Sephie
Once inside, with the door closed, I said to all of them, “I know what happened to Trino’s nephew, but I’m scared to tell him. I don’t want to bring even more attention to me, but it could also keep Trino in debt to Adrik, which could be quite useful, so I don’t know what to do.”
I noticed Adrik raised an eyebrow when I mentioned keeping Trino in debt to him, but he waited for the guys to think it over before speaking. It was one of the many things I admired about him. He always took their thoughts, opinions, and suggestions into consideration before making decisions. Especially if those decisions affected all of us. He was, after all, the King of the Underworld. He didn’t need to take anyone’s opinion into consideration, but it was clear that he trusted the guys and sought out their opinions regularly.
Viktor asked, “what are your thoughts on Trino after spending time with him?”
“I think he’s trustworthy. I don’t think he’s holding anything back from us, except maybe the extent of his hatred for Massimo. He’s trying to be respectful of Adrik, so it’s understandable. From what I’ve seen of Martin, he’s also trustworthy, but he’s slightly more difficult to gauge because he rarely talks. They both respect Adrik and Armando, although not as much. I’m not sure if it’s because they know Armando doesn’t have as much power or if they just don’t know him as well. I didn’t get the feeling it was anything bad. It felt like they were awkward because they didn’t know each other well. There’s clearly no love lost between Trino and the other bosses, however,” I said, smiling.
They were all silent for a few more minutes. I could see Misha running through scenarios in his head, checking out each possibility. I think the others were waiting for him to speak first, honestly. Ivan spoke up. “you’re positive you know what happened to him?”
“Well, as positive as I can be. I overheard Massimo and Dario talking after one of the meetings. Massimo told Dario that he had ‘that nuisance Mateo taken care of and dumped in his usual spot. I’d never heard the name Mateo before, so it piqued my interest. I found a reason to stay in the room. It was one of the only times I saw Dario get angry with Massimo. He wasn’t only angry though, he was scared. I just don’t know who he was scared of. I didn’t know about Trino or Adrik at the time.”
Ivan thought for a few moments. “This might prove to be useful. It might be a way to turn Dario and Massimo against each other. Create more chaos,” he said, looking to Adrik.
Misha had finished running through possibilities in his head. “I don’t see a problem with you telling Trino what you know. If you feel like we can trust him, I think it’s a good move. I agree with you and Ivan that it might be useful to keep him in debt to us, so to speak, and can possibly create more chaos.”
Adrik looked to Viktor, who nodded, then Andrei and Stephen, who also nodded their heads. He pulled me to him, holding me close. “You ultimately get the final say, solnishko. If you’re too worried about telling him what you know, then we’ll keep it between us right now”
“I’m happy to tell Trino what I know, if you give him permission to take care of Massimes That’s one less we have to worry about,” I said
Adrik was massaging my shoulders. chitty kissed my neck while the water from the shower ran over may already soK? macies. He spun for arund so I was facing fine holding me against him he had a small anche on his face, as he booked at me “If I haven’t told you lately I think you’re the oust uredible we ever sat bwrything about you pee 1 in ka would have made list of everything I wanted in a womati, i would still taller short of petest h a i
I couldn’t trip but saule at bila around his neck, just wanting to hold him close to me. He held me even tighter, as we stood in silence for a few moments, just the two of us.
As we were getting dressed, he said, “you look like you’re doing a better job of getting control of your anger. Misha looked more tired than you did by the end this morning.”
I smiled. “I had to pull a few punches because I misjudged how slow he was getting. I’ll never hear the end of it if I wreck his pretty face.”
Adrik laughed. “No. No, you won’t. But I think watching you with Misha this morning somehow gained me brownie points with. Trino. He was quite impressed.” He walked to me, pulling me into his arms again. mean, we all know you’re impressive, but I have to admit to secretly loving it when I see other people realize it for the first time.
I hid my face in his shoulder. I still struggled with him telling me I was impressive in any way. He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “Come, we should go find Trino. You can tell him the story about how you ‘verbally annihilated,’ as Viktor put it, Vanessa in my office.” He saw the shock on my face and added, “She’s with Massimo. Martin said one of his guys called to complain that she was stinking up the place this morning while we were on the beach.”
I laughed loudly. “If Trino takes care of her too, do you think the perfume maker that makes that particularly hellish scent will go out of business after losing their best customer? I mean, we could be doing the entire world a favor here.”
Sephie
Adrik spent most of the afternoon talking with Trino, Martin, and Armando. They discussed options for how to take care of the other bosses, as well as how to restructure the organization to get rid of the need for the other bosses. The more that they talked, the more that I liked Trino. He was cut from the same cloth as Adrik.
Massimo’s name came up in the conversation. I looked at Adrik, who gave me a slight nod, I took a deep breath and looked at Trino. “Trino, I know what happened to Mateo.” I started to fidget with my hands as I continued. “All of the bosses used to meet once a month at the restaurant I used to work at. They always requested me to serve them, so I would overhear, well, everything. Regularly, Dario and Massimo would stay after everyone else was gone and have their own meeting. I overheard them talking about Mateo and I was curious, because I’d never heard that name before. Massimo told Dario that he’d had Mateo taken care of and dumped in the normal spot. For what it’s worth, it was the only time that I ever saw Dario get angry with Massimo. He was scared. At the time, I didn’t know about you or even Ghost, so I don’t know if Dario was scared of Massimo, you, or Ghost. Or all of you.”
Trino was silent for a few moments. I could see the emotions as he felt them. He went through all of them, quickly. He stood up, walking straight to me. I tensed, as I didn’t know him very well. He offered me his hand, as he knelt in front of me. “Sephie. I can’t even begin to thank you for the closure you’ve just given me. And his mother, my sister. The not knowing was eating her.” He took my hands in his and kissed each one. When he looked at me, there were tears in his eyes. I couldn’t help it. I leaned forward and hugged him.
Adrik broke the silence. “Not many people know of her knowledge about the organization, but Massimo and Dario both do. That’s why Massimo’s people tried to grab her last week. I would like to keep it to not many people knowing about her knowledge of the organization.”
Trino stood up and looked at Adrik very seriously. “Jefe, you have my word. No one will know how I came across this information outside this room.”
“If you keep Sephie out of it, you’re free to do whatever you like to Massimo,” Adrik said.
“I kind of think this will separate Dario and Massimo, if you tell Dario that you know Massimo killed Mateo. Dario isn’t as bad as Vito, but he’s got a fragile psyche. You could easily shatter it. And there’s a weird dynamic between Massimo and Dario. Massimo is the one that runs the show between those two, but somehow, I don’t think he’ll be as bold without Dario as his cover,” I said.
Trino, now returned to his seat, looked at me thoughtfully, then looked to Adrik, then back to me. “Please tell me you have a sister that loves Colombian men.”
I laughed. “Sorry to disappoint. I’m an only child. But I can offer my vetting services if you’d like me to interview potential girlfriends for you.”
Armando said, “I can vouch for her professional skills. I’m going to pay her to be at as many of my important meetings as possible.”
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.