Chapter 9 - The Final Ledger"Viktor, stop!" Mia shouted, stepping forward and placing her hand over his clenched fist where it pressed against Julian’s windpipe. "Not here. Not like this. Don't let him turn you back into what you were running from."
Viktor froze.
The raging storm in his silver eyes clashed violently with the quiet, grounding warmth of Mia’s touch. The red mist of fury slowly receded, replaced by the chilling, calculating clarity of a mob boss who had already won the war before the first shot was fired.
Viktor loosened his grip, letting Julian slump gasping against the marble base of the pillar.
"Take him out," Viktor commanded without looking back. Two of his elite enforcers materialized from the panicked crowd, hauling the choking syndicate boss toward the service exits without a word of resistance.
Viktor turned back to Mia, his chest heaving slightly under his vest. He looked down at her hand resting on his wrist, then up into her eyes. The terrifying predator was gone, replaced by a man who realized, with sudden, staggering clarity, that he had more to lose than just his empire.
"You saved me in the rain, Mia," Viktor said softly, ignoring the chaos swirling around them. "And you just saved me again."
May you like
"I guess we're even then," she whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"No," Viktor replied, taking her hand and pressing a slow, deliberate kiss to her knuckles. "Debts like ours never balance out. They only grow."
