Chapter 10
Kirill
The phone vibrates on the nightstand, dragging me from a restless sleep. The apartment is still dark, the Gothic building across the way barely visible through the tall windows. I reach for the device, already knowing who it is before I see the name.
Ivan.
I answer with a clipped, “Speak.”
“Coffee shop on the corner of 8th and Mercer,” Ivan says, his voice low and urgent. “Twenty minutes. We need to talk.”
The line goes dead.
No pleasantries. No explanation.
That tone tells me everything I need to know—this is serious.
I dress quickly in a dark shirt and trousers, slip on my coat, and nod to the two men waiting in the hallway. They fall in behind me as we head down to the SUV. The city is just beginning to wake, the streets still quiet enough that the drive takes only minutes.
The coffee shop is small and unassuming, the kind of place that opens early for shift workers. I choose a corner table with my back to the wall. Ivan arrives shortly after, sliding into the seat opposite me with two black coffees already in hand. He looks tired, eyes sharp despite the hour.
“Talk,” I say, keeping my voice low.
Ivan leans in, elbows on the table. “Two of my Mexican contacts reached out separately. Both confirmed the same thing. Cartel weapons are moving north. Heavy stuff. Assault rifles, grenades, even some RPGs. They are staging for a full-scale assault on the city. Not small hits anymore. Make no fucking mistake, this is preparation for war against the Russian families.”
The words settle like lead in my gut.
I sensed it coming, but hearing it confirmed makes the threat feel immediate.
The cartel is not testing us anymore. They are arming for something bigger—something meant to break us entirely.
I take a slow sip of the bitter coffee, letting the heat steady me. “Do they know who on the Russian side is working with them? Someone must be feeding them information, opening doors. A cartel wouldn’t move like this otherwise. It’s unheard of.”
Ivan shakes his head. “They are being careful. The contacts only know pieces. But the weapons are definitely coming in through routes that should be locked down by us or Viktor’s people. Someone is helping them from the inside.”
I meet his gaze directly. “Is it Viktor?”
The question hangs between us. Ivan does not flinch, but I watch his face carefully for any flicker.
“No,” he says firmly. “Viktor has no love for the Mexicans. He lost two good men to them only last year. His hatred runs deep. If he is moving against anyone right now, it is not by siding with the cartel.”
I lean back, studying him. Ivan has been useful—loyal even—but right now trust feels like a luxury I cannot afford.
Is he telling the truth? Could he be playing both sides? Could Viktor?
The thought twists in my chest. My father trusted too easily toward the end and paid for it with his life. the last thing I am going to do is not learn from my father’s mistakes.
I set the cup down.
“I want a one-on-one meeting with Viktor,” I say. “No security on either side. Nothing. Just him and me. This evening, outside the city. You will provide the exact location at the last minute on my instruction. Make it happen.”
Ivan nods once. “I’ll reach out to him. If he agrees, I will send you the details when it is set.”
We both stand. I extend my hand. Ivan shakes it firmly, his grip steady. On the surface, everything looks as it should—alliance, respect, shared purpose. But inside, a cold certainty settles over me.
Right now, I cannot trust anyone.
Not fully. Not Ivan. Certainly not Viktor.
The war is coming, and in times like these, loyalty is the first thing that fractures.
I leave the coffee shop with my men flanking me, the morning light now harsher against the buildings.
The day stretches ahead with preparations—meetings, security sweeps, quiet inquiries into my own ranks. But beneath it all runs a deeper current of unease.
By early afternoon, that unease drives me somewhere I know I should not go…
Teddy’s apartment.
I tell myself it is only to check on him after last night. I tell myself it has nothing to do with the gnawing fear that tonight’s meeting with Viktor could go wrong—that this could be the last time I see the sweet boy if things turn bloody.
I do not voice any of my fears.
I simply knock on his door.
The darling boy opens his door wearing soft leggings and an oversized sweater, hair mussed a little like he’s been practicing headstands. His eyes widen in surprise, then soften with that bright, hopeful warmth that always hits me harder than it should.
“Kirill,” Teddy breathes, stepping back to let me in. “I wasn’t expecting you. No change there, right?”
The apartment is the same as yesterday—cozy, colorful, the stuffie sitting on the couch like a silent witness.
The moment the door closes behind me, the air thickens with wild electricity.
It crackles between us, pulling us closer without a word.
I can see the same need mirrored in his eyes—the memory of the alley, the kiss, the way he dropped to his knees for me.
I reach for the boy first.
Our mouths crash together in a hungry kiss.
There is no gentleness this time. Teddy rises onto his toes, fingers threading into my hair as he presses his body against mine.
I back him into the living room, hands sliding under his sweater to feel warm, soft skin.
He whimpers into my mouth, the sound going straight to my cock.
We do not make it to the bedroom.
I lower him to the floor right there on the rug, the soft fibers cushioning him as I follow him down.
Clothes come off in a rush—his sweater tossed aside, my shirt unbuttoned hastily, his leggings and briefs peeled down his legs and off entirely. He is already hard, flushed, and trembling with the same desperate energy I feel.
Fuck he’s hot.
The boy wants this as much as I do.
And I’m going to give it to him…
My cock throbs, thick and hard and ready to show Teddy exactly who I am and what I can do. I want to own him, make him mine. I want to send the boy to somewhere he’s never been before and no other man could send him.
I kiss him again, deeper, claiming his mouth while my hand moves between his thighs and grabs onto his stiff cock. It’s not as big as mine, but it’s thick and just about the hardest cock I’ve ever felt. I pulse it with my fist, delighting in how he reacts…
“That’s good,” Teddy gasps, bucking his hips up as much as he can.
He arches into my touch, moaning softly when my fingers find him hard and ready.
“Kirill…” he whispers against my lips, his voice small and needy. “Daddy…”
I free myself from my trousers and settle between his legs. There is no slow buildup this time. Teddy reaches for some lube and hastily spreads it over my shaft, from the base to the tip and extra thick around my dick head.
I grunt and watch as the boy squirts more lube and reaches down to his ass hole and works it in and around. Honestly, if I didn’t want to fuck him so bad, I could watch him pleasure himself like this all night.
But the truth is that I need to claim him, be inside him, show him that I’m the only Daddy he’ll ever need.
I hook his legs up and enter him in one smooth thrust, burying myself to the hilt. Teddy gasps, then moans, his nails digging into my shoulders as his body stretches around me.
He feels perfect—tight, warm, gripping me like he was made for this.
Almost right away I can feel his cock throb against me as I lean forward and his eyes widen and his mouth opens wide as he moans louder and louder.
I’m hitting his spot, and the boy is loving it.
I set a hard, steady rhythm, my hips driving into him while he fixes his ankles around my shoulders.
The floor creaks beneath us, but neither of us cares.
His cries mix with my low grunts. I watch his face the entire time—eyes half-closed in pleasure, lips parted, cheeks flushed pink.
Teddy is beautiful like this, lost in sensation, trusting me completely.
“Mine,” I growl against his ear, the word slipping out before I can stop it.
He clenches around me at the claim, whimpering, “Yes… yours.”
The pace quickens and I begin to push him harder and harder. I can see from Teddy’s eyes and his moans that he’s close and then I feel his cock shoot a huge amount of hot, thick cum onto my chest as I pull back slightly and watch before driving back inside him.
The sight and sound of Teddy cumming so hard pushes me over the edge. I climax hard, shooting my seed deep inside Teddy with a guttural sound, hips stuttering as pleasure rips through me.
Teddy spasms and seems to have an immediate follow up orgasm, his legs squeezing harder and harder before letting loose and quivering uncontrollably as I leave my cock deep inside him.
And then silence.
For a long moment we lie there on the floor, breathing hard, bodies still joined. I brush damp strands of hair from his forehead, pressing a gentler kiss to his lips. He smiles up at me, soft and sated, eyes shining with something dangerously close to affection.
I do not tell him why I really came over. How could I?
I do not tell the boy that tonight’s meeting could end with me in a body bag if Viktor has turned. The boy doesn’t deserve this moment to be sullied with that kind of talk.
I simply hold him for a few more minutes, memorizing the way he feels beneath me, the way his fingers trace lazy patterns on my back.
Eventually I help him up, both of us dressing in quiet silence. The electricity still hums between us, but reality is already pressing back in.
I cup his face with one hand, thumb brushing his lower lip.
“I have to go,” I say. “There are things I must handle tonight.”
He nods, and it’s almost like he understands. “Okay. Will I see you soon? Please tell me I will…”
“Soon,” I promise, though the word tastes uncertain on my tongue.
I kiss him once more—slow, deep, trying to say everything I cannot voice—then force myself to leave.
As I walk down the stairs to the waiting SUV, the weight of the day returns in full force.
Weapons moving. Possible betrayal. A meeting that could decide everything.
And Teddy. Bright, soft, submissive Teddy who just gave himself to me so completely on his living room floor and climaxed with me in a way that I’ve never experienced before. We were one. And I want that to continue.
But if tonight goes wrong, I may never see him again.
The thought burns worse than any bullet could.
I climb into the car, jaw tight, and give the driver the signal to move.
War is coming.
And for the first time, I have something—someone—I am terrified of losing.