“Yeah, super easy. Open. I could see everything,” Stephen said. “I’ll be able to get the underboss before he gets Max, if that’s where your mind is going.”
Sephie’s eyes got even wider as she realized what I was planning. “But you hate Max…”
“Doesn’t mean he deserves to die like this, love,” I said. “Tori might be a different story, but Max is innocent in this one.” She made a slight move toward me, but winced in pain. Andrei helped her sit up and I pulled her toward me. She wrapped her right arm around my shoulders, burying her face in my neck. I could feel the panic subside slowly.
Viktor walked back in with the files, showing them to Misha. He looked through a couple, then found the guy. “That’s him. That’s the guy we saw Tori with and the guy that was in the parking lot with Max,” he said.
“We stop this, we stop her next. She can’t get away with this,” Andrei said, his anger clearly visible. He looked to Misha, asking, “can you find her again once this is over?”
Misha shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I might need Sephie’s help again, but if we found her tonight, I’d assume I can find her again.”
“Good. She and I are going to have a very difficult conversation,” Andrei said.
“Go. Stop this if you can. Do what you want to her,” I said. “Ivan stays. The rest of you can go.” Andrei and Misha stood up from the couch, following Viktor and Stephen out of the penthouse. Sephie took as deep a breath as she could once they left, still trying to relax. She lifted her head from my neck, looking at me. The tears in her eyes making the colors in her eyes dance in the light.
“Thank you. I’m sorry I pulled you from downstairs,” she said, looking between me and Ivan.
“I think it actually worked out perfectly, princess. Armando is going to do all the work for us tonight,” Ivan said, his devious grin across his face.
I kissed her gently, then moved to the couch with her, pulling her back against me. “How so?” she asked.
“He saw the video that Trino sent. It did not go well for him,” Ivan said.
“He really was still thinking that Lorenzo was coming to save him. His brain was trying to come up with alternative theories on how to get himself out of this situation. It was clearly difficult for him. I was letting him stew in the silence when I felt your panic. When it grew stronger, I made the decision to leave him. Stephen pointed out on the way up here that it would likely serve to torture him even more that we left without a word,” I said.
“He’s not a fan of silence,” Sephie said, a small smile on her face. She looked to Ivan. “You said you felt me panic this time too?”
“Yeah, same time as Boss. I saw him look away from Armando, like he was considering his options. He never loses focus in that kind of a situation, so I knew he had to be feeling the same thing I was and I knew you were the only thing that could pull his focus away from the situation at hand,” Ivan said.
She took another deep breath. I could feel her body starting to tense again. “I didn’t mean to pull you guys away. I don’t want to constantly be interrupting your schedule,” she said.
“You seem to think you’re pulling us away for insignificant reasons. Not once have you interrupted my schedule because you broke a nail, Sephie. It’s always for very important reasons. You are the most important reason,” I said, pulling her closer against me. She leaned her head onto my shoulder, still lost in thought.
“Have you been able to feel anything else from me, Super Squish?” she asked Ivan.
“No, this is the first one. It makes sense though. You don’t panic easily. If you’re panicked, it’s likely because you’re in danger. It seems reasonable to me that I’d be able to feel that before anything else,” he said.
“You’re so logical,” she said. I could hear her smiling when she said it. One look at Ivan told me she was likely grinning at him.
Sephie wasn’t able to sleep until the guys got back. She did relax slightly when Viktor let Ivan know they were on their way back and they had managed to stop the underboss from killing Max. She completely relaxed when they finally walked back into the penthouse.
I looked to Viktor, wanting to know how it went. “We did get lucky that it was tonight that he was planning on killing Max.”
“It was just as we saw it, gazelle,” Misha said. He still looked mostly surprised at what had transpired.
“Except I stopped him before he had a chance to pull the trigger. Max almost p*ssed himself, though. That was satisfying to watch,” Stephen said, an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
“Better to be soiled and alive than the alternative,” I said quietly. Sephie heard me, laughing as she pulled my arms tighter around her with her one good arm.
“What about Tori?” Ivan asked.
“That’s where it gets fun,” Viktor said.
“Misha was able to find her, so we paid her a little visit,” Stephen said.
“Where was she?” Sephie 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.