“That’s how most everything works with us. She figures out she can do it and then shows the rest of us how to do it as well,” Ivan said.
“She gives us new life goals to aspire to,” Misha said, grinning at her.
“How do you know you can do these things, sladkaya?” Vitaliy asked Sephie.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Nobody told me I couldn’t, I guess,” she said, making everyone laugh, Vitaliy’s laugh might’ve been the loudest, even.
She was getting better about panicking when all the attention was on her, but she was very shy about it still. I felt her shrink against me slightly. I just wrapped my arms completely around her, holding her tightly against me. “I love you so much, Persephone. I felt her relax and take a deep breath, content to have my arms around her.
“Um, Boss. I hate to up, but she needs to stretch again. It seems to help herbs from getting tight,” Andrei said.
Sephie stood up straighter and kissed me quickly, saying, “I have to listen to him or he won’t let me play with Ivan again.” We were all laughing as she walked away. following Andrei.
Ivan looked at me, still amused, but quite serious. “I’ve seriously never seen her look so good. I don’t get many challenges, but she was a legit challenge today.”
“I could tell. You rarely have to put in effort. It was hard to tell who was putting in re effort a few times there, her or you,” I said, still very proud that she’d made him work that hard.
He chuckled. “I know I was a few times. She’s quick.”
“Good. It’ll be good for both of you to do this regularly, then. Can’t have her shield getting soft,” I said, walking further into the gym to get my own workout in before we went back upstairs. I smiled to myself the entire workout, thinking about nothing but Sephie the entire time.
Author’s Note: It is in my best interest to finish this story. If you’ve ever wondered why so many authors disappear from this platform and never finish their stories, I feel confident in saying it’s because they can’ handle the pressure and nagging from the readers. You can argue about how we should “grow thicker skin” as one reader commented after coming unhinged at me, but I would like to point out the very real fac that creativity does not work well under pressure. It needs space. Space I am currently not getting. I appreciate you all for reading. I do not appreciate those of you who feel like you have license to micromanage my time. I’ve worked on this story every single day for the past 6 months and there are still mistakes that many people enjoy condescendingly pointing out. I’ve also been working multiple jobs while trying to have a life. It is in my best interest to finish this story and make it the best it can possibly be. For those of you that are waiting patiently, I see you and I appreciate you. For those of you that are displaying classic signs of addiction, please understand that I am petty cough to withhold all chapters until I’ve finished this story just to teach you patience. My creativity does not, nor will it ever, care about your need for instant gratification. I will say it one more time: it is in my best interest to finish this story. Give me the space to do so and stop demanding to know when the next update is going to be. I update each week.
Adnk
My mind was wandering to Sephie for most of my meetings throughout the day. Thankfully, I didn’t have many and the ones I did have weren’t very serious. She never failed to impress me with each new thing she came up with.
I felt her close to my office when my current meeting was wrapping up. Our connection was so strong now that it was getting easier to tell where she was and who she was with at all times. I did have a few moments of guilt that it took me so long to find her when she and Ivan were taken. If it happened now, I’d be able to find her immediately. I did take some solace in that.
I felt her warmth as she broke me free from my thoughts before my meeting had officially ended. She knew.
As soon as my associate walked out of my office, she walked in, her wide smile stretched across her face. She was carrying coffee. Our inability to satiate our s*xual appetite was cutting into our sleep. We were both tired.
“I love you so much right now,” I said, as she handed me the coffee.
“I know,” she said, grinning at me. “You need to be sharp. We’re leaving to meet with the mayor and DA after your next meeting is over.”
“Oh?” I asked, loving that she knew my schedule before I did. She knew I liked it what she got bossy, so she would be extra bratty sometimes just to drive me a little more crazy.
“Mmm hrum. We’re meeting in a parking garage, apparently, like some kind of clandestine secret meeting, so I get to check that off my bucket list. I’m gonna need everyone to be completely on point,” she said. trying to hide her smile that was threatening to show itself.
I laughed, pulling her into my lap. “You might need to stop. Literally everything you do turns me on right now. I don’t want to have to suffer through my last meeting with a b*ner,” I said, my lips next to her ear. I felt her breath hitch.
“You like it when I’m all bi*chy and bossy,” she said, grinning at me.
“I very much do,” I said, as we both heard the elevator doors ding to signal the arrival of my last meeting of the day. I kissed her quickly, then said, “you’re welcome to stay for this one. It’s Neal.” “I’ll say hello, but I promised Ivan I would help him be even more aware of what’s going on around him,” she said. “The Wonder Twins are going to be my g*inea pigs.”
Viktor walked in with Neal as Sephie stood up to greet him. They exchanged pleasantries and after she had asked him a few questions about the building project, she politely excused herself. Neal sat down across from my desk, a small smile on his face. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but the more time you two are together, the more beautiful that woman gets.” “I could not agree more,” I said.
On the way to meet with the mayor and DA, we were all very serious, very focused. Stephen had gone ahead with a team of his own and set up across from the building, but once we were in the parking garage, his cover would be limited. We weren’t necessarily worried about Doug or Eric, but we still wanted to be prepared for anything. To the point that even Sephie was armed for this meeting. We had also agreed to have Kostya on standby. Viktor and Kostya had devised a way to make it happen very quickly, so Viktor just needed to quickly touch both of them and Kostya could fix them. If I was going to rely on these two, I wanted to make sure I did everything in my power to keep them loyal. I did not want another Henry to deal with.
We’d decided that Viktor was going to check both for weapons when we first arrived. It would be quick, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to do in these kinds of situations, and they likely wouldn’t question it. Kostya could fix them and they would never be the wiser.
Eric and Doug arrived shortly after we did. They were supposed to be inside the building in a “meeting. Because the men that Henry had following both Eric and Doug were not well trained, they never followed them into a building. They would wait outside until the two men emerged and would pick up the trail from there. It was a rookie move. There are plenty of ways to ditch a tail once you enter a building. Or, have secret meetings, in our case. “It did make our lives somewhat easier, so I was always grateful for ineptitude.
The guys were on high alert and didn’t leave Sephie very much space as we walked teet Eric and Doug. She enjoyed it. She never once got irritated with them for feeling overprotective of her. She would tease me about it occasionally, but only just laughs. I knew she secretly loved it. She had spent so many years never feeling truly safe when she was with her uncle especially, but even after she had gottes away and was on her own. Now that she had it, she was never letting go of it.
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.