“Were you intimidated by them when you first met them? You seem so comfortable with them now and they all call you different nicknames, but you weren’t like intimidated by them when you first met them?” she asked, quietly, but still loud enough that we all heard her question.
Ivan ‘caught my eye, grinning. He said, “Sephie might not know what that word means.” Sephie grinned at him. She couldn’t help but laugh when Giana looked frightened that he had answered her question. Ivan continued, “Sephie put me in my place in her kitchen after knowing me for what, like 12 hours?” He looked at everyone for confirmation.
“If that,” Andrei said.
Giana, her curiosity overtaking her fear, asked, “what happened? How did she put you in your place?”
Ivan laughed. “She was trying to help me and I gave her sh it for it. She gave me more sh it in return and helped me anyway.” He looked to Sephie, a broad smile across his face. I had heard the story of how he tried to intimidate her before she stitched him up and how she didn’t back down. It was the first real glimpse we had of how truly amazing she is. Basically, everyone is scared shitless of Ivan when they mee him and he uses that to his advantage.
“That’s not completely accurate though. I did think you wanted to murder me in my sleep for a few days there,” she said, laughing
“And yet, you still gave us the emotional support sloth,” Misha said, laughing. We all laughed, remembering her antics. Sephie’s cheeks flushed slightly as Giana looked to her for an explanation. She just shrugged her shoulders.
Giana, still curious and trying to be bolder, asked, “how did you get all the nicknames they have for you?”
Misha laughed. “I call her gazelle because she tried to ki Il me the first time I went running with her.” He looked at Giana very seriously. “I almost died. It was very touch and go.”
Andrei spoke next. “I call her spider monkey because she jumps on my back to hitch a ride whenever she can.”
Viktor said, “I call her sestrichka. It’s a term of endearment for a little sister in Russian.”
Ivan said, “princess, because she is the go ddamn princess.” We all laughed.
I added, “solnishko. Because she’s the light to my dark and she lights the way for all of us.” Sephie turned to me, her eyes slightly wide. I could see the tears forming as she got up and came to me, curling up next to me. I pulled her close, kissing her lips.
Ivan and Misha both said, “fu cking adorable.”
Sephie just grinned at both of them, but then looked to Giana. “Armando is getting his own team of guys set up. You’ll have your own list of nicknames soon.” Giana just looked at her skeptically.
Once we landed, a few of the men that Armando had hired met us at the airport with vehicles. I hadn’t met any of the men Viktor had approved for Armando to hire, but I had complete faith in Viktor’s ability to pick solid men. They weren’t as physically intimidating as my guys, but not many people were. Viktor walked over with one of the men, introducing me and Sephie to him.
“Boss, this is Mike. He’s the head of Armando’s security,” Viktor said.
Mike extended his hand, “nice to meet you, sir. Viktor’s told me great things.”
Sephie elbowed Viktor in the ribs lightly. “He’s the American security master to your Russian security master. Shall we have a Cold War 2.0, gentlemen?”
Sephie always managed to get the loudest laughs out of Viktor. It was always nice to see. Mike looked to her, clearly surprised, but quickly extended his hand to her. “You must be Sephie. Viktor has also told me great things about you.”
She looked to Viktor, “da mmit, am I going to have to be on my best behavior now? Because that’s really going to put a damper on my plans.”
He laughed loudly again, wrapping his giant arm around her shoulders, dwarfing her. He said, in Russian, “don’t worry, sestrichka. He knows you’re a little bit evil, in the best way possible.” Her wide smile stretched across her face as she leaned in closer to him.
She looked back to Mike, who was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. She glanced around quickly. “Let me know when you have issues with Giana. I’ll run interference.” He looked at her, puzzled.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Just file it away. She’s never wrong,” giving him a half smile, as we walked to the vehicles. “Yes, sir,” he said, following us.
One Hundred Sixty-Nine Adrik
As soon as we got to the penthouse, we all met in my office. Armando’s men were there, along with all of us. Giana chose to stay behind in the apartment that she now shared with Armando, but Sephie came with us. I think she was curious to meet Armando’s new guys, which I was thankful for. I always appreciated her opinion of new people.
Sephie was sitting on the arm of the couch, next to Ivan. I saw her lean down to ask him a question, but she said it quiet enough that no one else could hear. As she asked him the question, I could see the coy smile creep across his face. He caught my eye. In Russian, he said “Sephie brings up a great point that we can use the new guys to get Andy out. Nobody knows them yet. They won’t be recognized and it’ll also give us a chance to really test them in a real situation.”
I found myself feeling proud once again that she was mine. Sephie looked to Misha, a questioning look on her face. He thought for a moment, then nodded.
Mike looked to Armando, somewhat confused, “why do I feel like they just decided on the plan and we’re just waiting to hear what it is?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.