Page 103 of Sexting my Bratva Daddies

“That’s an excellent trick. I have one too. Would you like to learn? It’s like a secret code that I use when Misha and I play. And I stay hidden until he says the secret word.” I kept my smile in place despite my gut roiling with all that we needed to teach Luka.

He had zero sense of stranger danger. I loved that for him in any other situation, but as it stood now, he was more apt to run to Anton and hug him than to run away.

He trusted too easily and while I did not want to ruin that for him, his safety had become my priority.

39

PEYTON

Anton gave us one full week with no sightings. Viktor and Misha came home every night muttering about chasing ghosts.

I knew how they felt and yet the worry refused to abate. Somewhere out there, someone knew the truth.

“Mama, can I have more?” Luka scooted his bowl across the tabletop, the ceramic screeching across the glass.

“Yes.” I handed him the box because he’d become increasingly independent since moving in with Misha, Leo, and Viktor.

Grinning, he shook the box over his bowl, coming close to overflowing it before he dug in, kicking his feet back and forth.

My phone pinged a text, and I swiped to unlock the screen while lifting my coffee cup to my lips.

I read the message. The cup slipped from my grasp, falling to the floor with a clatter.

Luka pulled a surprised face.

“Sorry. Lost my grip.” But I didn’t move to clean it up. Instead, I read the message again.

Confirmed sighting. He’s on the move. Closing in.

It was the last two words that turned my blood to ice.

Viktor had been sending me updates every day, offering information that he never would have last time. It showed they were trying. They were making good on their promise.

No more secrets.

No more half-truths or careful omissions designed to protect me from their world.

Every lead, every rumor, every whisper was relayed to me by one of them.

I appreciated it and hated it in equal measure.

The sightings had started small with unconfirmed sightings, then escalated to intercepted communications and a picture of Anton standing outside a casino.

He flew just close enough under the radar that Misha couldn’t pin him down. Until now.

“Mama.” Luka kicked his feet into the counter. His hair stuck up in six different directions, and he held a stuffed dog from Leo under his arm. “My cereal’s soggy.”

“Okay.” I held out my hand. “Let’s go for a walk.”

Luka slid off the stool and bounced over to me. “Can we go upstairs to the library?”

“Yes.” I held his hand and led the way toward the stairs. I’d sat in this kitchen every morning, watching Luka eat, and told myself every day that they would find Anton.

Viktor destroyed that with one message.

Closing in meant he was coming for me. Coming for us.

Leo had run me through the gun range four more times since that first session.