Chapter 17
Liev
It wasn’t easy to find a private airstrip in Miami.
This one is just outside the city, buried in a mess of saw palmetto and firebush that is a few months away from flowering.
The thick greenery hides a decrepit runway; one I paid a more-than-fair price to own.
The man I bought it from lives less than a mile away in a trailer, and he’s the type of person who minds his own business.
Even if a Baranov Tech private jet lands on the crumbling tarmac.
It’s dusk, and as the plane comes in, I squint up at its outline in the purple haze dying into deep blue. My heart thumps hard once in my chest, knowing that the machine carries everything I love inside: my family. My legacy.
An attendant dressed in black, muscled enough to be clearly more than just a steward, opens the door and lets the stairs down. Kazimir appears first at the top—his gaze sweeping the rural area. A satisfaction settles inside me; they made the right choice.
I wasn’t always happy with Alyona’s decision to get involved with my best friend and head of the Savannah Bratva. But Kazimir is a good man, and he will protect what he has. She and their children are safer with him than anyone else.
Aly follows shortly behind, taking his hand as he helps her down. She carries one of the twins, and Devin, her best friend and one of Kaz’s employees, carries the other. Both babies are swaddled tightly, hopefully asleep. My heart thuds hard again, before lodging in my throat.
Kaz and I share a rough hug. “Brat,” he murmurs. It means “brother,” and is what we used to call one another in Prague, two teenage boys scrambling to stay alive in the alleys at night.
He looks exactly the same as the last time I saw him in Savannah, the night I left for Miami with a begrudging wife at my side.
I think of Ryder and feel guilty that she’s not here.
But I still can’t get a read on how closely she wants to be tied into all things Bratva.
Does she resent the deal that Kazimir, myself, and her father made where she became a pawn?
Has knowing that I killed two men mere meters away from her pushed her away?
Another part of me whispers a reminder: You don’t want her to get hurt or be exposed.
Until I know who is coming after her and have their blood on my hands, my primary concern is keeping her safe. I intend to talk to Kazimir about it, even though he’s here for business.
There is a faint weariness in the way Kaz rolls his shoulders as he steps back, making room for Alyona as she tucks into his side. She kisses my cheek, bouncing the baby carefully. Becoming a father has apparently not softened him, but it has taken a significant bite out of his sleep schedule.
“Miami suits you,” he says, an arm wrapped around my daughter.
“You look tired.”
His mouth twitches. “That’s because I am.”
Devin joins us, gesturing carefully with the bundle in her arms. I take the baby, feeling a tight swelling in my chest. Remembering this feeling mirrored over two decades ago when I held my own daughter just like this.
The blanket shifts, and I look down at a little boy. My grandson, Mason.
“You brought them.”
“Of course I did.”
The baby’s eyes are closed, his tiny hand curled near his cheek. In Aly’s arms, my little granddaughter, Madison, begins fussing immediately.
“They’re perfect,” I murmur, brows rising as Mason wakes and begins to grumble noisily.
Kazimir Barranov, one of the most dangerous men I know, now looks permanently on the edge of exhaustion because of two creatures that weigh less than a sack of flour.
Alyona sways slightly where she stands.
“You should go to the hotel,” Kazimir tells her gently. “Get some rest.”
She doesn’t argue. Devin steps in again, gathering Mason to her chest from my arms, and guides Aly gently toward a waiting car.
One of my drivers moves forward to take their bags. Kazimir watches until the vehicle pulls away.
Then he exhales slowly and turns back to me.
“Now,” he says, adjusting his jacket, “tell me about the idiots who thought ambushing you in a bank was a good idea.”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Kazimir and I sit at a quiet bar overlooking the water. Despite the late hour, it’s a Tuesday night, and the crowd is more…discreet.
Around us, yacht owners, tech moguls, politicians, and businessmen have quiet conversations under the low lighting. The staff here understands the value of ignoring those conversations.
A bottle of vodka sits between us, already missing a few inches. Kazimir pours another round.
“So,” he says, sliding the glass toward me. “Tell me how badly Miami is behaving. Is it too much for you to handle?” His gaze flickers up, calculating—trying to decide if he made a mistake.
I lean back in the chair and rotate my neck until it cracks.
“It’s behaving,” I say. “Mostly.”
“Mostly.”
“The gang that ran Ryder off the road is gone.”
Kazimir nods once. “I assumed.”
“But the bank ambush was someone else.”
His hand pauses around the bottle. “That is less good. You’re sure?”
I nod. “They weren’t connected. The first was a small local crew; 21Hearts.
The second, someone more professional. 21Hearts has been pared down to a skeleton crew.
Viktor and our men report that they’ve been run out of Miami and are heading for the Keys.
The other group from the bank were two men.
One is dead, and the other disappeared. We know they were part of the mafia, but I’ve spoken to Alfredo and he claims they’re outliers and accepted the job on the outside. ”
“You believe it?” Kaz asks, studying me closely.
“I do. The first gang gave up their contact quickly. Or rather, the place they met their contact. A site called Backscatter. You hear of it?”
His thick brows knit as he sips the vodka slowly. “Yes; but I’m sure you know we would never do business there.” Kazimir and I followed his uncle’s lead and built the empire with real people.
Our empire was built with men we could trust or kill if something went sideways.
“I’m well aware. 21Hearts was paid through encrypted accounts.
Even Ryder couldn’t trace anything back to an originator.
Alfredo confirmed that the dead man who worked for him also had Backscatter communication on a burner cell that the mafia wasn’t aware he had.
He was picking up side jobs, and so was his friend. ”
“The side job focus seems to be getting rid of you and Ryder.”
“Yes.”
Kazimir studies me for a moment. “I don’t like unknowns.”
“Neither do I.”
For a few seconds, we sat in silence while the music from inside the bar drifted faintly across the patio. Kazimir leans back, rubbing his neck with his large, tattooed hand.
“Hinto is becoming insufferable,” he says finally.
“That didn’t take long.”
“He controls a few small ports in Savannah now, per our arrangement,” Kazimir says dryly. “Apparently that makes him king of the eastern seaboard.”
“Give him time.”
Kazimir snorts. “I would rather give him a bullet.”
“That can be arranged later.”
His eyes flick toward me again, sharper now. “And you aren’t worried how your wife would feel about that?” he asks casually.
I pick up the glass and take a slow drink. The truth is, I would love to fight her demons for her. But it’s harder when those demons are also people she loves.
Not waiting for an answer, Kaz continues, “How’s your marriage?”
“It’s functional.”
“That is not an answer.”
I roll my neck again, feeling the lingering stiffness from the week.
“She’s brilliant,” I admit. “Sharp instincts. She handles my men without hesitation. You should’ve seen her when I got shot,” I smirk. “She would make a perfect Bratva wife.”
“Interesting. So she seemed…upset when you were bleeding on the floor?”
I shoot him a quick look, hearing the teasing note in that question. “Don’t.”
“Liev.” Kaz is suddenly serious, sitting forward, shadows darkening his features. He’s a Bratva king, my best friend, and the man I trust more than anything in this life. The one who can be heartbreakingly honest.
So I know to brace myself for what he’s about to say.
“I wouldn’t have even brought the suggestion of the marriage up to you if I didn’t think there was already a foundation there.”
My jaw tightens. “You couldn’t have known there was a foundation, Kazimir. We’d met only once before. She was tied up on that boat and annoyed. I was tired and afraid for my daughter.”
He shakes his head slowly. “No. There was more, and you know it.”
“She’s made it very clear this marriage is business. And that’s what I offered her: the chance at an empire outside of her father’s.”
“That’s all?”
The way he says it makes my back stiffen. My mind races; he can’t know what else was said that night in the safe house or what I promised her…can he?
Kazimir leans back in his chair, looking deeply unimpressed.
“Liev.”
“What.”
“There is a tension between you two that a blind man could see.”
I stare at him. “That tension is hostility.”
“That tension is attraction.”
“It’s not the same thing, and it doesn’t matter.”
He taps his fingers on the table. “You’ve slept with her.” The words land bluntly; they aren’t a question.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And I’m not interested in a pity fuck.”
Kazimir slowly lowers his glass. “You think that she’s fucked you out of pity?” He snorts, and all at once I feel like I’m thirteen again—dying to impress a new friend and potential ally. Could he possibly be right?
The first few sizzling moments with Ryder were stolen and felt forbidden, but I had no doubt that we both wanted it. But after she ran the second time and actually thought I was the one after her and could snuff out her life, I couldn’t believe it.
How could I believe she wanted anything more than survival? That the night she approached me, put a hand on my chest, was her choice and not a strategic play to keep herself alive?
“I’m respecting boundaries.”
“You are avoiding your wife.” Kazimir runs a hand over his face, clearly irritated.
“You are a powerful man, Liev. You helped me build a criminal empire; take it to the next level. You eliminate enemies without hesitation. What we’re working on here, these connections up and down the eastern seaboard, it hasn’t been done—not to this degree, not in decades.
” He gestures toward me with the bottle.
“And yet you are afraid of sleeping with your own wife.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You’re acting like it.”
I lean forward slightly. “She doesn’t want me.”
Kazimir stares at me for several seconds. Then he laughs.
“You are an idiot.” He points toward the parking area. “Go home.”
“We’re discussing business.”
“We’re finished discussing business. You have instructions, plans, and a firm foundation has been set down in Miami. The shakiest thing about your situation is your marriage.”
“Kaz—”
“Go home,” he repeats firmly. “Find your wife. Stop overthinking everything.”
“And do what, exactly?”
Kazimir looks at me like the answer should be obvious to anyone with a functioning brain.
“Fuck your wife. We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow, Liev.”
I stare at him.
He lifts his glass in a casual toast.
“You’re welcome.”
* * *
It’s past midnight when I slip into the house. Outside, two guards are stationed in the small building at the edge of the driveway, and two others prowl the property line. But the house is empty.
Aside from Ryder.
It’s like I can feel her wherever she is…like a pulse, or a heartbeat. With more vodka in me than I’d like to admit, and Kaz’s orders, I can’t fight the pull.
I need to go to bed. At least that’s what I tell myself as I walk slowly, softly, toward the bedroom we share.
The one we’re careful never to enter at the same time.
What if—my brain rattles, and I try to shake the thoughts. It, along with dozens of others, have been plaguing me for the past several weeks.
What if she doesn’t want me?
What if I’m not enough?
What if this is just another job to her, another task to get the power and protection she needs?
The last one makes something in my chest twist. My hand is on the doorknob, and even though it’s just after midnight, a faint light is coming through beneath the door.
She’s still awake.
And panting.
Why is she panting?
A low moan sounds from behind the door, and my entire body freezes.
I recognize that sound, and it makes something dark and hungry curl in my gut. The drinks from earlier in the night loosened my doubt, and I lean a shoulder carefully against the door, listening.
“Mmm,” she whines, the noise higher-pitched and desperate. “F-fu—”
The curse bleeds off into a sigh.
It feels like every vein in my body is pounding blood down to my cock. Crazy to get an erection just from the sound of her, my imagination running away.
Another noise, this one of frustration, almost a growl, and a smile curls my lips.
When I open the door and step in, Ryder’s eyes widen in surprise. The deep brown color of them soaks in the amber light from the lamp on her side table. She sinks under the sheet as if she’s been caught doing something bad.
“Oh, I thought—”
I step into the room.
Shut the door.
“Thought what?” I ask when she doesn’t answer, my eyes dropping to where the sheet covers her body. Even to my ears my voice sounds rough.
“Thought you’d be home later, with Kazimir…” She trails off, a blush darkening her cheeks, annoyance twitching her eyebrows.
I feel my grin widen. “Good,” I rumble, not meaning to voice these thoughts out loud, but I can’t stop myself. “I like you with an attitude and all riled up.”
Her lip’s part, a scoff dropping from them as she sits up on her elbows. “Excuse you?”
Slowly rolling up my sleeves, I step toward the bed and let my gaze trail over her body. “Don’t act like I didn’t catch you, Ryder. We both know what you were doing. But tell me, and be honest, do you need a little help to get there?”