Lines in italics were spoken on the show.

Over three years had come and gone, feeling like little more than a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. Yet life had changed irrevocably for the Reznikov family in that time. Though the changes were subtle, Galina knew she had gone too far down the path she had chosen to ever completely turn back. She wasn't that same person anymore. She'd barely recognize her former self.

That bright eyed and ambitious woman who had wanted to believe nearly anything could be achieved if she worked hard enough was gone. Instead she had come to accept that the world wasn't created equally and sometimes it was necessary to sacrifice a little of one's integrity in order to make it. Galina realized that she didn't always want to be the one serving the bread, and doing what she had to do to ensure she and her family thrived, seemed dignified enough for now. She was not ashamed.

Of course, someone had to serve them the bread and Galina's candid advice to Ganya three years ago had determined exactly who that would be. It was a source of animosity between Galina and her husband, that she had proven herself to Ganya as a much worthier accomplice. Galina knew that Dmitri felt emasculated and underscored by her now. How could he not? When she had effectively gotten him fired and then taken over his job.

Galina would never forget the night that the ramifications of what she had done became crystal clear. The boys had all been out with friends on a Saturday night, a couple weeks after she had gotten the nerve to speak up at the meeting being held at her store. Dmitri had gone out for a drink by himself essentially just to get away from her, and she'd been doing some work in the shop alone when she'd heard a knock at the door.

"Dmitri isn't home right now," Galina had told Ganya shyly, before she'd stepped aside to allow him and his men entry into her store.

"I'm not here about Dmitri," Ganya had chuckled. "I'm sorry to drop in on you so late, but it's been a busy day. Let's all have a seat and catch up."

"Okay," Galina had agreed hesitantly. She'd fetched them all a round of coffee before tentatively taking her own seat at the round table with them. She was across from Ganya and he smiled reassuringly at her before taking a sip from the mug she had set before him.

Galina hadn't known what to think about any of this and Ganya had seemed in no hurry to explain. This seemed to be little more than a social visit, and for the first while she had listened rather than participate. One of the other men had asked Ganya about the vacation he and Marina had recently taken together, and the boss had sprung into a colourful tale about his holiday. Though she still didn't know what was happening, Galina had felt herself beginning to relax.

"We had fun as usual," Ganya had dished. "It couldn't be any other way. The music was beautiful. The weather was great. We had a lot of fun…. Dmitri! So good to see you!"

Galina had been paying such rapt attention to Ganya's monologue that she hadn't heard the back door open as Dmitri let himself in. She watched from the corner of her eye as her husband took in the scene before him. She knew he would be angry to see her seated at the table with those men, engaging in a personal and jovial conversation like they were old friends. Dmitri had been jealous ever since she had outshone him at their last meeting.

"Good to see you too," Dmitri had replied demurely in Russian, "I didn't know to expect you."

She had watched, feeling slightly amused, as Dmitri had struggled to keep his disapproval from displaying on his face as he finally turned to look at her. Galina had known there was so much he would have liked to say to her then and couldn't, because he'd suspected correctly that Ganya would take her side. Gone were the days when her husband could reprimand her or excuse her upstairs to bed so the men could talk in private. It had been fun to watch Dmitri grapple with the reality that he had lost all authority over his wife and household when Ganya had entered their lives. Now there was nothing he could do about it.

And to remove any shadow of a doubt at where they both were ranked, Ganya had halted Dmitri immediately when he'd attempted to pull out a chair to sit down beside his wife.

"Wait a minute, you've got to have some Khalva back there or something, no? Something sweet for us? To go with the coffee?"

Ganya's request might have seemed innocent enough but the smirking from the other men let it be known that they had understood exactly what was happening. Ganya could have easily asked Galina to fetch him a snack, but he hadn't. He'd waited deliberately for Dmitri to show up so that he could make him get it instead. Their roles had been clearly sketched out now, by the man who currently presided over them all.

Galina hadn't been able to resist turning her head to look up at her husband, so she could fully enjoy this shift in power that was happening. After waiting on him hand and foot for basically all of their married life, this had felt good. She'd almost wanted to ask him to bring her a refill of coffee while he was up. Under Ganya's watchful eye Dmitri would have needed to comply. However, Galina had resisted.

"Of course," Dmitri's voice had squeaked back in reply, "I'll do it now, right away."

If Ganya's intention had been to strip away every ounce of dignity Dmitri felt as a man than he had clearly succeeded. It had been humiliating for him to be undermined in front of these other men and his wife, so she decided not to make it worse. She sat quietly, as Dmitri had turned to go fulfill Ganya's order. Galina had once called Dmitri a hamster in jackboots and she didn't really regret it. Yet, he was still the man who had the courage to come to America and create a whole new life for them. She was grateful for that. Deep down she was still grateful for her husband.

XXX

It was something Dmitri still struggled not to think about. Especially when he hung around the empty apartment well after dark wondering and worrying about where his wife was. A part of him would always blame himself for not doing more to protect her, even if that somebody she needed to be protected from was herself sometimes. Nobody understood Galina better than he did. Their marriage was far from perfect and he knew they were ill-suited, but he still cared about her. Even when he'd failed, he'd always wanted to be a good husband to her.

It was quite late when he stepped out of the shower and towelled himself dry. He'd heard Galina come in mere minutes ago and knowing she was home always made him feel a little less anxious. The two younger boys were already asleep, although Yuri hadn't made it home yet. Since he was almost eighteen, he tended to come and go as he pleased now and his mother never interfered with his independence. She trusted him and it was probably for this reason that Galina continued to have such a close relationship with her oldest son.

Yuri was much more attached to his mother than he'd ever been to his father. Though Dmitri's fall from grace in Ganya's ranks had resulted in him spending much more time at home, Yuri had never shown much interest in developing a deeper relationship with him now. He was almost all grown up; he had friends, a job, and a life all his own. Dmitri had had much more luck bonding with his other two sons, especially Maxim, who he discovered took after him in temperament quite a bit, once he had taken the time to get to know him. However, he and Vasily were seldom home now too, and their mother took advantage of their growing independence by staying out more doing god knows what. Dmitri was often very lonely.

Taking a deep breath, Dmitri quickly slipped on a clean pair of boxers and threw a t-shirt on over his head before he made his way into the bedroom to confront her. He'd been thinking this over for days.

"Where were you?" he asked, his tone coming out much more sharply than he intended.

His wife was already in bed. Sitting up, with her back resting against the headboard, she was wearing a pair of black silk pajamas and had been reading a novel that lay stretched across her lap. Galina's long red hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and her reading glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose. She looked like any other normal and tired woman, relaxing in bed after a long day.

Had he not known better, Dmitri would have felt ridiculous for believing she was so deep in a criminal enterprise now that she could barely decipher between right and wrong anymore. Yet, Dmitri had seen first hand for himself the sort of things Ganya and everyone who surrounded him was involved in. Being removed to the outside had given him a whole new perspective. He'd watched helplessly for three years as his wife dug herself into a deeper and deeper hole, without seeing a way to help her out. Now, he finally felt ready.

"You know I can't tell you," Galina replied softly.

"Well, that has to change," Dmitri said bluntly. "We're married. We don't keep secrets from each other."

"You've kept things from me our entire marriage," Galina pointed out. "All of a sudden you have a problem with me having things you know aren't mine to repeat?"

"It's not all of a sudden," Dmitri argued. "All I know is we can't go on like this anymore. I want out."

"Excuse me?"

He'd been working up the nerve to confront her all day, rehearsing what he planned to say in the shower before he came into their shared bedroom. From the way Galina looked up from her book and peered over her reading glasses at him, Dmitri could instantly tell his bluntness had been the wrong approach. The fine lines on her face, a subtle sign of her aging was more apparent as she frowned. Her lips pursed and her delicate eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You want to leave me?" she asked, her tone silky and seemingly unbothered by the thought of that.

Her prestige in Ganya's eyes had apparently done wonders for her confidence, and now that the boys were nearly grown and he couldn't hold the fear of a custody battle over her head, her indifference to him seemed more apparent than ever. She was no longer afraid of her husband and Dmitri knew he was powerless to make her do anything that she didn't want to do.

"Of course, not," Dmitri stammered, squaring up his shoulders as he gripped on to the smooth oak post at the foot of their bed. "But this has gone way too far."

It was incredible to believe that his own wife could ignite this insecurity in him, but Galina was now so interwoven with Ganya that he never could be entirely sure what was sacred in their marriage and what could trickle back to the mob boss himself. Dmitri wasn't ashamed to admit that Ganya still scared the living daylights out of him. He felt if Galina still had any sense left in her head, she would be very afraid too. Nobody who got too comfortable around Ganya was safe, and Dmitri worried for his wife all the time.

"Galya, you were gone all day," Dmitri said softly, though her eyes narrowed defensively as though he had yelled at her. "I didn't know where you were-"

"It's better if you don't know," Galina replied, her nails tapping impatiently against the cover of the book she held in her hands. "Ganya doesn't like us to talk about his business amongst ourselves. If he wanted you involved, he would share it with you himself."

"I'm not talking about Ganya's business," Dmitri said, his voice raising an octave. "I don't care about that anymore."

"Oh no?" Galina asked mockingly.

She knew perfectly well that Dmitri had been incredibly jealous and bitter about her replacing him. He sulked as he went about the menial jobs Ganya would trust him with, trying to pry information out of her when she'd come back from top-secret meetings with Ganya and his most elite. Galina felt proud to be counted amongst his most valued. Although a career in organized crime had obviously never been what she had envisioned for her life, her ability to promote and prove herself had made her often imagine the success she could have been if she had been more focused on a profession than raising her family.

Galina had felt that validation, the first time Ganya had shown up with his men after dark and invited her to sit down with them. She'd thought they'd been there to see Dmitri, but it had been abundantly clear when her husband was swiftly dismissed that she had been their intention. Her candid advice and story about her father's success at selling candy had made an impression on the mob boss.

"Anyway, our guy looked into the government contracts thing," Ganya had told her brightly just as soon as he'd ensured Dmitri was out of earshot. "Schools, hospitals…"

"Yeah?" Galina had asked, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. These had been her words, her ideas, and it was incredible to have anyone take them so seriously.

"Looks like we'll be able to work something out."

Indeed, they had.

The past three years had shown a gradual growth in business. Neptune's Produce took on contracts at a hospital, the public-school district in Astoria, and most recently, Litchfield Correctional Facility. Galina had done up the papers for him to apply for the prison contract herself, and Ganya had been wholly impressed when it was accepted. He now had several government contracts and had needed to hire more employees to meet the demand. No longer were restaurant closures or being out-bid at small establishments a concern for Ganya, and he was making more money than ever. He told Galina often that he couldn't have done it without her.

When the Reznikovs' debt was paid off, Ganya's generosity truly began to shine through. He had Galina keep a large percentage of the money laundered through her store as a salary, and was always ready to give her cash to replace a leaky roof or make any other upgrades she desired. It was a small price to pay for the benefits keeping her in his inner-circle invoked. Ganya had become a very powerful man.

"We don't need to do this anymore," Dmitri said pleadingly, breaking into Galina's thoughts. "It's impacting our marriage, our home, our children."

"You're worried about that now?" Galina asked, sighing deeply. "None of that seemed to matter to you very much when you were working illegally for him behind my back all these years. You started up with him when I was pregnant with Vasily! The boy is fourteen now! You were fine with Ganya until he didn't want you anymore."

"Wrong!" Dmitri snapped. "I overlooked some things because I thought it was important for us to make this connection, get in his good graces. You were the reason we wound up as deep as we have!"

"And I am taking care of it, aren't I?" Galina bristled, a slight flush burning in her cheeks.

This always happened whenever anyone mentioned the infamous tit punch and her loss of temper that had cost them 60,000 dollars and earned herself a sordid reputation in their organization. Ganya may have chosen to get past the assault, but Marina hadn't and Galina knew there were still a lot of whispers about her from the other women who would like nothing more than to see her get scorned. Turning Neptune's into a leading company in New York would not enough to redeem herself on a personal level to those wives.

"It's been taken care of," Dmitri corrected her. He cleared his throat and walked around the edge of their bed so that he could sit down beside her. From the way Galina shifted away, he could tell his advances were unwanted.

"Galya, listen to me," he pleaded, taking a chance and reaching for her hand resting atop the bedspread.

"We don't have to do this anymore," he said, squeezing her hand tightly. "He's been paid back what he demanded and there's nothing stopping us from walking away now. We could have a completely different life. Start over in a different city where nobody knows us. Or maybe the countryside? I've always thought that it would be nice to have all that space and quiet to ourselves…"

"What kind of fantasy world are you living in?" Galina asked incredulously.

"The only fantasy I have is getting my family away from this mess we're in," Dmitri told her promptly. "Ganya's a very bad man, Galina. You know-"

"Well, he's been good to us," Galina interrupted. "Our new roof, the money for Maxim to go on that ski trip with his classmates last January. You think I could have afforded those things myself? Especially with a husband who has proven incompetent at keeping any job?"

She pulled her hand out of his and her eyes flashed daggers as she continued before he could respond.

"For the first time in my life I don't need to be worried about one of my sons getting sick and me not being able to afford the hospital bill," Galina growled. "All I've done is help him get some new contracts for his company…"

"You turned our store into a front for the mafia and you're knowingly deceiving the government," Dmitri said tiredly. "You don't see anything wrong with that?"

"I've done what I had to do to survive and look after my boys," Galina said stiffly, a catch in her voice. "I'm tired of struggling and worrying. It's exhausting and I can't count on you."

"That's not true," Dmitri said pleadingly. "We've always figured it out and I know it hasn't always been easy, but I'm saying now that me ever getting involved with Ganya was a mistake, and worse was including you. I'm scared, Galina."

Galina pulled off her reading glasses and set them on top of her book. The creases around her blue eyes slackened as she scrutinized him gently for a moment without speaking.

"What are you so scared of?" she asked finally.

"That this house of cards is going to come crumbling down on us," Dmitri told her quietly. "Ganya isn't a good man, you know that. And you and I are not like him, even if we've both done things we know are wrong."

"We didn't have a choice," Galina reminded him.

"There's always a choice," Dmitri corrected. "We've both made choices that led us to this situation and now we can decide to get out of it or to stay. I don't want this to continue."

Galina stared at him for a long minute without speaking.

"I don't either," she finally admitted.

XXX

After almost nineteen years of marriage, Galina had gotten so good at tuning Dmitri out and dismissing most of what he had to say, that it was very difficult to accept that he was right on this matter. At least he was correct in essence. Her involvement in Ganya's business was illegal and ignoring the truth couldn't change it. However, wanting to rectify that seemed like an almost impossible goal and one that made her question Dmitri's grip on reality. Did he honestly expect Ganya to just accept her resignation letter? Could they really turn their entire life around and uproot their children?

Yuri would be graduating in a matter of weeks and Vasily was thrilled at the prospect of moving up into high school with all his friends next September. Their family life was so ordinary and so pleasant, it was hard to believe that Galina had managed to carry such dark secrets the last few years, and Dmitri even longer.

Of course, Dmitri had never intended for things to get as out of hand as they had, but he was the one who had opened the door to the Russian mob and Galina had made it worth their while to stay. Both parents were guilty of many things they wished they could simply forget about and move on from, but that wasn't the way the world worked. Every choice had a consequence.

They'd stayed up talking about possible avenues for making their escape, but by the time Dmitri had passed out beside her, they weren't any closer to coming up with a resolution. All Galina felt was stuck and she believed the only way to move on or sever ties would be to appeal to Ganya in person. The man had ears and eyes all over this city. Any deception on her part would reach him and arouse suspicion. It was such a difficult web they were entangled in and the what if scenarios kept her mind swirling with anxiety. Even if she hadn't been waiting up to make sure Yuri made it home safely, Galina knew she would not have been able to sleep.

Instead, she got out of bed and walked the floor of the apartment. Muttering to herself, wrangling her hands together, and pausing now and again to adjust or clean something until the place was perfectly in order. Her pacing was so disconcerting that is got the attention of the cat. Myshka abandoned her favourite spot, curled up in the living room arm chair, to come investigate.

"I don't know what to do, Myshka," Galina confessed softly to the curious cat, who moved much slower but was still as affectionate as she'd been since the day Galina had brought her home. She picked the feline up and pressed her warm cheek against the animal's soft fur. The comfort she derived when Myshka nuzzled her head made Galina feel a little bit better. She could sense her heart rate beginning to slow down and finally felt able to sit down and rest.

Galina was still unmoved from her spot on the sofa when Yuri finally came home. Keeping the lights off as he removed his jacket and shoes, before tiptoeing past on the way to his bedroom, it took him a moment to realize she was even there. He passed through the shadowy living room before doing a double back at his mother on the sofa.

"God, Mama! You scared me," Yuri gasped, clutching his hand over his heart. He took a few steps back towards her. "You didn't have to wait up. Aren't you tired?"

"Aren't you?" Galina asked softly, leaning her head back against the sofa to look up at him. Her hands were still resting possessively over the sleeping cat on her lap.

"You have an early shift tomorrow," she reminded him.

Yuri had gotten a weekend job at a call center in town. He was planning to go work for them full time when he finished high school, despite his mother urging him to apply to college instead. He wanted to make money and get out in the world for a little while before subjecting himself to several more years in a classroom. When they'd discussed his decision, Yuri had assured his mother he'd most likely go to college someday but he still was trying to figure out what he even wanted to do there. It had been a source of conflict between them, but Yuri was old enough to decide for himself and he was every bit as head strong as the woman who raised him.

"I'll manage," Yuri shrugged.

"Then so will I," Galina replied, with a hint of a smile in her tone.

Actually, she had every intention of sleeping in tomorrow since the store was all in order and she had no other obligations lined up. It was one of the perks of being close to facing the prospect of an empty nest. Her boys were still around her constantly and they spent time together every day, but they didn't need her the way that they used to. It was something that made her very sad whenever she thought too hard about it, but she enjoyed the additional freedom it allotted her to read more, sleep late, and, yes, work more efficiently for Ganya.

"Did you have a good night?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Yuri nodded.

Despite the late hour, instead of leaving it at that he sat down beside her on the sofa to talk more. He and his mother had always shared very open and honest communication. It came with the territory of being her oldest child, especially when Galina had a disengaged husband and few friends she could call on. There was very little she held back from sharing with her son as he'd grown. Her affiliation with Ganya was the biggest secret she had ever kept from him. Even the less than desirable aspects about her relationship with his father had been shared tactfully and truthfully when Yuri had become old enough to ask.

"Anna and I went to a party at Toni Carwile's house tonight," Yuri shared. "I just dropped her off at her house."

"Was there drinking?" Galina asked casually.

"Some," Yuri admitted. "But we left before things got too out of hand. We both only had a couple of beers."

"You've been seeing quite a bit of Anna," Galina said, running her fingers down Myshka's back. "Am I allowed to call her your girlfriend yet or are you still trying to pass her off as just a friend?"

"She's a girlfriend," Yuri admitted with an embarrassed sort of chuckle. "Has been for awhile."

"Well, I knew that," his mother chided him, reaching back to brush her hand over his strawberry blonde hair. "I just was wondering when you'd finally admit it."

Yuri smiled as he bumped his head back against his mother's hand. She scratched her nails affectionately down his short hair to the base of his neck. Yuri clicked his tongue in contemplation and his eyes scanned around the darkened room as they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Ma?" Yuri said hesitantly, after a long while.

"Mhmm?"

"There's something I want to ask you about," Yuri said nervously. "Only I'm pretty sure you're not going to like it…"

"Did you do something wrong?"

"No," Yuri shook his head. He took a deep breath and then turned his head to stare his mother directly in the eye. "But I think you are."

"What?" Galina exclaimed, as her hand abruptly halted its massage of Yuri's neck. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Anna's father asked me why that man, Ganya Ivanov, is always hanging around here with you," Yuri confessed, wrangling his hands together. "They said they see him in here more than Pop is."

"Honey, I work for him," Galina said nervously, drawing her now clammy hand closer to herself. "There's nothing-I would never-"

"They didn't mean they thought you were having an affair with him," Yuri cut her off. "I know you wouldn't do something like that. But they told me they've heard rumours about Ganya's business. They said they heard he is a career criminal and they wanted to know why you were caught up with him."

"Well, Yuri, you know that rumours are just rumours…" Galina stammered. "You can't believe everything you hear."

"So, you're saying that there is no shred of truth in those rumours?" Yuri asked bluntly. "You can promise me that there is nothing to worry about?"

Galina took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to bide herself more time. He was right, that she didn't like what he had brought up but it was probably long overdue. Yuri was far too smart a boy not to notice something so amiss occurring right under his nose. It wouldn't be long before Maxim and Vasily started asking awkward questions too, which at least reaffirmed that Dmitri was right and they needed to find a way to break free before it blew up in all of their faces.

"I can promise you that you don't need to worry," she said slowly.

"Mamochka-"

"No, honey," Galina closed her eyes and shook her head rapidly. "I'm not going to lie to you...but I'm going to promise you that I am going to fix things, and everything is going to be okay. This isn't your problem."

"Well, if you have a problem then I want to help you, Mama," Yuri said firmly. "I'm not a kid anymore. You can trust me."

"Oh, I do trust you," Galina nodded affirmatively. "But it doesn't matter how old you are, you're always going to be my child, and there are things you're not supposed to be burdened with."

"Okay…" Yuri sighed reluctantly. "Well, does Pop at least know what's going on?"

"Oh, yes," Galina scoffed. "He knows."

"Because he worked for him too," Yuri stated unnecessarily, his thoughts wandering. "Is he-"

"No," Galina cut him off firmly. "Your father is fine. And soon, I'll be fine too. For now, I just need you to forget all of this. Can you do that for me?"

"Probably not," Yuri said honestly.

"Well, at least pretend," Galina suggested weakly.