That night, Igor and Sasha met on the roof of Igor’s apartment complex. It was clear, the air only slightly chilled. They cracked open a bottle of vodka and passed it between them, not bothering with glasses. It was like they were sixteen again, stealing good liquor from their fathers.
Things were different now. For one, only Igor’s father was still alive.
“What do you want to talk about first?” Sasha asked, his gaze leaving the lit-up Manhattan skyline to settle on Igor who was seated in a comfortable cushioned patio chair.
“Vlad Yevtukh.”
“What he said about the Ukrainians is true. They can’t stop fighting long enough to band together to eke out even a small piece of territory.”
“They need a true leader.”
“Vlad?”
Igor shook his head. “No. Vlad doesn’t want to lead. He said as much in our…meeting.”
“Do you trust him?” Sasha asked.
“Do you?”
“Not sure yet.”
“A test, da?” Igor pressed.
“Da. What kind of test do you have in mind?”
Igor scratched his jaw in thought. “We want Olaf out of the way, yes?”
“Yes.”
“And we want to see if Vlad can be trusted.”
“Yes.”
Igor paused.
“You’re not thinking of having him—”
“No,” Igor assured him. “Who’s the head of the Ukrainian mafia?”
Sasha threw out a name. “Oh. Oh, I see.”
“Death is the cost of entry, no?”
Sasha sighed; the sound was so very Russian.
“What’s next on tonight’s agenda?” Sasha asked after taking a swig of expensive vodka.
“Olaf’s birthday party.”
“I heard it will be quite the bash,” Sasha drawled.
“He’s insisting I bring Maryruth.”
“He saw you both together the night of the fight.”
“I figured.”
“This would’ve happened sooner or later, right? Unless he was already—”
“Right.” Igor took a drink. “She knows, Sasha.”
“About us? Our life?”
“Yes. Well, no specifics, but she guessed.”
“She’s not stupid,” Sasha said.
Igor’s look was wry. “That’s what worries me.”
Sasha laughed. “You can’t have it all, Igor.”
“Yes, Sasha, I can. And I will. With your help.”
“Would you like me to bow, Your Majesty?”
“Not at the moment, no.” He handed the bottle to his friend. “Get a message to Vlad, da? Set up a meeting.”
“You sure he won’t kick my ass just for bringing the message?”
“I think you’re safe.”
“You don’t sound very sure.”
“Vlad is the type of man that you can know for twenty years and never really know. Dig deep, da? Find out all you can about him. Childhood, lovers, how he got involved with the Ukrainians. When I meet with him, I want to be armed with information.”
“And a gun?”
“Most definitely a gun. Though that might not save me if he takes offense when I ask him to kill his own leader. Vlad might just strangle me and be done with it.”
“If that happens, will your father make me his successor?” Sasha asked with a teasing grin.
Igor answered with a smile and a question of his own. “Would you want that?”
Sasha tilted his head in thought. “I don’t know. Do you think I’d ever be fit to be leader? I’ve been taking your directives for so many years I don’t know if I have it in me to lead.”
“I think you’d make a great leader,” Igor answered truthfully. “You’re loyal. To me and to our men.”
“I won’t ever challenge you,” Sasha stated. “I trust you to do right by us.”
Igor stared off into the night, gathering his thoughts. “Olaf has been acting far too long without any sort of accountability. He listens to no one. He makes unilateral decisions.”
“You’re just now realizing this?”
“No,” Igor said. “I knew it a while ago, I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do about it. I didn’t know if I was ready to lead. I am now.”
“Good.”
“Promise me one thing,” Igor said.
“What?”
“I don’t ever want to become like my father. You’re the check and balance, da? If I get out of control, then…”
Sasha’s gaze narrowed. “Then?”
Igor stood and faced his oldest friend. “Then you’ll put me down.”
“I—”
“You take me down, and anyone that fights you for the role of leader. Promise me, Sasha.”
Sasha swallowed. “I promise.”
“You smell like vodka,” she murmured sleepily when Igor climbed into bed next to her.
He placed a kiss in the spot below her ear. “Sorry.”
“Doesn’t bother me. Just an observation.” She wiggled her body against his, reached behind her to stroke his bare thigh.
He pressed closer. “How was your night?”
“Nice. I had dinner with my old roommate. It had been a while. It was nice to reconnect.”
“Feel free to have her over. Anytime you want.” His hands wormed their way underneath her T-shirt to settle on the warm, smooth skin of her belly.
“Thanks.”
“No need to thank me. It’s your home, too.”
She was silent for a while, and he wondered if she’d fallen back asleep. He sincerely hoped not since he was trying to seduce her. But then she spoke.
“Isn’t it weird?”
“Weird? What’s weird?”
“How we got together. And that I—”
“Moved in without moving in?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Do you not want to be here?”
“I want to be here,” she assured him, placing her hand on his and gently scooting it lower.
He smiled into her hair as his fingers trailed below the elastic of her underwear. His smile grew wider when he caused her breath to hitch.
“You can leave anytime, Maryruth,” he said huskily as he slowly grazed the most sensitive part of her. “You’re not a prisoner, you’re here by choice, yes?”
“Yes.” She gasped. “B-b-but think of how it looks.” Her last word ended on a squeak when Igor’s finger slowly entered her.
He didn’t know why they were wasting time talking about it—then again, women always got caught up in trivialities. All he cared about was her, in his bed, in his life. It didn’t matter to him that she’d been with another man, that there had been an over-lap, or that it seemed too fast. He’d wanted her from the beginning. And now he had her—nothing was going to stop them from being together. Not even Maryruth’s moot concerns.
“You want me,” he breathed against her back as he slipped in a second finger. She quivered around him and let out a breathy moan. He took that as confirmation.
“I want you,” he went on, pressing his erection against her.
“Is this all this is? Sex?”
“Is that what you want? Just sex?” He nipped her ear and used his thumb. She bucked against him; her body went taut and then slackened.
“I wouldn’t live with a man just for sex.”
He removed his hand from between her legs and gently rolled her toward him. “Then you tell me what this is.”
“I’m afraid to say.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s too fast.”
“Says who?”
She went silent.
“I’ve never done anything the way other people do,” he said. “I’ve always been different that way. I spent years fighting, trying to be something I wasn’t. You know what I learned? Who cares? People judge. Fuck them. You get one life. How are you going to live it?”
They faced one another, their breaths mingling, a shaft of moonlight giving them just enough light to see outlines and curves.
Maryruth rolled on top of him and stripped off her shirt. Leaning over, she grazed her lips against his. “Show me how to live, Igor.”