Sephie
Adrik held me a little tighter as it was my anger that was threatening to come to the surface now. Ivan almost died that day and I still wasn’t over it. I looked at Andy, my anger oozing out, as I said, “you better start talking and if you lie to me, your face isn’t the only thing I’m gonna break today.” Adrik held onto me, but pushed his chair back slightly from his desk, putting the slightest bit of distance between me and Andy. Misha and Andrei also got up and moved in between me and Andy. Ivan stood behind Andy, Viktor and Stephen moved to the door.
Andy’s eyes went wide, as he knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He took a deep breath. “Sal is somewhat obsessed with getting you, Sephie. He found out that you know all of Massimo’s secrets.” “HOW.” Adrik’s anger was now completely present in the room, which only served to feed mine, as well.
“Sal has been quietly talking to Dario, trying to get him away from Massimo for a while. The rumor about Sal and Dario hating each other isn’t true. It’s really Sal and Massimo that ha te each other. I don’t know how much you know about the relationship between Dario and Massimo, but it’s truly fu cked up. Massimo is a psy chopath of the highest order. He’s been controlling Dario since they were kids. Sal knows it, as he knew both of them when they were younger, which is why he and Massimo don’t get along. They all went to school together. I don’t know if you know, but Dario’s parents died when he was younger. He went to live with Massimo’s family after that happened. The story was that it was a car accident that killed them. It wasn’t. Massimo killed them. He was 12 at the time. Dario found out years later, but Massimo had already done so much damage to Dario that he couldn’t leave. He’d convinced Dario that his parents were evil and he saved Dario by killing them. So, when you met with Dario and Massimo and Sephie let it slip that she knew where the bodies were buried, Dario is the one that told Sal. Since then, Sal has been waiting for a chance to grab you. He needs your help to end Massimo,” Andy said.
“Keep talking,” I said, my anger still fully visible.
“That day that we tried to grab you, we saw a chance and we took it. We weren’t organized, really, which is why it was so easy for you to get away. But we also weren’t expecting you to be so lethal, Sephie. We didn’t account for your marksmanship,” he said. I glanced to Stephen, giving him a wink. He nodded his head discreetly. Andy continued, “I was watching the whole thing from a rooftop. When you dropped the guy at the vehicle, I knew the plan was a bust. I was supposed to ki II Ivan that day, if you tried to escape, but I lied and said I could never get a clear shot. I had a clear shot, I just didn’t take it.” He looked at the floor again, clearly nervous at how we were going to react. He glanced up at me, a look of regret on his face. “I’m sorry.”
I sighed. “Thanks for not taking that shot, but you still almost killed Ivan and that’s going to take me a while to get over.” My anger was still clearly at the surface. I surprised everyone by getting up and walking out of the office. I walked to the other side of the floor, trying to calm down. I could feel my legs starting to shake and I didn’t want to be in there if it got worse. I was standing at the window, not really looking at anything, trying to get control of myself so the shaking wouldn’t get any worse. I felt Adrik’s arms slide around my waist as he pulled me close. He didn’t say anything, he just pulled me back against him, holding me tightly. I knew he felt my legs starting to shake when we were still in the office and he could feel the faint shaking in my body now. “I’m okay. I just needed a minute,” I said, turning my head to look up at him.
“I did too,” he said, as he pressed his lips to mine. We stood in silence for a few moments. “Aside from wanting to hurt Andy for the kidnapping attempt, what are your thoughts?”
“I could tell he was hiding something when he walked in. I think the kidnapping attempt was what he was hiding, but I need to be sure,” I said. “I just didn’t want to be in there if the shaking got worse, which is why I left.”
“Don’t worry about leaving. I had to stop all the guys from coming after you.” He turned us both so I could see his office door. “They’re all there, making sure you’re okay,” he said. I looked toward his office and sure enough, all five guys were lined up outside the office door watching me. I couldn’t help but smile. He turned me around to face him. That fear from the night before was back. “I have a solution, but it means people will die.”
“No, it means the monsters that are manufacturing the brawn will die. They know what they’re doing. I won’t feel sorry for them if they get blown up,” I said.
He smiled at me. “I didn’t even say it out loud and yet you still know just by looking at me and Ivan.”
“Well, I mean, this one was kind of obvious. Andy said it was volatile and then you two look at each other like it’s pyromaniac’s Christmas,” I said.
He laughed loudly. I glanced toward his office and saw all the guys visibly relax. “Are you going to tell any of the rest of them your plan? I’m still not completely sure about Andy. I need to make sure this is the only thing he’s holding back, but he’s pretty easy to read. And I’m still not totally sure about Mike either. That dude has women issues that he’s projecting onto me. It makes me want to fu ck with him, if I’m being honest.” I looked at Adrik, a wicked glint in my eye.
“You’re the go ddamn princess, solnishko. You can do whatever you please,” he said, his eyes mirroring the same wickedness he saw in mine.
Adrik
I felt a pull in my chest as my heart swelled listening to Sephie laugh in front of me. It was one of my favorite sounds, especially when it helped my anger subside. I was very happy that she had gotten up to leave the office after Andy’s admission. It gave me a reason to do the same. I think the guys also needed a reason, as they all went after her as well. I noticed the looks “on Armando’s guys’ faces as we went after her. They don’t understand the special relationship we all have with her and it was clear that at least Mike was struggling with it. Of course Sephie already knew and I fully supported whatever she wanted to do to make him even more uncomfortable about it.
When it came to my guys, I never had a moment of jealousy or doubt regarding them and Sephie. I trusted her and I trusted them. I knew she looked at me differently than she looked at them. It was clear that she had a role in each of their lives. She was helping each of them to fully realize their potential, just as she was helping me to realize mine. I wasn’t going to stand in the way of that. My guys were my family. We’d been through he Il together. I was closer with them than I was with anyone. It made me happy to see them with her and to know that she was safe when I wasn’t around, because they would be there. I could see how someone on the outside of our little family might struggle to understand the dynamic, but that was their problem, as far as I was concerned.
“We should probably go back. At least so the guys don’t get anxious and murder Andy to make me happy,” Sephie said, her fingers lightly running over my facial hair. She still had a wide smile on her face. I sighed. I really could use a minute or two longer away from them. “Not yet, but I’ll make sure they don’t murder him just yet,” I said. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her off the floor and walking to the elevators. I set her down and looked at the guys. I jerked my head toward us to indicate they should come to us. They all quickly walked to us. I knew they were waiting by the office door to make sure no one decided to leave. This way, we could still ensure no one would leave, but we could have a moment to ourselves. I valued their opinions, always. Especially if it involved Sephie. I knew they had her best interests in mind always, just like I did.
Once they were all standing next to us, I said to them in Russian, “Sephie was worried you were going to murder Andy just to make her happy before we went back into the office.”
“Say the word, Sephie,” Stephen said, his voice dripping with anger. It took me by surprise, as he was usually the quiet one of the group, but I could clearly see his anger. She stepped away from me to give him a hug.
“Aww, Stephen. You’re all soft and nougaty now too,” she said as he held onto her tightly. I knew he was using her to calm down. I’d honestly only ever seen him that angry a handful of times and it never ended well for the other person. Stephen was a dark horse. He was the shortest out of all of us. He was still tall comparatively, but at 6’2, he was visibly shorter than the rest of us. Compared to the other guys, Stephen looked like the weakest link, but he was anything but. He could be a monster, just like the rest of us. I’d seen him get pushed past his limit before. It wasn’t pretty. He admittedly took the longest to warm up to Sephie, but those two had gotten closer lately. I think she recognized that he was the loner type and let him come around when he was ready. Clearly, he was just as attached to her now as the rest of us.
She stepped back from him, smiling sweetly at him. It made his cheeks flush slightly. She moved back to my side, as I pulled her to me. “Now,” she said, still speaking Russian in case we were overheard, “I stil don’t fully trust Andy. He was definitely holding back when he first got here, but I don’t know if it was only the kidnapping attempt or If there is something more. He’s genuine in everything he says. His face is an open book. I just want to make sure he’s not holding anything else back from us, because that’s the biggest feeling I get from him. He’s telling us the truth when he speaks, but I don’t think he’s giving us everything.” She paused, but then added, “and I’m still not completely sure about Mike either. I thought checking him last night would solve it, but he still seems to have a problem with me, especially when he sees me with you guys versus my boyfriend who happens to be the Lord King Boss of the underworld. There’s a lot to unpack there, if I’m being honest.”
I chuckled at her description of me. Stephen spoke up again, “I have some insight into that, but we can talk about it later. 1 think the more important situation is what Andy just told us and what to do about the warehouse.”
“Noted, but follow-up question: is it worthy of an appearance on the white board? Because we’re gonna need to know about that right now if it is,” Sephie said, grinning at him.
We all laughed. Stephen shook his head no. “Not wh ite board worthy. It really can wait,” he said.
“Priorities, people,” Sephie said like she was conducting a business meeting. It made us all laugh even more.
Ivan said, “I think, as Sephie put it, asking them nicely to stop distributing is the way to go.”
I nodded. “I agree. But I don’t necessarily want to let the others in on that plan just yet. Mike isn’t making me happy right now. I don’t know how much I trust that guy.” Viktor looked apologetic. “He wasn’t like that when I interviewed him.”
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.