Warn him to stay away

Angered by your words, Vladimir's about to stand up and confront you, when you quickly activate your time control ring and stop time. Your heart rate is up and you take a few seconds to calm yourself down. Even without the support of his mafia members, Vladimir looks like he could easy bash your head in with his bare hands. The mafia boss's hands are on the armrests of the chair as he was in the process of pushing himself up and his knees are bent and about to straighten. You estimate he's just a little taller than you are.

With Vladimir frozen in action, you search him for a weapon, reaching around to his back where you assume he has a gun tucked there. There's no gun. You then feel his jacket to see if he has a hidden knife or 1 of those shoulder holsters you see in movies, but your search is again fruitless. Maybe he doesn't carry a weapon. After all, you probably wouldn't if you were the boss of a mafia and had goons following you everywhere. You don't have any desire to become a criminal boss, but the idea of having protection wherever you go, on top of the ability of your magic rings, is an enticing notion. Maybe you'll ask Abby to look into private security services when you get back.

You turn to go search 1 of the nearby goons for a weapon. You could use your super strength ring, but that would require a demonstration that might defy belief, and you really want to make an plausible impression on Vladimir. You've taken 2 steps away from Vladimir when you look back at him and see something you hadn't noticed before. The inside of his left angle is larger than his right. You stop and stoop down to get closer and upon inspection, you realize that it's a small gun strapped to his ankle. Convenient yet hidden. Smart. You pull the gun out and make sure to check the rest of Vladimir, this time being more thorough and padding him down from top to bottom until you're satisfied he has no other weapon.

Finally, you get back into your original place and give Vladimir a forceful shove in the chest, not enough to push him back right now, but he'll surely feel it when time restarts. You take your time, playing out what's might happen next in your head and what you're going to say, before you deactivate the time control ring.

As expected, the residual **** of your shove causes Vladimir to fall backwards into his chair. He looks stunned and before he can try to get up again, you raise your right hand and point his own gun in his face. Vladimir is speechless as he looks down at his ankle and sees his gun absent from its holster, before he looks back up at you. Neither of you speak for a while, and judging from the ongoing music and lack of commotion from behind you, nobody else has caught onto what's going on between you 2.

Your eyes are straining as you try not to blink first, but Vladimir must have ice running through his veins as he looks able to look the stare forever. Not wanting to show any weakness, you slowly smile. It works, as Vladimir relaxes his body and slumps back into the chair. He sighs.

"What do you want?" he asks.

"I want you to stay away from Daria and her family."

"They are Russian. I look after my people."

"They're not your people anymore. They're my people now," you say, maintaining your smile. Luckily, the gun is small and lightweight, or else your arm might be shaking.

Vladimir purses his lips, clearly thinking about the situation. You have to admire how he's still so calm with a gun in his face. Honestly, you're not sure if you'd actually shoot him if he tried something, and you make sure that your index finger isn't resting too tightly on the trigger.

"Daria's going to be my wife."

"No she's not. Find another wife."

Vladimir's eyes narrow. "That's not how this works. That's not how the mafia works. There is a price for everything."

"And what's the price for you leaving Daria and her family alone?"

Vladimir looks away from you, looking beyond and behind you at the room of his men enjoying the company of women. You wonder if the women are here voluntarily, if they're being paid, or they're just here out of fear. You find yourself almost making the amateur mistake of looking over your shoulder to see what Vladimir's looking at, when you stop yourself and wave the gun impatiently at the mafia boss instead. He turns his attention back to you.

"I'll leave her and her mother alone if you replace her."

"Replace her? Like, I take her place?!" you wonder out aloud.

That actually draws a laugh out of Vladimir as he shakes his head. "No, no. No. You replace her with another wife for me. Also Russian. My children must be full Russian blood."