Sephie is just a waitress trying to survive her late shifts, joking with her charming bartender friend Max and finding comfort in her kind neighbors. But once a month, she serves the city’s most dangerous crime bosses: a job that pays well but comes with risks. Tonight, as black SUVs arrive, she braces herself, unaware her life is about to change forever.
“From now on, whenever they accuse me of being extra spicy, I’m just going to tell them it’s my demon and I have no control over it,” she said, grinning at me. God, I love her. Stephen and Viktor were gone when we came back downstairs, but the Wonder Twins were in the back room…
He reached out and pushed me over gently. “I know what it means. Maybe you are a little bratty, but I would not call you spoiled. You’re so thoughtful is what I mean. Even when I was being an asshole, you were more concerned with how it affected the other guys than you were with…
“Good,” I said. Ivan walked in on his way to the kitchen. “Princess, your goddamn prince will be happy you’re back. He’s cranky when he has to be away from you for very long,” he said, grinning at me. “That was my fault, Viktor said, apologetically. “It was no one’s fault. We’re very needy lately.”…
“She’s worried she’s holding you back from living your lives. From finding girlfriends. She thinks Stephen will have an easier time, but only just barely. She brought up the conversation we had about it in Italy, when Ivan pointed out how difficult it was going to be to find suitable girlfriends now that you know…
He joined us back in the present moment, surprising everyone by saying, “Kostya said he thinks Misha is right. He’s not completely sure, but from what he can tell, Misha’s on the money.” “Did everybody just hear that? I just want to make sure. Viktor, you might need to repeat it a few more times.…
“I did notice that our demons seemed quieter last night. Even around Henry and the switch-hitter, they were quiet. I can’t figure out why that would be.” I thought for a minute as he worked on washing my hair. “I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right. They were much more active with Battista’s associate…
“I love that you’re still so fascinated by them. I would’ve thought you would be used to it by now and bored with it,” I said, enjoying the look of wonderment on his face that he had every time he watched my eyes change. “I doubt very seriously that will ever happen,” he said, pressing…
“No, I’m not that tired. I just don’t want to move from right here. I want to spend the day trying to recreate last night. Repeatedly,” he said, opening his eyes just enough that he could barely see me. “I will not argue with that plan,” I said, pushing my warmth to him. That was…
Misha got curious and did his own searching when Andrei said something. “Sergei, you know that wasn’t your fault, man.” And then I knew what Sergei was still struggling to deal with. When I was a boy and the other bosses tried to get to my father through me the first time, Sergei was the…
“This is what happened when the people were coughing uncontrollably? Stephen scared the demons off?” Vitaliy asked. “Yeah. I’m not worried about the hospital administrator, but the next step would be to have Viktor fix the mayor. We did buy him some time with what we did tonight, but he’s still vulnerable,” I said. “What…