All Chapters of The Mafia King's Collateral : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Liora's POVThe next three days became a strange kind of hell.Nikolai was the worst patient on earth.“Stop hovering,” he growled on the morning of day two, trying to push himself up against the pillows. His face twisted in pain the second he moved his injured shoulder.I gently pushed him back down. “The doctor said no sitting up without help. You’ll tear the stitches.”“I’ve had worse,” he muttered, but he didn’t fight me when I fluffed the pillows behind him. His jaw stayed clenched tight, pride radiating off him like heat.I brought him breakfast — soup and soft bread. He stared at the bowl like it personally offended him.“I’m not a child.”“Then stop acting like one,” I shot back, dipping the spoon and bringing it to his lips. “Eat.”For a second, I thought he might slap the spoon away. Instead, he opened his mouth, eyes burning with frustration as I fed him. Every swallow looked like defeat.The silence between us was thick. Heavy with everything we hadn’t said since the ambus

Liora's POVNikolai was healing, but something in him had changed.The bullet wound was closing, the stitches were out, yet the man who emerged from that bed was colder. More possessive. More terrified of losing control.“You don’t leave this wing without me or two guards,” he ordered on the sixth day, his voice hard as steel even while he was still propped up in bed. “No exceptions.”I nodded silently, but inside, I was suffocating.Every day he grew stronger, his grip on me tightened. No more soft kisses. No more vulnerable confessions. Only commands. Only dark, watchful eyes following my every move. The traitor in his ranks had made him paranoid, and I was paying the price.I felt like a bird in a golden cage again — except now the owner was afraid the bird might fly away and get killed.Alora noticed the tension. She became quieter, clinging to me more. That alone broke my heart.On the eighth night, while Nikolai was in a meeting downstairs with his most trusted men (or so he tho

Liora's POVThe truth always finds a way to destroy you.I felt it coming the moment Nikolai pulled me into his study the next evening. His face was serious, almost pained. The scar on his shoulder was still pink and fresh under his black shirt — a permanent reminder of how much he had sacrificed for us.“Sit down, Liora,” he said quietly.My stomach twisted. I obeyed, perching on the edge of the leather couch. My hands were already trembling.Nikolai poured himself a glass of vodka but didn’t drink it. He just stared at the amber liquid like it held answers.“I need to tell you everything,” he finally said. “No more secrets.”My heart started racing.He sat across from me, elbows on his knees, looking more vulnerable than I had ever seen him.“Your husband… Marcus,” he began. “He wasn’t just a gambler. He was working with the Rossi family.”The words hit me like a slap.“What?”“He owed them money. A lot of money. When he couldn’t pay, they told him to recruit more people into their

Liora's POVI couldn’t breathe easy anymore.Every shadow in the mansion felt like a threat. Every guard’s glance made my skin crawl. I knew one of them was a traitor, feeding information to Rossi like poison in Nikolai’s veins. And I was carrying that secret alone.Tell him.But what if it breaks him?The war inside my head never stopped.Nikolai was already on edge — planning the final strike, barking orders, barely sleeping. His shoulder was still healing, but his eyes were sharper than ever. If I told him now, he might spiral. He might kill first and ask questions later.So I stayed quiet. And I watched.I started small. Noticing who lingered too long near the study. Who disappeared during meetings. Who looked nervous when Nikolai gave orders.On the second day, I pretended to read in the sunroom while two guards stood outside. One of them — Viktor, tall with a scar across his left eyebrow — kept checking his phone when he thought no one was looking. The other, Dmitri, seemed no

Liora's POVThe night smelled like gunpowder and goodbye.I stood in the foyer watching Nikolai prepare to leave. He looked every inch the Mafia King, black tactical gear, guns strapped to his body, that cold, lethal expression on his face. But his eyes… his eyes were different when they landed on us.Alora clung to my leg, sensing something was wrong. She was still in her pink pajamas, hair messy from sleep.“Mr. Nikolai,” she whispered, reaching her little arms up. “Are you going to fight the bad men?”Nikolai crouched down slowly, wincing slightly from his healing shoulder. He pulled her into a gentle hug, careful not to squeeze too hard.“Yes, little star,” he said softly. “I’m going to make sure they never hurt you again.”Alora buried her face in his neck. “Come back soon. We need you.”My heart shattered into a thousand pieces watching them. This dangerous man who had once terrified me was now the only safety my daughter knew.Nikolai stood up and looked at me. The air between