The Mafia King of Philadelphia: From witness to his doted wife

Viktor paused, letting the words settle before he continued, his voice never rising, never breaking from its calm, even tone, a calm that somehow felt more dangerous than shouting ever could.

”Now, since you have infiltrated my home,” he said, ”try and stay out of this door. My wife stays in here. That is where I draw the line. Both you and your father haven’t seen what I can do yet. So don’t tempt me, Miss Capri.”

Aliya’s expression flickered. Something hot and furious rose behind her eyes, though her lips remained tightly pressed together for a moment before she found her voice again.

”It’s Miss Ivanov,” she snapped. Then, lower, sharper, ”And soon you will regret every word you just said. I will make Sienna pay. You can’t be by her side always, can you?”

She turned on her heel and walked away, her heels striking the floor hard and fast, each step carrying the sound of her anger down the hallway.

Viktor shut the door behind her. The click of the lock echoed softly through the room.

For a moment, he simply stood there, his hand still resting against the wood. Then he turned and looked at Marcus, who remained seated on the couch across the room, quiet, watchful.

Some old part of Viktor’s mind reached for the advice he once would have given pretend, get along with her, keep the peace, play the long game. He almost opened his mouth to say it to Marcus, out of habit more than anything.

But Marcus said nothing. He didn’t dare offer that advice this time. It would have been pointless anyway. If Viktor tried to play nice with Aliya again, it would not end in peace. It would end with her blood on his hands.

Viktor turned back toward the bed. Sienna was still eating, slow and unhurried, and something about her expression struck him she looked calmer now, less shaken than she had been on the staircase, when her knees had given out beneath her.

He crossed the room and sat down beside her.

”You don’t have to be afraid of her, Sienna,” he said gently. ”I will not let her harm you.”

Sienna set her spoon down against the edge of the bowl. She thought about it for a moment before answering.

”I’m not worried about Aliya,” she said. ”It’s that man. Don Konstantin. His voice kind of made my head spin.” She pushed the tray gently aside, her hands resting in her lap.

”Anyway,” she said, ”since I have nothing to do, can I go to sleep now?”

”You just finished eating,” Viktor said. ”Wait a little. You are the doctor, remember.”

”Yes,” Sienna said, a small smile tugging at her lips despite everything. ”I didn’t mean immediately. Besides,” she glanced between the two of them, ”I can’t sleep with you two watching me like a hawk.”

”Marcus is not leaving you alone,” Viktor said. His tone left no room for negotiation. ”Not right now. Not with them in the house.”

”You can read a book or something,” he added, already rising from the edge of the bed, straightening his jacket as though preparing to step back into the war waiting for him downstairs. ”Marcus stays. I will be in the study.”

Sienna’s mind moved quickly, searching for an opening. ”But you need Marcus more than I do,” she said. ”I’ll lock the door.”

She kept her voice light, casual, like the thought had only just occurred to her. In truth, it hadn’t. What she really wanted, more than sleep, more than rest, was for both of them to leave the room so she could sit down at her computer and start digging quietly, carefully into Don Konstantin.

With Marcus stationed in the corner like a silent shadow, watching her every move, that would be impossible. Viktor paused at the door, considering it.

”What if they break the door down?” Marcus asked from his chair, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

Viktor didn’t answer that directly. He simply walked back to the bed, leaned down, and pressed a kiss to Sienna’s forehead, lingering there a moment longer than necessary, as though he could protect her just by staying close a little while longer.

Then he straightened, nodded once at Marcus, and left the room. The door clicked shut behind him. Sienna sat still for a moment, staring at the space where he had been standing. Then she let out a slow breath.

It only gets worse, she thought. One trouble after another. Now she just had to figure out how to make Marcus disappear too. Marcus leaned back against the door, arms crossed, studying her for a long moment before he spoke.

”I know Viktor is worried about you,” he said slowly. ”He thinks you are some little, innocent librarian he captured and forced into this world. Someone soft. Someone who needs protecting from everything, including herself.”

He paused, and something shifted in his expression a kind of quiet respect that hadn’t been there before, back when she was just the boss’s new wife, the quiet woman who kept to herself and read too many books.

”But after I got to know who you really are,” he continued, ”the invisible shadow hacker, I respect you, Sienna. You are no ordinary girl.” He tilted his head slightly.

”I have heard more about you than Viktor has. He doesn’t want to acknowledge it. Maybe he can’t. But I know exactly what you’re capable of.” Sienna’s eyebrows rose, surprised despite herself.

”That’s why I like you,” she said, a small, genuine smile breaking through. ”At least someone acknowledges who I am. Not Viktor, who still calls me his little hacker.” She let out a short laugh, almost choking on it. ”Like I’m some kind of pet with a hobby.”

Marcus’s mouth twitched, the closest thing to a real smile she’d seen from him all day.

”Fine,” he said. ”Lock the door. Let’s get to work.”

Sienna was already moving, swinging her legs off the bed, energy returning to her the way it always did the moment there was a puzzle in front of her.

”I don’t believe in coincidence,” she said, crossing the room toward her desk. ”And this, all of this is working out too perfectly for them. There has to be something. I need to know everything about Aliya. Especially her medical records.”