Grabbing my phone, I called Lev. I really didn’t want to talk to him at this very moment, but it had to be done. He would expect me to call him back. I waited for him to answer the call. When he did, I took a deep breath and said, “Lev, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Funny, I also wanted to talk to you about some things, Nikita.”

“What one of us should go first?” I asked, and let out a sigh, while I waited for him to come up with the answer. 

“Probably you, Nikita. I really haven’t given you many choices or options to speak your mind about a lot of things.”

“Alright, but Lev I’m going to say some things you will not be comfortable hearing, but I think it’s time that I really just tell you. Ummm, because like I said, I’m tired now.” I said, managing the tone I was speaking to him in. 

“If this is about my parents, you’re right, you were just a kid, and you don’t deserve the blame, but when I needed someone to shoulder that blame, you were an easy target for my anger. I’ve blamed you for a long time, but I know that isn’t the right thing to do. Again, you were just a kid. You had been through enough. I shouldn’t have added to all of it.” He sighed, and I heard him doing something before he continued with his sentence. “Nikita, all that being said, our sister is coming to town and I want to make sure you’re here to see her when she lands, and comes to the complex, and she wants to see you. And meet your ‘new husband’, of course.”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it. Send me the date and information via text, and I’ll make Viktor and I available for that. But it’s only because I want to see our sister, too.” I said, quickly. 

“I understand. I hope we can sit down and really talk about our past. There’s a lot we need to hash out.” 

“Yeah.”

“Nikita, I’m not expecting you to forgive me right away, or even at all. Frankly, I’ve done some unforgivable things to a child who was in the same situation as me.”

“How’s Alessio doing? Have you told Andrei and—--”

“Nikita, changing the subject won’t make it any easier to talk about, now or in the future. For either of us,” Lev said. 

“I don’t want to talk about this right now. That’s why I changed the subject, Lev.”

“Ok, then let me change the subject. Let’s talk about Viktor, your husband.” 

“Viktor is Viktor. Honestly, I am a little anxious about him meeting our sister. She isn’t used to all this, and Viktor is definitely a mobster, far worse than Alessio, that is for sure. I don’t want her to be uncomfortable.”

“She’ll be fine. She grew up with us both, and we’ve done questionable things.”

“I guess you’re not wrong.”

“Speaking of which, Yuri hacked a black-market and got information for you, and now he is whining about shit. What or who did he get involved with, Nikita?” Lev asked, and I could tell he was worried about Yuri. 

“Yuri used the cameras in the illegal market to find someone for me, and the owner, Helios, wanted me to tell Yuri they would be in touch. All because he didn’t like that Yuri could hack his systems. But then again, that man does not know what Yuri is capable of. He wants to experiment with Yuri, then by all means, let him learn a lesson.” I laughed.

“How did you two get wrapped up in an illegal market anyway, Nikita?” Lev questioned me, and I felt the urge to actually lie to him. But I didn’t. I had no actual reason to. 

“Viktor. He was looking for someone and I offered, well, sort of, but then I just took over.”

“Do you see that thing on your fucking arm?”

“The cast?” I asked.

“Yes, the fucking cast, the thing that means your fucking arm is still broken.” Lev hissed, and I could hear Alessio in the background. 

“Stop bitching at me and spend time with your husband. He likes you.” I sighed. 

“Nikita, seriously though, come see our sister when she’s here,” Lev said, and I could hear him hiss at Alessio, telling him not to do something, and I felt like I was hearing things I really shouldn’t be. 

“Alright, I’ll make sure I’m there, and I’ll bring Viktor. I’ll talk to you another time. Have a good day.”

Ending the call, I let out a groan. My stomach let out a growl of its own, and I sighed. Food seemed like a good idea right now, but I didn’t want to eat alone. Viktor had to be hungry, too. If he hadn’t already eaten without me. Viktor was most likely in his office.

Standing up and stretching, I walked to the dresser and pulled a pair of sweatpants on. I debated calling Viktor to let him know I was on my way, but didn’t and just made my way to his office instead. Letting myself into the office, I stopped when I realised Viktor wasn’t alone in the office, rather the former Don Russo, Ilya’s father, was with him.  

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to just barge in. I wasn’t aware that Viktor had company. Excuse me.” I said and grabbed the door handle, but Ilya’s father stopped me. 

“Please, join us. Viktor and I were just discussing you anyway, Nikita.”

“Oh. Good things, I do hope.” I smiled softly and then met eyes with Viktor, hoping that everything was good. 

“Certainly. We are discussing a small dinner to welcome you to the Russo family. Any chance we Russo’s get to put on an event, we do so. Viktor was adamant that you wouldn’t like a dinner in your name, but instead of us both making assumptions about it, asking you is the best option. So, Nikita, do you want to give my wife and I the honour of throwing you and Viktor a celebration dinner?”

I didn’t want to seem ungrateful to them, or burn any bridges with them before they really got to know who I was as a person. So I agreed to allowing them to throw a dinner party. But I knew why Ilya’s father asked me and not Viktor. Viktor had the option to say no to him without worrying about dirtying the relations, I didn’t and he knew it. 

Ilya’s father disappeared, and Viktor let out a laugh. “Nikita, my uncle played you like a fiddle. He knew you wouldn’t want a party. But he also knew you wouldn’t say no to him if he asked.”

“You let him play me like a fiddle, Viktor Russo. You knew exactly what he was up to, and you allowed it.” I said, frowning and crossing my arms. 

“His actions weren’t dangerous to your health. Besides, call it a bargain. You let them throw you a party, and I’ll be on my absolute best behaviour for when your sister comes to see Lev and Alessio, and we go see them all,” Viktor said, chuckling, and I dropped my shoulders, and‌ sat down in the extra chair by his desk. 

“Can we go out and grab breakfast? I want to see what’s around the city, and I need some things.”

“I suppose we could. I have some free time right now. Besides, I need to get you some more proper things to look after your hair,” Viktor said, humming. He stood up and walked around the desk. I didn’t stand up right away, and stood behind me. He touched my hair, bringing a group of strands to his nose and breathing in. “You need lovely oil again. I liked the smell, but it also left your hair feeling nice and tamed.”

“Only you care about it. If you like it that much, I’ll cut it off and just give it to you, Viktor.” I said, mildly serious, but Viktor really didn’t like it. I watched his face screw up again, and I felt the need to soothe him. “Shush. Put your poor attitude away. I was only teasing. I know how much you like my hair. So, if you don’t get me out of this house, and somewhere for breakfast, I’m going to shave it off, Viktor.”

“Tsk. I hear you Nikita. Let’s get you dressed and then we can go out for food and shopping. But I can’t promise you will enjoy this. You never liked when I bought you things before,” he sighed, and let go of my hair to leave the office. He held the door open until I got out of the office, then he locked the door and slipped his hand into mine. “Bear with me, I want to hold your hand,” Viktor said, and pulled me with him down the hall. 

“You could have held more of me, but you rejected my body and my touch, and that’s on you.” 

Viktor opened the closet in the bedroom when we got there. “Let me dress you, Nikita. I’ll pick something we both would like. But I think you should get some new clothing today too, more things that you will like.”

“Fine, but if I don’t like it, I’m dressing myself, understand?” I asked him and watched his reactions. 

“Loud and clear, Nikita, my love.”

I sat on the bed as he picked out an outfit and set it on the bed. He went into the bathroom, coming back out with a brush and a hair clip. 

“No. You’re not about to attack me with that shit.”

“I need to tame the mane, Nikita. Hold still, I’ll be gentle.”

“You and gentle are not even in the same universe.” I hissed and prepared myself for him to go to war with my hair.