Chapter Six

Nikolai's POV

"All clear." Jack walked back into the room, tucking away his gun after sweeping the entire mansion.

I didn’t move an inch. Sophia was still trembling beneath me, her body plastered against my chest as if she could disappear into it. "It's okay, Soph," I whispered against her ear. “Breathe.”

She hadn't said a word since the gunshots echoed in the air, and I couldn't blame her. Ever since I had dragged her out of her world and into mine, it had been one thing after the other.

I pulled back just so I could look into her eyes, and for a second, I swear I could feel my chest tighten at the sheer sight of the terror in her eyes.

"What is happening?" The words came out of her mouth like a soft cry for help.

I forced a smirk. "It's nothing your husband can’t handle, wife," I teased to lighten the mood, but I barely got a smile out of her.

I stood slowly, pulling her up with me and then pushing her gently toward Mira and Jack. "Take her up to my room. Guard her with your life."

Jack’s jaw clenched. "Moretti's men are out there. I should be with you, not babysitting the girl." Jack spat out.

If he weren't my best friend, I would have put a bullet in his leg for the tone alone.

"You mean guarding my wife?" I snarled.

He exhaled sharply, "Let me come with you, I'll have one of the others…”

"Take my wife upstairs,” I cut him off coldly. “That’s an order.”

Our eyes locked, he knew better than to challenge me right now. Jack was the only one I trusted with Sophia’s life, but if he kept this attitude up, we were about to have a problem.

I took a few steps towards Sophia, and Mira held on to her, as she was still clearly shaken.

"Hey," I said softly, tilting her chin up to get a good look at her. My thumb gently caressed her soft skin, "It's going to be okay."

Looking me dead in the eye, void of any emotions, she said, "Why won't you just let me go back home. That's the only way it's going to be okay."

"This is your home now. With me." I said, gripping her chin, "Now, go."

She held my gaze for a second longer than we had time for before Jack pulled her away. The moment they disappeared into the hidden elevator, I grabbed my gun and headed out for the front door.

The second I stepped onto the porch, I was welcomed by the despicable sight of Moretti's men in masks and guns in hand. How they had gotten my location was still a mystery to me, but I would be damned if they took Sophia away from me.

"What the fuck do you want?" I yelled.

I was surrounded by my men. One wrong move, and they had their orders to blow the brains out of those sonsofbitches.

"Moretti sends his regards." One of the lowlives said smoothly as he took a step forward, triggering all my men to raise their guns.

"Whoa! Whoa! We're just here to talk." Moretti's guy sounds too nonchalant for my liking.

"You should have thought about that before shooting up my home."

He chuckled, with an arrogant look on his face. "Come on, Nikolai, how else were we supposed to get your attention?" My father said you were soft, but I didn't realize how soft."

He wanted me to get angry, maybe reckless. I wasn’t going to let that happen. Not tonight.

Now it all made sense. He was Viktor Moretti. The first son of Valentino Moretti, and the first name on my kill list.

I could kill him right now, just like his father had my father killed with just one order. I could make the order right this second, or better still, I could do it myself.

But that would only start a war. I needed to play this the right way.

"What do you want?" My fist tightened against the grip of my gun.

"Sophia Rossi." His smile widened, "Hand her over, and we'll be out of your pretty little hair."

"That is not happening. You have thirty seconds to get the hell off my property, or you leave in body bags...Your choice."

Viktor paced slowly, two men by his side vigilantly watching my men.

The way I see it, I had the numbers and the terrain, there was no way in hell they thought any of this through.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be." Viktor said, "Stephan Rossi is one of ours, and you took his daughter. Which means, you took what belongs to the Moretti family.”

"Do I look like I give a fuck about Valentino Moretti?"

He let out a chuckle, stopping in his tracks and looking me dead in the eyes. "You know what happens when Valentino Moretti is crossed." He paused. "I would say, ask your father, but he's dead, isn't he?"

A week ago, this would have been a trigger, and I would have been punching Viktor's face into the ground for bringing my father up, but I had to stick to the plan, which meant I had to practice a whole lot of self-control, even though the thought of slamming my fist through his face was killing me.

I clenched my jaw as I took a step forward.

A cold smile spread across my face. "Sophia Rossi...I mean, Sophia Lev." The surprise on Viktor's face was more than enough to get me through the night. "That’s right. She’s my wife now. Tell Valentino she belongs to me.”

The shock washed away from Viktor’s face, and it was replaced with amusement.

“Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting. I guess congratulations are in order, Nikolai.”

I felt a cold wave in my gut, something was off.

“Get out, and don’t ever come back,” I said, my voice balanced, with no sign of weakness.

He carried on, his voice dripping with mockery, “If you want to keep that precious wife of yours safe. May I suggest being more careful about whom you trust? Some doors only open from the inside, you know?”

I could feel my blood boil. What did he mean?

He turned around to leave, with his men tailing behind him, but I had a gut feeling that this was just the beginning.

“We’ll be back,” Victor yelled out as he walked away.

Then it hit me. He knew the exact location of my private mansion. A place only a few people knew about.

They had slipped past the outer perimeter so easily.

His words echoed in my mind, “Some doors only open from the inside.”

Someone close to me had betrayed me.