Page 70 of Mile High Daddy

Maggie grins and hooks her arm through his. “Oh, don’t act like you’re too cool for this. Leah needs a proper celebration, and you, my friend, are helping make it happen.”

Alex glances at me, his eyebrows raised in silent question.

I shrug helplessly. “I got ambushed.”

He exhales slowly, rubbing a hand down his face before giving me a small smirk. “And you just let it happen?”

I roll my eyes, but I can’t help smiling.

Maggie, oblivious to the exchange between us, claps her hands together again. “Great! Now that we’re all on board, let’s start planning.”

As she launches into ideas—most of which sound too extravagant for my taste—I try to ignore the lingering feeling in my chest.

Because for the first time in a long time, I’m allowing myself to enjoy something.

Even if a voice in the back of my mind warns me that it won’t last.

Nothing ever does.

18

MIKHAIL

The memory plays on an endless loop, a curse I can’t shake no matter how much time passes.

Gunfire.

The smell of the car tires burning. Torres slumped over in the front seat.

And then—her.

Lila.

Wide eyes. Trembling lips. That split second where she hesitated—just before she made the choice that still haunts me.

She didn’t run toward me.

She ran away.

The sharp sting of betrayal coils in my chest, as fresh as the day it happened.

I press my fingers against my ribs, feeling the dull ache of the scar she left me with. The bullet wound has healed, but the damage? That’s permanent.

She left me bleeding.

Left me vulnerable.

And I let her go.

The anger festers, deep and unrelenting, like an infection in my veins. I have never been a man who forgives easily. In my world, betrayal is met with swift, brutal consequences. Yet, months have passed, and Lila is still out there.

Hidden.

Safe.

While I spend every waking moment hunting a ghost.

I take a slow sip of whiskey, the burn of the liquor doing little to dull the edge of my thoughts. The room around me is dimly lit, the heavy curtains drawn to keep the outside world at bay. My office is filled with the scent of cigar smoke and aged wood, the fire casting long shadows across the walls.

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