Sofia.Walking in groggily. I slumped on the bed to scream into the really nice fluffy pillow letting my frustration and anger out.The one time I thought that life was actually going well for me and I get kidnapped by some hot psychopaths that claim to fucking love me. Me?I turned around to lay on my back. Staring at the ceiling of the pretty room I was in, aimlessly, remembering what Nadei said before I stomped my way to their God-forsaken room.A few minutes earlier.."You should go get ready were going to our home in a couple of hours," he murmured tiredly, yet a hint of excitement could be detected.That was not my home.The Golden retriever of this crazy family-I mean Nikolai eagerly added, "We'll get one of the maids to bring you something to wear until we get home lyubov'. It would also be good for you to take a nap. You look tired."Whose fault was that?I looked at Nial waiting for him to say something as well. Since these damn men love completing each others' sentences.Cat
Nikolai.I lost control.I couldn't believe that I hurt her.Guilt wasn't something I felt often. Especially since our line of work didn't really require showing your emotions or acting upon them.We were more than used to not feeling anything. Stuck in a limbo of violence, chaos and numbness without a guide.No light just absolute darkness and sin.And we had been lonely since I could remember it would've explained our lack of...understanding if you will.Our 'birth givers' weren't exactly the most sentimental, caring or loving parents. They trained us to be leaders since birth and trust me they surely made that happen.We weren't like other kids.I mean sure our father was The Pakhan as in the leader of the damn Bratva. He was expected to be a bit rough on us but the son of a bitch deprived us of our say in that matter and decided to fucking train us to be his little puppets and take over whenever he saw fit.Piece of shit.We didn't get to play like the other kids. and when it came
Sofia.I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and made my way to the bathroom to wash my face and freshen up. I glanced at the mirror meeting my puffy slightly red-rimmed eyes and reddened cheeks, my hair untamed and dark shopping bags under my eyes.And my neck.A light purple bruise adorning it, provoking me to wince when I skimmed my fingers on it too hard.Crying before sleeping was absolute shit and the bruising on my throat was even worse.I looked like a raccoon high on crack.After combing my hair through the rough tangled mess that it was. A loud knock resonated from the other side of the door, my eyes snapped to its direction feeling my hand grip the counter with force.I didn't want to be bothered and for sure shit didn't want to see them.The damned three."дорогой, you need to wake up now, please," Anne's soft heavily accented voice contained my attention through the door reminding me of the plans that the trio set in place.(Dear)Taking me to their home."Okay, I'll be out i
Author's POV.Peering at Sofia's sleeping figure curled up to his brother. Nial sighed out of relief and turned to Nikolai that was frowning, eyebrows furrowed and his eyes deep in thought. His lips pulled in a taut line."О чем ты думаешь, брат?" Nial inquired of his troubled brother.(What are you thinking of, brother?)Sighing defeatedly, Nikolai glanced briefly at his sibling muttering ruefully, his voice raw with sadness."Я-я сделал ей больно, но она простила меня, разве мы ее заслужили?"(I-I hurt her, yet she forgave me. Do we even deserve her?)Nial knew how much of an overthinker and how insecure Nikolai was but he didn't want to lie to him and sufficed with consoling him without truly answering his question.It wasn't manipulation when it protected his feelings and sometimes avoiding problems was better than facing them."Она простила тебя. Так что не переусердствуйте. Мы уже дважды ошиблись, и нам нужно искупить свою вину, просто набраться терпения и быть тем, чего она заслу
Sofia."My love," I peeked at him entering a room that looked new and unused. I remained silent not aknowledging him as I scanned the dark grey and white themed room.A large Alaskan bed with silk black sheets and a gazillion fluffy pillows that I immediately fell in love with. And two doors facing the bed that I assumed to be the closest and bathroom.It looked amazing and much better than what I had back home but it still lacked that homey, comfy aura and color. Bright color would've done a great job."Sofia," Nikolai sighed pulling me out of my thoughts."I'll run you a bath, the towels and everything you'll need is in there. I'll leave some clothes for you in the closet," he smiled softly finally having my eyes on him."And don't worry. We'll take you shopping for some clothes later on," Nikolai completed, his voice going down a few octaves. It sounded deeper and more domeneering.I liked the idea of having a relaxing long bath. Gods know how I haven't had one of those in forever so
Nial.Our girl was absolutely fucking gorgeous.Nadei gently laid her on the bed to admire her flushed cheeks and the way she looked clenching her thighs together while staring at us in need.Her beautiful eyes roamed over our faces and bodies favorably. She wanted us. Maybe not like we needed her to want us but we'd take what we can get from her and satisfy her if that was what she wanted. For now.I nodded at my brothers affirmatively when she bit her lip glancing with lustful eyes and we formed a circle around my babygirl's flustered self.Nik behind her moved her damp hair to the side to start kissing and sucking her neck.Nadei looked at her expectantly. My heart thundered in my chest hoping that she'd say 'yes'."Would you let us pleasure you, little one. We won't do anything that you're not comfortable with. Would you like that?"Her hooded eyes stared back stuttering an incoherent answer when Nik sucked behind her ear hard enough to make her head tilt to the side allowing him
Sofia.Nial was the one to sigh and get up, stomped his way to type in the code and unlocking the door for the new incomer.I looked over the door to see a beautiful woman maybe in her late forties, with brown hair and brown eyes showing her evident concern and anger. She had Nial's eyes was the only thing I noted.She strode into the room, her hands shaking at her sides, eyes blazing with concern and discernible anger."Γιατί διάολο δεν άκουσα από κανέναν ότι επέστρεψες; και γιατί στο διάολο δεν απαντούσες στις κλήσεις μου, νόμιζα ότι κάτι σου συνέβη-" she shouted out but soon became aware of my presence and paused to eye me with a curious yet skeptic look etched on her face. (Why the hell haven't I heard from anyone that you came back? and why the fuck didn't you answer my calls, I thought something happened to you-)"Who are you?" That was the first thing that she said to me. Her eyes were hard as steel and her mouth pursed into a thin line expressing her irritation."I-uh I'm Sofi
Nikolai."WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU ALL THINKING?!" she bellowed. Anger rolled off of her in scalding hot waves of furious intent and exsparation.We flinched for a millisecond not used to her being so loud and angry at us, more so specifically."θείτσα, we can talk like reasonable people about this, there is no need to make such commotion and where is Sofia?" Nial tried to calm down the angered woman, yet subtly asked where our girl was.(Auntie)Sighing, she stated trying to keep her overflowing emotions at bay not lash out furthermore. "She's in my office and is a bit disrupted but what the hell were you guys thinking when you fucking kidnapped her!"The screeched admission rang in my ears as she raised her voice a higher note, "You brought an innocent woman. No! a girl without her consent to our home and for what is what I want to know? Don't you know how irresponsible and endangering that is?" Oh, but we knew. We thought of every possible scenario yet our emotions made us act upon t
Author’s POV.The car was a coffin on wheels.Blood slicked the seats, thick in the air—iron-heavy and suffocating. Aurelio was slumped between Nadei and Renzo, his body unnaturally limp, his skin so pale it looked like wax. His chest barely moved, each breath a shallow, ragged fight. The bullet wounds—one in his side, the other in his chest—kept pouring, no matter how hard they pressed down.Luca was driving like a madman, tires screeching as he weaved through the streets. Nikolai was in the passenger seat, turned around, his hands pressing over one of the wounds with brutal force. It wasn’t enough."Fuck! He's losing too much!" Nadei snarled, his voice raw, desperate. His hands were drenched in Aurelio’s blood, his grip unrelenting. "Where the fuck are the doctors?"“We’re almost there,” Luca gritted out, but the panic in his voice betrayed him. He was flying through red lights, pushing the engine to its limits, but it wasn’t enough.Nothing was going to be enough.Aurelio coughed,
Author’s POV.The night smelled like death.Gunfire cracked through the air, cutting through the darkness like a jagged blade. The warehouse was an inferno of noise—bullets tearing through metal, shattering glass, bodies hitting the concrete. The scent of blood, gunpowder, and sweat clung to the air, thick enough to choke on.They had walked into a trap.Nadei knew it the second they stepped inside. The way the shadows shifted wrong, the unnatural stillness before the first shot rang out—this wasn’t just another hunt.This was an ambush.Sokolov fucked them over."Cover!" Nikolai’s voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos as he dove behind a stack of crates, returning fire.The enemy was everywhere, moving like wraiths between the rusted machinery and stacks of abandoned shipments. The dim industrial lighting cast long, distorted shadows, turning the battlefield into a hellscape of flickering shapes and shifting figures."Where the fuck are they coming from?" Renzo snarled, ducking
Nial.The warehouse smelled like blood.It clung to the concrete, soaked into the rusted metal, crept into the cracks in the walls. It was inescapable, thick and suffocating, and yet, I breathed it in without flinching. Sokolov had been here for two days. Two days since we’d dragged his broken body into this room, tied him up, and left him at the mercy of Sofia’s brothers.Two days, and he was still alive.Disappointing.I stood near the entrance, my fingers wrapped around the hilt of my knife, watching as Valentino worked. He had always been the worst of the four when it came to things like this—where Luca was calculated, Renzo was efficient, and Aurelio was ruthless, Valentino enjoyed it. There was no cold detachment in his actions, no professional distance. He liked the suffering, liked the way men broke apart under his hands.And Sokolov was breaking.The Russian was barely recognizable. His face was swollen, split open in more places than I could count, one of his eyes too damage
Nial.The house had never been this quiet before.Not since Sofia and the kids had come into our lives, filling every corner of our world with noise, warmth, and something we never knew we craved—peace. A twisted kind of peace, given our lives, but peace all the same. Now, standing in the dimly lit living room, the quiet felt suffocating. Like the silence before a storm but this time the storm was ragging inside of every single one of us.Jade was asleep upstairs, curled up in the mountain of stuffed dinousaurs Sofia kept buying him, despite his insistence that he was "too big" for them. Lorelai had dozed off hours ago, wrapped in Sofia’s arms, while she ran her fingers throughour little girl's hair, murmuring soft lullabies in Italian. I had stayed just long enough to watch the way she melted into our children, her love for them so deep it left something aching in my chest.Then I had left, unable to shake the restlessness thrumming under my skin.My brothers were scattered throughou
Nikolai.It started small.A conversation here. A passing look there.At first, I thought it was my own exhaustion playing tricks on me. The last weeks had been heavy, slow in some ways, too fast in others. Six weeks since Arsen had nearly died. Six weeks since Sofia had looked us in the eyes and told us she wouldn’t choose—because she couldn’t.And somehow, none of us had walked away. We never would.I had expected the distance between us and Arsen to stretch, for the resentment to fester even more, but that’s not what happened.Instead, it was the quiet things.The way he stepped back when tempers ran high. The way he never inserted himself where he wasn’t wanted but was always just there when it mattered.I noticed it first when Nial had come back from hunting one of Sokolov's consiglieres, stiff, a rare tension lining his shoulders. He didn’t talk about it—not to us. Not to anybody. He just went straight to the back porch, standing in the cold, watching the night sky like he did w
Sofia.The air in the room was thick with unspoken words, heavy with the weight of a decision that could change everything. The dim light barely reached the corners of the space, casting long shadows against the walls, but none were as dark as the emotions brewing between me and the men standing behind me.The men who had built a life with me. Who had fought for me. Protected me.And now, I was asking them to make room for him.For Arsen.The man they had every reason to hate. The man I had every reason to hate. But I couldn’t.Not after everything.I sat beside his bed, my fingers curled tightly around his hand, unwilling to let go. He was stable but still unconscious. The bandages covering his torso were proof of the fight he had barely survived, a reminder that I had nearly lost him before I even had the chance to face the truth.I loved him.And that truth wasn’t something I could run from anymore.Behind me, my men were silent, but I could feel their presence like a physical weig
Sofia.The weight of the room pressed down on me, thick with unspoken words and unresolved tension. Arsen’s shallow breaths and the scent of antiseptic—it all felt suffocating. But more than that, I felt the suffocation in my chest, in my heart. The space between us was growing larger by the second, and I was helpless to stop it.I could feel the heaviness of my thoughts, the constant battle inside me between the love I couldn’t deny and the anger I couldn’t quite bury. I wasn’t sure what was worse—loving him or trying to pretend I didn’t feel anything at all.But I had to face it. I loved Arsen. No matter how many times I tried to bury it, no matter how many walls I built around my heart, it was still there, pulsing, undeniable. And now, as I sat beside his hospital bed, watching him fight for his life, I couldn’t pretend any longer.The door to the room creaked open, and I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Nadei’s scent, the heavy weight of Nikolai’s presence, the quiet foo
Sofia.Every breath I took felt like a struggle, as though I couldn’t quite fill my lungs with enough air. The room felt smaller than it should have. The air thicker like a gloomy fog setting over me.I paced, walking back and forth along the hall, running my hands through my hair in frustration. The quiet had become unbearable. The silence that once felt like solace now felt like an invisible weight pushing down on me.I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for, or what I even wanted to happen. But I knew I couldn’t stay still—not after Nikolai’s words, not after everything I had seen, everything I had felt.The door to the room where Arsen lay was cracked open. I could see the dim light from the hallway spill inside, casting shadows across the floor, the walls, the bed where he lay. I had been avoiding it all night, but now, I couldn’t stay away any longer.With slow, deliberate steps, I crossed the threshold and stepped inside.Arsen still looked like he was drifting between life and dea
Sofia.The safehouse was too quiet.Even with security outside, even with the occasional sound of footsteps in the halls, the silence felt wrong.It had always been like this—a cold, calculated kind of quiet, designed for function, not comfort. The walls were thick, reinforced, soundproofed. No outside noise. No echo of the life that existed beyond these walls.I had stayed here once before. Years ago.Back then, silence had been a luxury. A moment to breathe.Now, it was suffocating.I moved through the dimly lit halls, my bare feet light against the marble. The scent of coffee lingered in the air, rich and bitter, but when I reached the kitchen, I found the pot empty. Someone had been here recently.I exhaled sharply and filled a glass of water from the sink, bringing it to my lips with slightly unsteady hands.“Drinking water instead of coffee? That’s new.”I didn’t turn at the sound of Nikolai’s voice. “You’re one to talk.”The chair scraped against the floor as he pulled it out,