny, and wore a pair of dress pants, a white shirt rolled up at the sleeves to reveal a bunch of colorful tattoos, and had a toothpick sticking out the side of his mouth. His blue eyes popped in a way that made you want to stare into them for days, and he wasn’t at all fazed by Nastasia’s wrath. “You know me. No jimmy, no hanky.”
    A beautiful redhead came in behind Viktor. I immediately noticed she had the same eyes that Viktor did. From the way she smiled, she only had eyes for Lev, and when she looked to me, her smile fell fast.
    Lev winked at her, a tender look in his eye. “Anika.”
    My stomach churned violently at the way Lev looked at her. I didn’t understand it.
    I mean, I understood it. She was pretty in a way that I just couldn’t compete with.
    “Well, hey there, princess.” Anika held out her hands, smiling once more, and Lev handed over Lidiya as if this were a regular occurrence.
    My gut rolled. Again.
    What the hell was going on here? Stop it, stomach!
    She bounced Lidiya on her hip, kissing her cheek. Lidiya showed no signs of discomfort with the woman. She looked to me and spoke softly, her voice melodic. “Hi. I’m Anika.”
    I opened my mouth to respond, already reaching out with my hand when Lev straightened. “This is Mina. The new bargirl.”
    I smiled at her. “Yeah, what he said.”
    At his explanation, Anika’s tension visibly faded and she warmed up toward me. She shook my hand lightly. “Oh. That’s great. We’ll be working together.”
    Viktor looked at me then, and seemed surprised, as if he’d just noticed another person in the room. “What’s up? I’m Viktor.” He looked me up and down appreciatively before turning to Lev and smiling slyly. “Where’d you find this one?”
    His eyes on me, Lev responded