Sofia Petrov was used to a life of danger. Growing up as a part of the Bratva in Moscow had made sure of that. Though, nothing in the world could have prepared her for the sinful temptation that was Alexei Zakharov. Brooding and haunted by the demon...
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My phone pings with a message as I stepped out of the shower, a towel wrapped around my waist. My brows furrowed as I unlocked my phone. Who could be texting me right now?
There were only two words that Sofia had texted me out of the blue. Nikita and Dzhentl'menov. Something clicked in my brain as I made sense of those two words. Nikita was up to something - something really bad. But then another sinking feeling followed after that. Why would Sofia text that to me instead of talking to me face to face? Had something happened? My heart started beating unevenly at the thought of that. No. Nothing would happen. I wouldn't let it. But in order to find out what the fuck was going on, I'd have to keep a calm and focused mind. I couldn't afford to be scatterbrained when it came to Sofia. I hadn't even told her how I'd felt about her, for fuck's sake, instead choosing to drive out for hours randomly. That I loved her. Blyad.
Without wasting another second, I pulled on my clothes haphazardly. I reached to call one of my men to come with me, but at this point, I didn't trust any of them. What if they were in on this with Nikita? I couldn't alert them to the fact that I knew. Besides, I knew the location very well. The Gentlemen's Club. The same club where Mikhail's wife Luciana had been kidnapped to and where Mikhail had killed Dimitri and Andrei. History sure had a funny fucking way of repeating itself.
Scoffing internally, I wasted no time in heading towards the back of the house. Sergei, paranoid fucker that he was, had managed to create an emergency exit that started from within the house and led outside. It was the only sensible thing that he had done in his lifetime. Maybe I should have been grateful that the man that I had killed in cold blood had been the same man that had picked me off the streets and saved me. But somehow, I couldn't muster up an ounce of gratitude for him. Yes, he'd saved Sofia and I from a potentially terrible future. But what he didn't know was that his actions later on over the years had done equal amount of damage.
I finally reached the door that led to an underground passage before unlocking it with the rusted key I held in my hands. I scanned my fingerprint as I neared the second door before utter darkness blanketed me. I had spent several of my formative years learning this passage by heart after I had found the blueprint of it in one of Sergei's drawers. After Mikhail had become Pakhan, he added both of our fingerprints as well as Sofia's since his father hadn't done the same because he was a selfish bastard. I was grateful for that addition now because it meant that I could make my way out without anyone knowing.
My heart pounded in my chest as I checked my phone for the time. Exactly 20 minutes since Sofia had sent that message. This was a matter of life or death if I didn't make it in time to her. Hurrying my pace, I made a sharp left before feeling around for the latch that opened on the other side. It made a slight creaking sound due to the unuse as I grunted, pushing it with all my strength. Moonlight spilled through as the cool Russian air assaulted my nostrils. A getaway car was stationed to my right, ready and packed to the brim with essentials in case of a hasty escape. And those essentials happened to include my favorite weapon - a Molotov cocktail.
