Chapter 2 Masks and Knives #2
“Figured.” Ash's mouth curved slightly. Not quite a smile. “He worries.”
“He's good at it.”
“He's good at a lot of things.” Ash's shoulders were tight, his hands gripping the stone. “How was the ceremony?”
“Good. Viktor cried.”
“He did not.”
“That's what I said. Luka insists he did.”
Ash's smile widened. “Viktor crying at his own wedding. Never thought I'd see the day.”
“It was more like tearing up. Barely counts.”
“Still counts.” He fell quiet for a moment, staring at the gardens. “You ever wonder how they do it?”
“Do what?”
“Choose happiness like that. In front of everyone. Make it public and permanent and real.” His grip on the stone tightened. “I watch Viktor and Sebastian, and it looks so easy. Like they just decided to be happy and everything else fell into place.”
“Nothing about Viktor's life fell into place.”
“No. I know. That's what makes it more impressive.” Ash turned to look at me. “He fought for it. For Sebastian. For this life. For the right to stand in that room and make vows. And he won.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am surprised. Not by Viktor winning. By him believing he could.” Ash's voice went quieter. “I struggle with that sometimes. Believing good things can last. That happiness isn't just borrowed time before everything goes to shit again.”
“Luka help with that?”
“Every day. He's patient when I'm not. He's steady when I'm falling apart.
He sits with me through the bad nights and doesn't make me feel weak for having them.” Ash's expression softened.
“That's love, I think. Not the grand gestures.
Just showing up. Being present. Choosing someone even when it's hard.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
“It is. But it's worth it.” He pushed off the balustrade, straightened his jacket. “Watching Viktor today reminded me why. Why it's worth being terrified. Worth needing someone. Worth trusting they'll stay.”
“What if they don't?”
“Then at least I tried.” He met my eyes. “You know what I mean, Dom. You've been doing it for years.”
The words hit harder than they should have. “I don't—”
“You do. You stand in corners and convince yourself you're fine alone. That needing people makes you weak. But you're here. Standing with Viktor. That's something.”
“It's his wedding.”
“It's more than that. You let him in. You let him matter.” Ash's voice was gentle. “That's brave, even if you don't think it is.”
“Ash.”
“I know. You don't want to hear it.” He adjusted his mask. “I should get back inside. Luka will think I've bolted.”
“You all right?”
“Getting there. These things are just hard sometimes. Too many people. Too much noise. Too much pretending everything's fine when sometimes it's not.” His smile was real this time, warm. “But I'm working on it. Learning to be present even when it's uncomfortable. Luka's helping with that.”
“He's good at helping.”
“He is. Best thing that ever happened to me, honestly.” Ash moved toward the doors, then paused. “You know, you and Viktor are more alike than you think.”
“How's that?”
“You both think you don't deserve good things. But you're both wrong.” He disappeared back into the ballroom, leaving me alone with the gardens and the lanterns and the weight of words I didn't know how to carry.
I stayed on the terrace for another minute, breathing air that tasted like rain and stone. Inside, the party had shifted into full celebration. Music louder now, laughter spilling out into the night, voices raised in toasts.
Someone had to show up. Someone had to witness good things. Someone had to believe they were possible even when everything else said they weren't.
I found my way back inside as the reception properly kicked off.
The ballroom had transformed completely.
Tables set with white cloth and crystal, flowers everywhere, music shifting from classical to something modern with an actual beat.
People were dancing already, masks making everyone look vaguely theatrical.
Viktor and Sebastian held court at the centre table, surrounded by family and friends and people who wanted proximity to power. Viktor saw me, waved me over with the enthusiasm of someone three drinks in.
“Dom! Come. Sit. Dmitri is telling terrible jokes.”
I made my way through the crowd. Dmitri looked up, grinned. “They are excellent jokes. Viktor has no sense of humour.”
“I have sense of humour. Your jokes are just bad.”
“See? No sense of humour.”
I dropped into the chair beside Viktor. He immediately poured whiskey into a glass, shoved it at me. “Drink. Celebrate. Be merry.”
“I'm plenty merry.”
“You look like someone is making you watch paint dry.” He leaned closer, dropped his voice. “You are allowed to have fun, you know.”
“I'm having fun.”
“You are thinking too hard. I can see it on your face.” He gestured broadly at the room. “Look at this. Look at these people. They are here because they care. They are here because they want to be. And you are here because you are family. So stop thinking and start enjoying.”
“I'm enjoying.”
“Liar.” But he grinned, squeezed my shoulder.
Sebastian leaned over, caught Viktor's hand. “Stop harassing Dom. Let him brood in peace.”
“He is not brooding. He is enjoying. In his own way.”
“His own way looks remarkably like brooding,” Sebastian observed. But he smiled at me, warm and genuine. “Thank you for standing with us today. Viktor's been talking about it all week.”
“All month,” Viktor corrected. “Dom was only one I was certain about. Everyone else could have cancelled. But Dom, he shows up. Always.”
“Stop talking about me like I'm not here.”
“We are celebrating you.” Viktor raised his glass. “To Dom. Who shows up. Who stands with family. Who pretends he does not care but cares more than anyone.”
“I'm not drinking to that.”
“You are drinking to it. Everyone is drinking to it.” Viktor stood, raised his voice. “Everyone! Toast!”
The room quieted. Viktor, still standing, glass raised, looked every bit the reformed criminal turned respectable businessman turned husband. “To my brother, Dom. Who stands with me even when I make terrible decisions. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being family.”
The room echoed the toast. I wanted to disappear. Instead, I raised my glass, caught Viktor's eye, and nodded once.
He sat back down, grinning like he'd won something. “See? Was not so bad.”
“You're an arse.”
“Da. But I am married arse now. Is different.” He laughed, turned to Sebastian. “What was next? Speech?”
“Your speech,” Sebastian confirmed. “The one you've been practising for weeks.”
“I have not been practising.”
“You have been muttering to yourself in Russian for weeks. I assumed it was the speech.”
“That was me complaining about catering.” But Viktor stood again, moved to the centre of the room. The music faded. People turned, attention shifting to the man in white who'd spent most of his life being the thing people feared instead of celebrated.
“I am not good at speeches,” Viktor began. His voice carried, Russian accent thick but clear. “I am better at other things. Breaking things. Building things. Making people nervous. But tonight, I try.”
Scattered laughter rippled through the crowd. Viktor's mouth curved. “When I came to London, I was angry man. Dangerous man. Man who thought violence was only language that mattered. I was wrong. But I did not know I was wrong until I met Sebastian.”
He looked at his husband then. “Sebastian is not like me. He is kind where I am cruel. He is patient where I am angry. He is soft where I am hard. He should have run when he met me. Should have seen danger and chosen safety. But he did not run. He stayed. He chose me. Even knowing what I was. What I am.”
The room was silent. Viktor's hands weren't quite steady.
“I do not deserve him. We all know this. But he chose me anyway. And that choice, that gift, it changed everything. It made me want to be better. Not perfect. Just better. Just worthy of standing beside a man who sees good in world when I only see threats.”
He pulled in a breath. “So tonight, I make promise.
To Sebastian. To everyone here. I promise to keep choosing.
To keep trying. To keep being a man who deserves the gift of Sebastian's love. And I promise to protect this. To fight for this. To never take for granted that I get to stand here, married to best person I have ever known.”
He turned back to Sebastian. “You are my home. My safety. My reason for being better. Thank you for choosing me. I will spend the rest of my life trying to be worth it.”
The room erupted in applause. Sebastian stood, kissed Viktor, and the whole ballroom seemed to hold its breath for a moment before exploding into celebration again.
Viktor returned to the table, dropped into his chair, picked up his whiskey and drained it in one pull. “That was terrible, yes?”
“That was perfect,” Sebastian said softly.
“You are biased.”
“I'm your husband. I'm allowed to be biased.” Sebastian kissed him again, gentle. “That was beautiful.”
Viktor looked at me. “Dom? Honest opinion?”
“It was good,” I said.
“Just good?”
“It was yours. That made it right.”
Viktor smiled at me softly. “Thank you. For everything today. For standing with me. For being here. For being you.”
“It is nothing. I’m just here. That’s all.”
He grinned, poured more whiskey. “Now we drink. Now we dance. Now we celebrate because tomorrow we go back to the real world and tonight, tonight we pretend there are no threats. Just joy. Just us.”
Adrian appeared behind us, Luka beside him. “Speech was good,” Adrian said. “Surprisingly heartfelt.”
“You sound surprised,” Viktor said.
“I am surprised. Didn't know you had it in you.”
“I am man of many talents.”
“Hidden talents,” Luka added. “Very hidden.”
“You are both terrible friends.” But Viktor was smiling, relaxed in a way I'd never seen him. “Dom. Come. We dance.”
“I don't dance.”
“Today you dance. Is my wedding. You do what I say.”
“That's not how this works.”
“Is exactly how this works. Come.” He stood, held out his hand. “One dance. Then you can go back to being grumpy in corner.”
I looked at his hand. At his face. At the ridiculous hope in his expression.
“Fine. One dance.”
The room exploded into movement. Viktor dragged me onto the dance floor, where Sebastian and everyone else joined us. Suddenly we were all there, this mismatched family of men who'd found each other in violence and chosen to stay for something softer.
Later, much later, when the party had spilled into corridors and people were laughing in corners and the palace staff had stopped trying to maintain order, Viktor found me again.
“You are leaving?” he asked.
“Thinking about it.”
“Stay. Little longer.” He swayed slightly, drunk on champagne and happiness. “I want to remember this. Everyone here. Everyone safe. Everyone happy.”
“I'm not going anywhere. Just need air.”
“Good. Because if you leave before sunrise, I will be insulted.”
“Can't have that.”
“No. Cannot have that.” He gripped my shoulder, pulled me into a brief, hard hug. “Thank you, Dom. For today. For everything. For being family when I needed one.”
“You've got family now.”
“I have Sebastian's family. But you, Adrian, Luka, Dmitri, Ash, Noah and Troy. You are my family. The one I chose. The one that matters most.” His eyes were bright, emotional in a way Viktor rarely allowed. “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“Promise me you will let yourself have this too. Someday. Someone who chooses you. Someone who makes you want to be better. Promise me that, Dom.”
I didn't answer right away. Viktor waited, patient despite the champagne. “I'll try,” I said finally.
“That is all I ask. Try. Be open. Let someone in.” He released my shoulder, stepped back. “Now I go find my husband and dance badly until dawn. You stay. Drink. Be merry in your grumpy way.”
He disappeared back into the celebration, leaving me in a corridor lined with portraits of dead royals and the echoes of laughter from the ballroom.
I'd try. Someday.
Just not tonight.