14. Milo
MILO
The evening light has softened into that cozy golden hour glow that makes the apartment feel less like a luxurious prison and more like an actual home.
I’m curled up on the big leather couch in my favorite new cozy pajamas—soft pink fleece with little stars all over them—clutching Zoop against my chest while Maxim sets up the Monopoly board on the low coffee table.
Maxim is still in his tailored trousers and black button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, looking every bit the powerful Pakhan even when he’s trying to relax. The contrast makes my stomach do funny little flips.
He promised he’d try to stay in tonight, and so far he’s keeping that promise.
I watch him carefully count out the colorful money stacks, his large hands surprisingly gentle with the tiny silver pieces.
It’s surreal. This dangerous man who spanked me senseless, made me cum on a dildo in the shower this morning, and then kissed me breathless in the park is now sitting across from me ready to play Monopoly like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
“Ready?” Maxim asks, that low, slightly amused rumble in his voice.
I nod eagerly and roll first. The game starts off light and fun. I somehow manage to snag Boardwalk and Park Place early, and before long I’m building hotels while Maxim’s properties are mostly railroads and the occasional orange street.
I keep catching him making what look like deliberately suboptimal moves… letting me buy things he could easily block, not pushing as hard as I know he could.
“You’re going easy on me,” I accuse, grinning as I collect another fat stack of rent from him. “I want your A-game…”
Maxim leans back against the couch, one arm draped along the back, looking far too relaxed for a man who runs half the city. “Maybe I just enjoy watching you win.”
The warmth in his eyes makes my cheeks heat.
I take another sip of the hot chocolate he made me earlier and try not to melt completely. We play for almost an hour, trading playful banter and fake arguments over whether landing on Free Parking should really give me that much money.
For the first time since I was handed over, I feel… normal. Almost happy.
Then Maxim’s phone vibrates on the table.
Maxim’s expression shifts the second he sees the screen. Michael. I know what that means before he even answers.
The night has come alive, just like he warned me it would.
Maxim takes the call, voice dropping into that cool, commanding tone I’ve come to recognize as his Pakhan voice.
The conversation is short, clipped, mostly in Russian, but the meaning is clear.
Duty calls.
When Maxim hangs up, he leans over and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. The tenderness of it after everything we’ve done makes my chest ache in the best way.
“I have to go out for a while,” he says quietly. “But Yuri will be here very soon. You two can hang out. Just… behave.” His eyes linger on me with that familiar mix of warning and heat. “No funny business.”
“I’ll try,” I promise, offering him a small smile.
He kisses my forehead again, then stands and grabs his jacket. A few minutes after the door clicks shut behind him, there’s a knock. I open it to find Yuri standing there with his easy grin, arms full of snacks he must have brought from somewhere.
“Evening, roomie,” Yuri says cheerfully, stepping inside. “Uncle Maxim said you might need some company tonight. Luckily, I was close by.”
We settle on the floor near the half-finished Monopoly board, but neither of us is interested in continuing the game.
Instead, Yuri helps me unpack some of the new squishies that arrived earlier from the department store.
We line them up like a colorful army: the big rainbow octopus, the tiny strawberry, the unicorn Maxim picked out for me.
Yuri picks up the octopus and squeezes it with obvious delight. “These are perfect. I have a whole collection at home.”
We fall into easy conversation as we play with the squishies, squishing them, stacking them, making them have little battles. The topic drifts naturally, the way it does with people who just get it.
“So… Maxim knows about the Little stuff?” I ask eventually, hugging the unicorn to my chest.
Yuri nods, squeezing a blue dinosaur squishy.
“Yeah. He’s surprisingly cool about it. As long as it never interferes with family business or puts anyone at risk, he doesn’t care what I do in my private time.
He even helped me set up a safe space in my apartment once when I was having a really bad time.
He’s not a Little himself, obviously, but he gets it.
Or at least he tries to. I think he might be a Daddy, but that’s his business. ”
I feel a rush of comfort at his words. Knowing Maxim isn’t secretly judging that part of me—the part that needs stuffies and soft things and structure—makes something tight in my chest loosen.
“I wish he was here right now,” I admit quietly, looking down at the unicorn. “To see me like this. In full Little mode.”
Yuri smiles softly. “He’ll see it eventually. He’s not the type to run from things that matter to the people he cares about.”
My new buddy’s words settle warmly inside me. I take a deep breath and look around the living room. “Hey… do you want to build a den? Like a proper blanket fort? And have a midnight feast inside?”
Yuri’s face lights up like I just offered him the best idea in the world. “That would be awesome!”
We raid the apartment for supplies: every soft blanket, throw pillow, and cushion we can find.
We drag dining chairs over to anchor the structure and drape blankets across them until we’ve built a surprisingly impressive den in the corner of the living room near the big windows.
Fairy lights from one of the new deliveries get strung up inside, casting a soft, magical glow.
We pile in all the squishies, Zoop, and a mountain of pillows.
Then comes the feast.
We raid the kitchen together… popcorn popped in the fancy machine, bowls of candy from the delivery, fancy Italian cookies, and juice boxes with the cute little straws that came with the new snacks.
We crawl into the den with our loot and settle in cross-legged, surrounded by colorful squishies and soft lighting.
For the next hour we munch happily, telling silly stories and playing with the squishies like they’re having their own little adventures. I feel small and safe and completely free to be myself in a way I haven’t in ages.
Yuri gets it completely, he even pulls out his own small stuffie from his bag, a well-loved fox named Finn, and introduces him to Zoop like they’re old friends.
We laugh until our sides hurt, sharing candy and sipping juice from the silly straws. The city lights twinkle outside the den’s blanket entrance like distant stars.
For a little while, the underworld, the truce, the danger… all of it feels very far away.
I lean back against a pile of pillows, Zoop in my lap and a half-eaten cookie in my hand, and feel a deep, contented sigh leave my body.
Maxim might be out there doing dangerous Pakhan things right now.
But here, in this blanket fort with Yuri and our squishies and our midnight feast, I feel more at home than I have in a very long time.
And maybe, just maybe, there’s room for both sides of me in this strange new life.
The soft glow of the fairy lights inside our blanket den is the first thing I notice when my eyes flutter open.
My body feels heavy and warm, cocooned in a nest of pillows and blankets.
Zoop is still tucked securely under my arm, his worn fur soft against my cheek.
For a second I forget where I am and what time it is…
until the low murmur of voices drifts through the blanket walls.
It’s Maxim.
He’s back.
I sit up carefully, rubbing my eyes. Yuri is already up and standing outside the den, yawning as he checks his phone.
It’s well beyond 01:00am.
Maxim’s deep voice carries clearly now. “The driver is waiting downstairs. He’ll take you home, Yuri. Thank you for staying with Milo.”
“No problem at all, Uncle Maxim,” Yuri replies, his voice still sleepy but warm. I hear him gathering his things: the soft rustle of his jacket, the quiet clink of his keys. “He was a perfect host. We had a great time. And, yes, I still have my phone.”
A moment later the front door clicks shut.
Footsteps approach the den.
The blanket flap lifts, and Maxim’s broad frame fills the entrance.
He’s still in his shirt and trousers, though the sleeves are rolled up and his hair is slightly tousled from whatever business took him out tonight.
Even in the soft fairy light he looks powerful, controlled… and incredibly handsome.
Maxim’s eyes scan the den—the pile of squishies, the empty popcorn bowl, the juice boxes with their silly straws—before landing on me. Something in his expression softens.
“You built quite the fortress,” Maxim says, voice low and rough with exhaustion.
I bite my lip, suddenly shy. “We did. It was fun.”
He nods once, then extends a hand toward me. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”
My heart does a little panicked flip…
I don’t want to leave the den. Not yet.
This safe, cozy little world we built feels too precious to abandon. I crawl forward on my knees and take his hand, but instead of letting him pull me out, I tug him gently toward me.
“Can we sleep in here tonight?” I ask softly, looking up at him through my lashes. “Please? It’s really comfortable. And… I don’t want to move right now.”
Maxim pauses. I brace myself for the gentle but firm refusal… the Pakhan who has a thousand responsibilities and probably needs the comfort of his own large bed. But to my absolute delight, the corner of his mouth twitches upward.
“One condition,” Maxim says, crouching down so we’re eye level. “I get to be the big spoon.”
A huge smile breaks across my face before I can stop it. “Deal.”
He kicks off his shoes and ducks inside the den, the blankets stretching around his broad shoulders. The space feels smaller with him in it, but in the best way…
Safe. Protected.
Maxim stretches out on his side and opens his arms. I crawl into them immediately, pressing my back against his chest. His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me flush against him. He’s so warm and solid I let out a happy little sigh.
Maxim nuzzles the top of my head, breathing me in. “You smell like popcorn and way too much sugar.”
I giggle softly. “Midnight feast. Yuri’s a good snack partner.”
We lie there in comfortable silence for a minute, the fairy lights casting gentle patterns across the blankets. I can feel the steady thump of his heartbeat against my back. It’s the most peaceful I’ve felt in weeks.
“Maxim?” I whisper.
“Hmm?”
“Will you tell me a bedtime story? To help me fall back asleep?”
I feel him smile against my hair. “A bedtime story,” he repeats, like the words amuse him. But he doesn’t refuse. His voice drops into that low, rumbling tone that always makes me melt. “Alright, malysh. An old Russian fairytale my grandmother used to tell me...”
He begins quietly, his breath warm against my ear as his hand strokes slow, soothing circles over my stomach.
“Once, in a deep forest where the trees touched the stars, there lived a clever little wolf named Katerina. He was small but quick-witted, and he had a habit of wandering into places he shouldn’t.
One winter night, he came upon a great bear guarding a magical clearing filled with glowing berries that could heal any wound… ”
His voice is perfect… deep, steady, slightly gruff around the edges.
Maxim tells the story with quiet drama, describing how the wolf outsmarted the bear not with strength but with kindness and clever bargains. How they eventually became unlikely friends and protected the forest together.
I listen with my eyes half-closed, Zoop tucked under my arm, Maxim’s big body curled protectively around mine. Every now and then his fingers trace gentle patterns on my side. The combination of his voice, his warmth, and the safe little den makes me feel smaller and safer than I have in years.
“…and from that night on,” Maxim finishes softly, “the wolf and the bear watched over the forest side by side. The clever and the strong. Different, but stronger together.”
I smile in the dark, my body heavy with sleep. “I like that one.”
Maxim presses a kiss to the back of my neck. “Go to sleep, Milo. I’ve got you.”
With my stuffie under my arm and the gruffest, most dangerous Daddy in the city acting as my big spoon, I drift off with a big, sleepy smile on my face.
Just like the tale of the wolf and the bear, this strange new arrangement might have a happy ending after all…
I wake up sometime later to the feeling of strong arms still wrapped around me. The fairy lights are still glowing softly, and Maxim’s breathing is deep and even against my hair.
He stayed. He actually stayed the whole night in our silly blanket fort.
My heart does a slow, happy flip. I shift carefully, turning in his arms so I can look at his face. Even asleep he looks powerful… that strong jaw, faint stubble, those silver threads at his temples catching the light.
But there’s a softness around his mouth that I don’t usually see.
I reach up and trace one finger lightly along his cheekbone, careful not to wake him. This man spanked me, made me cum so hard I saw stars, and still crawled into a blanket den with me because I asked nicely.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
There will be cartel threats and family politics and probably more rules I’ll want to test. But right now, curled up in this cozy little world with Maxim’s arm heavy around my waist and Zoop tucked between us, I feel something I haven’t felt in a very long time.
Hope.
I think it’s possible I might actually be okay with wherever this road leads.
As long as Maxim keeps being my big spoon when I need him to be.
I snuggle closer, press a tiny kiss to his chest through his shirt, and let myself drift back to sleep with a smile still playing on my lips.
Maybe I can be the wolf Maxim never knew he needed.