Page 27 of Deadly Hands

“What the actualfuckhappened!? The street is crawling with cops.” Alexei’s voice crackled through the speaker. “The entire operation’s blown. My bank manager’s bleeding out in the ER. And there are bullets in half the filing cabinets.”

Nikon leaned against the wall, keeping his office door in view. Through the frosted glass, Reuben’s silhouette remained perched on his desk.

Safe. Here. His.

“Andrey happened.” The words came out like ice chips.

A pause on the line. “Andrey? What do you mean, Andrey happened?”

“Someone in my security detail took those shots. And only one person would be stupid enough to try killing my—” Nikon caught himself, jaw clenching. “To interfere with my business.”

“Grigorii won’t like this.” Alexei’s voice lowered. “The test was supposed to be clean. No bloodshed.”

“Did the Grinch order this?” The nickname felt bitter on Nikon’s tongue. Their eldest brother hadn’t earned that moniker by being merciful.

There was another pause over the line, this one just a beat too long. “The plan was supposed to be clean—”

“I know what the planwas.” Nikon’s fingers traced the scar on his left palm, an old habit from childhood fights. “Question is, did Grigorii authorize this?”

Silence stretched between them. The kind of silence that preceded storms in their family.

“I’ll find out.”

Nikon ended the call without responding, his grip threatening to crack the phone’s case. Through the frosted glass, Reuben’s silhouette shifted, and something tight in Nikon’s chest eased.

Nikon had waited weeks for this moment. Held back every time Reuben’s lips had been inches from his, pulled away when the hunger in those green eyes matched his own. Because once he had Reuben, truly had him, there would be no letting go. Even if he should. Even if it meant war with his own blood.

Nikon pushed open his office door. Reuben still sat exactly where he’d left him, perched on the edge of his desk like he belonged there. His tie was askew, the collar wrinkled from their earlier escape. A smear of dust marked his cheek—debris from when Nikon had tackled him behind the banker’s desk as bullets shattered the glass above them.

“So,” Reuben’s voice broke the silence that had settled in the space. But something about his tone carried a forced lightness. “Is this a typical Tuesday for you? Because I have to say, the corporate world is looking pretty good right now.”

Nikon crossed the room in three strides, bracing his hands on the desk on either side of Reuben’s thighs. “You’re deflecting.”

“And you’re looming.” Reuben’s pulse jumped visibly at his throat. “Very dramatically, I might add. Have you attended workshops on intimidating posture, or is it just natural talent...”

The rest of the sentence disappeared into a sharp inhale as Nikon leaned closer, their breaths mingling. “You could havediedtoday.”

“I’m starting to think,” Reuben’s voice wavered, “that I got a bit too comfortable these past few weeks. Almost forgot the whole ‘dangerous crime boss’ is part of your resume.”

Nikon’s mind flashed back to earlier, when he’d been monitoring the surveillance feed from his car outside the bank. Through the cameras, he’d watched Reuben speaking easily with the bank manager, just as planned. Then Sergej had leaned forward from the back seat, voice tense: “Boss, we’ve got a problem. Just spotted Yuli among the perimeter team. He’s Andrey’s man, not ours.”

The realization had hit instantly–Andrey had managed to slip his own people into Nikon’s security detail. Someone would pay dearly for that oversight. Then came the glint of a rifle barrel from the construction site across the street, and time seemed to freeze in that endless heartbeat before Nikon had reached Reuben.

Returning to the present moment, Nikon caught the slight tremor in Reuben’s hands, the way his shoulders tensed with delayed shock. No more waiting. No more holding back.

The memory of that fear—raw, primitive, unlike anything he’d known before—surged through him. Without conscious thought, Nikon caught Reuben’s face between his hands, and crushed their mouths together.

The kiss wasn’t gentle. Couldn’t be, what with weeks of restraint finally snapping. Reuben made a startled sound against his mouth before melting into it, his fingers clutching Nikon’s jacket lapels.

Nikon could taste the lingering fear on Reuben’s lips, feel the aftermath of adrenaline in the way his hands trembled againstNikon’s chest. But beneath that tension was a deeper hunger—all the heat and need they’d both been denying for weeks.

“Wait,” Reuben gasped, pulling back just enough to speak.

Nikon dragged his thumb across Reuben’s bottom lip, watching his pupils dilate. “I’ve waited long enough.”

Nikon’s hands slid from Reuben’s face, tracing the line of his throat, lingering on the frantic pulse beneath his skin. Their eyes locked, a silent conversation passing between them.

A question. An answer. And then finally, a surrender.

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