Page 42 of Mafia King

In the quiet corridor Theo reaches for his hand again and laces their fingers.

“I’ve never felt like this about anyone,” Theo says, the words soft but clear. “No one has ever made me act like this or reveal my true self.”

Nikolai looks down at him.

The tension in his face has eased and Theo feels a sense of deep pride.

Nikolai smiles—small, genuine—and leans in to press a warm kiss to his forehead. Theo closes his eyes for a second and lets himself feel it.

Internally the familiar worry rises almost at once.

Theo has lost control of the situation, and he knows it.

The job, Tracker, the money, the careful distance he has always maintained… none of it is clean anymore.

Theo is holding the hand of the man he is supposed to strip of secrets and funds, but the feeling in his chest is no longer only strategy. Far from it, in fact.

But right now, walking back toward the VIP desk with the taste of Nikolai’s salty cum still on his tongue and the soft weight of new stuffies waiting in elegant bags, Theo feels like his only bearable option is to enjoy the moment exactly as it is.

The future can wait.

For now, at least...

13

NIKOLAI

Late afternoon light fills the living room in soft gold. From the kitchen Nikolai can see Theo clearly: he sits cross-legged on the large rug, surrounded by the new purchases from the department store.

The grey rabbit and the small blue dinosaur are propped against a cushion.

An open coloring book lies in front of the boy, the forest-animal pages already half-filled with careful strokes of green and brown from the scented markers.

Theo is humming quietly under his breath, completely absorbed. Nikolai smiles and finishes preparing his espresso and then leans against the counter, cup warm in his hand.

He takes a slow sip and simply watches Theo, his Little, for a long moment. This side of being a Daddy is still new. The bedtime story and the off-key lullaby the night before had felt surprisingly natural once he began; the shopping trip this afternoon had felt equally right.

Nikolai has never built space in his life for anyone else’s softer needs. Yet watching Theo color with quiet focus, his shoulders relaxed in a way Nikolai has rarely seen, he thinks this could work.

The structure, the care, the permission to be small for a while… it fits something in him as cleanly as the darker, more demanding side of their dynamic already does.

Nikolai drains the last of the espresso. His phone vibrates once against the stone countertop. The encrypted message is from Xander…

XANDER: Deep dive complete on first pass. Only solid hit is a dishonorable discharge from the military three years ago. After that… nothing. No employment records that hold up. No lease history under his name. No credit trail worth mentioning. It’s like he stops existing the moment he left the service.

Nikolai’s jaw tightens. He sets the empty cup down with deliberate care. Theo is intelligent. Observant. He asks the right questions and notices details most people miss.

A young man with Theo’s mind and his training should have been able to walk into any number of legitimate, well-paid positions if he wanted them. Dishonorable discharge or not, there’s something amiss.

The clean absence of a normal paper trail is not normal.

Nikolai types back...

NIKOLAI: Keep digging. Make it priority. Full resources.

Xander’s reply arrives almost immediately.

XANDER: Understood. Possibility he’s undercover? Fed or local? Well, if he is, I’ll find out. You can count on me, Pakhan.