DAMIR
The moment I found out who had seen my baby that day, my blood ran cold. He wasn't just some nosy visitor….he was a goddamn messenger. A pawn from the hands of someone I'd buried in threats years ago. A rival whose silence I'd bought with blood and fear. And yet… here he was again. Sending people into my estate. Near my house. Near Eli.
Near my baby.
I didn't sleep that night. I sat by the window with a glass of scotch that never went past my lips, just staring into the darkness and calculating every single step I should've taken differently. I'd built this entire empire to protect what was mine. I handled men, wars, and money without blinking. But now, the idea that someone even looked at Eli with unclean intent made my chest tighten like I was back in the goddamn army, crawling through minefields.
And I hated it. Not the fear. No…the helplessness.
So I did what I knew how to do best.
I tightened security again. Doubled the surveillance around the estate. Installed facial recognition access points. And most of all, I ensured that Eli would never, ever feel that fear.
He would only feel safe.
Even if it meant him calling me overbearing. Even if it meant him pouting in those ridiculously tight shorts he thought I didn't notice him wearing to get my attention. Even if it meant him getting close to that pretty-faced young guard, whom I had already background-checked and trained personally before assigning him anywhere near Eli.
I still had a bitter taste in my mouth from the last time. From that hospital room.
But this wasn't about pride. This was about Eli.
So I reached out to Juseon.
I didn't ask him to meet in public. I knew better. I asked him to meet me in one of the old buildings we used to do business in, the same one where we once stood back-to-back and shot our way out of betrayal. I needed that memory to hang between us like smoke something real, something powerful. Something that reminded him who the fuck I was, and why I deserved to stand beside his son.
He came. Silent at first, walking in with a stare that could freeze concrete. I didn't sit.
"Thank you for coming."
He didn't say anything.
"It was a mistake. That night…" I exhaled, "Not because of what happened. But because it hurt him. And you."
Still silence. But his jaw clenched.
"I never meant to cross a line, Juseon. But I can't apologize for loving him."
That got his attention. His eyes flicked up, hard, like bullets.
"You think this is love? What kind of man touches his best friend's son?"
"The kind that protects him like a lion. That loses sleep when he sneezes. That watches him from the corner of the room like he's sacred. The kind that would burn down cities if anyone hurt a single hair on his head."
He took a step forward. For a moment, I thought he was going to punch me. And maybe I deserved it. But instead, he stopped, looked at me, and said:
"And if he gets hurt again?"
"Then you won't have to come for me. I'll put the bullet in myself."
The silence that followed was heavier than any gun I've held. But it was honest. And it was enough.
He looked away first.
"You changed."
"I had to. He changed me."
There was a pause. Then, Juseon reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo. Eli, in kindergarten. God, his cheeks were full. He had a missing tooth and eyes that were already sharp.
"He used to call me his hero. Now he doesn't calls me at all."
"That wasn't my intention," I said quietly.
"I know. That's the fucked up part."
We stood in silence again, but this time it wasn't cold.
"I'll come around," he muttered. "From time to time. Let him see me. Let him decide."
That was more than I deserved.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me, Damir. You're the one raising him now. Just don't fuck it up."
When he left, I sat down for the first time in hours. Let my chest rise and fall. I hadn't realized how tightly I'd been holding my breath.
Eli was safe. He was mine. And now, even his father was letting go of the reins.
I was raising a prince in a castle guarded by shadows.
And I'd never let anything touch him.