AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She stirred in his arms and he bent to kiss her silky skin, cupping her small head, soft with blond fuzz, with his free hand. She smelled so good. Familiar, like he’d been unknowingly waiting for her all his life.
She stilled again, and he sank back into the chair.
The last two months had been blissfully calm. Busy, but calm. Lyon had continued recruiting, and the men were being put through their paces with firearms and martial arts training. He dreamed of a bratva for the 21st century, one where the men were empire builders instead of street thugs, where the bratva would exert power not only over their little corner of the world, but over all of it as a combined power.
Like the Syndicate.
There would still be bloodshed of course. Theirs was a savage business, and there was always violence where empires were being made, but it would be controlled, carefully chosen to grow their wealth and power.
An important piece of their evolution was elevating the men, making them feel part of something bigger, even theshestyorkason the street.
Ludis, the club Kira had given him as a belated wedding present after Musa burned down Samara, had become a hub of activity, his inner circle enjoying the VIP room in the back while the underlings preened under the honor of being there at all.
Lyon made a point of showing his face, of learning the names of the new men and looking them in the eyes, thanking them for their work, because when it came right down to it, that’s all anyone really wanted.
To be seen.
To belong.
To be part of something bigger and more important than themselves.
Vadim’s men had quickly dispersed once Alek dragged Ivan outside. He’d dumped Ivan’s body unceremoniously in the courtyard and asked any man who wanted death rather than money to come forward.
None of the men had, but Lyon had paid them handsomely anyway.
There was no honor among thieves, but a little goodwill never hurt.
That was the problem with hired guns — they weren’t family, made or found, and that meant you couldn’t trust them to have your back.
Kira moved under the blankets on the hospital bed. He raised his eyes, meeting her gaze across the dimly lit room.
She smiled and his chest swelled like a balloon.
He rose carefully to his feet and carried the baby over to the hospital bed, laying her gently in Kira’s arms and then joining her on the bed so the baby was nestled between them.
“Look what we did,” Kira said softly, kissing the baby’s head.
“She’s perfect,” Lyon said, “She gets that from you.”
Kira laughed softly.
He reached for her hand and held it over the baby’s swaddled body, then he leaned back on the pillow and turned his head to look at his wife.
“Thank you,malen'kiy sokol."
She smiled and stroked his face. “You’re welcome.”
He’d started out wanting everything and had gotten it in the most unlikely of places. Not with the bratva. Not with power and money and control, but with the two people in this room.
His wife. His daughter.
Where once the future had seemed like a shadow, nipping at his heels, it now unfurled like a banner of promise.
He tightened his arm around his family.
He could hardly believe his good fortune. It felt like another chance.
It felt like the start of something new.
