His Bratva Princess

Chapter 23

Sofia

   Vincenzo Russo, my father, and Antoni stand in front of me. My father rants on about how important the wedding is and how it's in a matter of days and it needs to be perfect. He reminds me how this union will bring together the Italian and Russian Bratva. Father then continues to say how he didn't think it would be this possible and how him and Ivan hated each other at first until my mother and Viktor's mother became best friends. As you could imagine, this brought a lot of controversy to the table in the Italian and Russian Bratva. There were questions surrounding Ivan and father as to their loyalty to their own blood and kind and their leadership status was questioned. They put those questions right back where they came from immediately and since then they've been what I would call, friends. They would deny it or course. Simply 'business partners' as my father has put it many times.
"As you know, Viktor becomes Capo today and we have to be there early as we are expected," father assertively states.
"Viktor's got this in the bag," Toni nods to himself.
"Now, son. Seeing as Ivan is handing down his title to Viktor, I only see it fitting that you become Capo too. I don't want a thing said to anyone until I'm the one to announce it. It won't be today, as today is Viktor's day of leadership," father states.
Antoni's mouth drops open and he's quick to compose himself. This is what he's been waiting for. For the leadership to be handed down to him. He wanted to be capo when Viktor became Capo and as soon as Ivan announced his retirement, he got keen.
I don't think anyone understands what they have to do in order to be deemed 'capable' of becoming the boss in the Russian mafia. I'm certainly not looking forward to it. I've never been good with violence which is fitting as I'm essentially a Bratva princess.
Essentially, Viktor will be in a small boxing like arena wherein he will have four highly trained opponents fighting him. All at the same time. For some reason, this tradition allows them to then become boss which in my opinion is utterly stupid. They're all allowed weapons of their choice expect for anything that can shoot. Knives, long spears and small blades are accepted. If he wins, which he will if he's not half dead. We are expected to celebrate with lots and lots of beverages and praises to Viktor.
"Sof, you okay?" Antoni shakes me lightly with a goofy smile on his face.
"Of course. I'm fine," I fake smile and look around to only see that my father disappeared while I was in some trance.
"I'm becoming Capo," he whispers. "I'm fucking becoming capo!" He says extremely loudly then covers his mouth and coughs. He clearly wants to contain his excitement.
I certainly wouldn't be excited over the news, however, Antoni was raised being told this was his fate. If it weren't his fate then he would be a failure. My fathers words, not mine. We never grew up with the laughs and games when it came to my father. It was all about seriousness. From the moment Antoni turned 6, he was training to be a fighter. My mum had different opinions though.
"Are we ready?" My father questions, reappearing after disappearing momentarily.
We don't say much. We just say yes and follow him to the car where Marco and 3 other men stand. Marco opens the door for me and doesn't say anything when I thank him. I don't care though, I know he's on the job.
    It takes the driver 20 long minutes to get to our destination where this whole event will be held. We arrive 15 minutes prior to everyone and are the first people allowed into the event other then Ivan and Mila. As soon as Mila sees me she runs over to me and hugs me tight.
     "Men and their stupid activities to prove a point," Mila says, clearly feeling worried for what's to come.
     "Women will some day rule all of this. Although I secretly think the wives run everything behind the scenes. That day there will be less stupidity. Speaking of stupidity.... Where's my stu- I mean, lovely fiancé?" I question as Ivan comes over.
      "Sofia, how are you? How are you finding things at the Volkov estate?" He questions.
"Good and good. Just settling in now," I fake a smile to him. If I were to ever disrespect Ivan Volkov, I would not hear the end of it.
"Is everything ready for the wedding next week?" He questions.
"Yes, sir," I nod.
Mila stands silently next to me, going back into her shell as soon as her father arrives. As I said, women aren't really allowed opinions in the bratva. Mila has always been an outspoken person, loud and highly opinionated. So obviously if your father doesn't want to accept any of your opinions, it's hurtful. Therefore, Mila keeps in her shell whenever he's near.
"Mila, let's go to our seats. It's about to start. I'll talk to you later, Sofia," Ivan nods my way.
Mila gives me a saddened look, sighs then follows behind her father. I feel for her, I really do. But, I know how it feels. Except her father is 10 times worse.
"Sofia, let's go find our seats next to the Volkovs," my father instructs.
"But, I thought I'd go see Viktor before the big event. You know? Wish him luck," I respond.
"There's no time for that. We must talk to Ivan regarding the wedding! It's next week," he exclaims.
I sigh and follow meekly behind like a little girl who just got told Santa doesn't exist. Antoni, dad and I sit down next to Ivan and Mila in the front row where we get the best view of what's about to happen.
All I can think about is, was he expecting me to see him prior? Is he scared? I wanted to see him, but my fathers command stops me as usual. I have no voice. In less than 10 minutes time, the fight will begin.
My phone beeps with a text and I release a sigh and quickly look to see.
'Where are you?' - Viktor
'Front row' - Sofia
Nikolai and Dimitri step out from where the change rooms are and walk across the arena all the way to where we sit. Ivan and father both have puzzled looks on their face when they stop in front of us and lean across the fence.
"Nikolai. Dimitri. What are you doing here?" Ivan's voice booms.
"Viktor wishes to see Sofia," Nikolai states.
Ivan looks at me expectantly, "on you go. The sooner you see him, the sooner this whole thing starts."
I swallow and nod curtly. Nikolai opens up a side gate for me and waits for me to walk through. I look back at Mila with a sympathetic smile and then proceed to walk with Nikolai and Dimitri to the change rooms.
My eyes find him straight away. He sits on the bench with nothing but a pair of gym shorts on. No head gear, no boxing gloves or any sort of protection. I know it's silly of me to expect some sort of protection to the vital organs. As soon as I enter the change room, he stands and walks over to me.
"Sofia," he breaths out a sigh of relief and brings me in his arms.
I pat his back, "don't be nervous," I say.
He scoffs and pulls back, as if I offended him. "I'm not nervous. I could put them to the ground in my sleep. I was just concerned you weren't here, you didn't come see me," he explains.
He's clearly got some confidence, but I know he's right. He has incredible strength and amazing abilities so I know he will be okay.
"My father prevented me from seeing you. Saying I had to have wedding talk with your father," I roll my eyes.
He's silent for a moment then moves his neck side to side, effectively cracking it. I can tell what I said irks him but he doesn't say anything, surprisingly.
"Boss, it's time," Lev enters the room and taps his watch.
Viktor looks down at me, grabs my face in between his hands and kisses me. I still for a moment, then slowly allow myself to relax and kiss him back.
We pull apart after a minute and he places his forehead down on my own.
"Good luck," I whisper.
"You know I don't need it," he responds and pulls back. He gives me a very slow once over, kisses my cheek then leaves my side to begin the fight of his life.
I follow behind and watch as everyone screams in excitement as he walks out. There's thousands of people here who have come to see this. Something like this hasn't happened in 30 years since Ivan became the boss.
Nikolai stands next to me and crosses his arms over his chest and takes a deep breath. The referee like guy directs Viktor to stand on the opposite side of the 4 men who he will be fighting.
     Time runs to a stop as the whistle blows and the 4 mean charge at Viktor all at once. Punches. Kicks. Stabbing. Cutting. They all try and some get a few in. However, Viktor is agile and knows how to defend himself. He punches competitor number 1 in the throat, making him fall backwards onto his back whilst holding his neck. Number 1 is technically out. Number 2 and 3 hold their knives up, attempting to stab him. Number 2 scrapes his bicep with the knife whilst Viktor brings his arms up in a defensive position. Number 2 and 3 are standing next to each other so Viktor grabs both of their heads and slams them against each other. I clench my eyes shut at the sound of cracking bones and a scream.
"Bring someone to get these two pussies," the ref says through a ear piece.
Number 4 jumps on his toes. Viktor lunges at him, however number 4 seems stronger and smarter then the other 3. Viktor and number 4 get a few punches in to each other. 4 grabs Viktor and somehow manages to drop him to the ground.
Viktor spits blood and spit at his face, swings his legs up and wraps them around the man's neck. Number 4 flails and thrashes against Viktor and eventually becomes limp. He fainted.
The ref blows his whistle and walks over to Viktor, grabs his hand and lifts it in the air. People scream in response and jump up and down. I find myself jumping and screaming too.
I look to Ivan, to see his reaction. For the first time, I see some sort of emotion. A smile. It appears for a second then disappears as soon as it came.
Viktor holds his hands up running around the arena, egging people on to scream and clap further. He then runs to me, lifts me in his arms and swings me around like a rag doll. His face is in perfect condition but the rest of his body is covered in small bruises and cuts. His leg is probably the most injured with a long and semi deep laceration from his thigh to calf.
"You did it," I exclaim, feeling happy for him.
"Did you think I wouldn't?" He asks with a cheeky smirk.
"No. I knew you could do it all along," I smile as he places me back down.
"Capo! Capo!" People begin chanting in the crowd.
"Go on. Take your legacy," I point to where the referee stands.
"Not before I do this," he says and grabs me again to kiss me. I find myself leaning into his touch and accepting his kiss a lot more willingly then I ever thought I would. Am I crazy? Definitely. I need to remind myself of everything that's happened, but I seem to keep pushing it away with every good thing he does.
He pulls away, offers me a wink then runs back over to where the referee and his father stand in the middle of the arena.