Page 39 of Deadly Offer

Nikon exhaled, the sound surprisingly shaky. “I thought I feared betrayal. That’s what I told myself when I accused you of working with Dmitrii.”

The memory of that accusation still stung, a paper cut that refused to heal. “And now?”

“Now I know what I truly fear.” Nikon’s hand moved to cup Reuben’s cheek, his thumb ghosting over the spot where the gun barrel had pressed against Reuben’s head. “Losing you. Not to betrayal, but to death. All because I hesitated when I should have acted.”

Reuben absorbed the words, feeling them sink into his bones. For months, he’d interpreted Nikon’s possessiveness as control, his protection as dominance. He’d never considered that behind the iron exterior might lurk terror, raw and human.

“That’s why you keep me so close.” Understanding dawned slowly, each piece falling into place: the security teams that shadowed him, the checks on his whereabouts, Nikon’s reluctance to involve him in operations.

Nikon stepped back, creating a small distance between them. His expression shuttered, vulnerability retreating behind familiar walls. “Anyone who wanted to destroy me would only need to target you.” His voice dropped low. “And the thought of someone using you to get to me—of you being hurt because of me—that terrifies me more than anything in my life.”

Nikon’s confession left Reuben momentarily speechless, his mind reeling. In all their time together, through bullets and betrayals and blood, he’d never heard Nikon admit to fear.

“I’m not goinganywhere.” Reuben reached out, catching Nikon by the sleeve before he could retreat further. He tugged him closer, refusing to let distance grow between them. “When will you understand? This works both ways—I want to keep you safe, too.”

Nikon’s lips curved in the ghost of a smile. “I know. You proved that yesterday.”

“Then trust it.” Reuben tugged gently on Nikon’s wrist, pulling him back into the space between his legs. The marble counter was cold against his thighs, but Nikon’s body radiated heat as he stepped closer—all solid muscle and barely restrainedpower beneath his rumpled shirt. Reuben could feel the warmth emanating from him, chasing away the chill of the counter. “Trust me.”

“I do.” Nikon’s hands slid up to frame Reuben’s face, his touch feather-light, as if Reuben might shatter under the weight of his calloused fingertips. “That’s what terrifies me.”

Before Reuben could respond, Nikon’s phone vibrated in his pocket. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face as he pulled it out, eyes scanning the screen.

“Alexei?” Reuben guessed, noting the slight relaxation in Nikon’s posture. The message wasn’t an emergency, then.

Nikon nodded. “Dmitrii’s making inquiries about Andrey through one of our informants.”

Something shifted in Nikon’s expression. It was a calculating coldness that Reuben hadn’t seen before. Not anger, not vengeance, but something more deliberate, like a surgeon contemplating an incision.

“And that’s... useful?” Reuben ventured, studying the subtle changes in Nikon’s body language.

“Very.” Nikon slipped the phone back into his pocket, but the coldness in his eyes remained. “Let Dmitrii think Andrey’s still his man. The longer he believes it, the more he’ll get comfortable. Comfortable men slip up. And we will be waiting when he does.”

The casual “we” didn’t escape Reuben’s notice. While Nikon had allowed him to help with strategy before, this felt different. This was Nikon letting him into the most personal battlefield, the one where his brother had become the enemy.

“Almost forgot.” Nikon’s tone shifted, the tactical coldness warming slightly like metal beginning to soften under heat. The lines around his eyes eased. “Alexei’s been hounding me to let you look at our clean books. He mentioned he could use your brain on some of our more above-board finances.”

Reuben straightened, interest piqued despite the late hour. “What kind of help?”

“He’s been managing an investment vehicle, mostly for laundering, honestly... but he thinks your background could turn it into something more.” Nikon’s expression softened with something like pride. “He can’t stop talking about how you spotted those patterns in Andrey’s money moves.”

Reuben absorbed this, turning the idea over in his mind. All those years at business school, his finance degree, the career his father had destroyed—they could finally serve a purpose. Not just dealing cards or laundering money, but building something legitimate within the Matvei empire.

“So you’re okay with this?” Reuben studied Nikon’s face. “Me and Alexei working together, me getting my hands on all those financial records?” He left the real question unspoken, but his eyes said it anyway:After everything, you’re finally ready to see me as an equal?

Nikon was silent for a long moment, his eyes never leaving Reuben’s face. When he finally spoke, his voice was firm. “I need to be.”

Four simple words, but they contained multitudes. Not just permission, but acknowledgment. Not just trust, but respect.

Reuben felt something shift between them as he looked at Nikon. “I love you,” he said, the three words hitting differently now that they’d torn down the last walls between them.

Nikon froze, his breath catching. He seemed to hear the difference too—this wasn’t just their usual exchange. Reuben wasn’t just Nikon’s kept lover anymore, nor his protected asset. For a second, Reuben thought he’d misread everything. Then Nikon yanked him off the counter and pulled him to his chest.

“Say that again,” Nikon growled, his fingers digging into Reuben’s hips.

Heat pooled in Reubens stomach as he looked up. “I love you.”

Nikon’s eyes darkened, the last of his armor cracking away. “I love you too,” he said, raw and real in a way he’d never been before. “God help me, I love you.”

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