Lev served dinner, and Alessio offered me a drink, and Lev spoke. “Nikita wants the same as your dad, Alessio.”

A few minutes later, a whisky was placed down in front of me, and Viktor leaned over softly after refusing alcohol and asking for water. “This is your only drink, Nikita.”

“Agreed.” I hummed, “I’m not looking to get drunk, just to relax.” 

I needed this drink, so that I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night screaming and thrashing. I didn’t need these two knowing that the nightmares I had were like that. They would never let it go. Taking a long sip, conversation flowed naturally between us, until Alessio’s phone rang. He picked it up and whoever was on the other side was getting chewed out. 

“Just get your ass here and let me look at it. I don’t care what Vito says. I’m the one with the medical degree,” he hissed, and a few minutes later, Matteo and Ilya came through the door. Blood was running down Matteo’s chin from a cut on his lip, and Ilya was sporting a dislocated finger. 

Lev got up and pulled gloves out of a drawer in the kitchen. 

“We’ll be back in a few moments. Let’s go.” Alessio sighed. They followed him down the hall to the bathroom, and a few minutes later, Ilya let out a yell, followed by some very nasty Russian words. Setting my hand on Viktor’s knee, I leaned over. “Not your problem. Mind your business, Viktor.”

“Of course, you have my word, Darling.”

I watched Lev’s face screw up, and he went and got himself a drink. But it was short-lived. Ilya snatched it when he came out of the bathroom, and I found myself amused by his behaviour. “I need this more than you do. Your fucking husband is a monster.” 

Ilya looked over, seeing Viktor, and sighed. “Gross. No wonder you needed the drink.” 

“Let me see your hand?” Lev asked, and Ilya showed him his hand, where he had dislocated his finger. He went on explaining how the two of them had collided and the injuries we saw were the aftermath of that. 

Alessio came out, and Matteo followed him, gauze pressed against his lip. 

“You two are fucking lucky. None of his teeth are broken or loose, and his injury is minimal. In terms of who’s partner is going to be more upset, I’m banking on Vito. Though, you never know, Caio might be a little salty if Matteo bruises.”

Alessio followed them to the door as they were leaving, and Ilya stopped, and called Viktor’s name, and he turned to look at Ilya only to receive a middle finger from him. I snorted, accidentally. 

“You think that’s funny?” Viktor said, and I watched Lev react to the tone he used. 

“I do, actually. Sometimes you need to be knocked down a few inches, less for me to do.” I hummed, Viktor and Lev met eyes, and neither seemed like they wanted to back down. Alessio walked into the kitchen and spotted the two roosters at his table posturing. 

“Are you two done?” he asked, and looked at me. “I have dessert. If you’re interested, Nikita, we can eat it and take bets on whose husband is going to misbehave first. Twenty bucks from Lev’s wallet says it’s going to be him.”

I looked at both of them. “Forty bucks. My husband is going to be the first one to misbehave. Lev can hold his temper back really well. You, on the other hand, Viktor….”

“Where is your faith in me, Kita?” Viktor said, and set his hand on my knee. Instead of pushing his hand away, I leaned in closer to him. 

“Faith. You’re joking, right? I know you better than you think.” I said, and went to pull my hand away, and Viktor grabbed my wrist, muttering something under his breath in what I figured was Italian. Alessio just shook his head and muttered something back to him in Italian. He let go of me, and I sat normally again. 

“Nikita, a word. Please.” Lev said, standing up, and by the tone he had picked this was more of a ‘follow me now’ than a ‘please’. Relaxing my shoulders, I stood up and followed him down the hall to the spare bedroom. 

“Am I in trouble for something?” I asked and crossed my arms. 

“Hardly. I want to speak to you about our sister coming to visit. Viktor has to be on his best behavior. Our sister treasures you.”

“Viktor said he will be on his best behaviour and I want to trust that.” I muttered, not really sure how much I actually believed him. Viktor had definitely lied to me more than once before. I sighed as I looked around the spare bedroom. I was worried about what was going to happen when our sister arrived. I felt a knot in my stomach. 

“Hopefully Viktor will keep his word this time and behave.”

Our sister wasn’t like Lev or me, but she could keep up if she needed to, and that meant she wouldn’t fear Viktor either. If she heard or saw something she didn’t like about him, she would be the first to let him know. That’s what worried me, and Lev most likely, too.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I looked at Lev. “Are you excited to have a child with Alessio?”

“Absolutely. I’m sorry you found out the way you did, Nikita. I didn’t mean it to be like that at all. Alessio just didn’t want anyone to know until we were past a certain number of weeks. He didn’t want to get everyone excited if the fetus wasn’t viable.”

“That’s understandable.” I muttered. I wondered if Viktor would want a child or a few in the future and if I was even capable of helping him raise a child. Shaking that thought out of my head, I leaned back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling until Lev came into view, hovering over me. 

“Nikita, how long are you going to ignore that something is really wrong with you? You’re hardly sleeping again, I just know it. Plus, Viktor confirmed it.”

“I sleep. I just need some help here or there to sleep. Like the drink tonight to calm me down, and let me sleep soundly. Viktor would rather I get help for it, but I rather not be bothersome.”

“If you’re tired, rest. I’ll have Viktor wake you up later, or let you sleep through the night. He can make that choice. He knows how you’ve been sleeping lately.”

“I’m not that tired. I can stay up for now.” I said, sitting up and stretching my arms above my head before standing up and following Lev back out of the room. They cleaned the kitchen before we came back out, and Alessio and Viktor were both sitting on the carpet in the living room on either side of the living room table, playing chess. 

Sitting on the couch, I watched Viktor play. Lev was hovering close to Alessio, watching his every move on the board. He finally sat down and made it so Alessio was between his legs. He watched with interest as Alessio moved the pieces around, occasionally whispering something in his ear. After a few moments, Alessio won the game and Lev cheered him on. Viktor relaxed and turned to look at me.

“You look tired, Kita,” Viktor said, stretching out his hand and setting it on my thigh. The urge to push his hand off me faded the longer his hand sat there. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. His eyes were full of kindness and understanding, something from him that felt so foreign. I felt myself relax as I accepted his touch. 

“Another round?” Alessio asked and looked at Lev, hiding a sly smile on his face. 

“I’ll watch you two play,” Viktor said, and sat up on the couch beside me. He pulled me against him and made it so I couldn’t move away. The warmth that radiated through his clothing and mine was lovely. Leaned against him, much of it against my will. I gave in and got comfortable. 

Lev and Alessio played two rounds of chess, and they each won a game. Viktor watched, and gave Alessio tips on how to win, even though I was pretty sure that he didn’t need them at all. Viktor slipped one of his hands into my hair and lightly massaged the back of my scalp. It was lovely. 

I leaned further into his hand when he tried to pull away, and opened my eyes, meeting Lev’s on the other side of the room. He had a frown on his face, but he said nothing, and I was happy about that. I didn’t need to explain this to Lev. Viktor was my husband, and there was nothing he could do about it now. 

 Lev looked away, and I saw him take a deep breath. I knew he was accepting the situation slowly. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and relaxed further into Viktor. Some sleep would probably do some good. Viktor must have thought the same thing. When he stood up, he took me with him. 

“I’m going to take Nikita to bed.”

“Alright. If he needs something to help him sleep a little better, just let me know and I’ll find him something.” I heard Alessio say as Viktor carried me to the spare bedroom. 

He set me on the bed, and I opened my eyes to look at him as he started to take my pants off. “This is not the first time you’ve done this.” I muttered, and it sounded way worse than it was. 

“I’m just getting you ready for bed, Nikita,” he said as he lifted my hips and pulled my pants down and off, tossing them aside. I rolled over in the bed and snuggled into the top of the blanket. “Nikita, hold on. Let me tuck you in the blankets.”

“Are you going to sleep too?” I asked and rolled onto my back to look at him. 

“Would you like me to join you in bed? It’s still pretty early,” Viktor said, and pulled the blankets down on the other side of the bed. “Get under the blankets.”

Getting under the blankets, I hummed, the cool sheets nice on my skin. “You don’t have to stay, it’s alright.”

“I’ll stay till you fall asleep.” Viktor said, and pulled the blankets up over me, and laid beside me on top of them. 

“Thanks.” I mumbled and closed my eyes. I felt the warmth of his body as he lay next to me, and I could feel his breath on my neck. I drifted off to sleep, comfortable and warm.