The Russian Roulette [The Mafia Chronicles #2]

Chapter XIX

"My mother asked about you." Sophie spoke up, breaking the silence that filled the room around her. As expected, she received no reply. However, that wasn't because Alexi did not want to respond; he would never disrespect his wife or mother-in-law like that. He did not respond because he simply couldn't.

Alexi had a severe case of malnourishment, causing him to drop unconscious from weakness. His constant state of stress because of working nonstop for hours daily took an immense toll on his body, which was inevitable no matter how physically fit he was.

After she received the call from his underboss, Sophie's immediate response was to pace around the living room in her parents house with her hands on her face while mumbling curses directed towards anything and everything.

That includes, but not short of, Alexi's immune system.

Alexi was given a large room in a secluded section of the hospital and was treated by Maria. Sophie did not enter his room until Maria made sure all his vitals were steady. She was scared to witness something bad happening to him.

Surprisingly.

So, for the past three hours, Sophie sat by his side, not moving for food or rest. She wanted to make sure he was safe. Despite Ivan's various attempts at trying to get her to eat or rest, Sophie did not budge, and her hand remained clutched to Alexi's.

The moment he returns home, I'm putting him on house arrest. His work can burn for all I care. There are a billion jobs for him to do and only one of him. Sophie vowed to herself that she would chain him to their bed if he doesn't comply with her demands.

why do you care for him this much? Her mother asked her after she witnessed her reaction, which rendered her daughter speechless. No fitting response was generated in Sophie's mind. What did she want me to tell her? That I have no fucking clue? First, she'll scold me for swearing, then she'll check if I have a fever. Sophie decided to simply shake her head and not respond, choosing to blame her wordless response on the news she received.

"She asked me to cook one of her favorite recipes for you once you get out of this place." Sophie continued talking to Alexi, hoping that he might gain consciousness by some miracle. And by 'this place,' she meant the awful hospital room that contained Alexi's sick body.

Sophie raised her hand to gesture around the white walls of the hospital room. She never had a good history with the color white; she had more negative memories attached to it than positive ones, maybe that's why she deemed that room awful. Her wedding was covered in white; her house was covered in white, and that hospital room was covered in white.

Even so, two of those things no longer seem so terrible to her because she happened to fill them with happier memories, overpowering the bad ones. The mansion no longer symbolized the cage she was trapped in because in reality: she was not trapped, something that she realized recently. Her house and wedding held precious moments with Alexi that she cherished, like the day he told her stories of Russian history or the time he took a warped picture of her face...

On a second thought, that wasn't a pleasant memory. Now all her relatives have a warped picture of her that they could use to blackmail her. They could blackmail me to do so many things like giving away my secret brownie recipe...Sophie internally shivered thinking of that possibility.

"I don't know if you would even like it because it has lots of chocolate. Never mind that- you can try it for yourself and decide for yourself if you like it or not." Sophie almost laughed at herself. She was indulging in a one-sided conversation with an unconscious, sick man.