TWO YEARS AGO.
It was a very cold and snowy winter night. But Viktor was very hot. The heat of the lead inside him was eating him up. He had some bullet holes over his shoulder, left arm and right leg. But he was more concerned about the dagger wound on his belly. He was bleeding, every bit of blood slowly turning to a mountain of ice on his skin.
"Mmm!" He groaned in pain as he worked the locks of a private room in an art gallery.
He got in and shut the door. Viktor leaned against the frame, his breath hitching. His hand was clamped over the tear in his expensive wool coat, dark fluid seeping through his fingers. That was obviously his blood gushing through his coat.
But in the midst of the chaos ravaging his body, he saw a woman seated on a chair painting on an erect board.
Adeline. She had headphones on to have heard the door click initially. When she turned, she saw a stranger leaning against the door.
"You …." She took the headphones off. "The door was locked."
Viktor muffled a laugh. "I'm pretty good with locks." His breathing was still jagged.
Adeline's eyes fell on the blood stains.
"You are bleeding," she said with a deep sense of care and pity. "What happened to you? I should get help."
She was about to storm out, but Viktor grabbed her hand.
"Don't!" He growled. "No…one…No one can know I'm here."
Adeline was under tension and had no idea what to do. But her first instinct was to save him.
"My…men will be here soon."
Adeline knew a few things about wounds. She rushed out and picked a few things. When she returned, he was already fading away. But she did what she could, anyway.
"You will be fine, okay? Stay with me."
Those were the last words he heard before his eyes shut. That beautiful face and the reassuring voice of Adeline marked the turning point of everything. After that moment, he knew he was going to do everything to have her, even if it meant forsaking the Mafia life.
PRESENT DAY
After the call ended, Viktor could no longer find his peace. This was not good at all. Throughout his entire life, he lived with a gun in his hands. But after he stumbled on to Adeline in that private room of the art gallery, everything began to change. He saw a different life outside the whole dangerous way of living.
He needed to build a future with her. But somehow, these guys are set to put everything in jeopardy.
"Damn it," he muttered angrily.
Then, he dialed his father's contact while still pacing.
One ring….two rings….three rings….
Then, the electronic response came.
"...your call has been directed to voicemail. Please, leave a message."
It pissed him off. But he was trying to keep himself under the radar. His dad was doing this to get him all riled up. And somehow, it was working out for him.
He was too busy burning up to have noticed when Adeline's car arrived and she got out.
Adeline walked into the house, only to be welcomed by strange fury. She had barely taken a step into the house when Viktor roared.
"Stop right there!!" He growled and turned with a gun in his hand.
At that moment, Adeline's heart jumped out of her skin. Her eyes bulged.
"Viktor?"
Viktor's hand trembled immediately and he dropped the gun. He had just aimed a gun at the same woman he needed to build a future with.
Damn it! That was a terrible first impression that he gave her right there.
"Adeline?" He shook his head in shock. "No, no, no."
He rushed to her and grabbed her shoulders calmly but firmly. His eyes scanned her body in a haste.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I thought it was someone else."
Adeline swallowed down the shock. But her legs were still shaking.
"I need to sit."
She moved away from him and went to one of the couches where she sat down.
Viktor ordered the men to get her things into her room. Then, he went to be with her while they followed his command.
"Adeline, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
Her eyes were just fixed on the gun he had dropped on the floor. In her mind, she wondered if this was what she would have to deal with every now and then.
Viktor noticed her gaze and quickly got the gun out of sight.
"What was that about?" She finally asked him.
Viktor didn't know what to say. There was no way he was going to tell her that his psychotic brother and a dangerous father were coming to the States. It made no sense in any way.
He kept mute.
"Are you just going to keep quiet?" She queried him. "You literally just tried to kill me, Viktor. You know that, right? You put my life on the line just now for reasons I can't even bring myself to explain."
Viktor's deep eyes were completely blank. Suddenly, the all mighty Mafia could not bring himself to stare down at her. He needed to calm her down and make her know everything would be alright. But doing that would be telling a lie. Nothing was going to be alright.
He sat beside her.
"Are you in some kind of trouble?" Adeline pressed on. "Who were you expecting?"
Viktor sighed and replied. "My younger brother and my father."
Adeline was shocked. She adjusted her position.
"Wait. You were going to shoot your own brother and your father."
"It's complicated. It's not like that. And I can't explain it to you now. "
Adeline was quiet for a moment. She realized the man in question as Viktor's father was the notorious Don Carlo Constantino. The thought of it made her fidgety. There was definitely nothing good about the decision that she made.
"So, they are coming."
Viktor saw the fear in her tone. He grabbed her hand gently, but firmly. Then, he said, "Adeline, you are my woman. And I will keep you safe. No one, not even Don Carlo Constantino himself, will harm you while I'm here."
That statement was reassuring. Adeline looked into his eyes and felt quite secure.
But….was he really willing to go against his own family for her sake?