I knew make-up took time but I didn't know it took time.

Maybe because my face was bruised and Sunshine had a lot to cover but I'd been sitting for what felt like hours. Sunshine had started with my nails, moved to hot waxing my arms and legs which hurt a bunch. He was merciless. He'd gone for my eyebrows with vengeance and didn't take pity on my head when he pulled at my hair to get it into a low, sleek and puffy ponytail with a mid part. It was only when he shoved me into the bathroom with a dress that I got time to myself.

I felt well cleaned and primmed and even though I'd been through what felt like to get here, I felt as Viktor would put it.... pretty. The dress was very short, perfect for the occasion it had been more. It was made of silk and hugged my body perfectly, bringing more attention to my wide but slightly dipped hips. The neckline was a cute sweetheart that accented my chest and there were thin spaghetti straps that led to a low open back. I loved the nude colour of the dress, the way it made my skin seem darker and more vibrant.

I switched my large bandage to a small plaster that covered the healing gunshot wound on my thigh. The dress was long enough to hide it but not so. I could walk well enough because of the time it has had to heal but I didn't push myself because the stitches were still fresh and could pop.

I thanked my younger self for all the hours I'd spent wearing heels because Sunshine had handed me a strappy silver pair but they were a tad bit small. A pair of thin silver necklaces also hung around my neck, one shorter than the other, close to becoming a chocker. My dark eyeshadow had more of a siren look to it and my lips had just simply been glossed.

Standing in the mirror, dressed all chic, I felt different. More confident, more enchanting and that's all a woman really wants right? I'd never been dressed in clothes so revealing and yet so empowering. I felt like walking over the world in these heels, a giddy laughter tumbling softly from my lips as I posed in the mirror. Everyone needed this once in their lives.

Finishing up, I grabbed the set of studs on the bathroom sink and fixed all for of them into the double piercings of each ear. I opened up the door and walked into the room. It was empty, Viktor and Sunshine's voices coming from the living room. My heart raced, my mind wondering how Viktor would react to my little dress up project.

There was only one way to find out.

But damn did my stomach fall and churn. My breath caught in my throat and I had a hard time taking deep breaths. Nerves had seized me in a tight hold, one that was hard to push away. I tried to relax as much as I could, walking slowly towards the door, my heels clicking on the floor. They added me a few more inches in height and I felt like I towered over everything around me.

The door clicked softly as I opened it and stepped into the living room, putting my hands behind my exposed back. Viktor had his back to me so I assessed his outfit. His lower half was snugged into expensive looking light grey belted slacks. He wore a white button down shirt but he'd rolled up the sleeves. I could make more detail of the ink on his arms, the perfectly craved designs that made him seem all the more dangerous.

He wore a set of socks, his shoes nowhere to be seen. He was talking low with Sunshine, probably arguing about something but I couldn't catch the words as I moved forward after a slight hesitation on seeing Viktor. I could tell the moment both men realised I was in the room.

Sunshine raised his eyes to me and smiled like he'd done something worth his while and Viktor who was leaning down to pick something froze, his muscles straining as his head slightly tilted in my direction, his shaggy hair flopping. He was listening to my approach but he didn't turn.

"Did the shoes fit well?" Sunshine asked, not noticing Viktor's reluctance to glance my way. I noticed it, how could I not. My hands dropped and I wrung my hands together.

"They're a little tight but they fit. Thank you Sunshine," I answered politely, forcing a smile to pull at my lips. Viktor hadn't turned to look at me yet.

Look at me! I wanted to shout.

"No problem. My work here is done. I'm done loading my stuff up. I have some errands to run before I go back home to the wife and kids," he said pulling on his beanie, about to make his leave.

"Greet them for me, will you? Especially your daughter," I called out and he smiled, his bushy beard twitching with the movement.

"Of course. Remember what I said too, kid," he stressed and I smiled, giving him the assurance he needed.

"Thank you Sunshine. I'll contact your boss in the near future to discuss the deal he wants," Viktor dismissed, his tone formal and unfriendly. Sunshine nodded at him seriously and waved back at me before leaving the room.

"Goodbye lovebirds!" he called out at the door when he opened it. I couldn't see him but I could imagine the look of triumph in his eyes right now. He'd picked up on the weird energy hadn't he?

"We aren't—" I begun to shout but the loud bang of the closing door cut me off. "—lovebirds." I finished with a sigh, picking at my manicured nails now.

A few seconds of silence passed and to break it, I looked up at the back of Viktor's head and asked him a question. "What's our next plan?"

"Nothing too difficult," he answered me, placing something on the table before him. He stood straight and took a deep breath like he was preparing himself before he turned.

The movement was slow. It started with his neck, shifting with his eyes on the ground until the soft baby blues rose to meet my gaze. His brad shoulders tilted next, his body moving with a natural motion as his focused dipped, sensually slow to what I wore. He fully turned, his eyes wondering, capturing my look and drinking me in. My heart too raced in my chest, moving at a pace that was probably unhealthy as I got a good look of him as well.

Viktor's white shirt had the first buttons open, revealing his tattooed chest and the ink that wrapped around his neck. A silver chain hang on the wide expanse of muscle, catching the light of the lamps in the room. It glimmered and moved like water when he shifted. His hair was a cute floppy mess on his forehead, slightly parted to let him see.

"Prechistaya Deva Mariya," he breathed, his pink lips parted. "Uspokoitsya moya dusha."

Viktor raised his hand which I then realised was adorned with silver rings and pushed his hair back. The other hand came to rest on his hip as he let out a sharp breath.

"I take it I look good right?" I asked with a smile. All he could do was nod.

Even with my body a nervous mess on the inside, I slowly strolled closer to Viktor. He scrubbed at his growing stubble, watching my approach and his baby blues got such an intense stare, I felt my blood rushing with heat.

Within his reach, I reached up and straightened his collar, seeing that the right side was slightly flipped up. His hands slowly dropped to his side and then disappeared into his pockets as I run my hands over his broad shoulders, trying to straighten his shirt out.

"No bullet proof vest?" I asked lowly and looked up into his eyes. Though my heels made me taller, I only managed to be lifted off the ground enough for Viktor to kiss my forehead without much trouble.

Whatever happened to stay away from men like him Peach?

"We're not going to some place so dangerous," he revealed as I stepped back and admired my work before locking gazes with him again.

"We are going to be safe? That's a new one," I sassed and cocked my hip while crossing my arms. Viktor's remained his his pockets as he addressed me.

"I have my personal men to escort us to the restaurant and back in secret, if needed but I suggested we go up to my penthouse after the meal and use a back door to leave."

"That's if Markov is the guy we are looking for?"

"Da," he assured me.

"And if it's not Markov?"

"We find out who it is but we consult my uncle."

I sighed and rubbed at my forehead. "You know what? Sure. We can do this."

"Of course we can. We have me," the Don said being cocky and I have him a look which made him let out a low chuckle. "Don't stress too much Peach."

"Someone has to watch out for the both of us," I sighed and then took a seat, tired of standing in these heels. "Ok, say it is your uncle, we go to your penthouse and escape... what then?"

"I kill him."

I looked up and Viktor had this cold and dead look in his eyes. His demeanor as well closed off and I couldn't get a clear read from how he was feeling.

"Viktor," I said in a tone that sounded almost disappointed. He shook his head at me, his blonde hair moving with that simple action.

"For such betrayal he should be punished. Our Bratva is nothing without respect and loyalty. No mafia is anything without those two things. My staging something as big as this jeopardizes the system my father and his father before worked so hard to implement. The Bratva will fall into chaos, its members deciding they can rule by killing the person at the top. That kind of anarchy will destroy governments."

I didn't want to question Viktor. This was his world, not mine but I couldn't help myself. "He's your uncle. Even when you don't want to show it, I can tell you care a great deal for him."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Of course it does!" I snapped standing up. "He's your family."

"Kira is my only family depending on how tonight goes."

I shook my head and glared at him. "You'll regret killing him everyday of your life."

"A price I'm willing to pay," Viktor stated with lazy nonchalance.

"It's too heavy a price for anyone to pay. Pushing family away like that," I stated from experience.

"I don't see how this is going to affect you. My burdens will be mine to carry," Viktor spat now feeling as irritated with me as I was getting with him.

I'll carry it with you! I wanted to shout. Can't you see that. I care for you Viktor. Don't make the same mistakes I did.

"Can't you imprison him? Exile him?" I almost begged. "Send him away. You'll never have to see him again."

"The Bratva is about sacrifice in a lot of cases Peach. This is one of them. If I want to show people that as their leader, I will not tolerate traitors, Markov's blood will be spilled."

"A good leader also has to show mercy," I stressed walking close to him so he could see the resolve in my eyes. "You have to be compassionate. You have to show that you care."

"I do," Viktor whispered harshly. "I don't want to but... fuck! I was never given a choice in this."

I reeled back a little. What did he mean? I almost asked but Viktor realised he had said too much. He sighed, pulled one hand out of his pocket and rubbed his forehead.

"Why don't we focus more on what we have to do right now? Get to the restaurant and figure it out from there?"

I watched Viktor. Really watched him. I hadn't even thought that maybe, becoming Don had not been what he wanted. I took a step forward and held the hand that rubbed at his face. I lowered it so that e could look at me then I rested a hand on his cheek.

"We aren't done talking about this," I insisted and for a second, I believed I had him but Viktor pulled his head back and out of my touch.

"Yes, we are." he whispered as he took his hand back from me.

Sometimes, when you focused on trying to defeat your own demons and running away from your own problems, you forgot about the others around you who could be doing the same. Ever since I met Viktor, I assumed he was the one out of both of us who had it all figured it out. He had the plan, he had the skills, the connections and the means to keep us both alive.

Alive didn't really mean living did it?

I wanted to pull him close, I wanted him to reveal all his secrets to me, I wanted him to lay himself out for me to examine and understand but that kind of commitment was a two way street. I couldn't expect him to tell me about everything that made him who he was without being vulnerable myself.

My attraction, care and fondness for Viktor was changing, all these feelings merging together. I'd known him not longer than a month. I didn't know his favourite colour, his birthday or even if he had a middle name. I knew Viktor Makarovich, Don of the Russian Bratva, youngest leader of a crime syndicate at 27 years of age.

Sometimes, I tried to put myself on a pedestal when I was Viktor, acting like he wasn't 7 years my senior and had been through more horrors than I'll ever see. My childhood might be bad but I forget that Viktor was raised to kill. I wanted to know what he had seen. I wanted to build something more.

Things would be simple if he were a machine. I worked well with computers. This could be so easy. I was a hacker. I knew how things would all go down if I could get myself into Viktor's 'motherboard'.

I'd find the code to a Don's heart.

Not to tame it, not to change it or fix its errors because you can't fix a person like you can fix a machine. I just wanted to understand it.

I wanted to understand him.