All Chapters of COLLATERAL DESIRE : Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

Ragnar didn’t arrive alone.He never did for deals like this.Two men followed a step behind him, quiet, trained, scanning everything without needing instruction. The kind of presence that made even neutral ground feel claimed the moment he entered it.The building itself looked like it had forgotten what peace was meant to feel like. Old industrial structure, reworked into something pretending to be legitimate. Clean lights over cracked history. Polished surfaces hiding damage that never really left.Waiting inside was the kind of man who didn’t bother pretending at all.He was already smiling when Ragnar stepped into the room.Not polite.Not welcoming.More like someone who had been bored for too long and finally got something interesting to poke at.“Ragnar,” he greeted, voice easy. “Always punctual. Always composed. It’s almost insulting how consistent you are.”Ragnar didn’t return the energy.He didn’t return anything.His gaze moved once across the room, took in exits, angles,

The estate had been quieter lately.Not peaceful.Just… tense in a way that never fully left the room anymore.Even the silence felt like it was waiting for something to happen.Ragnar stood at his desk long after everyone else had left the floor, documents scattered in front of him but untouched for the last few minutes. His focus wasn’t slipping, it was splitting. One part of his mind stayed on the work, the other never stayed in one place for long anymore.Always tracking.Always calculating.Always landing on the same point.Lance.The door opened without a knock.Of course it did.Ragnar didn’t turn.“I told you to knock,” he said flatly.A quiet chuckle followed.“Yeah,” Lance replied, voice light as he stepped in anyway. “And I told you I don’t listen.”Footsteps came closer.Ragnar didn’t need to look to know exactly where he was stopping.Behind him.Close.Too close.Arms slid around his waist from behind, familiar now in a way that should’ve felt normal by this point but st

The next day didn’t feel like a reset. It felt like something had already been decided long before either of them spoke. Lance walked into Ragnar’s office without hesitation. No knock, no pause, just the door opening and closing behind him like he belonged there enough not to ask permission. Ragnar looked up immediately, eyes narrowing. “What are you doing here,” he said, not really asking. A warning more than anything else. Lance didn’t stop walking. He crossed the room in a straight line, calm and steady, like he’d already rehearsed every word in his head and didn’t need to think anymore. “I want to go for the training Marcus is holding,” he said. No buildup. No softness. Just the statement dropped into the room like a weight. Everything shifted instantly. Ragnar’s expression barely changed at first, but something behind his eyes went still. Like a lock clicking into place. “…No,” he said immediately. Lance didn’t react. He didn’t even blink. “I want it,” he r

By the next few weeks, a lot of people begged for Lance to reconsider his decision, but his mind was already made up. Every day someone new tried to talk sense into him. Some used logic, some used fear, some used pity.They told him about the dangers of working with Marcus.They told him boys disappeared there.They told him the lucky ones came back cold, broken, and unrecognizable.They told him Marcus did not train people, he destroyed them and rebuilt only what he found useful.Lance listened to every warning.And still, he stayed firm.Because deep down he knew something no one else did.If he really wanted Ragnar to proudly love him, he had to make something of himself, even if it meant risking his life.Even if it meant dying for the chance.“Lance, don’t do this.”Ylva’s voice cracked in a way he had never heard before after she found out the news. She stood in front of him in the hallway, eyes searching his face like she was hoping this was some stupid joke.But Lance only loo

FIVE YEARS LATERRagnar was filling out some papers, over the years he had buried himself in work, building his name and making himself more powerful in the underground world. Not once had his mind truly left Lance. He often wondered how he was doing, if he was still alive, if he had changed… or if there was anything left of the boy who had walked into that van five years ago.He continued signing the papers, forcing focus into his work. He always told himself one of these days Lance would come back. It had been five years after all. Ylva had already graduated college and now worked beside him. On the outside Ragnar looked untouched, cold as ever.But inside, no one knew how empty he felt.As he signed another page, there was a knock at the door.“Come in,” he said.The door opened and in stepped Porto. He looked older now, broader, sharper around the edges. Even he had changed since Lance left. In truth, Lance had left some kind of mark on everyone’s lives without ever knowing it.“W