Page 13 of Bratva Prince

“Is that concern I hear from you, husband?”Sofia couldn’t help but ask, her tone dry.

A faint pause.“Perhaps.”

Sofia studied him over the rim of her cup.Dmitri finally looked up from his phone and set it down.

“You went for a walk,” he said.A statement, not a question.

“Yes,” Sofia replied evenly.“I wanted to explore the garden.”

His gaze stayed on her a little too long, like he was weighing whether to accept that at face value or dismantle it.“And how did you find the security?”

There it was.Clear disbelief, wrapped in calm politeness.Sofia didn’t react to the tone.She just took another slow sip of coffee.

“Very thorough,” she said, letting him hear the approval in her voice.

Dmitri’s expression barely shifted.“I see.I’m glad we met your approval.”

“You have roses.I assume I’m allowed to appreciate flowers without it being an interrogation?”Sofia added lightly, just to move on from the topic.

“Of course,” he replied.“Enjoy the garden to your heart’s content.”

Breakfast went on in a quiet, almost careful rhythm.Between bites, Sofia kept watching him.Dmitri Volkov wasn’t like most men she’d grown up around.He didn’t need to raise his voice or make a scene to take up space.

Even when he spoke, it came out measured, like every word had already been weighed before it was allowed out.It was a little unnerving, if Sofia had to be honest with herself.She simply had to find a way to deal with him effectively, she decided.

Dimitri returned his attention to his phone.Sofia’s gaze lingered on him a second longer than she meant to.She set her fork down gently.

“Your staff changes routes every hour,” Sofia remarked, simply to get a reaction out of him.

Dmitri didn’t even glance up from his phone at first.“And?”

“It’s not random.It’s training.Pattern disruption.”

“And?”Dimitri ventured again.

Sofia watched him for a beat.“Are you expecting some sort of an attack?”

“It never hurts to be prepared,” he said, finally setting the phone aside.

“I see,” she said.Sofia leaned back in her chair.“You don’t trust anyone.”

“I trust competence.”

A faint tilt of her head.“What about me?Am I competent?”

His gaze finally settled on her properly.“Of course you are.I noticed that the first time we met.”

Sofia didn’t react, but something in her chest tightened anyway.Recognition always felt more dangerous than dismissal.After breakfast, Dmitri left first.

Sofia didn’t rush to follow.She waited until his footsteps faded into the corridor, then stood and moved through the estate alone.No one stopped her.

That, more than anything, told her how Dmitri had instructed the staff.Control didn’t always look like restriction.Sometimes it looked like observation.She turned down a quieter corridor that led toward Dimitri’s office.

The door wasn’t locked, so Sofia stepped inside.The space was large, restrained, and neatly organized.The room had dark wood, clean lines.Weapons and security elements were probably integrated so smoothly into the room they could almost pass as design choices.

After all, Dimitri was a man who expected things to go wrong.Sofia moved toward the desk without hesitation.She hadn’t been invited, and that made it better.

She silently tracked the room as she walked.The document placement, camera angles, vent spacing.She stopped, then reached up under the edge of a shelf.Her fingers found a seam that didn’t belong.A microphone, hidden well, but not perfectly.