“We all heard you say it,” Ivan said.
“You guys heard that? I just thought that in my head. I didn’t think I said it out loud,” I said, feeling even more confused. “1 could still hear Misha, but I didn’t hear anybody else.” “Do you know who it was that was after Trino?” Ivan asked, looking at Misha.
“Not for sure, no. My best guess is that it was the Mexicans. There was a whole lot of Spanish being spoken that I didn’t understand,” he said.
They all looked to me. “Don’t look at me. I only know curse words in Spanish. There were plenty of those being thrown around, but that doesn’t give us any valuable information here.”
Misha, who shared my love of comedy probably more than any of the others, said, “does this mean you’re going to drop in my head regularly? That could prove to be awkward. Can you give me a warning or something? Make sure I’m wearing pants, at least? I’m very shy.” He crossed his legs and crossed his arms over his crotch like he was blocking me from seeing something I shouldn’t.
We all laughed. Adrik looked down at me, his deep blue eyes laughing as he let me search his eyes.
“I think she needs to touch you to make it happen, anyway. It started as soon as she grabbed your hand,” Stephen sald. “It got stronger when you grabbed her other hand. So just wear gloves when you want her to stay out of your head. You’ll be fine,” he said, completely straight fa ced, which caused us all to laugh again.
Adrik’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, putting it on speaker for us all to hear. “Trino, what happened?” he asked.
“Jefe… Trino still sounded almost out of breath. “I almost didn’t make it out. Guys from one of the Mexican cartels tried to take me out. The only reason I’m talking to you right now is because my kitchen exploded. It gave us enough cover to make it out the back. The entire house blew as we were running down the hill. I don’t know what happened or what faulty gas line caused it, but I’m thankful for whatever that was.”
“You’re sure it was the cartels?” Adrik asked.
“Positive. This has to be Anthony and Lorenzo.”
“Where are they?”
“I’m still holding them at a different location. This house was one I only use occasionally, but I’ve met with Tony and Enzo there a couple times. They had to have given the information to the cartels on where it was,” he said. “They’re dead men.”
“Looks like war is coming. If you take care of Tony and Enzo, do you think the cartels will stop?” Adrik asked.
“Oh, they’ll stop. They’re all going to d ie, too. We had an agreement that they would stay out of Colombia and I would stay out of Mexico. Since they didn’t stay out of Colombia, I’m not staying out of Mexico. They suffered greatly on my rise to power. They’re going to get a reminder of what happened the last time they tried to cross me.” Trino’s voice was dripping with anger. “Once the situation here is under control, we’re here to help you as much as you need,” Adrik said.
“Jefe, thank you. I might need some help. How are things there? Did you find out more about that puta Armando? What about Dario? What did you decide on him?”
“Don’t trust Armando. He’s in deep with Sal and has been for years. Giana is Sal’s goddaughter, even. It’s a giant mess. It’s easier to just get rid of all of them. As for Dario, he’s being held until this is all over. I’m fine with letting him go once the other bosses are out of the picture. That guy needs a happy ending to his fu cked-up life,” Adrik said, sighing.
There was silence for a moment on the other end of the line. Trino took in a deep breath, exhaling loudly. “Jefe, I’m glad you decided that. I would’ve supported whatever decision you made on him, but you’re right. He needs something good for once.” Trino’s voice had softened as he talked about Dario. I could clearly hear the sympathy he had for that old man. “The others, though? I’m going to have to get creative on how I want to end them.”
“If anybody can wow us, it’s you,” Adrik said.
Adrik
Once Trino and I ended the call, we all stood in stunned silence for a few moments. Not only had Dario dropped heavy information on us, but Sephie and Misha had seen what happened to Trino, seemingly as it was happening. How?
Sephie was still standing next to me, tucked into my side like she was made for that spot. I had a tight hold of her, feeling even more protective than usual of her. I’d lost count of how many times I’d told her that she was the most amazing woman I’d ever known, but she continued to raise the bar on that standard. I found myself curious to see what else she could do.
I glanced at Misha, who was still stunned at what had happened. He had his hands on his hips and was staring at the floor in front of him like he wasn’t sure what to do or say. “Misha, how does your gut instinct usually work? Can you normally see things as they happen?” I asked him.
He snapped back to reality when I called his name. He looked to me, then to Sephie, then back to me. “I get snapshots of what’s going to happen, but it’s like still pictures. When Sephie was holding my hands, it was a full-on movie. In real-time, apparently.” He still looked stunned and almost baffled at what had happened. We all were, really.
I looked down at Sephie, who looked back at me. “Don’t look at me. I have no explanation,” she said. She looked just as stunned as Misha did.
I caught Ivan’s eye, then looked back at Misha. “If I’ve learned anything from Sephie, it’s that she shows you what your potential is,” I said. “She shows you how to get to the next level, if you will. Think of her like the Game Master.”
She looked up at me, smiling. “Calling me the Game Master implies I know what the he II this game is that’s happening with all of us. I’m in the dark just as much as the rest of you.”
“I think you’re selling yourself short, spider monkey. You might not be completely conscious of what’s happening, but you feel literally everything around you. I could tell you were anxious before Boss called Trino. It got worse when he didn’t answer. It got worse still when Misha had the same reaction. You know more than you think you do, Sephie,” Andrei said. Sephie looked at Andrei, but didn’t know how to respond. She was chewing on her bottom lip; her hands were starting to fidget as well.
“I saw her eyes go dark this time when she was talking to Dario, too,” Ivan said. Stephen nodded beside him. “I did too,” he said.
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.