I'll Have To Get Her...

Adeline chuckled softly.

"You sure do kill so easily." His lack of hesitation to pull out a gun and shoot from that distance was no joke. 

But then again, there was nothing less to be expected. He was the next head of one of the biggest mafia groups in Russia. It would be a joke if he was an airhead like Dimitri.

Caesar beamed, hunching over to lean closer to her height. "You kill before you get killed, it's that simple."

He extended his hand, running his fingers through a few strands of hair that fell over her face. "Did I scare you?" His tone was playful, a mirth on his tongue.

"Scare me?" Adeline chortled, lowering her head to break into laughter with her hand covering her mouth. "Caesar, I've seen much worse than this. Sure, I was startled, but you definitely didn't scare me. I know what I'm signing up for."

"Cute…" It was said in a moment's daze, before he cupped her left cheek with his gloved hand. "I'll make sure you enjoy the first step of all these. Just leave it to me."

Enjoy it, huh?

Adeline took a deep breath, saying, "I hope I won't be disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Caesar's mischievous eyes searched her face with an entertained expression. "I'll leave you to judge. However…" He gripped her chin between his thumb and index finger, making her look at him. "… I'd like a kiss as a reward."

"W-what?" Adeline blinked, stuttering.

"Mmmm, I liked the taste of your lips." There was a lilt to Caesar's tone and something akin to a playful smile tugging at his lips.

Adeline's eyes slightly went wide.

He was so honest, she could only stand and stare at him, not even sure how to respond.

All she did was knock his hand away with a soft smile. "See you soon, Caesar." She turned around and left to enter the car waiting for her.

"I'll take that as a yes," Caesar mused, grinning from ear to ear.

As soon as Sokolov drove Adeline off, his expression dropped, and the smile he held vanished in an instant. Someone who barely knew him would assume he had a split personality.

"This might be much more interesting than I expected." He walked off towards the car where Nikolai stood waiting and got in, relaxing.

Nikolai shut the door and rushed over, taking his seat in the driver's spot. He turned on the engine and drove off, speeding off to the Kuznetsov family house.

"How is the deal with Rurik going? What happened?" Caesar questioned him all of a sudden. His eyes were staring daggers at Nikolai through the rearview mirror.

Nikolai gulped loudly, his chest beginning to pound frantically.

"Sir, I-I can explain."

"Explain what?" Caesar's gaze grew dark. 

Nikolai nervously responded, "I did set up the meeting with him, but he didn't respond to it. I emailed and called, but none worked."

"Is Rurik fucking with me? What are you even doing with him?." Caesar questioned, grabbing his phone from his pocket. "Does Yuri know about this?"

"No." Nikolai shook his head.

"Call Yuri, inform him of this, and get lost till you find Rurik." Caesar snarled with furious eyes and answered his incoming phone call. "Fourty eight hours is all you have. I want a report after that!" 

"Yes, sir!"

——

Mikhail hurried over to the backseat and opened the door.

Dimitri, clad in a fine black suit with his dark curls well-permed, stepped down. His gray eyes scanned the club building bathed in colorful lights, and his face wrinkled into a frown.

"Let's go." He approached the entrance door and walked into the nightclub. Mikhail followed suit.

The place was packed with all kinds of people, like those who were affiliated in some way to civilians with good connections. There was loud, booming music that could possibly burst one's eardrums and colorful lights emanating from the disco ball above the ceiling.

Dimitri's eyes searched the nightclub and soon landed on Adeline in that seductive red dress that very well exposed her long, pretty left leg. The soft glow of her dark-brown hair bouncing all the way to her bottom as she danced to the hypnotic music the DJ was playing made him still in his spot.

She was dancing by herself, and the way her body was flexibly moving mesmerized him so much that he for a moment wondered if he was really looking at his wife—the Adeline he knew.

He'd never, for once, seen her that way.

Soon, he watched as a random guy walked up behind Adeline and dropped his hand on her hips. Adeline laughed, clearly high, and rested her head back on the guy's shoulder.

The dazed expression on Dimitri's face vanished immediately, replaced by a furious one. He clenched his hands into a tight fist and approached with his eyes twitching in irritation.

"Fuck off!" His sudden presence and tone startled the man behind Adeline.

Before the guy could retaliate, Dimitri pushed him away and gripped Adeline's wrist. He dragged her out of the club, not even giving her a moment to process and comprehend the whole situation.

At a distance in the club, concealed by the many presences, none other than Caesar, who had a glass of cocktail in between his fingers, watched as Dimitri pulled Adeline away. He was seated with his legs crossed and his lips curving into a smirk.

"Aw, my little human," he muttered to himself, displeased. "I was really loving it."

Amidst his ride to the vast massive Kuznetsovs home that housed his entire Red night pack, he'd changed his mind and decided to stop at the nightclub where Adeline had gone.

Just as much as Dimitri had been tranced, he was the same.

Watching Adeline dance by herself at the center of the dance floor and having to snarl at the men coming up behind her was entertaining.

He needed her alone on that dance floor, to bathe in her beauty and feast his eyes with her movements. To watch her perfect figure in that tailored dress move to the rhythm of the music.

Caesar let out an exaggerated sigh of disappointment, placing the glass of cocktail on the counter.

"He'd taken what's mine." He got up from the stool, ready to exit the club with a cruel expression. "I'll have to get her..."

"...Soon."