Shattered Crown: A Dark Mafia Age Gap Romance (Kozlov Empire Book 4)

Chun Leung’s gaze is wild, flickering around the room as he sits bound to a chair in the dimly lit basement. His chest heaves with ragged breaths, eyes wide with terror. Strapped securely, he looks every bit the cornered animal he is, sweat matting his hair and darkening his shirt.

I step forward and tilt his head back gently, offering a stream of water from the bottle to moisten his parched lips.

Maxim’s men ran him through the ringer—he looks like he’s been dragged behind a train. I’m sure he expected the torture to ratchet up, which is why what I’m doing is so much more effective. I’m playing good cop. This isn’t about force—it’s about strategy.

His relief is evident as he gulps down the last of the water, the rise and fall of his chest slowly steadying. I’ve only been at this for two hours, but his will is slipping. I can feel it.

‘Just give me a name, that’s all,’ I coax gently. ‘Then this all ends.’

The name of the Black Company’s leader lurking somewhere in the shadows of Hong Kong is crucial for tearing down the syndicate that has become a relentless adversary for Maxim.

Leaning in, I make sure my eyes meet Leung’s, offering a reassuring smile—one that I know is reflected in the two-way mirror for Maxim and his crew to see. Maxim is the boss so what he says goes, but I doubt his crew was very supportive of me taking the reins on this interrogation. Still, I know what I’m capable of, and soon his men will too.

With a steady, soothing voice, I press, ‘I understand your loyalty to the Triad. It’s expected, honorable even. But let’s face it—they’ve abandoned you. You’ve been trained to endure, to protect secrets at all costs. I admire that. But at what point does personal sacrifice become senseless?”

Leung’s stoic expression doesn’t waver, but I notice the slightest flicker in his eyes—a sign of doubt, maybe? This is when the good cop turns bad.

I press on, my voice soft but insistent. “It’s your family I feel bad for.”

Leung’s eyes flash with a raw, untamed ferocity.

I continue to circle him. “Even if you stay silent … we’ll spread the word that you sang like a canary. That you caved and laid bare every secret of the Black Company.” I lean in, my words laced with threat. ‘Consider what they will do to your family then. Their retribution will be ugly, won’t it?”

Leung’s anger ripples through the room, as tangible as the tremble of his hands straining against the cuffs. He pulls against the plastic ties, his breath coming out in ragged snarls. ‘You wouldn’t dare,’ he spits, his voice rough. ‘The Triad knows loyalty.’

‘You think you’re a hero? A martyr? Let me tell you what a hero is. A hero is willing to protect his family. The people who love him. Not some nameless, faceless organization like the Black Company. To them, you’re nothing. A dime a dozen.” I pause, letting my words sink in.

I don’t actually know what family Leung has, but I’m taking a gamble that there is someone somewhere on this earth that loves him. Someone whose death he would do anything to prevent.

His face is stoic, but the slight twitch in his jaw tells me I’ve hit a nerve.

‘They’ll come after my family either way,’ Leung finally says, his voice less certain than before.

I tilt my head, crossing my arms in front of me. “If you give us what we want, we’ll keep it under wraps that you talked. You’ll go to your death honorably. Don’t make the people you love suffer for your silence. Is the code of the Triad worth more than their lives?’

He looks away, a silent war raging behind his pained expression. I can see the walls he’s built starting to crumble, brick by brick. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s there. The rise and fall of his chest becomes more pronounced, and he dips his head in surrender.

‘He goes by the name Lai King,’ he confesses, the name emerging like a dark secret unfurling into the dim light of the room. “But he’s not in Hong Kong right now.”

“Where is he?”

“He has houses all over Europe, moves around all the time, so no one but the top Black Company officials know where he is. He does have a daughter in Paris. Kind of a bohemian type, refuses to take Dad’s money or take part in the Triad, but he keeps a close watch on her.”

Interesting. Very interesting.

My head snaps up to face the mirror. I’m aware of every inch of my posture, every breath I take as my eyes meet the reflective surface. Through it, I feel Maxim’s intense gaze on me.

A small, triumphant smile forms on my lips.

I did it. I broke Leung.

MAXIM

Kira is on fucking fire. And she hasn’t spilled one drop of his blood. She doesn’t need to. She’s wearing him down, slowly but surely, using nothing but pure psychological manipulation. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.

Beside me, Roman is as fascinated as I am as we watch Kira through the one-way mirror. “Well, fuck.” He whistles. “I think he’s going to break.”

I smile.

She moves with a dancer’s grace, her figure outlined in a fitted charcoal-gray turtleneck and sleek black jeans. I was right—this is not her first interrogation. She walked into the room with her head high and a strategy firmly in place.

I glance at Roman. “What, you’re not going to give me shit for involving her in syndicate business?”

He scoffs. “The moment you married Kira, she was involved in syndicate business. If you trust her, we might as well use her as an asset.”

“Pavel doesn’t share that sentiment. Neither does Nadya.”

“Not a fucking surprise. Pavel doesn’t trust anyone outside of this room, and Nadya, well… If we’re speaking frankly, that woman needs a hobby. She’s a little too focused on you.”

“Isn’t that her job?”

Romans snorts. “It’s not her job to obsess over your marriage. Or be openly hostile to your wife.”

“I put an end to that.” My jaw ticks in annoyance. “How does Nadya treat Kira when I’m not around?”

He shrugs. “She’s not a fan, that’s clear as day. Nadya’s old-school and conservative, and Kira is anything but that.”

Action on the other side of the mirror catches our attention. Kira is leaning down, her face close to Leung’s battered and bruised one.

“Don’t make the people you love suffer for your silence,” she gently coaxes him. “Is the code of the Triad worth more than their lives?’

Leung’s expression morphs into a portrait of despair as he gives us a name. Lai King.

Holy shit. She did it. Kira fucking did it.

Roman pounds on my back in congratulations. I’m itching to burst through that door, grab Kira, and kiss her senseless. She pulled off what no one else could. Getting Leung to talk.

If he’s holed up in Europe with a reckless daughter, that’s an advantage. Family ties could be a weakness—I’m all too familiar with that fact. But it won’t deter me from exploiting it to our benefit.

Kira looks up at me through the window, and I can feel her triumphant gaze settle on me. She’s not only proven what she’s capable of, she’s also handed us the leverage we desperately need.

But all I can think about is tipping her over the table and fucking her senseless.

“Have Viktor gather up all the intel you can on Lai King and his associates. We’re shutting down the Black Company once and for all.”

“You got it,” Roman says.

Kira bounds through the door, a wide smile playing on her gorgeous face. Roman applauds at her entrance, and she offers a shy smile in return. But when her eyes lock with mine, I see something totally different. Heat. I see exactly how my girl wants to celebrate.

“Get out of the fucking room,” I bark. “We need some privacy.”

Roman gives me a salute and heads out. Kira leaps into my arms, fitting perfectly against me.

‘You did so good,’ I whisper, my lips near her ear. ‘Watching you… It was like a fucking masterclass in interrogation.’

“Does that mean you’ll give me some real responsibility now? No more bullshit society wife tasks.”

“I’ll meet you halfway. If you want a role in my organization, I’ll make it happen.” Maybe I’m still riding high from the Leung win, but the idea of her becoming part of my world feels right, like a piece falling into place.

Kira’s lips curve into a teasing smile. ‘I’m intrigued,’ she murmurs. “What’s the salary like? Benefits? Pension plan?”

“It’s whatever you want,” I say before my lips meet hers in a kiss that so easily turns into fire.

I’m not sure what I’m offering her, but I know I want her by my side, without an expiration date. Pavel would probably say I’m drunk on her pussy and making bad decisions, but I don’t think that’s it at all. For the first time in a long time, I am seeing the world clearly. I once thought love was a weakness, but now I see it’s the bravest damn thing a man can do.

Fuck. Am I in love?

I don’t have time to question that because Kira is on her feet and focused on undoing my belt. “I need you. Right here.”

Her lips lower onto mine, hot and fierce, as I yank down her pants and underwear, rubbing my palm between her legs. She’s already soaked for me, which is good because I can barely wait to get inside of her.

There’s a table nearby with a computer and monitor on it. With one swoop of my arm, everything falls to the ground in a loud crash, but I don’t give a fuck. All I care about is pounding her into oblivion.

I wind my hand around her hair and push her down face-first, one hand on her back to press her into the table. “This is your prize, lastochka. You earned my dick for being such a good girl. Is this what you want?”

Her response is a husky groan.

I lower my pants and boxer briefs and push inside her, swelling with a need so fierce I feel like I might break her. But her body welcomes me like I’ve come home. I lean over her, covering her back with my front, resting my arms on either side of her.

I want to hear her moans as they spill from her sexy mouth. I want to hear her sobs as I ruin her so I can put her back together again.

‘I need you, Maxim,’ she gasps.

‘You have me,’ I kiss her neck. ‘You’ll always have me.’

With each thrust, she claws at the table and cries out my name—the sweetest sound I can imagine. I’m riding her hard, nipping and sucking at her neck, whispering words that tumble out in ragged breaths against her skin. Confessions that I hope she can’t understand since I can barely understand them myself. I tell her how I love the way she smells. How goddamn beautiful she is. How she makes me feel whole again, even when I thought it impossible.

She lifts her head, arching her back, and straightens. With my two hands, I hold open her ass cheeks and spit on her puckered hole, lubing it up for what comes next.

Kira stills. With my thumb, I breach her entrance, feeling the ring of muscle give way as I push into her tight hole.

“It’s too much,” she says. “I’m so full.”

“Give it a minute, baby. I’m going to make you feel so good.” I give her shallow hard thrusts as I twist my thumb in her asshole and pinch her clit, knowing she needs the edge of pain to bring on her release. “Come for me. I want to feel you pulse around my cock.”

Her pussy is so damn hot and tight it’s impossible to hold out any longer.

“Maxim!” Her body tenses in pleasure, and she cries out her orgasm as I come with a deep grunt, emptying myself fully inside of her. It’s several long minutes before either of us can move, our breaths slowly returning to normal as the world comes into focus.

I drop a gentle kiss in the middle of her back, before pulling out of her and zipping myself up. Kira is still lying there, her chest pressed against the table, her ass cheeks parted, her pussy still on display for me.

“Stay like that,” I order her. I hold her open to watch my seed drip out slowly. It’s fucking filthy and the hottest thing I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing. “God, Kira, I need to taste you like that.”

“No, Maxim…” Her pleas fall on deaf ears because I’m already on my knees, licking out her dripping cunt like it’s an ice cream formulated just for my pleasure. “Oh God,” she gasps, “That’s so good.”

“Then come again for me, lastochka.”

I keep on lapping at her beautiful pussy, fucking her with my tongue while my fingers circle her clit in slow, sure motions. It’s not long before she arches into my mouth and cries as another orgasm washes over her, riding out the waves as her core clenches against my tongue.

When she’s thoroughly spent, I gather her in my arms and capture her mouth, letting her taste our combined flavors. Her lips are warm and soft. There’s a hint of vulnerability in the way she kisses me back that stirs something deep within me.

“That was the best reward ever,” she breathes.

“It was well deserved.” Although, giving her orgasms and filling her with my cum is as much of a reward for me as it is for her.

One of these days, I’m going to have to tell her I know she secretly put herself on birth control. Roman overheard Kira ask Liza to get her access to the pill. I assume she’s been on it since then, considering she hasn’t mentioned condoms.

“So, what happens now?” she asks, starting to put herself back together.

I prop on the edge of a desk and enjoy the view. “Now, we learn everything we can about Lai King and his inner circle. Once we figure out where he’s hiding, we’ll annihilate the Black Company from the face of this earth.”

“Damn, Daddy. You’re making me all hot. Do I get to come with you?” She looks at me with big hopeful eyes.

“Baby steps,” I smile and kiss her forehead. “You don’t want to give your husband a heart attack.”

A hand lands on her hips, and she gives me a saucy wink. ‘I’ll have to try and keep your heart pumping in other ways.”

And she does. I’m crazy for the way her laughter fills the room, her sassy mouth, the adorable way she blows her hair out of her face when she’s deep in thought.

“You don’t have to try, Kira,” I say, my voice laced with emotion, because I know letting her go will be the death of me. Even if it’s something that can’t be avoided. “It comes naturally to you.”