Page 98 of Cinderella and the Daddy

"Was this about revenge? For the shipment?"

His laugh turns into a cough that sprays blood across his chin. "You think this was about guns? This was just the beginning."

Ice forms in my chest. "Beginning of what?"

"Kozlov wants your woman. And maybe your life.”

“My life, huh? He wants my life so bad he sends a boy to do a man’s work?”

“The father. Kozlov wants her father. He gets the girl; he gets the father.”

Charles.

Cindy is being targeted again because of the man who pretends to be her father.

"Where is he?" I ask. “Where is Charles?”

The man's eyes glitter with malice. "Dead, for all I know. Or maybe Kozlov's saving him for something special. Maybe he wants to make sure that girl watches when he puts a bullet in the old man's head."

Rage builds in my chest like a nuclear reactor reaching critical mass. Obviously, Charles fucked over Kozlov.

Never trust a thief.

"What else?" I demand.

But the man just laughs again, a sound like breaking glass. "You want to know the best part? This was just a probe. Two men, barely armed. Next time, he's bringing an army."

I draw my Glock in one smooth motion. The suppressor makes the shot sound like a whisper. The chair rocks back slightly, then settles. The basement falls silent except for the steady drip of blood hitting concrete.

Viktor stands close, watching and waiting for my orders. "Double the perimeter guard," I tell him. "And get me everything we have on Charles Tremaine's last known whereabouts. If Kozlov thinks he can use my family to draw out rats, he's about to learn how wrong he is."

I walk across the vast expanse of my basement, passing through one door and then another. Each step brings me closer to the only thing that matters now—making sure Cindy and Leo are truly safe. Tony stands guard outside the door.

He nods once but says nothing. My hands are steady as I key in the access code, but my heart is hammering against my ribs.

The steel door slides open to reveal my world. Cindy looks up from where she's sitting with Leo, her face going soft with relief when she sees me. There's no fear in her eyes, no breakdown or hysteria. Just quiet strength and the kind of courage that made me fall in love with her in the first place.

"Hey," she says softly.

"Hey," I say back, my voice rough with emotion. My eyes sweep the room, taking inventory. Leo clings to her side. Blood stains the floor near the wall where?—

Fuck.

Grigori lies motionless under a blanket, his breathing shallow but steady. His face has the gray pallor of someone who's lost too much blood, and there are bloody towels piled beside him.

I snap my fingers at Tony. "Hospital. Now. Get him stabilized and transported immediately."

"Yes, sir." Tony's already moving, speaking rapidly into his radio as he coordinates the medical evacuation.

I hate that Leo had to see this. Hate that my son witnessed a man bleeding out. This isn't the childhood I wanted for him. This isn't the life I wanted for any of them.

But it's the life we have.

I kneel beside Grigori, checking his pulse. Weak but present. The blanket covering him is Cindy's doing. Even in crisis, she thought to keep him warm, to preserve what dignity she could while saving his life.

"The bleeding stopped about ten minutes ago," Cindy says quietly, moving closer but keeping Leo tucked against her side."I used that clotting powder he told me about. He lost a lot of blood before that, though.A lot,Luka."

Her voice is steady, but I can see the tremor in her hands now that the immediate crisis has passed. She's been holding it together for Leo's sake. My woman, my fierce, unbreakable woman.