“Will you stand with me? When I make my vows?”
I blinked. “You've got Adrian for that.”
“Adrian is best man. I want you there too. As...” He paused, searching for the word. “As brother. Not best man. Just. There.”
The flask felt heavier in my hand. “Viktor.”
“I know you do not like attention. I know you prefer to stay in the background. But I need family up there, and you are family. So.” He met my eyes.
“Yeah,” I said. “I'll stand with you.”
His shoulders dropped half an inch. Relief. “Good. Is settled.” He moved back to the window, stared out at nothing. “You think I will mess this up?”
“No.”
“You answered too fast. You did not even think.”
“Didn't need to think. You won't mess it up.”
“How do you know?”
“Because you're terrified,” I said. “People who don't care don't get scared. You're scared because it matters. That's how I know you won't mess it up.”
Viktor was quiet for a long moment. Then: “This is why I ask you to stand with me. You say things that make sense when nothing else does.”
“I just tell you what's obvious.”
“To you. Not to me.” He pulled his mask from his pocket, turned it over in his hands. White leather, simple, elegant. “Sebastian chose this. Said it would match suit.”
“Does he choose all your clothes now?”
“Most of them. I have terrible taste apparently.”
“You wore leather jackets and combat boots to business meetings.”
“Exactly. Terrible taste.” He grinned. “But now I have Sebastian, so I look respectable.”
“You look like you're about to get married.”
“Same thing.” He slipped the mask on, adjusted it. “How do I look?”
“Like a bloke in a mask.”
“Helpful. Thank you.”
“You look good. Stop fishing.”
He laughed, pulled the mask off again. “I save it for the ceremony. For now, I’m just be nervous Viktor who drinks your whiskey.” He held out his hand. I passed the flask. He took another drink, handed it back. “You know what is strange?”
“What?”
“I am not scared of marriage. I am scared I will wake up and this will be a dream. That I will be back in Moscow, cold and angry, and Sebastian will not be real.”
“He's real.”
“I know. But sometimes I forget. Sometimes I think I do not deserve real things.”
“Viktor.”
