Chapter 26Damir
26
Damir
N eeding some night air, I stand on the penthouse balcony, gripping the metal railing. The city is alive below, with cars moving like blood cells through veins as people go about their lives, unaware of the predators that walk among them. Unaware of me.
Elena is asleep inside, exhausted from her hospital shift and the emotional turmoil of bracing herself to face Casey but it not actually happening. I left her curled on her left side, one hand protectively placed over her stomach, where our son grows. The sight of her like that still stuns me into silence.
The glass door slides open behind me, but I don’t turn. Only one person would approach me without announcing himself first.
Anton steps beside me, two crystal tumblers in his hands. He offers one, and I take it, the familiar scent of premium Russian vodka rising from the glass. We drink in silence, the burn of alcohol warming my throat against the cool night air.
“Nothing,” he says finally, leaning his forearms on the railing. “We’ve checked every safehouse and every known associate. Casey’s disappeared completely.”
I swirl the vodka in my glass. “Nikolai’s sheltering him.”
“Most likely. My sources say there’s been unusual activity at three of his properties, but we can’t get close enough to confirm.”
“He knows we’re looking.”
“He’s expecting it.” Anton downs the rest of his drink. “The rat knows what happens to rats.”
I study the skyline, mentally mapping the illegal territories that have been mine for years. The nightclubs in Center City, the warehouses along the Delaware, the construction companies, the restaurants, and the import businesses. An empire built on blood and fear and calculation. An empire I no longer want.
“I’m getting out.” The words hang in the night air between us.
Anton goes still beside me. “What?”
“After Nikolai. After we end this, I’m done.”
He turns to face me fully, disbelief etched across his features. “Done with what exactly?”
“All of it.” I gesture toward the city. “The organization. The crime. This life. I’m stepping out of everything that’s not a legitimate business.”
Anton stares at me as if I’ve started speaking in tongues. “You’re the pakhan . You don’t just walk away.”
“I do if I have something better to walk toward.” I finish my vodka and set the glass on the small table beside me. “I’ve already started the transition. My legitimate holdings are being transferred to a new corporate structure—clean and untraceable to any criminal activities. I’m liquidating certain assets, creating new identities as a fallback if needed, and establishing security protocols for my family.”
“Your family,” Anton repeats, testing the word.
“Elena and my son.” The words feel strange on my tongue. Good strange. “They deserve better than this life.”
He shakes his head slowly. “And the organization? The territories? The men who’ve sworn loyalty to you?”
I turn to face him directly. “They’ll be yours.”
His glass nearly slips from his fingers. “Mine?”
“The connections. The territories. The loyalty structures—all of it because you’ll be the pakhan .”
Anton sets down his glass with deliberate care. “You can’t be serious.”
“When have you known me to joke about business?”
He runs a hand over his buzzed hair. “Never, but this is unprecedented. You don’t just hand over an empire.”
“I’m not handing it over to a stranger. I’m giving it to the only man I trust completely.”
Anton paces a few steps away, then back. “Why? Why now?”
I consider my answer carefully. “While I was out looking for Harris, I went to a baby store today.”
Anton blinks at the apparent non sequitur. “A what?”
“A baby store. One of those high-end places, where everything costs five times what it should.” I ease back against the railing. “I stood there looking at tiny clothes and furniture and these...devices I couldn’t even identify. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t calculating angles or assessing threats or planning my next move.”
“What were you doing?”
“Imagining. Anticipating.” I pause, searching for the right words. “I was thinking about what it would be like to bring my son home to a normal house. To push him on a swing. To teach him to ride a bike without looking over my shoulder for snipers.”
Anton’s expression softens. “Fatherhood changes men.”
“It’s changing me before he’s even born.” I straighten up. “I want him to have choices I never had. I want him to know his father as something other than a monster men fear.”
“You’re more than that, Damir.”
“To you, perhaps. To Elena, yes, but to the rest of the world?” I shake my head. “I’ve been what I needed to be to survive. Now, I need to be something else for my son to thrive.”
Anton is quiet for a long moment. “How do you plan to make this work? The feds are still investigating you, and Nikolai is still a threat. You can’t just disappear.”
“I’ve been planning this longer than you might think.” I move back to the railing, looking out at my city one last time. “The federal investigation can be managed. I have leverage on the agent leading the case and evidence that will redirect their attention to more pressing targets.”
“And Nikolai?”
“He dies.” The words are simple and final. “There’s no other way to ensure our safety.”
He nods, accepting this truth without question. “The logistics of your exit?”
“I’ve purchased property in five different countries under separate shell companies. Multiple escape routes if needed. I’ve transferred significant assets to untraceable accounts that require biometric authentication from both Elena and me to access.”
“Both of you?”
“Neither of us can access the funds without the other. It ensures we stay together and make decisions as a unit.”
Anton lets out a low whistle. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“I’ve had to.” I turn to face him. “The transition won’t be simple. There will be resistance, questions, and challenges to your authority.”
“I can handle it.”
“I know you can. That’s why I’m trusting you with this.”
Anton studies me. “And if I said no?”
“You won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I give him a rare smile. “Because you’ve always wanted this. Not the way Nikolai did—through betrayal and blood. You wanted to earn it, and you have.”
Anton looks away, his profile sharp against the night sky. “What if I’m not ready?”
“You are. You’ve been ready for years. You just never wanted to take it from me.”
He doesn’t deny it. Instead, he asks, “When?”
“After Nikolai is dealt with. We’ll need two to three months to transition smoothly. Any faster, and we risk chaos.”
Anton nods slowly. “And Elena? Does she know about this plan?”
“Not yet. I’m going to tell her soon.”
“She might not like the idea of you handing your criminal empire to your best friend.”
“She understands more than you might think.” I pause, thinking about the hard conversation we had over dinner. “She gave me an ultimatum today. Leave this life, or she leaves with our son.”
Anton’s eyebrows rise. “Bold move.”
“She doesn’t make idle threats.”
“No, she doesn’t.” He smiles slightly. “I like her.”
“So do I.” The admission feels inadequate for the depth of what I feel for Elena, but it’s all I can manage with Anton. “The funny thing is, I’ve been planning to leave all this behind for weeks now, if not longer. Perhaps as long as she’s been in my life, if I’m honest. I didn’t tell her that yet.”
He frowns. “Why not?”
“I thought she might not believe it. She might think I’m only saying that to mollify her. Until I can show her action, there’s no point in revealing my plan.”
“That makes sense.” He shifts slightly. “What about security right now, while Nikolai is still alive? Elena and the baby will be vulnerable.”
“That’s my primary concern.” I cross my arms. “Nikolai knows about the pregnancy, so he’ll use it against us if he can.”
“We’ll need to increase her protection without making her feel trapped.”
“She already feels trapped with the security detail at the hospital and the guards at home. She tolerates it because she understands the necessity, but she hates it.”
We fall into a comfortable silence, the kind that only exists between men who have faced death together and survived.
He finally speaks again. “I never thought I’d see the day when Damir Antonov walked away from power for love.”
“It’s not just love,” I correct him. “It’s purpose. For the first time, I’m building something instead of destroying it.”
Anton nods, understanding. “It suits you.”
“What does?”
“Happiness.” He says it simply, without embellishment. “I’ve known you since we were boys, Damir. I’ve seen you victorious, wealthy, and feared. I’ve never seen you happy until now.”
The observation strikes me more deeply than I expected. Happiness was never a consideration in my world. Survival, yes. Power, always, but happiness? That was for other people. People who didn’t have blood on their hands.
“I want this for you.” His voice is uncharacteristically soft. “God knows we’ve both seen enough darkness to last several lifetimes. If anyone deserves to find peace, it’s you.”
The sincerity in his words surprises me. Anton and I don’t speak this way. We never have. Our friendship has always been expressed through loyalty, through having each other’s backs, and through the unspoken understanding that we would die for one another if necessary. Not through words. I don’t respond verbally because I don’t need to. He reads my expression and nods once, acknowledging the moment without dwelling on it.
“We should discuss the practical aspects,” he says, returning to more familiar territory. “The transition will need to be seamless. No power vacuums and no opportunities for rivals to make moves.”
“I’ve prepared files on every captain, every territory, and every operation. You’ll have complete information.”
“And your connections with the police commissioner? Judge Harrison?”
“They’ll be introduced to you as my successor. The arrangements will continue unchanged.”
Anton nods, processing. “The timing with Nikolai will be critical. If he gets wind of the transition before we’re ready...”
“He won’t because I can’t start the transition until he’s dead.” I straighten up. “We find Casey first, and he’ll lead us to Nikolai.”
“And then?”
“And then we end this. Permanently.”
Anton’s expression hardens. “No mercy.”
“No mercy,” I echo. “Nikolai had his chance and made his choice.”
“He’ll fight to the death.”
“Then that’s what he’ll get.”
Anton pushes away from the railing. “I should go. It’s late, and we both have work to do tomorrow.” He hesitates, then adds, “Thank you for your trust.”
“You’ve earned it many times over.”
He smiles slightly. “Still, not many men would do what you’re doing.”
“Not many men have what I have to lose.”
He nods, understanding completely. He turns to leave, then pauses at the door. “She’s changed you.”
“For the better?”
“Definitely for the better.” His smile widens. “The old Damir would have shot Casey on sight.”
“The old Damir didn’t have a pregnant wife to consider, but this version might still be tempted to shoot him on sight.” I hope Elena gives me permission to end his miserable life, because my trigger finger is already itching to do just that after I interrogate him.
We have to find him first.
“True.” Anton slides open the door. “Get some sleep, my friend. Tomorrow, we hunt.”
After he leaves, I remain on the balcony, watching the city. My city, for a little while longer before it becomes someone else’s problem. The thought should bother me more than it does. I’ve spent twenty years building this empire, fighting and killing and manipulating to create something that would outlast me. Now I’m walking away from it all for a woman and a child who isn’t even born yet.
I don’t regret it for a second.
I pick up my empty glass and Anton’s, carrying them inside to the kitchen. The penthouse is quiet as I move silently through the living room toward the bedroom, stopping at the doorway to look at Elena’s sleeping form.
She’s still curled on her side, one hand resting protectively over her stomach. Her dark hair spills across the pillow, and her face is relaxed in sleep, all the worry and stress of the day erased. This is what matters now. This woman, our child, and the future we’ll build together, far from Philadelphia and its dangers.
I undress quietly, slipping into bed beside her. She stirs slightly, murmuring something unintelligible before settling again. I place my hand over hers on her stomach, feeling the slight swell there that will soon become more pronounced.
My son. My heir. Not to an empire of crime, but to something better. Something I never had. A normal life, a family, and love. I close my eyes, allowing myself to imagine a house somewhere quiet, with Elena practicing medicine at a local hospital. I envision our son taking his first steps on grass instead of marble floors. No guards, no guns, and no constant vigilance.
Just us. Just peace.
It’s a fantasy I’ve never permitted myself before. A weakness I couldn’t afford. Now, it’s becoming a plan, with logistics and timelines and exit strategies, and I can’t wait to tell Elena.
Now, it’s becoming real.