“Elsewhere. We really don’t know who this guy is. It could be some kind of trap,” Ivan said.
“He has to come to the city though. There’s no way we’re leaving right now, for any reason,” I said.
“He might be too scared to do that,” Sephie said. “He seems nervous about someone finding out he’s still alive.”
“Then we don’t meet with him. Simple as that. I’m not taking you anywhere else until you’re healed completely, solnishko,” I said, looking at her sternly enough that she wouldn’t try to argue. She grinned at me, then glanced to see where the guys were looking. When she was satisfied they were all looking away, she closed her eyes briefly, making them go dark, then looked to me once more. When she looked at me, could feel her push her warmth to me as she was looking at me with her dark eyes, a smile on her face. It was so unexpected that I cursed quietly under my breath. She blinked again, making her eyes return to normal and acted like nothing had happened, continuing on with the conversation, while I was left trying to control myself. I’m in so much trouble.
“Once we’re done eating, I’ll take an hour out of my day to respond to him and tell him he has to come here if he wants to meet with you,” she said, grinning at Viktor.
We were all surprised that the journalist responded quickly to the demand that he come to the city to meet. He basically told Viktor to name the time and place and he’d be there.
“I expected some push back on that one,” Ivan said.
“I did too. I wonder if he’s already here then?” Sephie said, thinking aloud. She was sitting at the kitchen island with Misha while the rest of us cleaned up the kitchen.
“Do we know what he looks like?” Misha asked. Sephie nodded, then pulled a picture up from an article on his supposed death that Viktor had found previously.
Misha extended his hand to her, saying, “let’s see if we can find him.” She grinned at him, taking his hand. The rest of us stopped what we were doing to watch them, waiting to see what they would be able to see.
The process took longer than normal. Usually, Misha would see something right away, but he also usually checked in on people he already knew. It would make sense that it would take longer to find this guy given that neither Sephie nor Misha knew him.
“Got him,” Misha said quietly.
“I know that area. It’s close to where my uncle used to live,” Sephie said as she squeezed Misha’s hand tighter. They watched the movie that only they could see for a few moments longer, before they looked a each other, then to the rest of us.
“He’s already in the city. I can’t tell how long he’s lived here, but he’s living here now. I can show you on the map the area of the city he’s in,” Misha said.
“From what we saw, he keeps to himself mostly. He only goes out for necessities, doesn’t talk to many people, tries to not be seen,” Sephie said.
“He’ll be easy to watch for a few days before we meet with him, then,” Stephen said. “I love a recluse. They’re the easiest ones to watch. They almost always keep to the exact same routine.” “I’ll go grab a map,” Viktor said.
“Should he meet with one of you, though? He might put it together who you are and who you work for,” Sephie said. “He also appears to prefer to speak Italian, which is going to be problematic.” “Ask him if he speaks English when you respond. Tell him you’ve been using translator software to respond to him,” Ivan said.
“Even still, your Russian accents are going to give you away,” Sephie said.
Misha turned to look at her. “You’re not meeting with him either, gazelle,” he said, sternly. “If the people of the city heard about you being kidnapped, he’ll just as easily put it together who you are as he will one of us.”
“D*mmit, I got scolded twice in one morning,” she said, mostly under her breath.
Adrik
Viktor returned with the map, to see us laughing at the exchange. “I always miss the good stuff,” he said, laying out the map in front of Misha.
“Sephie brought up a good point that if one of us meet with this guy, he’s going to piece together who we wo for. But then she said he might only speak Italian, which is going to be problematic, implying that she should be the one to meet with him. Misha shut her down,” Andrei said, still laughing.
“That’s not happening, sestrichka. Not when you’re like this,” Viktor said, looking at her sternly.
“D*mmit. Three times,” she said.
“What about Chen? We give him an earpiece. We tell him exactly what to say to this guy. Sephie can still translate if needed. Everybody’s happy,” Stephen said.
“Except Chen. He won’t be happy. He’ll be trying not to have a heart attack that whole time,” Sephie said.
“We can coach him through it,” Andrei said. “He’ll be fine. He can totally do this.”
“We’ll be watching him the whole time. He saw what I did to Smith. He’ll know if this guy makes one wrong move, I’ll take him out,” Stephen 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.