As a young girl, I had always had an unhealthy obsession with Disney. I'd watched in awe at how the prince would always save the princess and they'd live happily ever after - a common theme in most Disney movies. And somehow the villain would always lose. Hence, I grew up with the notion that everybody ended up with their happily ever after. I was wrong. So, so wrong. It took me a long time to realise that more often than not, the villains in our story were the ones closest to us - the ones we suspected the least. My father was one of them. And to think that I had escaped one prison only to end up in another one, under the guise of a mansion.
The Petrov mansion was hands down one of the most beautiful and intricately thought out homes. It had all the luxuries in the world. To an outsider, it would seem like heaven on Earth. But to me, something felt missing. The warmth that usually accompanied the idea of a home was not there. Everything felt so cold and lifeless. Someone really needed to breathe in some life into this house.
Sighing, I decided to do some exploring myself. With my hands stiffly stuck by my side, I walked past the door that Mikhail had entered through as I heard loud voices coming from inside. I rushed past it, eager to get away as far as possible from the blue eyed monster that now lived in my head rent free for some reason.
"Oh hey. You must be Luciana." A voice greeted me as I halted in my tracks.
I looked up to match the voice with a face as I was met with startling green eyes. A young woman, a little bit older than me, with dirty blonde hair stared back at me with a smile on her face.
"Uh hey. Yep, I'm Luciana." I answered as I looked around confused, regarding who this woman was.
"Oh I'm so sorry. I completely forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sofia. Mikhail's cousin." She laughed lightly as she stretched out her hand. I instantly liked her as a grin of my own formed on my face and I clasped hands with her. Her vibe seemed different - almost as if she didn't belong in a mafia family.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Sofia."
"Likewise girl. God knows how long it's been since a woman last stepped inside this house. Don't tell Mikhail but I think he has pathetic taste in women. Well, at least until now." She said as she threw a knowing look my way.
Something similar to jealousy curled in my gut at the mention of the other women that Mikhail brought home.
"Come on. I should show you around the house. Since you're going to be here for a while."
Sofia grabbed my arm before I had the chance to answer. She sure had a lot of strength for a petite 5 foot woman, I wondered as I was dragged down the hallway.
We passed by a few rooms until she finally stopped outside one. It looked the same as the others - a wooden door with something in Russian engraved onto it.
"Here's your room." She said as she pushed the door open.
My jaw hung open as I took in the view in front of my eyes. Large windows illuminated the stars in the sky as I sat on the bed which was in the centre of the room. There was a painting of a woman in a meadow hanging above the poster bed giving a very antique feel to it. I breathed in deeply as I felt myself relax. I'd think that I was one lucky bitch to get this sort of treatment even after being abducted against my wishes. I could honestly get used to this. My wide eyes stared around, taking everything in as Sofia chuckled lightly from beside me on the bed.
"Oh so you're rich rich huh?" I smirked as I turned to look at Sofia.
"I guess you could say that we do live a comfortable life. Being in the mafia and all." She said as she leaned her head back on her arms and fell onto the bed.
"We may have money but we don't have any love or warmth in this house."
Well that just confirmed my initial suspicions.
"So it's just you and Mikhail in this house?"
"Nope. It's me, Mikhail, Sergei, Dimitri and Alexei who live here. Sergei is Mikhail's father and my uncle by the way. Dimitri is Mikhail's advisor. And as I'm sure you already know, Alexei is Mikhail's second in command."
I nodded my head as I processed that little piece of information in case it ever helped me. Based on the several crime shows that I'd watched, any type of information was important, no matter how little it may be. Names, places, dates - everything mattered.
"Come on. Let's not waste time here. I want to show you something."
I got up and followed her lead as she took me down a set of stairs - different than the one we'd climbed up. It would take me a while to navigate my way around this house - it was too confusing. Sofia pushed open a set of wide doors as she led me outside. The huge garden that Alexei and I had walked across, came into view. Even though it wasn't my first time seeing the large expanse of land, I took a moment to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of it. There was a fountain in the middle of it, surrounded by lights which gave it a soft glow against the dark backdrop. This view was sure as hell a new one for me - you never got to see so much free land back home in New York.
I stood there awestruck as Sofia pulled on hand lightly as she tilted her head towards the bench in front of the fountain. I sat down beside her as she folded her hands in her lap.
"Look Luciana, I know that you must be feeling scared since this isn't your ideal situation to be in. I just want you to know that I'm here if you need anything. Ever."
I looked into her eyes as I saw a genuineness that I had never seen in a person before. I was by nature, a very distrusting person when it came to opening up to other human beings. But something about Sofia seemed right - even if I'd just met her moments ago.
"Thank you Sofia. I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
I reached out my hand towards her clasped ones as a bright smile took over her face.
"You know I'm not really used to having a lot of women over here. It feels like a good change from all the testosterone honestly."
I laughed a genuine laugh as her eyes lit up even more at my reaction.
"Something tells me that you and I are going to get along very well Luciana." She smiled as her eyes crinkled up.
"I think so too Sofia."
***
Sofia and I had spent almost two hours laughing over everything and nothing. We had reminisced over first loves and awkward first kisses, cringing and giggling like school girls. It felt refreshing to me - God knows how long it had been since I had laughed openly and gossiped with my girlfriends. Thanks to my father, I had to cut off many of my former friends and best friends since I was ashamed of him and his drunken behavior. Keeping my distance would mean less parties over coming over - something that worked in my favor over the years. This habit had continued right into university and now work. I was pretty much lonely and people were quick to write me off as a cold bitch. Nobody even bothered to try to get to know me. That's why I felt like the old Luciana again after talking with Sofia - the girl had managed to open up parts of me that I didn't even know I had kept hidden for so long.
Deciding that it was time to head back in, we both walked inside. An instant warmth passed through me as the temperatures inside and outside were a stark contrast. We had kept blankets with us but they simply weren't enough to protect us from the harsh Russian cold. Leaving Sofia to lock the doors, I walked a few steps ahead where I spotted a couple of frames sitting on top of a bookshelf. There were three pictures that lined it as I held up one and peered at the people in the picture. There were four of them - a young boy who looked no older than seven, a chubby red headed toddler with her mother and a tall man with jet black hair. The girl was in her mother's arms as the boy stood near her legs. The man had one of his arms wrapped around the woman and the other around the boy. Based on the cheesy smiles directed at the camera, I assumed that this was a family photo. From what I could make out, the boy looked very similar to a present day Mikhail. The same blue eyes stared back at me - the only difference was that he was smiling instead of the usual blank face that he had nowadays.
The girl had obviously inherited her mother's red hair while Mikhail had inherited his father's eyes and hair. They seemed like such a happy family. I wondered what had happened that tore this beautiful family of four apart. Before I could contemplate on that further, Sofia appeared beside me.
"That's Ilaria."
Without even having to ask, she had answered the question that had been burning in my mind.
"And that's Mikhail's parents I assume?"
She nodded her head as a pained look took over her face.
"She was the brightest human that I had the chance of ever meeting. A ray of sunshine in the darkness really. That's why no one really called her Ilaria - they always referred to her as sunshine."
Her eyes twinkled a bit as she recalled those buried memories.
"But then a lot of things happened. And she suddenly became the opposite. A sort of darkness loomed around her after him."
My mind got stuck on the word him. Who was he? And what had happened to her that had changed Ilaria so drastically? From the way Sofia spoke about her, I assume that she was no longer here.
I opened my mouth to ask her before I was cut off by a deep voice coming from behind me.
"Sofia."
We both whirled around in surprise as Mikhail came onto view. He was completely shirtless as sweat glistened on his body. His six packs rippled, even in the darkness, as his jaw clenched at its own accord. Ha! So I was right. He really did have a six pack. His sweatpants hung low as the elastic band of his boxers peeked through. I almost drooled at the sight of him as all the blood in my body suddenly headed to the south.
"You should go to your room."
His strong voice had me snapping out of whatever stupor I had been in as irritation flared in me. I wasn't his dog to obey his each and every command. He'd have something coming his way if he thought I was actually going to listen to him.
"I don't -
"Please." He cut me off as he looked at me. Like really looked at me. The kind of look that had me wanting to do anything, just to please him. That six letter magic word wasn't helping either. With a curt nod, I left the cousins to their discussion as I somehow managed to remember my way to the room Sofia had shown me. My room now. I shut the door softly behind me as I fell back onto the bed. My suitcase was beside me. It hadn't been here when Sofia and I had come. Oh well, someone must have brought it up. I stared up at the ceiling as so many questions swirled in my head. Why had Mikhail reacted the way he had at the mention of Ilaria? Why was she a taboo topic in this house, from what I'd learnt so far? I guess only time could provide answers to those questions.
***
Aaaaaanddd we finally find out who the "mystery" woman is. In case you haven't already figured it out, it's Mikhail's sister. Also who's here to see the bond between Luce and Sofia develop? Because I know I am heheh😌
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