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“Stupid storm. I want them to bring Pookie up again!”
I smiled. “Well, if it doesn’t work this weekend, next weekend’s supposed to be clear. It’ll be fine, sweetie.”
These days, Anna and I spent even more time than we used to confiding in each other because we had found ourselves in the same basic position. In her case, she had to figure out how to explain her brother’s work in ways that her own husband could understand, and, eventually, she’d have to do the same for her daughter. There were a lot of potential conflicts involved, and I didn’t envy her the coming talk with her husband.
Figuring out how to live ordinary lives on the edge of a criminal organization took a lot of work. The fact that the men leading those groups were so close to us only helped in some ways. The no-weapons-around-our-kids rule took a while to stick with some of the younger members. I still didn’t know that much about my husband’s day-to-day work. I still hoped he wouldn’t end up shot, arrested, or betrayed again.
A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to grasp that someone could work outside the law and still be a good and honorable person. Now, I was married to one. And Anna had been sister to one, unknowingly, for years. We loved them both, and we chose to live with their secrets.
I sometimes rationalized my choice, thinking that there would always be crime lords, and that the city was better for having an honorable man at the top in Boston. And maybe that was even true. Viktor’s and Luis’s characters certainly helped end the war between their organizations quickly and with no further bloodshed. They helped keep the peace now. And that meant I felt safer with Viktor than with anyone else in my life.
But in the end, for better or for worse, I was with Viktor because I loved him, and we both wanted Michael to grow up with two parents. The most simple and ordinary of reasons, which many couples would give as their own.
We curled up in bed and watched the storm, chatting softly and answering Michael’s endless questions about everything from how thunder worked, to when he could finally learn to drive a car. I looked over the top of our son’s head at my husband, and when he looked back at me, I saw in his fierce green eyes a contentment I had never imagined could rest there.
THE END
