Page 107 of Kazimir

“No promises.”

She opened the door.

Bohdan’s office looked exactly like the kind of room a beautiful, dangerous man would use to decide whether people were useful. Sleek, modern, and expensive without screaming about it. Dark wood. Glass. A low, black credenza. Art that probably cost more than Pearl’s diner. One wall held shelves with bottles, books, and a few objects I guessed were old enough to matter. Another was all window, though the glass was tinted enough that the city outside showed up softened and distant.

Behind a desk clean enough to make me nervous, sat Bohdan Kozlov.

He was bent over ledgers and a tablet, jacket off, sleeves rolled once with neat precision. His amber eyes lifted the instant we entered, and it was a real damn shame a man could look that good while appearing to calculate profit margins. Sharp features. Dark hair done just enough. Expression unreadable in the way rich men and predators both seemed to perfect.

“Maddie,” he said, all business. “Lucia.”

“Bohdan,” Lucia stepped in without waiting for permission. “Do you have a moment?”

“You know I do.” His gaze came back to me. Not rude. Just direct enough that I had to resist checking whether I’d buttoned my jeans. “Sit.”

I sat. Lucia remained standing for a moment, then chose the chair beside mine.

Bohdan folded his hands on the desk. “Lucia tells me you wish to remain in Philadelphia.”

“I do.”

“And work.”

“Yes, sir.”

He tilted his head. “I am not your school principal, Maddie.”

Heat crawled up my neck. “Right. Sorry.”

A tiny smile cut at the corner of his mouth and vanished. “Lucia?”

Lucia took the opening like she’d already arranged the whole conversation in her mind. “Maddie has a degree in restaurant management and years of service experience through Pearl’s and the motorcycle shop. She’s personable, smart, organized, and knows how to handle difficult customers without escalating every inconvenience into a blood feud. She’s a wolf after all.”

“Sounds useful,” Bohdan said lightly.

I shot Lucia a look. “Thank you for the blood-feud endorsement.”

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Bohdan’s gaze stayed on me. “Pearl’s is a diner. Obsidian is not.”

“No,” I said. “But demanding people are demanding people, whether they want pie or a private room.”

That got me a second longer of his attention.

Lucia continued, “She also grew up around Iron Valor leadership. She understands discretion, chain of command, and the importance of reading temperament before speaking.”

Now that one nearly made me sit up straighter. Not because it was flattery. Because hearing it said aloud made me realize she’d actually been watching me. Not just tolerating me at the edges of family gatherings.

Bohdan leaned back in his chair. “Maddie, tell me what you actually did day to day.”

I clasped my hands in my lap to keep from fidgeting. “At Pearl’s, a little of everything. Front counter when needed, deliveries, waiting tables, hell, even cleaning bathrooms. At the shop, I got my hands dirty. Carb rebuilds, fixing brake lines, electrical diagnostics. If it’s leaking, grinding, or refusing to start, I figured out why. Half the time it’s something simple someone else missed. I did parts intake, customer pickup, and even did some of the books when Juliet needed extra hands. I basically did whatever came up.”

“How comfortable are you with numbers?”

“Comfortable enough not to embarrass myself.”

One brow lifted.