The Mafia King's Collateral
Later, as the sun climbed higher, we built a sandcastle together near the water’s edge.
Nikolai was hilariously bad at it—his towers kept collapsing—but he kept trying, tongue poking out in concentration, because “Alora would love this.” I laughed until tears streamed down my face, snapping mental pictures of the ruthless Pakhan on his knees in the sand, carefully placing seashells as decorations.
“She’d declare you the best sandcastle builder in the world,” I said, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
He caught me, pulling me down onto the sand with him in a playful tumble. We lay there tangled, breathing hard from laughter, his hand stroking my hair as the waves lapped nearby.
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