“Suka blyat.Did he shit himself already?” He grins, flashing teeth at me. “You’re slipping, Anton. Usually, they hold it till Round Two.”
Viktor flinches, whimpering. Lev ignores him, leans against the wall like he’s got all the time in the world.
“What can I do here, boss?”
Viktor starts to babble again, voice high, desperate. Lev cuts it off with a flick of his knife, the blade thunking into the wall inches from Viktor’s head. The man yelps, piss-darkened pants spreading wetter.
I grunt. “He doesn’t talk unless I say so.”
Lev smirks, pulling his knife free. “Da,boss.”
I step back, wiping my hands down my shirt. “Double the watch. He breathes until I say otherwise. Not before.”
Lev’s eyebrows lift. “You sure? Man looks like he’ll drop dead if the wind changes.”
“Then keep the wind steady,” I snap.
He chuckles, low, mocking. “Such care. Almost sounds like you don’t want him gone.”
I level him with a stare that could stop a charging bull. Then I push the door open, the stink following us out into the concrete hallway. Lev falls into step beside me, knife flipping easily in his fingers.
For a while, it’s just the echo of our boots. Then Lev whistles low. “So. You finally got laid.”
I don’t bite. Silence is better.
He grins sideways, sharp as a blade. “Not denying it? Christ, took you long enough. Boss, I was starting to worry.”
I shoot him a look.
Lev smirks, unbothered. “Don’t glare at me like that. I’m happy for you, really. Just never thought I’d see the day The Reaper finally put his dick somewhere that didn’t end in a body bag.”
“Lev,” I growl.
“What?” Lev spreads his hands, mock surrender. “I like her too. She’s funny. Pretty. But that soft shit doesn’t keep you breathing out here. You know it, boss. No training? She’s a corpse waiting to happen.”
I stop. Turn. My eyes lock on him, hard enough to make him shut up for a second.
“She’s not dying. Not while I’m breathing.”
Lev grins, sharp and merciless. “Then get her off the fucking sidelines. First lesson? Try not to drop the gun. Because right now, she’d probably shoot herself before the enemy does.”
I grunt low in my throat, more to shut him up than anything else. He’s right, but I won’t give him the satisfaction.
By the time I hit the stairwell, my hand’s already on my phone. Feels strange, heavier than it should, dialing her. Talking to women has never been my weakness. I fuck them, I dismiss them, I forget them. Simple. But this one…
Mary.
The woman I fucked half the night. The woman still in my sheets, probably aching, probably glaring at that cat of hers like it’s my fault. I can almost smell her skin even now—soap, sweat, sex. My cock stirs, traitorous, already aching for her again.
Chyort.I drag a hand over my face, try to push it back down.
Business. Keep it business.
The line connects.
“Mary.”
Her name tastes different in my mouth. Softer than it should be. I shouldn’t like saying it, but I do. Too much.
