I know it.
He knows it.
We both do.
The sports car hugs the curves of the coastal road. The engine’s low growl is the only sound besides the wind rushing past. My hands are steady on the wheel, but my mind is not quiet.
Teddy’s face flashes in my thoughts — his bright smile after the improv show, the way he melted against me on his living room floor, the soft sounds he made when I claimed him. For a few stolen moments, I allowed myself to feel something real. Something calm and full of love.
But softness is dangerous tonight.
If Viktor is the traitor feeding the Mexicans, tonight could end everything.
My reign. My family’s legacy. My life.
I tighten my grip on the wheel and keep driving into the hazy darkness. Whatever happens at this meeting, I will face it as my father would have.
Alone.
Ready.
And unforgivingly ruthlessly.
* * *
The coastal road ends in a small, deserted parking area overlooking the beach. I kill the engine and sit for a moment inthe silence, the car’s headlights cutting through the thick mist rolling in from the sea.
The air is heavy and damp, carrying the salt of the ocean and the faint scent of wet sand. Sparse lights from distant houses barely penetrate the haze. This is the place Ivan arranged—isolated, quiet, perfect for a meeting where everything could end in blood.
I step out, the gun holstered at my side a comforting weight.
The black suit I wear blends into the night as I walk down the narrow path toward the beach, shoes sinking slightly into the soft sand.
Through the mist, I see a figure waiting near the water’s edge.
Viktor.
He is dressed in a black suit as well, hands clasped behind his back, standing motionless like a statue carved from shadow. The atmosphere crackles with danger. One wrong word, one suspicious movement, and this could turn into a graveyard for one—or both —of us.
And if the both of us do indeed fall tonight, then the city may as well roll out the red carpet for the cartel.
I approach slowly, giving him time to see me clearly.
When I am ten paces away, I stop.
“Viktor,” I say, voice calm and measured. “Thank you for coming.Alone.”
Viktor’s eyes narrow, his jaw tight with barely contained fury. The mist swirls between us like smoke from an unseen fire.
“You think I would work with the Mexicans?” he spits, voice low and venomous. “You dare suggest I would betray our blood for those animals? I have killed men for far less than this insult, Kirill.”
The air grows thicker.
I keep my hands visible, posture relaxed but ready.
“No disrespect is intended,” I say. “I am fighting for my family’s future the same way you fight for yours. If the situation were reversed, I would expect you to do exactly the same . To suspect, to question, to prepare for the worst. We cannot afford blind trust right now. Not with weapons moving north and bodies dropping in our territory.”
Viktor stares at me for a long moment, the waves lapping softly behind him.
