My Russian Billionaire Boss 🔐| Part 20: The Weight of What I Must Do (Patreon)

All characters depicted in this story are fictional and 18 years of age or older. Everything portrayed is safe, sane, and consensual.

I sat alone in Viktor’s study with the lights dimmed low and the city glowing far below the glass walls. It was almost noon but the room felt like midnight. The laptop screen was the only real light in the space. My fingers moved quickly across the keys as I dug through the old Volkov archive again. The same files Irina was using against us. I was looking for anything that could lead me to Alexei Orlov in St Petersburg. Old employee records. Archived emails. Anything that might still have a current trace on him.

I told myself I was doing this to protect Viktor. That was the truth. But another truth sat heavy in my chest. If I found Alexei and brought him back into Viktor’s life, Viktor might look at him the way he once had. He might remember the love they shared and decide that was the life he wanted after all. I could lose him. The thought made my stomach twist but I kept searching the archive. I would rather lose him knowing I had tried to save everything he built than watch him lose it all while I did nothing.

The archive gave me fragments. An old company directory from twelve years ago listed Alexei as a junior developer under his father. A few emails between him and Viktor still existed in the deleted items folder. I opened one. The subject line read “Our code”. The body was short but the words felt intimate even now.

“This is ours. No one else understands it the way we do. When we leave Russia we take it with us. Volkov and Orlov. That is the name we will build.”

I stared at the screen until the words blurred. My chest ached. Viktor had loved him. Really loved him. I saved the email to a private folder and kept searching. I found an old travel record from the company jet. Alexei had flown to Moscow three times in the months before Viktor left Russia. Nothing recent. Nothing that told me where he was now. I leaned back in the chair and rubbed my face with both hands. My eyes burned from staring at the screen too long.

I needed more. I opened a secure browser and started running quiet searches through old Russian business registries and archived social traces. It was slow work and every minute that passed felt like another minute closer to Viktor losing everything. I kept going because stopping was not an option.

By early afternoon, I had to leave for the office. Viktor had already gone in hours earlier. The penthouse felt too quiet without him. I showered quickly, pulled on a dark shirt and tailored trousers, and headed downstairs. The car ride was silent. My mind stayed on Alexei and the emails and the fear that I was doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

The office was colder than usual when I arrived. People spoke in low voices. Eyes followed me as I walked toward Viktor’s corner office. I could feel the tension in the air before I even reached his door.

Ryan Hale stood near the glass-walled conference room talking to two junior analysts. Ginger hair, clean suit, that permanent half-smirk that made him look like he already knew how the story ended. He had been Irina’s shadow back when she worked here at Volkov Security. Now he sat on the board’s advisory committee and everyone knew he spoke for her interests.

Viktor stepped out of his office just as Ryan turned. Their eyes met across the open floor. The entire wing seemed to go quiet.

“Viktor,” Ryan said, voice smooth and loud enough for half the floor to hear. “A few board members have raised concerns about certain old liabilities.”

Viktor’s jaw tightened. I saw the shift in him instantly. This was not the controlled anger from Seattle. In Seattle he would have crushed Ryan with cold precision and walked away without a second glance. Now there was heat under the surface. Real fear mixed with fury.

“You and Irina used to sneak behind my back even when she was still sitting in this building,” Viktor said. His voice was low but it carried. “I should have fired both of you years ago.”

Ryan’s smirk widened. He did not step back. “Careful. You are the one the board is discussing. You might want to watch your tone.”

Viktor moved fast. He grabbed the front of Ryan’s shirt and pushed him hard against the glass door. The whole floor turned to watch. I was already moving.

“Viktor,” I said, voice steady even though my heart was racing. I stepped between them and placed my hand on his arm. “Everyone is watching, boss. Please.”

His eyes flicked to mine. For a second the fury stayed. Then something in his face cracked. He let go of Ryan’s shirt but stayed close, breathing hard. Ryan straightened his jacket slowly, still smirking like he had already won.

“You will be the one walking out without a title, Viktor,” Ryan said. “Enjoy your time in that corner office. Might not last you long though.”

He walked away. The floor remained silent for a long moment before people slowly returned to their desks. I kept my hand on Viktor’s arm until the tension in his muscles eased just enough.

“Come on,” I said quietly. “Let’s go inside.”

We stepped into his office and I closed the door behind us. Viktor stood at the window with his back to me, shoulders rigid. I crossed the room and stopped behind him, close enough that he could feel my presence.

“He is not worth it,” I said.

Viktor did not turn around. “He is right though. The board has been getting suspicious. Ryan and Irina have already started planting doubts. They are going to strip everything from me.”

I placed my hand on his back, between his shoulder blades. “Then we fight it. Together.”

He turned then. His eyes met mine and I saw the shift again. The Viktor from Seattle would have fucked me against this window to remind himself he still had power. This Viktor looked at me like he needed something he did not know how to name. His hand came up to touch my face, thumb brushing my cheek.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you too,” he said quietly.

The words hit me harder than anything Ryan had said. I leaned into his touch and did not answer with words. I just stayed there with him until the shaking in his hand stopped.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of quiet tension. Viktor stayed in his office with the door closed. I sat at my desk outside and tried to focus on work but my mind kept drifting back to the study and Alexei who I still needed to find.

By the time we returned to the penthouse the sun had already set. Viktor poured himself a drink the moment we walked in. He did not offer me one. He just stood at the window again, staring out at the lights, glass in hand.

I walked up behind him and slid my arms around his waist. He did not pull away. Instead he leaned back into me, just slightly, like he was letting himself take the comfort for once.

“Talk to me,” I said against his shoulder.

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he set the glass down and turned in my arms. His hands came up to frame my face.

The kiss he gave me was nothing like Seattle. In Seattle it would have been hard and claiming. This kiss was slower, deeper, almost searching. Like he was trying to memorize the shape of my mouth in case everything else fell apart.

When he pulled back his voice was rough. “I need you tonight.”

I nodded. No words needed. I took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

The sex was angry and desperate but it was not the same anger from Seattle. Back then Viktor had fucked me like he was proving a point to himself. Tonight he fucked me like he was trying to hold on to something real while the rest of his world burned. He took me against the window again, hands gripping my hips hard enough to leave marks, his mouth on my neck and shoulder like he could not get close enough. Every thrust carried the weight of his fear and his need. I let him take what he wanted. I met every movement with my own, whispering his name when he buried his face against my throat.

Afterward we stayed there for a long time, still joined, breathing hard against the glass. Viktor did not pull out right away. He stayed inside me, arms wrapped tight around my waist, forehead pressed to the back of my neck. I could feel his heart hammering against my back.

“I am scared, Kai,” he whispered. The words were so quiet I almost missed them. “I have never been scared like this before.”

I reached back and touched his face. “I am here. I am not going anywhere.”

He finally slipped his cock out of me and turned me around so we were facing each other. The kiss that followed was slower, gentler. His hands moved over my body like he was reassuring himself I was still real. We eventually made it to the bed and he pulled me against his chest. I listened to his heartbeat until it slowed. He fell asleep first. I stayed awake a little longer, watching the city lights through the window and thinking about the search I still had to finish.

When I was sure he was deeply asleep I slipped out of bed, pulled on a pair of his sweatpants and one of his shirts, and padded barefoot to the study. The laptop was still open from earlier. I sat down and kept going.

Hours passed. I ran new searches, contacted an old contact in Moscow through encrypted channels, and cross-referenced every old travel record I could find. My eyes burned. My shoulders ached. I kept going because stopping meant admitting I might fail him.

Around three in the morning the ping finally came.

A clean hit. Alexei Orlov had landed in Sicily two years ago. Private villa registered under a shell company. Recent travel logs. Even a quiet social media post from a private account showing the Mediterranean coast at sunset. The location was confirmed.

I stared at the screen. My heart dropped so fast it felt like the floor had disappeared beneath me.

Sicily.

I had found him. The man Viktor once loved. The man who could save Viktor’s empire. The man who might take Viktor away from me.

My hands started to shake. I closed the laptop slowly and sat there in the dark with the weight of what I had done pressing down on my chest. I had wanted to protect Viktor. I had told myself I could handle whatever came next. But now that the reality was in front of me I felt the fear crash over me like a wave.

What if Alexei still loved him?

What if Viktor looked at him and remembered everything they had shared?

What if I had just handed Viktor the choice I was terrified he would make?

I sat there for a long time, staring at the dark screen, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. The man I loved was asleep in the next room. The man he once loved was in Sicily. And I was the one who was going to connect them again.

I didn’t know if I had just saved Viktor or destroyed us both.

But I knew one thing for certain.

I was not turning back now.

I closed my eyes, took a slow breath, and whispered into the quiet room.

“I love you, Viktor. Whatever happens next, I love you and I’m going to make sure you don’t lose your empire.”

The words hung in the air between me and the dark screen. I did not know if they were enough. I only knew they were true.

────────────────My Russian Billionaire Boss 🔐| Part 21: The Messages I Keep Sending Upcoming Episodes

Part 21 • The Messages We Send in the Dark🗓️ 12th June

Part 22 • Before the Doors Opened🗓️ 17th June

Part 23 • Title Withheld 👀🗓️ 21st June

Part 24 • Title Withheld 👀🗓️ 25th June

Part 25 • Under Sicilian Stars🗓️ 1st July

Part 26 • The Reckoning🗓️ 6th July

Part 27 • From Assistant to Everything (Finale)🗓️ 10th July

Epilogue • Three Months Later🗓️ 12th July