Vik (Shot Callers 2)

Nas snuggled into our shared pillow. She must have slipped out of bed in the middle of the night and joined me on the floor. An intense protective streak hit me hard. I couldn’t help myself. Leaning in, I pressed my lips to her temple, silently hoping it would convey everything I felt for her and more.

No one was more important to me than Nastasia Leokov.

With one last look at her, I fought a yawn as I left the room and made my way to the kitchen just as Mina approached the back door, holding a plate. The shock on her face at seeing me half asleep in Nas’s kitchen had me grinning. You never had to guess what Mina was thinking. You could see it all right there, written in her expression.

The second I opened the door, she walked inside cautiously and drew out the sentence, “What are you doing here?”

Heavy emphasis on “you.”

Squinting into the sunlight streaming in through the windows, I went to retrieve a couple of mugs and filled them with coffee. “Nas needed me.”

Mina’s lips puckered as she took the proffered mug and sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “What, she doesn’t have a vibrator?”

I rolled my eyes but softened it with a smile. “Not like that. She’s going through some shit.”

“Like what?” she asked quietly.

I wasn’t sure it was my place to say, but Mina may have been going through something similar with Lev, so I proceeded with caution. “Do you know what an anniversary reaction is?”

Mina shook her head, appearing a little confused.

“You remember when she told you about what was happening to Lev as a child? About how no one would ever have known about it if Nas hadn’t snuck into his bed and taken a beating meant for him?”

Her expression turned ice-cold. “I’m not likely to forget anytime soon.”

I explained it as best as I could. “Well, every year when it gets closer to the date of when all that shit went down, Nas gets… tightly strung.” Out of sheer curiosity, I asked, “Does that happen to Lev?”

Mina shrugged. “Not that I’ve noticed.”

Yeah. Lev wasn’t the type to wear his emotions openly. He was good at hiding himself.

“She, uh, has nightmares. Can’t sleep. Becomes exhausted and edgy. Irritable.” I was not about the tell Mina that Nas sometimes saw the rotting corpse of her mother. That wasn’t something she needed to know. “She struggles.”

Mina’s face softened. “And you’re looking after her.”

I sipped at my coffee, leaning my hip against the counter. “No place I’d rather be.”

Quite suddenly, Mina let out a perplexed, “Why aren’t you guys together?”

I asked myself that question at least ten times a day. I was lost without her. “Asking the wrong person, short stuff.”

And then she repeated, “And you’re here looking after her.”

What did she want from me? If that made me a putz, I guess I was a putz. “No greater honor than to stand behind a woman and guard her back. If she’d let me, I’d remain by her side forever and always.”

‘Til death do us part.

A comfortable quiet passed until finally, Mina spoke gently, “I’m glad she has you, Vik.”

And because I wasn’t always good with talking about my feelings, I jerked my chin toward the plate she brought in. “What you got there?”

She uncovered the loaf. “Ada’s walnut banana bread.”

A sound of pure delight escaped me. “Well, shit. Stop wasting my time and serve it up, wifey.”

Mina looked at me a moment, and I didn’t know what she saw in my face, but it was probably more than I intended. She stood, and a sad smile graced her lips. Her hand curled around my own, sparing me a quick squeeze as she passed me, and the misery I buried settled itself deep in my gut.

11

Nastasia

I knocked for the third time and waited. Again, no one answered, but when I checked the side of the house, both of their cars were in the driveway. I could have used my key, but they were trying for a baby, and I didn’t want to be traumatized by the sight of my brother’s bare ass while he tried to implant a magic bean into Mina’s belly.

If they weren’t here and their cars hadn’t moved, there was only one other place they could be.

Sasha’s.

Did I want to take the short hike over to my eldest brother’s? Not really, no. But regardless of how broody his ass had been lately, I did love him, so I supposed it was only sisterly to stop by and give him a little shit.

I was kind of giddy over the fact that I’d slept the night before. Actually slept.

It was the second night Vik slept over. The first night, I was admittedly a mess. However, last night, I wasn’t so fearful. It was as though I’d been expecting him, like I knew he’d come. And knowing he would be there calmed my nerves, giving me the strength to ignore the decomposing corpse who fought desperately for a place in my psyche.