Chapter 142: When a mafia king says sorry

Those ten days... He hadn’t left because he’d forgotten about her. He hadn’t disappeared because their night meant nothing. He had gone because, in his own brutal, terrifying way...

He had been trying to make sure she would never be kidnapped again. He had been fighting for a future where she could sleep peacefully. For her. The realization settled heavily inside her chest.

Viktor reached up and gently wiped away one of her tears with his thumb.

"I’m sorry." His voice was barely above a whisper. He said sorry for the first time ever in his life the mafia king of Philadelphia was apologizing.

"I’m sorry I left without a word."

"I’m sorry I made you worry."

"I’m sorry I hurt you."

"I never wanted you to feel abandoned." Sienna stared at him. The words she had wanted to hear for ten long days had finally come. And somehow... They made her cry harder. Viktor’s expression tightened.

He instinctively reached for her, then stopped himself, afraid she would pull away again. She noticed. He was giving her the choice. The silence stretched between them.

"I..." The word caught in her throat. She wanted to answer him. She wanted to tell him what was pounding so loudly inside her chest. But the words wouldn’t come. Not because she didn’t feel them.

Because they frightened her. No one had ever looked at her the way Viktor did. No one had ever crossed a battlefield for her. Burned cities for her. Declared war for her. Loved her with such terrifying certainty.

Her heart wasn’t questioning whether he meant it. It was questioning whether she was brave enough to step into a love that was immense in his kind of world.

Her lips parted. Nothing came out. Another tear slipped free. Instead of speaking, she slowly lifted a trembling hand and rested it against his cheek.

Viktor closed his eyes for the briefest moment, leaning almost imperceptibly into her touch. That tiny movement broke something inside her. She smiled through her tears. Small. Fragile. Full of emotions she couldn’t yet put into words.

She couldn’t say I love you. Not today. Not yet. But the way she looked at him told Viktor something had changed. The walls she’d built around her heart hadn’t fallen. They had cracked.

Sienna’s hand was still resting against his cheek when Viktor closed the last inch between them.

He kissed her carefully. Not with the urgency that had lived in his eyes only moments ago, but with the patience she’d come to recognize as uniquely his. It was a question more than a demand.

She answered it. Her fingers slid into his hair as she kissed him back, slow at first, still tasting the apology between them. When they finally drew apart, neither had gone very far.

Their foreheads rested together. "You still mad at me?" he murmured. "A little."

"A little?" She nodded. "You’ll have to work very hard to earn your forgiveness." A quiet laugh escaped him.

"I was planning on it." He stole another kiss. Longer this time.

The tension of the past ten days slowly dissolved with every gentle brush of his lips. Sienna could still feel the ache of waiting, but it no longer stood between them. It simply reminded her how much she’d missed him.

Viktor brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Want to see something?" She blinked up at him, still a little breathless. "What?" A faint smile curved his lips. "Something better than flowers."

Her curiosity immediately surfaced. "What are you talking about?" Instead of answering, he reached for her hand. The bouquet still rested forgotten on the dining table.

With one sweep of his free hand, he moved the breakfast dishes aside, making enough space to sit her gently on the edge of the table. She laughed in surprise, instinctively catching his shoulders for balance.

"Viktor..."

"What?"

"We’re in the dining room."

"I noticed."

She tried to hide another smile. He kissed her forehead. Then her temple. Her cheek. Each kiss lingered just long enough to make her heart beat a little faster. His gaze never left hers.

"Do you trust me?" There wasn’t an ounce of pressure in his voice. Only quiet certainty. Sienna searched his face for a long moment. After everything they’d survived... After the fear. The waiting. The apology. The confession.

She nodded.

"I do." Something softened in Viktor’s expression. Without another word, he slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back. She let out a small gasp as he lifted her effortlessly.

"You know," she whispered, looping her arms around his neck, "I can walk."

"I know."

"Then why are you carrying me?"

"Because I missed my wife." He carried her toward the staircase.

The mansion was quiet. Morning light spilled through the tall windows, following them as they disappeared down the hallway together, leaving the roses, the chocolates, and ten long days of distance behind them.

Viktor pushed the bedroom door open and set her down. His movements were steady and delicate as he ripped his shirt off. He kissed her gently, lowering the straps of her dress. Sienna responded to his kiss.

He was passionate and greedy, but also tender. Before Sienna knew it, her dress was on the ground, and she was just in her panties. Viktor pulled back a little, his eyes never leaving hers. He unbuckled his belt and removed his trousers. Sienna’s eyes were on his well-built body, she gasped when her eyes dropped to his boxers. He was fully erect.

"Don’t be afraid of me," he said, pulling her back to him slowly. He slid the tip of his finger into her. Sienna let out a loud moan of delight, which he immediately stifled with his tongue.

He was plunging deeper with every breath. Everything around Sienna grew more diminutive. Viktor focused entirely on Sienna. With his free hand, he gently rubbed her clitoris.

"Ahhhh." Sienna’s moans nearly caused Viktor to lose control. He pushed deeper inside her mouth with his tongue, and his teeth bit on her lip harder, causing a pang of beautiful pain. "Sienna," he breathed.

"You’re so tight." Without thinking if she should or if she was allowed, she simply came as he said that. With a gasp and then a cry, she reached the climax of pleasure. Her entire body flushed and cooled down in a few seconds.

Viktor carried her to the bed. She was still recovering from the intense wave that just washed over her when he pressed deeper and entered her with relentless heat for the first time. Sienna gasped again at how he filled her, now fully awake. "Relax, I will be gentle. I’m barely in, my darling," he whispered.

"It hurts," she cried. "I know, only at first," Viktor said, not moving. Sienna took a deep breath as he pushed himself in. Sienna moaned out loud, her fingers wrapping around his hands as he picked up the pace, losing himself completely within her.

He snuggled his face in her hair, and his hips rushed at her as he moved. Viktor tried to be as gentle as he could, but lost control just before he came. Sienna’s soft moans and her nails biting into the skin of his arms spurred him on.

His kisses on her neck were greedy, and he bit her shoulders, listening to her breathing growing faster and faster. He pushed both hands beneath her back and hugged her so tightly she could barely breathe.

His hand clutched at the back of her neck, and he looked her in the eyes. "I’m all yours, Sienna," Viktor said, and she felt a wave of hot seed slopping inside her.

His eyes never wavered from her face the entire time. It was so sensual that Sienna felt her own muscles tightening with his, and she joined him. Finally, Viktor collapsed beside her, his breath heavy. "That was perfect. I’m sorry I got carried away,"

he said, reaching out with a hand and taking a box of tissues from the nightstand. Just as before, he gently wiped her clean before covering her with the blanket.

Sienna was exhausted she couldn’t move, her legs still shaking from her first time. "Does it still hurt?" Viktor asked, afraid he might have hurt her. Sienna was sore, but she liked the feeling of it; she shook her head.

Viktor held her as they lay in silence, Sienna holding on to him tightly.