Chapter 52
Chapter
Fifty-Two
GORAN
Dimitri Mikhailov’s office was the same as the last time I had been here.
Cold.
Not in temperature. The room was warm enough. Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. But the space itself carried a chill. Every line of the furniture was sharp, clean, and intentional.
It was a room built for control.
Wooden shelves painted jet black lined one wall, each filled with leather-bound ledgers and books no one read. The desk at the center of the room was massive. Dark wood polished so it reflected the light like still water.
A room designed to make a statement.
Dimitri stood with his back to me, staring out over the skyline like he owned every building in the city.
Maybe he did.
He didn’t turn when I stepped inside.
“Close the door.” His voice was calm. The voice of a man who had commanded an army for years and buried many men without giving it another thought.
The soft click of the door sounded like a round entering the chamber of a gun. Only this time the gun was mine.
His eyes landed on me the same way they had the first day we met years ago. I was eight when my father brought me to work for the day. Dimitri had looked me up and down as if he were measuring me, deciding if I was worth the oxygen I breathed.
“You wanted to speak.”
I stepped forward until I stood across from his desk. “I do.”
Silence stretched between us. Neither of us rushed it.
Dimitri finally sat and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. He produced two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. He didn’t ask, just poured a finger and slid it across the desk.
It was the closest thing to an apology I would ever receive from him.
Taking the invitation, I sat and picked up my glass. It was a new experience. I had always stood by the door or in the corner while Nathaniel had a meeting.
He took a sip of his drink, then watched me in silence, one finger tapping slowly against the arm of his leather chair.
“Well. Speak.”
There were a hundred ways this conversation could go wrong. A hundred ways I could say the wrong thing. But the truth had never been complicated for me.
“I love your daughter.”
His expression didn’t change.
“You’ve made that abundantly clear.” He took another sip of his whiskey.
“And I want you to know that I will spend the rest of my life protecting her.”
No response.
“I’m not here to challenge you. And I’m not here to start a new fight between us.”
Dimitri’s eyebrow lifted slightly.
“No?”
“No.”
I swirled the whiskey in my glass, letting it breathe as I thought about the perfect way to say what needed to be said.
“I need to make something crystal clear.”
Now his attention sharpened. He sat a little straighter.
“Kaylani is still your daughter. That will never change.” My voice stayed calm, steady. “But she isn’t a bargaining chip anymore. She isn’t leverage. She isn’t an alliance. And she isn’t yours to control.”
“I do not feel the same way.” Dimitri’s tone remained cool. “Family is always my business.”
The word hung in the air between us.
Family.
That was the difference between us. Dimitri had built an empire on the back of that word, while I would burn everything down for it.
I rubbed my bottom lip, knowing I needed to tread carefully. I had seen it done a million times in meetings over the years. Egos like Dimitri’s didn’t respond well to insults or threats.
“If you want to repair your relationship with Kaylani after everything that has transpired. I won’t stand in your way…despite the many reasons that I probably should.”
His eyes flickered slightly. Just enough to tell me he heard the challenge buried in the words.
“Personally, I don’t want to because I think you deserve the chance to meet your grandson.”
His eyes lit up.
“Yes. It’s a boy. Kaylani mentioned you predicted the sex.”
There it was. The smallest shift in his expression. Gone in a blink, like he was already trying to cover up the softness. But I had seen it.
“And if you and Kaylani ever find your way back to each other…well.” I shrugged slightly. “I know the pain of losing a parent. Whether she chooses to forgive you or not is between the two of you.”
I paused.
The next part of this conversation would set the tone for peace in our future, or it would explode.
I leaned forward in the chair, staring the coldest man I had ever met in the eyes.
“If you ever try something like what you did, again—” The room went very still. “I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family.” The last part came out as a growl.
He needed to understand. I wasn’t Goran the soldier or the bodyguard anymore. I was Goran, husband to Kaylani Mikhailov, the princess and heiress to the Mikhailov empire. And that changed everything.
Dimitri studied me for a long moment. Then something unexpected happened. He smiled. It wasn’t warm or friendly by any means. More of a slow, amused smirk.
“Well, that was certainly…direct.” He flipped open the lid on his box of cigars.
Dimitri took one out, clipped the end, and lit it before taking a few slow puffs. Sweet smoke drifted toward the ceiling, and I eyed the sprinkler positioned right over his head.
“I had that one disconnected. I figure that if I’m going to be struck by lightening, a sprinkler isn’t going to help,” he joked, shocking me further.
He stood and walked around the desk, stopping a few feet away from me. Leaning back against the edge, he held the cigar in one hand and his drink in the other.
For a second, I wondered if he might actually test me.
Instead, his expression softened a fraction as he gave a small, approving nod.
“I must say that it is unfortunate that you were not born into the right kind of family.”
I frowned at the insult.
He continued like he hadn’t just called me gutter trash.
“You have the steel for this world. It is rarer than most people believe.”
It was the most backhanded compliment I had ever received. But coming from Dimitri Mikhailov, it might as well have been a medal of honor.
His gaze hardened again.
“Take care of my daughter.”
“I will.”
Another small nod.
I polished off my drink and stood. Buttoning my jacket, I held out my hand. I didn’t think he was going to take it, but eventually he did.
The conversation was over. I turned and walked toward the door. But just before I reached it, Dimitri spoke again.
“Goran?”
I glanced back.
“If you ever fail her, I will hunt you down and kill you myself.”
I held his gaze. “If I ever fail her, you won’t have to. I’ll do the job for you.”
Then I walked out.
As shocking as those words had sounded, I knew them to be true. My life would be a hollow shell if anything happened to Kaylani.
The elevator ride down the tower that held Dimitri’s office felt longer than usual. Not because of the distance. Because of the weight that had just shifted. It hadn’t lifted, but it had changed, and I wore it differently now.
When the doors opened, Guy was already waiting beside the SUV.
He gave a single nod as I approached and opened the back door.
Kaylani looked up immediately. Her smile hit me as brightly as the mid-afternoon sunlight.
“How did it go?”
I slid into the seat beside her and pulled the door closed.
“Better than I expected.”
She searched my face. “So…no death threats?”
“Only the usual ones.” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles.
Guy pulled the SUV into traffic, and the city flowed around us.
“I don’t think we’ll have any more trouble. At least not the obvious kind.”
Kaylani leaned against my shoulder, sighing.
“Where to my beautiful wife?”
“We’re meeting Nathaniel and Savannah in twenty minutes for a late lunch…or maybe it’s an early dinner. I’m not sure. Either way, they are waiting for us.” She lifted her head and looked at me. “I’m nervous to see your dad tomorrow after so long. Is that silly?”
Cupping her cheek, I smiled. “Don’t worry. He always liked you. Now he’s going to love you. Trust me. You’re family.”
Kaylani smiled again, and my heart warmed.
Family.
The word still felt new. Good…but dangerous. I had spent enough years watching how the Mikhailovs and the rest of these families operated to know that safety was a relative word.
The truth was, with Dimitri Mikhailov, you never really knew what he was thinking. Men like him didn’t stop playing the game. They just changed the rules.
So I would stay alert.
Always.
But as Kaylani’s fingers laced through mine and the road stretched ahead of us, one thing was certain.
Whatever came next…
I would face it with Kaylani by my side.