Viktor POV

As cliche as this is going to sound, my life for the past fourteen years have been absolute hell to me and well, to my kids too. As much as every one of us attempt to hide how dead we truly are on the inside, its impossible to escape the truth.

This morning was no different than the rest, I woke up and a part of me selfishly wished that I didn't have to get out of bed, but unfortunately for that part of me, I have kids who need me and that, well, that trumps any and all feelings of selfishness that I have.

The simple truth is that without Adri and Iris, the only things keeping me going are my kids and without them I would have given up a long time ago.

When they were kidnapped, unlike all other books you read, I didn't drown myself in my work, distance myself from my family or die.

Instead, I tried to balance everything out. My wife had done everything before, taken care of the kids, done most of the cooking, kept the family together, kept me together. Without her I lost myself.

Yes, I'd lived without her before, and yes I'd helped her out with all those tasks but after experiencing what it was like to have her, to be without her was like feeling death. It was like my entire world crashed and burned.

My daughter on the other hand was my light. I had thought that I'd loved all my children with all my heart, but when my daughter was born the impossible happened, I loved that little girl more than I loved any of my son's. Yes, it sounds terrible but every daughter is supposed to have a special place in their fathers hearts.

Without the two of them, my only saving grace was my boys, they're what kept me living, what motivated me to fight, to live.

Anyway, this morning was a challenge for me to get out of bed once again, but i did and then got dressed before going downstairs to make a delicious breakfast for my ungrateful kids who would probably only realise how delicious it was when I die. Am I being unreasonable? Maybe a tad bit, but whatever.

I decide on making savoury waffles because I'm a bored person who apparently likes to make extra work for himself. Carmine is the first one to come downstairs he's still in his pyjamas and his messy hair is proof that he'd just woken up, it's shocking to see how much he's changed over the last fourteen years.

He'd always been a quiet child who rarely every spoke, however after his mother's and sisters kidnapping he just... Stopped speaking. He's a selective mute, fortunately I was already fluent in sign language and I managed to teach it to him and the rest of the boys.

We sign a good morning to each other before he plops onto one of the bar stools we have by the counter. It's a type of bar stool that has a little back rest part and allows you to swing around on it, Adrianna loved them. She used to love spinning around in chairs. It was something that I would scold her for constantly because she was so clumsy that she'd always find a way to fall off the chairs.

The next to make it down is Aleksander, who's messy hair rivals that of Carmine's. The bags under his eyes and the fact that his eyes are bloodshot prove that he didn't sleep at all last night.

"Good morning, Aleksander." I greet, getting a grunt in response. I roll my eyes at him because I'm so mature and proceed to put a waffle in front of both him and Carmine. "Eat up before the cheese hardens."

Five minutes later Mikhail and Rocco walk into the kitchen together, the both of them being the only decent looking sons in the room. Mikhail wearing a suit and Rocco wearing God knows what.

Rocco has a thing for designing his own clothes, he claims that someday it'll be trendy but in all honesty I don't think even the horrible world of fashion would accept things so... visually unappealing.

Mikhail on the other hand works as a lawyer. He's our mafia lawyer and he's actually incredible at what he does. I mean, to be fair it is the mafia and he has to be good at his job, but who cares?

"Morning, dad." They both greet in unison before glaring at each other for speaking at the same time.

"Morning boys. Have a seat." I reply, pulling out another two waffles from the oven.

Finally, ten minutes later the last three boys walk downstairs, Leandro, Andrei and Luka all sit on the bar stools in sync and immediately put their heads on the counter. They act like they hadn't slept a wink last night, and who knows, maybe they hadn't-

I sigh before putting a plate in front of all of them. "Eat before it goes cold." I demand, before grabbing a plate for myself and plopping down onto one of the stools.

Right after breakfast, I head to my office and pull out some paperwork. Why the fuck is there so much of paperwork in a mafia? I mean, shouldn't we be worried about leaving behind a paper trail or something?

With a heavy sigh, I begin my work when suddenly my private phone rings with a number I don't recognise. Now see, normally I wouldn't answer but it's my fucking private phone and whoever the hell is calling has a death wish because they're not supposed to have this number.

"What?" I growl into the phone, a scowl on my face.

"Amore." The unmistakable voice of my wife says, nearly giving me a heart attack.

"Miya Lyubov?" I say, but it ends up coming out as more of a question.

"Si. It's me, my love." Adrianna confirms, and almost immediately my eyes begin to well up with tears.

(A/n y'all, I'm skipping the test of the convo, it's literally in chapter one. Deal with it.)

Once we hang up, I immediately call my pilot and tell him to ready my private jet, and then I pack my bags, my heart hammering in my chest the entire time.

I smile, knowing that the way my sons will react is going to be priceless, and I just know they'll be pissed off thst they didn't know the second I found out where their mother and sister are.

I pull out my phone and send a quick text on our family group chat, just to let them know that I'll be gone for a few days, and then I leave knowing that when I return, their lives are going to be turned upside down.

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Chapter four is doneeee, how'd y'all like it?
The way I write these like anyone's gonna read em-
Whatever.
HOLD ON WE'RE ALSO OFFICIALLY PAST 100 READS! GUYSSSSS!
ALSO, SINCE IT'S CHRISTMAS, HERES YOUR GIFT. I hope y'all's day goes great!

See y'all in the next chapter!