“See? I told you. We’ll be fine,” Adrik said as he grabbed my hand and held it in his.
I looked up at him, still somewhat wide-eyed, as I was still amazed that he could remain so calm in this situation. The vehicle veered onto the freeway, Ivan increasing his speed even more. I had no doubt that Stephen was once again inches away from the back of our vehicle.
Andrei radioed Misha, “the other two?”
Misha responded, “they went to the apartment. There’s no way they’ll catch up to us now.”
Andrei turned in his seat, to look at Adrik. “We’re 15 minutes out, sir. It looks to be clear now.”
Adrik nodded, I felt his body relax slightly as Andrei turned forward in his seat. I squeezed his hand, resting my head against his shoulder.
Those 15 minutes seemed to go by quickly. Before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of giant iron gates. The gates swung open, closing after the SUV behind us. We drove down the long driveway and pulled in front of the house. The grounds were immaculately kept, with giant oak trees along the driveway. Their branches making a canopy for the
I/2 driveway.
Once the vehicles stopped, we all got out. I ran to Viktor and threw my hands around his neck, completely catching him off-guard. He just stood frozen for a moment, but eventually returned the hug, with his giant arms wrapping around me. His giant frame making me feel like a midget. “I was so worried,” I whispered to him.
He let out a chuckle. He stepped back and looked at me, a glint in his eye, “it’s going to take a lot more than that to keep me down.” I smiled at him, then went to Misha and Stephen and hugged them both. “Thank you.” Neither knew what to say, they just smiled sheepishly at me.
I walked back toward Adrik and Andrei who were watching the exchange, amusement evident on their faces. As I got closer, Andrei opened his arms and said, “do I get one too?” I giggled and jumped into his arms. He picked me up and swung me around, as I squealed. He set me down, laughing. “I could get used to this kind of appreciation.”
Ivan walked around the front of the vehicle to stand behind Andrei. I walked to him and extended my hand to him. “You don’t strike me as the hugging type,” I said. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a bear hug. “Can you teach me how to drive like that?” I whispered to him.
He laughed for the second time since I met him. “Sure,” was all he said as he let me go. I grinned at him and walked back to Adrik. He opened his arms for me, and I readily wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. “I saved the best for last,” I said quietly so that only he could hear me. His arms tightened around me.
Adrik
While Persephone was having a private conversation with her neighbor, I decided to light a cigarette. Inhaling deeply, my mind racing in circles, wondering why we couldn’t get reliable information on Anthony’s whereabouts. There was no way that asshat of a child could get the loyalty of this much of the city. He had to have help, which meant I had dissenters in my ranks. Even more than the situation with Anthony, that bothered me.
When I took over the business from my father, I tried to be fair and reasonable in every one of my decisions. My father was known for being ruthless, and maybe greedier than he should’ve been. No one ever called him on it on account of his reputation. I wanted to take the business in a different direction, where we weren’t constantly at war with the people of the city, or the police. It was exhausting. Too many good people died because of my father’s rule. I was tired of death on a daily basis.
Gradually, I mended the relationships with the people of the city. We started giving back to the people, supporting their causes, giving money for little leagues, building parks. With a little time, the people of the city lost their fear of my organization. They started coming to us for business deals, for help with matters that the city wouldn’t help with. My empire has grown exponentially as a result, but the people of the city are safe. They’re protected. Gone are the days when kids couldn’t play outside for fear of stray bullets.
I was proud of what I had done. The police worked with us, instead of against us. Sure, they required their cut of the illegal side of the business, but that’s to be expected. They knew what we were doing in the dark, but because we had helped build the city up so much, they said nothing about it. This was how you conducted business successfully.
Now, clearly, I had at least one boss, likely more, that had openly declared war on me. What was his end game? It can’t be all to do with Sephie. I would still end his life for harming her, but there had to be more to his play. What was he after? Power? Territory? Did he know that I found out about his recent venture into human trafficking?
That was a lucrative business, but one that I absolutely would not allow. It was disgusting. More so than the drugs and the gambling. I forbid it and every other boss in the city knew it. I’ll give Anthony credit, he had serious cojones for going against my direct order. It would not serve him well in the end, but he had chutzpah.
As I took another drag from my cigarette, my phone rang. Looking at it, I recognized the number and answered right away. It was my spy that I kept at the private airport just outside the city. I wanted to know where Anthony was going should he try to leave the city.
“Hey boss, so I have good news and I have bad news.”
“Good news first.”
“Anthony has chartered a flight for middle of the week. He’s on the passenger manifest, along with his four closest associates.”
“And the bad news?”
“There’s no flight path logged yet. They have time to log it, granted, but I have a feeling that they’re going to take off without logging it to try and give us the slip.”
My jaw clenched as I felt the temper I had inherited from my father threatening to rise up to the surface. I turned to see Sephie stepping out of Ms. Jackson’s apartment. I put out what was left of my cigarette and extended my arm to her. She was the key to keeping my temper under control right now. So help me, every single time she was near me, I felt completely calm and in control. From the first moment I looked at her unabashedly staring at me in the restaurant, I felt complete calm and peace when she was near. I don’t understand how, but I know I will do whatever I need to do to protect that feeling.
As soon as she sees my outstretched arm, she walks quickly to my side. She fits perfectly next to me. I’ve never been with a woman as tall as her and I didn’t realize what I’ve been missing. She’s still shorter than I am, but I don’t have to break my back bending over to kiss her. She instantly wraps her arms around me and rests her head against my shoulder. I know I will never tire of feeling her against me. I placed a kiss on the top of her head and went back to my conversation.
“Can you stop the plane from taking off without a flight path logged?”
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.