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Alexei arranges a car to go help May pack up a bag and get her over to The House. But Alexei drives me back to the house directly so we can talk to Dina. 

"Thank you for bringing me to get my stuff", I say quietly. In response, Alexei sets his hand on my thigh. "And thank you for trusting May to join the family. I've never had someone like her before. Us and Dina are going to make a great team."

"Oh, Jesus", Alexei scoffs, but a smile forms on his face. "Keep me away from that party."

Once again, a million thoughts run through my head as we drive. I want to take my anger of the death of my father out on someone, but it can't be Alexei. Though together, we still see to walk on a few eggshells when it comes to emotions. I don't want to explode at him and cause an unnecessary fight. 

But if we ever find Sergei, it will give me my own reason to hate him, and more of a reason to hate Carson, or Sasha, or whatever his name will be when we find him again. Alexei must know that Sergei was spotted; Dina did say they always know before the news comes out. I don't want to bring it up though because I know some of his stress is because of me. 

Back at The House, Alexei and I go to find Dina. We find her on the patio with Irina and a couple of the wives. While they all laugh, I have to interrupt.

"Dina", I start. All the girls turn to look at me. "Can Alexei and I talk to you for a second?"

With Alexei holding my hand firmly, we go back inside into the hallway. 

"What's up", Dina starts. Then gets wildly excited. "Are you pregnant?"

"Dina", Alexei barks. "Shut it."

I give Alexei a look, but he stays glaring at Dina. I turn to her, then take the photo out of my bag. "Do you recognize this man?"

She thinks for a moment, then a spark lights in her brain. "Mama showed me a picture of this family when I was young. I used to play with this little girl, but then Sergei murdered the dad, and I never saw her again. Mama- Wait. Where did you get this?"

"We went back to my apartment today to get my things."

"So you found-", Dina's eyes get very wide. "This is you."

A smile grows across my face. "You're the Dina I was friends with when I was little. Before my mother brought me here."

Dina stares at me for a moment, then looks at Alexei, back at me, then gasps. "Follow me."

Dina grabs my wrist and races through the foyer, up the stairs, and into her room. She lets go of me, then goes into her closet, and grabs a box from the top shelf. 

"What are you looking for?" I ask as she rummages through the box, full of papers, little knick knacks, and photos. She finally pulls out a certain photo and hands it to me. 

The photo is of two little girls, maybe each about a year and a half old, swinging side-by-side in those baby swings. They both have huge smiles on their faces.

I stare at it just long enough for Dina to explain it to me. "This is us in St. Petersburg. Mama told me this was about a week before you left Russia, just after your father was killed. She took care of you for a day or two so your mother could arrange plans to leave."

I sit down on her bed in shock, trying to take just a second to understand everything being told to me.

"My mother told me so much about you and your mother; you guys were the only piece of Russia I knew about."

"Our mother's were best friend for years after your father joined mine. Mine helps you two escape because she couldn't get her own kids out, she wanted to see her best friend live."

Dina and I sit there for a bit and talk about what each other knew of the other. Dina knew a lot more than I did. She told me about all of the girls we played with when we were toddlers. Her mother was the first in their huge wife friend group to have a baby, that being Alexei, then all of the women followed suit, most of them having little girls. 

By the end, Dina and I are laying on her bed with our legs hanging off the end. Dina sort of whispers: "Our mothers had always hoped you and Alexei would marry."

"No", I giggle. "We were kids."

"But you know that whole trope where one best friend has a little girl and the other has a little boy, and they want them to end up together. My mother raved about it for years. Especially after Alexei left, she had hoped that in some crazy way, you two would find each other and end up together."

When I think about my Alexei again, I sit up. "I'll be back."

I hurry out of Dina's room and down the stairs. I turn my head quickly both ways to see if Alexei is outside her door, and when he's not, I run down the stairs. I see a flash of his black pants in the living room.

Alexei notices me rushing towards him, he gets up like something is wrong. 

I run up to him, wrap my hands into his hair, and pull his lips down to mine. He quickly reacts as he should, grabbing my waist and pulling me into his body. Our lips dance together, but I can still feel slight confusion in his movements. 

With one last huge peck, I release my lips from his. He stares at me for a moment with a look of almost happy confusion. 

"Did you know?"

"I saw you the first night, and I immediately recognized you. But, I didn't know for sure."

My heart literally cannot take it, I've tried so hard to keep my feelings down because even I think it's crazy that it's only been a few weeks. But staring at Alexei, and the looks he stares back at me with makes my heart flutter in ways I didn't know possible. 

"Alexei Sokolov".

He continues to study my face to look for my next words. 

"You were made for me."