“Vinny, Anna, we want to help stop this. To stop Vito. We’re on your side here. I know how difficult this must be for both of you. We’ll get the information on who is in charge if you don’t feel comfortable telling us. It’ll just be a slower process. We just want to meet with them. We’re trying to make sure there are minimal casualties in all of this. If a war between the bosses and the people breaks out, they’ll capitalize on that chaos. You don’t know what they’re already planning and believe me, you don’t want to. We want to work with the people to make sure you’re all safe while this problem is addressed,” I said.
Vinny still looked unsure, but Anna looked determined. “I can give you the names of the people in charge,” she said.
“It would help even more if you can find out if they’d be willing to meet with us,” I said. I had a thought. I looked at Adrik, asking for his phone. I texted Viktor, asking for Chen’s number. I wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to Anna. “He’s working for us. He’s trying to help us set up a meeting with the people in Sal’s part of the city. It’ll be better if it comes from you that we’re trying to help, rather than Ghost showing up and intimidating the hell out of everyone,” I said, smiling. I had returned my hand to his shoulder after handing Chen’s number to Anna. He simply placed his hand on top of mine, laughing softly. “I’l let him know what’s happening and that you’ll hopefully be getting in touch with him soon. He has a direct line here and can set up a meeting. Like I said, we want to help and we want to keep the people of the city safe.”
They both looked at each other, then looked at me, then Adrik. “Thank you both. For everything.” Vinny said.
“Thank you for coming to me, Vinny. Like Sephie said, we want to help. I’m trying to ensure this happens as quietly as possible, which is why it’s taking so long. My apologies for that, but I’m trying to minimize casualties, to be frank,” Adrik said.
Vinny stood up, Anna standing after him. “We’re going to get in touch with the people organizing in Vito’s area. We’ll convince them to call this number, sir. You have my word,” Vinny said, extending his hand to Adrik, who was also now standing. Anna moved to thank Adrik and shake his hand. As we walked from behind Adrik’s desk, Vinny stopped, opening his arms for me.
*Sephie, my dear. You must come to the shop again. It’s been too long. Business has gotten slow because people aren’t guaranteed a beautiful woman when they come in,” Vinny said, laughing.
“I promise I will come soon, Vinny. But you should be careful what you wish for. I’ll make sure Anna is there at the same time and you’ll be so busy you won’t be able to see straight,” I said. Anna rolled her eyes at her husband’s comment, but smiled. sweetly at me.
“Thank you, Sephie. And please do come to the shop. If my shop is going to be closed, I’ll probably help out there more. It’ll be good to see you again,” she said.
Adrik slid his arm around my waist. “We will visit soon, Vinny. She gets cranky if it’s been too long since she’s had one of your sandwiches,” he said, making me laugh. He hugged my waist tighter, kissing my temple.
“Um, that’s true. It’s a thing,” I said, still laughing. Vinny and Anna said their goodbyes and Stephen was at the office door to escort them back to the lobby.
Sephie
When Stephen returned, Viktor, Ivan, and Misha were with him. Andrei joined us in the office as well.
“Why did you need Chen’s number?” Viktor asked Adrik.
“It was me. I needed it. I gave it to Anna so that the people who are organizing Vito’s area of the city against him can get in touch with Chen. I figured it was easier to just have one liaison for now,” I said. “They’re starting to revolt in Vito’s area of the city now too?” Andrei asked.
“They’ve raised taxes so high that the businesses can’t keep up and now they’re smashing windows because nobody can afford to pay,” Adrik said.
“Papa Bear, can I borrow your phone pretty please?” I asked, making the “please” overly sweet on purpose. He took his phone from his pocket, dialing Chen’s number for me and putting it on speaker before handing me the phone. “You spoil me, my gigantic secretary,” I said.
“God help me, I hope this is Sephie,” Chen said when he answered the phone. It made me laugh.
“It’s me, Chen. Do you have a minute?” I asked.
“For you, my girl? I’ve got at least 5,” he said, laughing.
“You’re a generous public servant, Chen. So, I gave your number to someone from Vito’s area of the city. They’re trustworthy. They came to us to tell us that the same thing is happening there that’s happening in Sal’s area of the city. We’re trying to get in touch with as many of the leaders of this brewing revolt as we can. We want to make sure they know we’re on their side and want to help. We also want to make sure they don’t fu ck up our plans, if I’m being honest,” I said.
Chen laughed. “I heard that, my girl.”
“I also figured it would be easier if we had just one liaison right now, but if this gets to be too much for you, then we can like you an assistant or something. I’ll even see if I can find a cute one for you,” I said, hire
“It’s all good, Sephie. I can handle it for now. I’m supposed to hear from DJ today about who’s running the resistance in Sal’s area of town,” he said. He made sure to pronounce “resistance” with an obnoxious French accent.
“Laissez le bon temps rouler, Chen,” I said, laughing.
He laughed loudly. “I can’t believe you remember that. I’ll let you know when these new people call me and what I hear from D] later.” “Thanks, Chen. You’re the best,” I said. I could still hear him laughing when I ended the call. I handed the phone back to Viktor. “How many languages do you speak, gazelle?” Misha asked.
“I don’t actually speak French, so that one doesn’t count. Same for Spanish, I just know a few random words in both languages,” I said. “What did you say to him?” Andrel asked, curious.
“Laissez le bon temps rouler means ‘let the good times roll.’ Chen is his surname and is short for Cheney. His family is French. He speaks it very poorly. Even worse than my Italian. But he told one of his girlfriends that he could speak French to try and impress her when they first started dating. He said he would speak gibberish to her in a French accent and then he’d always end with ‘laissez le bon temps rouler.” I started laughing. “He told her it meant that she was beautiful. She believed him, too. His terrible French got him laid. It became a joke between us after he told me about it. I just told him he was beautiful, basically,” I said, still laughing. The guys all laughed with me at my si lly story. I hadn’t realized how stressed I was getting until we all had a moment’s relief. I loved these little moments when we could all have a reprieve, fleeting as they were, from everything piling on us right now.
“What did you guys find out downstairs?” I asked.
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.