Page 134 of Mountain Daddy

The offer surprises me. “You’d do that?”

“Not for you,” he says bluntly. “For them. They deserve peace.”

I can't argue with that. “And what do you want in return?”

“Nothing.” He shrugs. “Except maybe your word that you're in this for the long haul. That you won't disappear on them again.”

“I never disappeared,” I say, voice tight. “I didn't know about Chleo.”

“I know that now,” he admits. “But intentions don't matter much to a kid growing up without a father.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” I tell him. “They're my family now.”

“Then we want the same thing.” He extends his hand. “Peace.”

I look at his hand. At the man offering me a way out of this mess. A chance to give Chleo the life he deserves.

I take his hand. Grip it firmly. “Peace.”

30

NIKOLAI

The abandoned storage facility looms ahead like a concrete tomb.

Rust-eaten and forgotten.

Perfect for what we need to do today. Ivan sits beside me in the passenger seat. Fingers drumming against his knee. Nervous energy. He should be. We're about to face down the devil and ask for terms.

“You sure about this?” I ask, killing the engine.

Ivan nods. “Boris will listen. He's reasonable. For a Kozlov.”

“Reasonable” isn't a word I associate with the family that sent men to terrorize my son. My woman. My life.

But here we are.

I check the manila envelope on the backseat. Insurance. Leverage. Justice.

“Let's go,” I say.

The air inside the facility smells like dust and neglect. I scan for cameras. Exits. Ambush points.

A man emerges from the shadows. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Expensive suit that doesn't belong in this decay.

Boris Kozlov. Viktor's cousin. The reasonable one, according to Ivan. A representative for the family.

Two bodyguards flank him. Obviously armed. Prepared.

So am I. My Glock presses against my lower back. Comforting.

“Ivan,” Boris nods. “You said this was important.”

His eyes slide to me. Cold. Calculating. Untrusting. “Vetrov.”

“Kozlov.”

No handshakes. No pretense of civility. Just recognition of the blood between us.

---