Page 48 of Mafia Daddy

Maxim pauses. I brace myself for the gentle but firm refusal… the Pakhan who has a thousand responsibilities and probably needs the comfort of his own large bed. But to my absolute delight, the corner of his mouth twitches upward.

“One condition,” Maxim says, crouching down so we’re eye level. “I get to be the big spoon.”

A huge smile breaks across my face before I can stop it. “Deal.”

He kicks off his shoes and ducks inside the den, the blankets stretching around his broad shoulders. The space feels smaller with him in it, but in the best way…

Safe. Protected.

Maxim stretches out on his side and opens his arms. I crawl into them immediately, pressing my back against his chest. His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me flush against him. He’s so warm and solid I let out a happy little sigh.

Maxim nuzzles the top of my head, breathing me in. “You smell like popcorn and way too much sugar.”

I giggle softly. “Midnight feast. Yuri’s a good snack partner.”

We lie there in comfortable silence for a minute, the fairy lights casting gentle patterns across the blankets. I can feel the steady thump of his heartbeat against my back. It’s the most peaceful I’ve felt in weeks.

“Maxim?” I whisper.

“Hmm?”

“Will you tell me a bedtime story? To help me fall back asleep?”

I feel him smile against my hair. “A bedtime story,” he repeats, like the words amuse him. But he doesn’t refuse. His voice drops into that low, rumbling tone that always makes me melt. “Alright, malysh. An old Russian fairytale my grandmother used to tell me...”

He begins quietly, his breath warm against my ear as his hand strokes slow, soothing circles over my stomach.

“Once, in a deep forest where the trees touched the stars, there lived a clever little wolf named Katerina. He was small but quick-witted, and he had a habit of wandering into places he shouldn’t. One winter night, he came upon a great bear guarding a magical clearing filled with glowing berries that could heal any wound…”

His voice is perfect… deep, steady, slightly gruff around the edges.

Maxim tells the story with quiet drama, describing how the wolf outsmarted the bear not with strength but with kindness and clever bargains. How they eventually became unlikely friends and protected the forest together.

I listen with my eyes half-closed, Zoop tucked under my arm, Maxim’s big body curled protectively around mine. Every now and then his fingers trace gentle patterns on my side. The combination of his voice, his warmth, and the safe little den makes me feel smaller and safer than I have in years.

“…and from that night on,” Maxim finishes softly, “the wolf and the bear watched over the forest side by side. The clever and the strong. Different, but stronger together.”

I smile in the dark, my body heavy with sleep. “I like that one.”

Maxim presses a kiss to the back of my neck. “Go to sleep, Milo. I’ve got you.”

With my stuffie under my arm and the gruffest, most dangerous Daddy in the city acting as my big spoon, I drift off with a big, sleepy smile on my face.

Just like the tale of the wolf and the bear, this strange new arrangement might have a happy ending after all…

I wake up sometime later to the feeling of strong arms still wrapped around me. The fairy lights are still glowing softly, and Maxim’s breathing is deep and even against my hair.

He stayed. He actually stayed the whole night in our silly blanket fort.

My heart does a slow, happy flip. I shift carefully, turning in his arms so I can look at his face. Even asleep he looks powerful… that strong jaw, faint stubble, those silver threads at his temples catching the light.

But there’s a softness around his mouth that I don’t usually see.

I reach up and trace one finger lightly along his cheekbone, careful not to wake him. This man spanked me, made me cum so hard I saw stars, and still crawled into a blanket den with me because I asked nicely.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

There will be cartel threats and family politics and probably more rules I’ll want to test. But right now, curled up in this cozy little world with Maxim’s arm heavy around my waist and Zoop tucked between us, I feel something I haven’t felt in a very long time.