Outside, the rain was pouring heavily. In the soft, warm light of the luxurious bathroom, Sofia stood lost in deep thought. Just a short while earlier, they had shared an intimate moment. Wrapped in her husband Rachmaninov's oversized white shirt, a lit cigarette in her hand, she drifted away in her own world.
Suddenly, a beautiful, mysterious smile curved across her lips, and she began to dance lightly and freely within the bathroom. Her movements were so graceful and mesmerizing that she completely failed to notice Rachmaninov standing right there, watching her every move. Lost in her dance, Sofia suddenly bumped straight into him!
Instantly, Rachmaninov caught her firmly in his arms, sweeping her up and lifting her off her feet. Taken by surprise, Sofia flushed with a sudden wave of shyness, her face lighting up with a soft, bashful smile. As soon as he lifted her, Rachmaninov leaned in and captured her lips in a deep, tender kiss.
Caught up in the thrilling moment, Sofia looked at him with a playful, affectionate pout and whispered:
"You dyed your hair white again? Honestly, can't you do anything without a disguise, Dmitri?
Don't try to fool me, Dmitri. I know who you are, and I know you're my husband. Stop this disguise nonsense and a dye your hair back to your original golden color.
Or I'm going to tell your older brother, Viktor Alexeyevich, the Mafia Lord."
Hearing her words, Rachmaninov let out a soft, knowing chuckle and replied:
"Golden, huh? Alright, you win."
With a confident and playful glance, Sofia answered right back:
"Exactly. Now come on."
As the rain outside slowed to a quiet drizzle, leaving a heavy, damp chill in the air, the intimate and sultry atmosphere of the luxurious bathroom finally began to shift as the two of them stepped out. A low chuckle rumbled in Dmitri's throat, breaking the silence, and catching the sound, Sofia could not help but smile back, a soft, amused expression resting on her face as they walked out into the room.
However, the moment was abruptly interrupted. Just as they crossed into the hallway, Sofia's eyes landed on a figure standing near the doorway Dmitri's close friend had arrived uninvited. The relaxed amusement vanished from Dmitri's face in a fraction of a second. His expression hardened into a dark, volatile scowl, and stepping forward, he snapped at his friend with sudden, sharp fury: "Why on earth did you come here?"
Standing a short distance away, Sofia watched the interaction unfold closely. Seeing the intense friction, the cold authority in Dmitri's voice, and the palpable tension radiating between them, a sudden realization dawned on her. She began to understand that the ties binding these men together went far deeper
and far more dangerously than any ordinary friendship or professional alliance. It was a complex web of loyalty, secrecy, and underworld power dynamics that far exceeded anything she had initially imagined, revealing a chilling layer of intimacy and control that stretched way beyond the surface.With a curious gaze, Sofia looked over at Dmitri after his sharp outburst at the uninvited guest. The unexpected presence of this man stirred a deep intrigue within her. Softly yet directly, she asked Dmitri:
"Who is he?"
In response to Sofia's question, Dmitri softened just a fraction, looking toward her as he started to answer:
"He is my..."
Before Dmitri could finish his sentence, the friend stepped forward quickly, cutting in to introduce himself:
"My name is..."
"My name is Lucien," the friend replied smoothly, his sharp eyes flicking briefly from Dmitri's hardened expression to Sofia, who was still wrapped in Rachmaninov's oversized white shirt.
Lucien offered a slight, knowing smirk, entirely unfazed by the cold hostility radiating from Dmitri. He raised a hand in a casual, half-mocking greeting, adding, "Don't look at me like that, Dmitri. I didn't come to ruin your private little reunion. But when a multi-million-dollar shipment gets intercepted right on our doorstep, someone has to be the bearer of bad news."
Hearing this, Dmitri's jaw tightened even further, a dangerous flash of warning crossing his eyes. He glanced back at Sofia, silently checking to see how much of the underworld's brutal reality she was ready to absorb, while Lucien stood his ground, waiting to see how the mafia lord would handle the sudden crisis.
The moment Lucien dropped that heavy news, the air in the room turned ice-cold. Dmitri could no longer contain his fury; with a swift, aggressive motion, he lunged forward and grabbed Lucien by the collar of his shirt. The sheer anger of a multi-million-dollar shipment being intercepted, combined with the intrusion into his private sanctuary, boiled over. In response, Lucien didn't back down either he gripped the collar of Dmitri's shirt just as fiercely, his eyes blazing with a reckless, defiant challenge. They stood chest-to-chest, a volatile storm of rage and testosterone crackling between them, ready to tear each other apart at any second.
Watching these two grown, dangerous men act like reckless kids over a piece of business, Sofia couldn't hold back anymore. She let out an exasperated sigh, pressed a hand to her forehead in utter disbelief, and muttered with a mix of annoyance and dry amusement:
"Are you two out of your minds? Seriously, grabbing each other by the collars and ready to brawl over a shipment like a couple of madmen?"
Hearing Sofia's exasperated voice, the intense, suffocating tension between the two men suddenly snapped. Dmitri instantly let go of Lucien's collar, his fierce expression softening the moment he looked at her.
Dmitri turned fully toward Sofia, stepping closer. With a tender yet possessive motion, he reached out and gently cupped her cheek with his warm hand, his thumb softly brushing against her skin. Looking directly into her eyes, he murmured reassuringly,
"Believe me, Sofia..."
Before Dmitri could finish his sentence, Lucien—who was busy straightening his rumpled shirt and brushing off his lapels—let out a dry, cynical scoff. Rolling his eyes at the sudden display of domestic tenderness right in the middle of a mafia crisis, Lucien interrupted with a sharp, mocking tone:
"Oh, spare us the romantic drama, Dmitri. Believing you won't bring back the missing container, and if we don't move right now, Viktor is going to tear both our heads off. So unless you want your lovely wife here to inherit a funeral instead of an empire, I suggest you let go of her cheek and listen to what I have to say."
Hearing Lucien's sarcastic remark, just as Dmitri was about to retort in frustration, Sofia gently pulled her face away from Dmitri's warm hand. A knowing, confident smirk played across her lips. Glancing coolly at Lucien, she fired back with a sharp, mocking edge in her voice:
"I know exactly what you're about to say, Lucien, so you can drop the act. You didn't come here to talk business at all you just came to hand out wedding invitations! So stop beating around the bush and spit it out already. Say what you have to say, nice and loud!"
Caught entirely off guard by Sofia's fearless and biting sarcasm, Lucien froze for a second. Standing right in the heart of the mafia's private domain, he certainly hadn't expected the woman to be completely unfazed and sharp enough to put him right back in his place!
A broad, wide grin spread across Lucien's face, entirely unbothered by Sofia's sharp jab. In fact, he looked thoroughly amused, leaning into the sarcastic tension with a cocky smirk.
Watching Lucien beam like an idiot after barging into his private domain with crisis news, Dmitri let out an inner groan. Narrowing his eyes, Dmitri muttered darkly to himself, "Shameless bastard. The whole empire is practically on fire, and he's standing here grinning from ear to ear."
Completely ignoring the murderous glare burning a hole through his skull from Dmitri, Lucien let out a triumphant laugh, spreading his hands wide as he dropped the final bombshell:
"Spot on, Sofia! You guessed it because it's my wedding!"Hearing Lucien announce his own wedding, the dark, suffocating tension in the room completely shattered, replaced instantly by a wave of pure mockery. Dmitri couldn't help himself. All the frustration from the ruined business shipment and the abrupt interruption vanished, replaced by a wave of arrogant amusement. Giving Lucien a slow, condescending up-and-down look, a sharp smirk touched the corner of his lips as he drawled out, loud and clear:
"Oh, is that so? Well, well, congratulations, I suppose! But let me ask you what kind of woman could possibly agree to tie herself down to a reckless bastard like you? Is she even half as stunning, fierce, and drop-dead sexy as my wife, Sofia?"
Dmitri's voice dripped with blatant possessive pride and playful ego, deliberately flaunting his wife right in front of his bewildered friend, making it crystal clear that in his eyes, no one in the entire underworld could ever compare to the woman standing beside him.As Dmitri stood there flaunting his wife's beauty with an arrogant smirk, Lucien didn't back down for even a second. Instead, a mysterious, triumphant grin spread across his face as he lifted his chin, entirely unfazed by Dmitri's jab. Puffing out his chest with absolute pride, Lucien fired back, loud and clear:
"Oh, please, save the grand speech about your Sofia, Dmitri! You've only ever laid eyes on your own wife if you ever saw my future bride, all your arrogance would vanish into thin air! Let me tell you, the woman I'm marrying isn't just breathtakingly gorgeous; she carries this dangerously alluring, mysterious aura in everything she does. Her gaze holds such a hypnotic power that it could make even the coldest, most ruthless mafia don't heart skip a beat.
Not only is she a cold-blooded, brilliant strategist, but her bold fashion sense and striking look command every room she steps into. When she walks down a hallway, the air around her thickens with this intoxicating mix of sheer danger and pure temptation. Compared to my future wife, not only does Sofia fade into the background, but honestly, every top beauty across the entire underworld wouldn't even hold a candle to her!"
Hearing Lucien boast about his bride with such exaggerated praise made Dmitri's blood boil. He felt deeply insulted he could never tolerate anyone comparing or placing another woman above his Sofia. But instantly, his cold, calculated mafia brain kicked into gear. Dmitri realized Lucien was digging his own grave without even knowing it. Setting a clever trap, Dmitri decided to lure his friend straight into his own web of words.
Maintaining a completely casual expression, Dmitri asked, "Oh really? Well, who is this almighty queen with such breathtaking beauty and infinite grace? Which don't sister or princess has completely blinded you like this?"
That was exactly the trap Dmitri had laid. Completely oblivious, puffed up with pride, Lucien walked right into it and blurted out without a second thought:
"No one else, brother... it's none other than our great Alia "
The moment the name "Aliyah" slipped past Lucien's lips, the temperature in the room plummeted to absolute zero. Right then, Sofia's sharp, authoritative voice cut him off mid-sentence, freezing the air with a stern warning:
"Aliyah? You mean the supreme bhabhi... Viktor's wife? Have you completely lost your mind, Lucien?!"
That single drop of reality shattered Lucien's bravado and intoxication into a million pieces. The words caught in his throat, and his triumphant grin froze into solid stone. He stood completely paralyzed, staring wide-eyed at Sofia like a ghost, suddenly realizing he had just signed his own death warrant out loud. The terrifying consequences of harboring or confessing a secret obsession for Alia the fearsome queen and wife of Supreme Mafia Lord Viktor Alexievichsent a chilling wave of pure ice straight down his spine. He stood there completely speechless and petrified.
And right at that moment, shattering the suffocating silence, Dmitri burst into a loud, roaring fit of laughter. He couldn't contain it anymore; his booming, mocking laughter echoed through the entire room:
"Ha-ha-ha-ha... Haaaa-ha-ha! What on earth am I hearing, brother! Did you seriously just dig your own grave with your bare hands? Do you even know who you're talking about? You've fallen for a ruthless, iron-fisted Russian Godmother the very woman whose single glance makes the most powerful dons in the underworld quake in their boots?! Look at this, Sofia! Look at what our brilliant friend here has cooked up. He's out here daydreaming about none other than Viktor bhai's queen, the terrifying Godmother Alia herself!"Panic flashed across Lucien's face, the blood completely draining from his cheeks as the imaginary barrel of Viktor's executioner gun pressed right against the back of his head. Swallowing hard, he frantically waved his hands and stammered out, trying desperately to backpedal:
"A-Arre no, no! Damn it, why would it be Aliyah?! I wasn't talking about Bhabhi Aliyah, guys, you've got it all wrong! I meant... I meant a completely different Aliyah! Just some other girl whose name happens to sound the same!"
Dmitri was practically doubled over with laughter, holding his stomach. He had no intention of letting Lucien slip out of this trap so easily. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with a wicked, mocking smirk, he chuckled and fired back:
"Oh, is that so? So it wasn't Bhabhi Alia after all! But wait a second didn't you just claim that she's breathtakingly gorgeous, a cold-blooded strategist, and so dazzling that the entire underworld fades into the background? So tell me right now: is this 'future bride' of yours literally built like our supreme Russian Godmother Alia carrying that exact same lethal, terrifying aura? Or is she just an Aliyah in name, while her actual presence is an absolute zero compared to the real queen?"Cornered completely with his back against the wall, Lucien had nowhere left to run. Between Dmitri's merciless teasing and the chilling phantom threat of Viktor's wrath hanging over his head, he was sweating bullets. Desperately flailing to save whatever dignity he had left, he stammered out, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead:
"Will you two just cut me some slack?! My life is already a living nightmare right now, so stop trying to drive the final nail into my coffin! I... I was just speaking metaphorically! Damn it, it was a mistake even trying to talk to you guys!"
Desperate to escape before he dug his grave any deeper, Lucien didn't dare stay another second. With his face burning red and muttering under his breath, he turned on his heel and practically fled the room.
The moment the door slammed shut behind him, the heavy tension snapped, and the entire room dissolved into pure amusement. Sofia couldn't hold it in anymore; she burst into a fit of bright, ringing laughter, nearly collapsing against the sofa as tears of mirth pricked the corners of her eyes.
Catching her breath through her giggles, Sofia stepped closer to Dmitri, wrapping her arms warmly around his neck to bid him a playful goodbye. Seeing her smiling face and feeling her close against him, the remaining tension melted right out of Dmitri's chest. With a soft, affectionate smirk, he pulled her tightly into his arms, leaving the room filled with the quiet, sweet warmth of their laughter.