3rd Person POV
* Two days earlier*
~Sunday~
The once warm air become cold in seconds as the plane door opens, revealing the cold view of Italiya. The Volkov's step off of the plane and enter one of the black SUV's on the private airstrip.
"Na shag blizhe, brat. Na shag blizhe." [One step closer, brother. One step closer.] Vladimir says to Viktor as the car pulls away.
The two brothers look at each other and evil grins form on their faces.
One.
Step.
Closer.
*
They reach their safe house peacefully, their journey not having so much as a single issue, to Viktor's delight.
He doesn't want anything to stop his from getting his tsvetok back. The whole trip, all Viktor has been able to think about is punishing Sandra.
Punish her for leaving.
Punish her for running.
Punish her for being gone so long.
Punish her for not stopping Vladimir, even though that was Viktor's idea, he didn't want to do that.
He just need her to talk, and she was being stubborn. Viktor though that if he put Cassie through enough trauma, she would confess to where her hide out was, but he thought wrong.
Cassie was a tough woman, even if her slim frame made her seem otherwise.
"Boss." One of his men says, pulling him away from fantasy land.
They get out of the car and go into the house.
Viktor wastes no time in going to his office where he begins to construct his plan. Cassie will be his again, even if he has to kill his own brother to get her.
This thought gives him an idea, and he takes out his phone, dialling a number and letting it ring. After the second ring, the person on the other end answers.
"Da, nachal'nik?" [Yes, boss?] the person answers.
"Prikhodi ko mne v ofis nemedlenno." [Come to my office immediately.] Viktor says, not waiting for a reply as he hangs up and calls another number.
"Carlo parlando." [Carlo speaking.]
"Mr Santini. How are you?" Viktor asks, a mischievous smile on his face.
"Mr Volkov. I'm fine. What has you calling me today?" Carlo asks bluntly.
"Straight to the point I see." Viktor chuckles.
"I like it. Anyways, I was just calling to propose a truce between our mafii. This feud going on seems pointless, don't you agree?" [mafias]
After a moment of silence, Carlo speaks.
"Okay. I'm free on Tuesday if you'd like to meet in person. That gives you 2 days to get here." Carlo proposes.
"I'd love to, except I'll be busy with meetings. I can send a rep if that's alright?" Viktor says just as his visitor arrives.
"That's fine. I'll look forward to seeing them on Tuseday. Addio, Mr Volkov." [Bye.]
"Do svidaniya, Mr Santini." [Bye.]
"Prisazhivaysya." [Have a seat.] Viktor instructs the man.
"Ty zval menya?" [You called me?] he asks after getting himself seated.
"Da. YA posylayu vas v osobnyak Santini vo vtornik, chtoby zaklyuchit' «peremiriye»." [Yes. I'm sending you to the Santini's mansion on Tuesday to call a 'truce'.]
The truth is, Viktor is hoping that Cassie will be at the mansion and see the man before him. If Cole or Carlo cares about her, they'll lock him up in a cell and torture him slowly, then they'll kill him.
If Viktor doesn't here from him by Wednesday, he'll know what he's up against. If the man comes back, then at least he won't have to go there himself and do a security check.
"Zapomnite maket. Vy budete nashim istochnikom s tochki zreniya bezopasnosti. Ponyal?" [Memorise the layout. You will be our source in terms of security. Understood?]
"Da nachal'nik." [Yes boss.]
The men both stand up and shake hands.
"Good luck Adrik."
- End of flashback -
"Cole. A word?" Carlo asks, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.
Cole nods his head and walks over to Cassie and Santiago.
"While I'm gone, can you do one thing for me?" Cole askes Cassie, tilting her head back and admiring her angelic features.
"And what would that be?" she asks back, basking in Cole's warm hand resting on the side of her neck.
"Eat." he responds simply.
Before Cassie can even respond, her brother shouts from behind her.
"You haven't eaten?!"
"T, I've been a little-"
"Nope. Come on." he interrupts her, pulling her by her hand and away from Cole's embrace.
They go to the fridge and Tiago searches for food.
"C'mon Cass, you've been doing so well." he sighs, pulling out the necessary fruit, vegetables, and meat.
"I know, I know." Cassie replies, her tone sounding defeated as she get scolded by her big brother.
"Santiago, right?" Cole interrupts their conversation with a stern expression on his face.
"Yep. Why?" Santiago responds, raising an eyebrow.
"What did you mean by that?" Cole asks.
"Cole, it's noth-" Cassie begins, but in cut off by her hermano.
"She has an eating disorder. She was doing so well with eating." Tiago explain to Cole, side-eyeing Cassie.
She lowers her head and plays with her hands after she hears the disappointment in her brother's voice. Cole moves to stand in front of her, but she keeps her gaze down, not able to look at Cole in the eye.
"We'll speak about this later." he sighs and kisses her head.
Cassie simply nods and Cole turns around, walking off with Carlo.
They walk into the drinks room that they were in less than an hour ago, and Carlo turns to face his nephew after shutting the door, silencing his granddaughter's exclamations that can be heard coming from the kitchen.
Cole ignores his uncle's glare and pours a drink for the both of them, knowing that they'll need it for the conversation ahead.
"È meglio che spieghi di che cazzo si trattava, ragazzo." [You better explain what the fuck all that was about, boy.]
Cole sighs at his zio's demand. He only ever spoke in Italian like this when he was mad, and from the look on his face, Cole could tell that Carlo was livid. Cole inhales deeply, preparing himself as he knows he has no escape from this conversation.
"Cassie has a rough past with the Volki. She told me about it and I promised to protect her."
Cole decides to keep it short and sweet, not wanting to go into details about anything. He looks at his zio and waits for his response, Cole chugging down his drink in the process.
"The Russian Wolves?!" Carlo screams.
"Quando l'hai scoperto? Perché non me l'hai detto? Cosa dirai a tuo padre quando verrà qui venerdì e alla fine la vedrà?!" [When did you find out? Why did not you tell me? What will you tell your dad when he comes here on Friday and he finally sees her?!]
"Zio. Calmati, per favore." [Uncle. Calm down, please.] Cole asks calmly.
"Calmati? CALMATI?! Omertà Cole! OMERTÀ!" his zio yells.
"She knows about omertà. She understands how important it is. Cassie won't say anything to anyone about anything. And to answer your questions. I only found out last night, which isn't enough time to tell you since you turned up here today. As for father, I still have a couple of days left to figure out what I'm gonna do. It's only Tuesday. I still have time." Cole explains calmly.
After a few moments of silence, Carlo inhales deeply, his thoughts churning.
"Mio Dio. That's a lot of information to process." Carlo sighs.
"And to think we could finally end the feud with the Russians."
"Wait- What?" Cole asks, confusion on his face.
"Adrik Antonov is the representative for the Volki, Cole." Carlo says, treading carefully.
Cole visibly becomes enraged at his zio's hypocrisy.
"So let me get this straight. I have to tell you about Cassie, but you didn't even have the decency to tell me that you're bringing a Russian - a fucking Volk - into my house?!" Cole rages, and rightfully so given everything that Cassie has told him about them.
Before he found everything out, Cole would've gladly called a truce. Even Cole can admit that the feud between the Italians and the Russians was stupid. But now that he knows everything about what the Volki have done to his gattina, Cole is ready to go to was, just for hurting someone that he cares about. Regardless if it happened in the past, it still haunts her present. And now that he finally cares about someone after so long, Cole's protective side is on 100 times stronger than usual. He'd do anything to protect his gattina from any wolf that wasn't Cole himself.
As that thought crosses his mind, something dawns on him.
What if the Volki found out she was here?
What if this whole thing was a set up?
What if Adrik brought backup?
Panic settles in as worry is plastered on Cole's face. Carlo sees this and furrows his brows at his nephew's sudden change in expression.
"Figlio?" [Son?] Carlo asks, but receives no verbal response.
In seconds, Cole storms out of the room, speed walking down the hall and towards the kitchen. Cole, however, is completely oblivious to the fact that Cassie is actually okay, and is telling Olivia who Adrik Antonov is to her.
Carlo has only just caught up to Cole as they enter the kitchen as Cassie says 5 words that has Carlo stunned and speechless, and has Cole freeze in his tracks and gets his blood boiling like never before.
"Adrik Antonov is my father."