“I think Ricardo is the wild card in this situation, too. I’m wondering if he’s going to step into Lorenzo’s role and start pulling the strings for Sal now that his brother is dead,” Stephen said.
“It does make me wonder how he’s stayed out of the spotlight for so many years, but had so much control over Armando,” Viktor said.
“Was he connected to the boss that Armando replaced?” I asked. We hadn’t given much thought to that boss. I saw a lightbulb moment for Viktor and Stephen when I asked my question. I smiled at them, motioning for Andrei to help me up. “We clearly need to go back upstairs,” I said.
It didn’t take Viktor long to find a link between Ricardo and Giovanni, the boss before Armando took over. “That explains why Armando picked the surname he’s been using all these years, too. It’s what connects Ricardo and Giovanni. That’s why it looked like Ricardo and Armando were distantly related. It looks like he’s distantly related to Giovanni too, if you believe his fake last name,” Viktor said. “Ricardo had to have told him to use that name then. Probably before he ever became an underboss for Giovanni,” I said. “It was just distant enough that nobody would really think it was a lie, but just believable enough that no one would question it.”
It was only a short time later that Adrik’s phone beeped. He looked at it, finding a video of Sal finding the boxes with Anthony’s and Lorenzo’s heads in them. Trino was thoughtful enough to show us what was in the boxes before they were left on Sal’s doorstep, just for Armando. When Adrik showed me the video, he covered my eyes for that part. “You don’t need to see that, solnishko,” he said. It was only a few seconds and he pulled his hand from my eyes. I wasn’t going to argue. It wasn’t something I was desperate to see.
It wasn’t something that Sal wanted to see, either. He was clearly distraught. Trino timed it so that Sal found the boxes as he was coming home. He’d apparently been having him watched so he knew when to time it just right so that it was indeed Sal to open the boxes and not one of his men. Sal was shocked, angry, distraught, and inconsolable in the span of a few minutes. He immediately got on his phone, but the audio wasn’t close enough that we could understand what he was saying. Whoever he was calling, didn’t pick up. He tried another call. Once again, no answer.
It suddenly hit me. “He just called them,” I said. “He just called Anthony and Lorenzo. He doesn’t believe it’s them in the boxes.”
Stephen said out loud what I was thinking. “If it wasn’t Sal, this would be heartbreaking.”
“I’m going to enjoy watching Armando see this,” Ivan said. “He might be so crushed that we don’t even need to kill him. He’ll suffer the rest of his life as a poor man.” “You might be on to something, Super Squish. If I had two functioning arms, I’d be able to hug you. But alas, here I lie. Completely useless,” I said, grinning at him. “Not completely useless, sestrichka. Your brain still works,” Viktor said, laughing his deep belly laugh that always made everyone around him happier for hearing it.
Sephie
Adrik left me with Andrei and Misha once again so he could go back downstairs to deal with Armando. He wanted Armando to see the video and to know that Lorenzo was dead. After they left, Andrei had questions about Misha’s ability to see things. “Does it work on just anybody? Like could you pick a random person and just spy on them?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried that,” Misha said.
“How have you never tried that? That would’ve been the first thing I tried,” Andrei said, laughing.
“Who do you want to know about, Bubba?” I asked.
Before Andrei could answer, Misha answered for him. “Tori.” I looked to Andrei, shocked that he would be curious about her still, even after everything. But I had to admit, I was curious about Max as well, so I couldn’t give him too much sh*t.
“Okay, I can’t say much here. I’m curious about Max too,” I said when Andrei looked somewhat worried about what we’d think of him. Misha got the faraway look in his eye that meant he was trying to see what he could about either one of them. He tried for a few minutes, but got nothing. I unwrapped my hand from the blanket, stretching it out to him. “What if I help?” I asked. He moved closer to me, as I was leaning against Andrei for maximum warmth.
He grabbed my hand, then said, “Tori first.” I nodded my head, trying to think about Tori. It took longer than normal, but we eventually saw her. She was in a house, sitting in a leather chair, having a conversation with an older man that I didn’t recognize immediately. She looked comfortable, like she knew the man. They were clearly having a pleasant conversation. She was intently listening to what he was saying, he appeared to be captivated by her response. Misha squeezed my hand, which usually meant he knew something I didn’t. “That’s one of Sal’s underbosses,” he said.
“Well, that’s an interesting twist I wasn’t expecting,” I said. The vision stopped when we started talking. I looked to Andrei, curious. “What made you want to know about Tori, Bubba? Did something happen?” He shook his head no. “I haven’t heard anything from her since the day Boss fired her. But I’ve always been worried she was going to try and retaliate after he fired her. I thought Max was it, but then when you cut ties with Max completely, she likely figured out that plan wasn’t going to work. Her level of crazy was much higher than I think anyone else realizes.”
“She did get fired twice because of me,” I said.
“It’s more than that, spider monkey. She hated you before there was a reason to hate you. Getting fired just added fuel to the fire. If she’s talking to one of Sal’s underbosses, that can’t be good. She knows where the house is,” Andrei said.
“Would she be that st*pid though?” I asked.
“Hate makes people do a lot of crazy things, gazelle. I don’t put anything past her. I do want to know how she knows Sal’s guy, though,” Misha said.
“Do you know his name? Viktor can find out, I’m sure. He can find out anything, apparently,” I said.
“I don’t remember his name, but I know what he looks like. We keep records. I can find his name tomorrow,”
Misha said.
“How do we get sound next time?” I asked. “I wanted to hear what she was saying, but couldn’t.”
Misha laughed. “You’re seriously asking me? You know more than I know, Sephie.”
“Well, that’s not helpful. I don’t know anything,” I said, holding my ribs so I could laugh.
“I think all you have to do is assume it’s going to happen and let it,” Andrei said. “The weird stuff seems to be happening faster now. It’ll happen soon. Much like your training, spider monkey, sometimes the power is in the surrender.”
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.