Nas tilted her head. “What’s going on with you and my brother?”
I shrugged, unsure about how to answer. “I don’t know. One second, he’s all protective and caring and giving me necklaces, and the next, he’s off hiding inside himself. I thought we had a thing, but it’s like he’s afraid to talk to me.”
Vik stretched. “He is afraid to talk to you. Well, not you, but people in general.”
Nas shushed him, but I reached out for all the information I could get. “What do you mean? He’s so confident at the club.” I was confused. “Why would he be scared to talk to me?”
Vik lightly nudged Nastasia’s arm. “Will you talk to your girl? She thinks she’s the issue. Give her a break, Nas.”
She looked down at the table and muttered a low, “We don’t talk about it.”
Vik shook his head before leaning across the table to me and asking, “You ever wonder why Lev locks his bedroom door at night?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “All the time.”
Nas spoke quietly, “Enough.”
Vik ignored her. “He does it to protect himself. He doesn’t feel safe at night, in the dark.” He shook his head in disgust. “He was just a little boy.”
“I don’t understand.”
Nas got up, walking over to the kitchen sink, trying to get away from the conversation.
“She used to beat him at night, after everyone had gone to sleep,” Vik explained.
My heart broke, raced, and wept all at the same time for Lev, the little boy. Part of me wanted to know, but the other part wanted to let sleeping dogs lie. “Who beat him?”
Nas, looking out the kitchen window, whispered a dead, “My mother. She hated him.”
Vik sneered. “Fuck, I hated that bitch. Always knew those smiles a’hers were fake.”
“How could she?” I spoke quietly through my thick throat. “How could she?” I turned to Nas. “Why?”
Nas lowered her head, shaking it. She couldn’t speak. She looked about ready to lose it.
Vik told the story. “No one knows how long she’d been doing it. The only reason we found out was because Lev stopped talking.” He pinned me with a stare. “Just stopped talking, for a whole year. He was nine.” He sighed in frustration. “Now, if that were any other kid, you’d think it was weird, right?”
“Yes,” I agreed immediately.
“Not with Lev. Their pops, Anton, was a good man. He loved all of his kids equally. Was one of the good guys. He married into a good family, and Lev’s mother, Talya, was a nice woman. Until Lev was born.”
“Why would having Lev change that?” I pried.
Vik smiled at the thought of his friend. “Lev is different.”
That he was.
“Anyone with half a brain could see that he didn’t think like a kid. It’s almost as if he was born with the mind of an adult. He was so serious. Barely laughed. He was smart as a whip. Didn’t have any friends, apart from Anika and me. You could have hit him with a hammer, and he wouldn’t show pain. Something about his mind doesn’t work the way yours and mine do. He doesn’t show emotion often, and when he does, it’s mostly anger that’s built up past breaking point.”
Vik swallowed hard. “There was an incident. Lev’s dog was run over. He didn’t understand why the dog was gone. I mean, he knew she was dead, but the emotional build up was too much for him.” Vik laid it on me, hard. “They found him in his room, rocking back and forth, beating his head against the wall. The wall was covered in blood. He was covered in blood. Had to go to the emergency room to get his head stitched up.”