Something special

Chapter 10

Ace P.O.V

Vlad, the leader of the Russian mafia of New York, had offered to help us find whoever targeted the Folliero family as soon as he found out Sofie was in danger.

When the doorbell rings, I know it's him, but I didn't tell Sofie he was coming. I figured with the stress from the past week, a surprise would be good for her.

"Dan, could you get the door?" I call, my head still nuzzled into Sofie's neck.

"Who's that?" She asks. I don't give an answer, but when Vlad laughs, Sofie freezes. "I know that laugh." She mumbles, before jumping off my lap and to the front door.

"Vlad!" She squeals, making him smile softly at her.

"How are you doing Sofie?" He asks, kissing he forehead in a fatherly manner.

"I'm great. I've been baking a lot." This is very true, and nobody in the house is complaining, because she really has a gift there.

"I'm sure. You always do that when something happens." He replies with a chuckle.

"Chto zh, k schast'yu dlya menya, u menya yest' ochen' krasivyy otvlecheniye pryamo tam." (Well, lucky for me, I have a very handsome distraction right there.) She says, making Vlad laugh. What did she say?

"I never considered you ever growing up." Sofie shrugs, then walks over to me.

"We can talk in my office." I say, shaking his hand.

"When you're done, you need to come downstairs. I made your favourite, Vlad." Sofie chirps. I give her a kiss on the lips and then leading Vlad upstairs.

"What do we know?" He asks, stepping into business mode and getting right to the point. Something I appreciate in a person.

"Not much. The person Sofie messed up wouldn't speak, and neither would the others." He seems deep in thought.

"Where are they?"

"Basement." I lead him downstairs to where they're being held.

"I need you to play along." Is all he says, before opening the door. The stench of dried blood hits our noses, and I pointed out the three men with barely recognisable faces with the amount of blood.

"I worked with your boss a few years ago." Vlad says to them, while casually looking through the knives sitting on the table. "I left him because his work was sloppy. Not good enough to work with the mafia." What is he talking about?

"You're lying." The first man spits.

"Oh, but I'm not." Vlad says coldly.

"Mr Romanov would have told us." The second one says.

"We both know that Romanov is not the name of your boss." I say coldly, making him gulp.

"Indeed, it is not." Vlad agrees, picking up a machete.

"Care to enlighten him? Or, should I just tell your boss, who has been trying to join forces with me, that you two are the reason he doesn't get what he wants." The threat is evident, and works well.

"Stephan Rossi." The first man mutters in defeat. Italian.

"Good to know." I say, motioning for two of my men to end them.

"Have you heard of him?" I ask, as soon as we're back in my office.

"No, must be one of the newer gangs in the city. The only question is why are they stupid enough to go after the mafia?"

My thoughts exactly.

Sofia P.O.V

"Hey, everyone's watching a movie downstairs." Daniel says, poking his head into my temporary room, even though I usually sleep in Ace's room after my nightmares.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." I was posting our latest dance rehearsal video on our fan page.

"So, what are we watching?" I say, sitting with Ace on the loveseat in the theatre room. Gio smirks at me before speaking.

"The conjuring." My eyes widen. While Emmy would laugh at any horror movie, I do not handle them well.

"You know, I'm starting to regret our choice." Enzo says, narrowing his eyes on us.

Halfway through the movie, and I've limbed onto Ace's lap, much to my brothers' annoyance. Hey, they're the ones who chose the movie!

When there was a jump scare, I let out a loud scream, making everyone laugh. I feel like they were watching my reaction more than they were watching the movie. I snuggle into Ace's chest, refusing to look at the screen any longer. That didn't help much, because the sounds were a lot scarier.

"Calm down, kitten. I've got you." Ace whispers in my ear, making circles on my lower back.

"Mhmm." I mumble, my eyelids closing while he rubs my back soothingly.

Ace P.O.V

I have no idea how she fell asleep during a horror movie, but she did. I know that she's been stressed for the past week, but right now, asleep, she seems at peace.

Gently picking her up, I say goodnight to everyone and head to my room, laying her down and climbing in next to her.

Sofie has nightmares unless she's with me. Half of me is glad that I'm someone she can let loose with, while my other half doesn't want her to have nightmares at all.

It isn't too late, and I'm not really sleepy, so I run my hand through Sofie's hair, smiling when she makes satisfied little sounds.

Whoever dared to hurt her will pay. In this moment, I know that I am hopelessly in love with Sofia Folliero, and will do anything to protect her.

Starting with the elimination of Stephan Rossi.