“Pick up , Daddy”
1343 Words
“Konstantin stared at the phone screen as the SUV sped down the Moscow highway.
Calling…Ringing. Ringing. No answer.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Anya leaned forward immediately. “Why isn’t he picking up?”
No response.
Konstantin lifted the phone back to his ear.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Nothing.
The inside of the SUV suddenly felt too small.
Anya swallowed hard. “Call again.”
He already was.
The line rang endlessly through the speakers.
No answer.
Mikhail glanced nervously toward the rear window while reloading his weapon. Blood still dripped from the cut near his eyebrow.
“Maybe signal interference?” he offered carefully.
“I hope so,” Konstantin said flatly.
Anya looked at Konstantin quickly. “What do you mean by that?”
He didn't answer.
Vasilisa pressed harder on the accelerator.
The city lights streaked violently across the windows as the SUV pushed through traffic.
Konstantin ended the call and immediately dialed another number.
Security line.
Anya noticed instantly. “You’re calling the mansion bunker?”
Konstantin’s eyes stayed on the screen.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Still no answer
Anya’s fingers tightened around the oversized shirt she was wearing.
“Daddy, pick up…” she whispered.
Konstantin called again. Still nothing. Again. The call ended after several rings at his every trial
The silence inside the SUV became unbearable.
Anya's breathing became uneven. “Wait—wait—I’m confused… what’s really going on?” she asked breathlessly. “Did my father make it to the bunker or not?”
Nobody spoke.
She grabbed Konstantin’s arm suddenly. “Call again.”
He did.
The ringing echoed through the car once more.
Every second stretched longer.
Anya’s panic finally started spilling over
“Why isn’t he answering?!” she snapped suddenly. “No—no, my father is fine. He has to be fine.”
Still ringing. Still nothing.
Her voice cracked— “Konstantin.”
He stared ahead coldly. Thinking. Calculating.
“He told me on the phone that he made it to the hideout,” Konstantin said coldly, eyes still fixed ahead. “So why isn’t he answering?”
The silence inside the SUV thickened instantly.
Anya stared at him.
Konstantin’s jaw tightened slightly.
“No… it shouldn’t be possible,” he muttered more to himself now. “That bunker is heavily secured. Even bombs can’t penetrate it…”
The SUV fell silence again
Then suddenly— “TAKE ME BACK!” she screamed.
Her breathing broke apart violently now. “My father is there!”
Konstantin caught both her wrists instantly before she could lunge for the door handle. “You’re not going back there.”
Tears finally flooded her eyes. “What if my dad is dead!”
The second the words left her mouth—
Everyone went silent again. Even Anya. As if speaking it aloud made it real.
Konstantin’s grip tightened slightly around her wrists.
His voice lowered, dangerously calm. “Big boss isn't dead.”
But his eyes said otherwise.
And Anya saw it.
___
“The SUV sped violently through the hidden security gates deep within a forest before disappearing into the underground bunker entrance.”
Steel doors slid open. Then sealed shut behind them with a heavy metallic boom.
Then silence. Only the sound of the engine cooling remained.
Nobody moved immediately.
Anya sat frozen in the backseat, tears still burning in her eyes, Konstantin’s oversized black shirt hanging loosely off her shoulders while her wet hair clung messily to her skin.
The reality still hadn’t settled properly.
Her mansion had been attacked. Men were dead. Her father wasn’t answering. And now she was here.
Konstantin finally opened the door and stepped out first.
“Inside,” he ordered.
Anya didn’t move.
He looked back at her once. “Anya.”
That finally snapped her out of it.
She climbed out slowly.
The underground hideout was nothing like the Romanov mansion.
No gold. No marble. No luxury.
Just concrete walls. Weapons. Dim lights. And silence.
This was Konstantin’s private hideout. His territory. A place meant for survival, not comfort.
Mikhail walked ahead first, still wiping blood from his face while checking the security monitors near the entrance.
Vasilisa locked the inner steel door behind them manually.
Click. Click. Click. Every lock sealed.
Anya looked around slowly.
She had heard about this place before but she had never actually been here. Sergei Romanov had always kept her away from his criminal world. Away from his soldiers. Away from the people he trained—everyone of them had practically grown up together in his mansion.
—
Anya walked behind Mark numbly, arms wrapped tightly around herself.
The place was cold.
Long underground hallways stretched ahead as they walked deeper inside. Too dark.Too serious
Anya hated it immediately
“Lord…I hate it here” she muttered under her breath, hugging herself tighter as she kept walking.
Vasilisa finally slowed beside her carefully. “You okay?”
Anya gave a small, broken laugh. “Do I look okay?”
Vasilisa sighed softly. “…Fair point.”
Ahead of them, Konstantin stopped near the central operations room.
Several screens already displayed security footage, maps, and flashing alerts from Romanov territories.
Mikhail immediately moved toward the weapons table.
“We lost communication with the estate ,” he muttered grimly.
Konstantin’s expression darkened further.
Anya’s stomach twisted violently. “What?,” she whispered instantly.
Nobody looked at her.
Vasilisa looked toward Konstantin carefully. “Do we send men back?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly. Cold and final
Anya looked at him sharply. “But my father is there.”
Konstantin finally turned toward her.
“And if there are still attackers inside, going back blindly gets everyone killed.”
Anya’s eyes burned with frustration. “So what now?”
“You’ll stay here with us until we hear from Big Boss,” Konstantin replied. “Or until we get information.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“…What? Hell no,” she snapped immediately. “I’m not living in some underground prison!”
Her voice rose again.
“Take me back home! My father could still be alive!”
Konstantin’s eyes locked onto hers.
“And if he is,” he said calmly, “then staying alive is the best thing you can do for him right now.”
Anya’s breath broke.
She covered her face with both hands as tears slipped through her fingers.
“Why is all this happening to me?” she cried softly. “Daddy… where are you?”
The oversized sleeves nearly swallowed her hands.
For the first time in years, she suddenly felt small.
Mikhail glanced toward her awkwardly before quietly looking away again.
None of them really knew how to handle her crying.
Anya had always been different from them.
While they trained with weapons, she stayed upstairs in the mansion playing loud music, and being protected like something fragile Sergei refused to let the world touch.
–
Konstantin stared at the phone in his hand again.
Then redialed the security line one more time.
Ring. Ring. Ring…..call ended
Anya’s breathing hitched again at the sound. “Daddy…” she whispered weakly.
Konstantin slowly lowered the phone. His expression darkened further.
Then…He looked at Mikhail. “Check all security backups from the mansion.”
Mikhail nodded immediately and moved toward the system.
Vasilisa disappeared briefly down the hallway before returning with a towel and sweatpants.
She awkwardly handed them toward Anya. “You should change before you get sick.”
Anya stared at the clothes for a second. Then finally took them silently.
Her hands were trembling.
Konstantin noticed immediately but said nothing.
Anya looked toward the hallway uncertainly.
“This way,” Vasilisa said more gently.
Anya hesitated before following her.
As they disappeared down the corridor—
Mark finally spoke quietly. “You think he’s dead?”
Silence answered him.
Konstantin’s cold and unreadable gaze stayed fixed ahead.
Then finally—
“If Big Boss was alive,” he said flatly, “he would’ve answered.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD