Chapter 9 Viktor
VIKTOR
The old warehouse smells like piss and old bait.
I find Seth Rossi sitting in the back corner, surrounded by empty bottles and still running his mouth to a handful of lowlifes who scatter the instant I walk through the door.
Smart move.
“Viktor!” Seth shouts as he sees me. He scrambles backwards, falling out of his chair. Mr. Tough Guy, who’s been spreading lies about me all over the city, suddenly looking like the pathetic little worm he is. “I can explain—”
“Oh?” I pull out my revolver, the weight in my hand familiar and comforting. “Explain how you won fifty grand, and instead of buying back your only daughter, you blew it on booze and whores?”
I take aim, my fist clutching the worn grip of the pistol. My arm is steady as ever. My men may have been doing my dirt for me as of late, but I haven’t softened. Not one bit.
Unless I’m with her…
“Please, I can get you the money—” Seth’s sobbing now like a child. It disgusts me.
“You had the money!” I snap, pressing the barrel of the gun against his forehead. “But that’s not even why you’re going to die. You know why?”
He whimpers, shaking his head.
“You’re going to die because you’re telling people I kidnapped Bella. That you don’t need to pay me back. You’re making me look weak, which is endangering her!”
“She—she’s my daughter…” he stammers.
“She’s mine now,” I growl. “You never cared about her. You sold her to me like cattle. And now you want to act like you give a damn!?”
My finger curls around the trigger.
One squeeze. That’s all it would take. I’ve done it hundreds of times before. One squeeze and Seth Rossi’s brains would paint the walls of the warehouse behind him. I can see it…
…but then I see her. Unfathomable beauty in my mind’s eye. I feel the warmth of her body against mine, and the way my heart melts when she’s near me.
I see her eyes filled with tears before I left her. The way she looked at me this morning, begging for me to have mercy on her lech of a father.
“The man who took me to dinner, made me breakfast—that’s the man you truly are, Viktor!”
Her voice echoes sweetly in my head, so soft yet so certain.
I’ve never trusted anyone in my life—not completely. Until she came along…
I trust Bella with my life. She’s my queen. She would never hurt me. Nor would she ever lie to me.
So is she right? Is it true?
Can I be more than just The Ice Man?
“Do it…” Seth sobs. “Just do it.”
My hand is shaking. My hands never shake. I’ve executed men and then gone back to dinner, killed my rivals without blinking. But now, this worthless drunk’s life has me trembling like a boy with his first gun.
Because I know that if I pull this trigger, I lose her.
Bella…
Maybe not today or tomorrow, but down the line, she’ll realize she can’t forgive me. And she’ll be gone.
The warmth in her eyes will turn cold. The way she melts into my arms will never be the same. And slowly, she’ll pull away.
And what will my life be then?
I’ll have lost the only good thing that’s ever happened to me. My life. My soul.
I lower the gun. Seth looks up at me with complete astonishment, his eyes red.
“Your daughter. You can thank her for making me merciful.”
He stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. Viktor Morelli doesn’t have mercy. The whole city knows that.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I say, my voice fierce but controlled. “You’re going to disappear. Tonight. Leave New York and never come back. Never contact your daughter again. Understand?”
“But she’s my—”
I grab his throat, tight enough to make my point. “She’s nothing to you anymore. You sold her for a gambling debt you couldn’t pay back. She belongs to me now.”
He nods frantically, relieved that his life is not ending tonight.
“If I see you in this city again or hear about you running your mouth about me, I’ll make you wish I killed you. I’ll make you beg for death, Seth. You got me?”
“Yes! I got you!”
I release him, and he falls to the floor, instantly scrambling to his feet. I reach into my jacket pocket and pull out a wad of cash—at least a few grand.
“Use it to get out of the city and disappear. Consider your debt to me paid. I’m buying you out of Bella’s life.”
Seth reaches out and takes the wad, staring at it like he can’t believe it’s real.
“But…why, Viktor?” he asks, his voice barely even a whisper. “Why are you doing this?”
Why indeed.
The old Viktor would have ended his life in an instant and not missed a minute of sleep. The old Viktor would have made an example of him—made sure everyone saw what happened to those that crossed him.
But the old Viktor didn’t have Bella waiting at home for him…
Never had someone who looked at him like he was anything more than a monster.
“Because she asked me to,” I tell him simply. “And because I, unlike you, would give my life for her.”
Seth pockets the money with shaking hands. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank your daughter. I won’t lose her because of you.” I turn to leave, then stop. “Oh, and Seth. If you gamble again and end up in debt to men like me, they won’t be so merciful. And I won’t be there to help you.”
He’s gasping for breath as I leave him and walk out into the evening air. The city itself feels different tonight—cleaner, hopeful. My hands are steady now.
I’ll have Anton leak a story that I found Seth’s money stash and jacked it, then sent him packing. It’ll reinforce my control over the city, show people I’m still not afraid to get my hands dirty.
I break down the gun in my hands, the cylinder, barrel and grip, and drop the pieces in a couple different dumpsters and a storm drain.
For the first time in my life, I showed mercy. Not weakness—mercy. And there’s a difference. A difference I’m learning.
A difference she’s teaching me…
The drive back to the penthouse is torture and feels like eternity.
What if she’s gone? Couldn’t stand waiting and not knowing and just got the hell out of there? But she wouldn’t be able to get past Anton and my men.
Still, the thought of her waiting for me, wondering if I killed her father, gripped with pain and anxiety, has a pain burning in my gut.
But when the elevator doors open, she’s there, pacing the living room like a caged bird. She’s still wearing my shirt from this morning, looking absolutely adorable.
When she turns to me, I see her eyes are red from crying.
“Did you—?”
“No,” I say firmly. “He’s alive. I let him go.”
Her lips part. She stares at me like she’s seeing me for the very first time. “You…you did?”
I race over to her, unable to contain myself any longer. Her heat seeps into me as I lift her into my arms.
My queen, my love…
Tears fall from her eyes, but they’re different tears than the ones from this morning. These are tears of relief, of love. She buries her face in my chest, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Something in my chest cracks open, spilling warmth throughout my body. It’s like I can feel myself changing into a better man by the second, and it’s all because of her.
“Thank you,” she sobs.
“You asked me not to, baby,” I say, soothing her as I run my fingers through her hair. “And you were right. I’m not the man I was before you came into my life. I know that now.”
I kiss her, only this is a soft kiss. A kiss filled with gratitude and something deeper that now flows through every cell in my body.
“I love you, Bella. More than anything.”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at the same time, I can. The words fall naturally from my lips—words I could never have imagined myself saying. But now I see myself telling her those same words every day for the rest of my life.
“I love you too, Viktor!” She gasps with delight, her eyes sparkling. “And thank you for what you did.”
I carry her into the bedroom and lay her down, stripping her naked beneath me. I’m aroused in an instant and slide into her, causing her mouth to fall open.
But this isn’t like before. This isn’t about lust, possession, or the desperate need that usually drives us together. This is about something else entirely.
I rut deep, kissing her lips with passion as I run my hands over her body. “You saved me,” I tell her, my lips finding the tender skin of her throat. “I was a dead man inside before I met you.”
“Viktor…”
“I built an empire on fear. I thought I had everything I needed.” My pace picks up. She’s so warm, so wet, and feels so good she’s nearly got my head spinning.
She pulls me closer, and we move in sync together. Two people, destined for each other. This isn’t fucking—this is making love. Something sacred I feel right down in my bones.
Every kiss I give her is a promise. Every touch a worship.
It’s not long before we’re coming together, her mouth opened wide in a moan that graces my ears. My body tense as I fill her with my seed.
Afterward, we lie tangled together, a blissful and sweaty mess. I pull her to the side, and she rests her head on my chest as I run my fingers through her hair. The lights from the city paint colored patterns on the ceiling.
And for the first time in my life, I feel totally at peace.
“My father really won’t be back?” she asks softly.
“No. I took care of him. He won’t bother you again.”
She nods against my chest, and her hand closes around my shoulder. “Part of me will always love him, even though he doesn’t deserve it.”
“That’s because you have a good heart, Bella.”
“And so do you,” she says, moving her hand to my chest. “I can feel it beating.”
“For you.”
She props herself up and looks down at me with those beautiful eyes that own me completely. “So what happens now?”
“Now?” I pull her back down, wrapping my arms around her. “Now everything changes.”
I kiss her deeply, tasting our future together.
It won’t be easy. Men like me never get fairytale endings. But for her, I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll be more than the monster I’ve been.
Bella didn’t just save her father’s life tonight.
She saved mine too.