Chapter Twelve

Sephie

The two assholes— I don’t even know their names; I don’t want to know their names— were the last ones to the gym. Viktor was sparring with one of Vitaliy’s other guys who had been with him for years. They were well-matched. Aleksei was right. It was good to get new sparring partners. When you constantly sparred with the same person, it was easy to fall into a routine. Since I had five to choose from, I hadn’t reached a point where I needed a new partner, but there was sometimes a routine with a few of the guys. Mostly Viktor and Stephen, as they took it easy on me. They were still worried about hurting me when they sparred with me. Ivan used to be, but after he saw what happened with Mike, he turned up the pressure on me the few times we sparred before he and I were taken. I had to admit to enjoying the challenge. He was surprisingly fast for such a massive human.

The greatest part of the morning, for me anyway, was the way that the other guys would watch the two in the ring. When they took a break, everyone offered advice and brought to light areas that could be improved. It looked like they were fighting, but it was a learning experience for everyone. The same happened when Stephen got in the ring with another of Vitaliy’s regular guys. I enjoyed seeing them being able to sharpen their skills even more. It never hurt my feelings that they were all chiseled, handsome men who generally took their shirts off at some point.

Because Vitaliy’s men knew Ivan and knew that he’d had “extra” training, even though they didn’t know the whole story, none of them would spar with him. Apparently, he had a reputation. I looked to Andrei, who was standing next to me. “They’re really scared to spar with him?” I asked, completely surprised.

Andrei chuckled. “He still takes it very easy on you, spider monkey.”

“And here I thought he wasn’t holding back as much,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest like I was pouting.

It made Andrei laugh. “You know he has more training than pretty much any human alive. He controls it with us, but he likes to challenge new people a little too much.”

“That tracks,” I said, laughing at the thought of Ivan getting enjoyment out of almost killing someone.

Adrik stepped into the ring, motioning for Ivan to follow him. This was new. Adrik only sparred with the guys on very rare occasions. I had asked him about it one night when we were alone, curious as to why he didn’t practice. The next morning, he sparred with Viktor, just to show me that apparently he did not need to practice. Poor Viktor. It took him a week to recover.

Ivan’s devious grin spread across his face as he jumped into the ring. I also caught Vitaliy’s smirk as he watched his son in the ring. He was usually hard to read, but he was visibly proud. He knew of Ivan’s training as well. He also knew Adrik had nothing to be worried about.

I had to admit to enjoying the look of shock on Vitaliy’s men’s faces as they watched Adrik agree to spar with Ivan. Those two walked to the side of the ring, close to where I was standing with Andrei. I heard Adrik tell Ivan not to hold back. “Might as well give them a reason to be pussies,” he said. He caught my eye, smirking at me as he knew I’d heard him.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I fully support this kind of passive-aggressive behavior,” I said, making Andrei laugh with me.

While everyone had been insightful when it came to Viktor and Stephen and their two opponents, there was silence while they watched Adrik and Ivan. There was nothing to critique, no improvements to be made. They were so well-matched that it was almost like they’d choreographed it beforehand. Both of them were breathing hard, sweating as they each tried to outdo the other. Each hit was perfectly countered, each kick was expertly blocked.

“Yeah, he’s totally still taking it easy on me and I might love him a little more because of it,” I said, my eyes wide watching both of them. I could feel that they were both enjoying it, as well. There was almost a giddiness to both of them that I could feel. They didn’t outwardly show it. They looked like they were trying to kill each other. But inside, they were both enjoying this.

I caught Vitaliy watching them. The look of satisfaction on his face was everything. I almost wanted to take a picture of it so I could show Adrik later. I glanced at the other guys’ faces, finally looking at the two assholes. They were shocked. Good. I hope they’re worried.

Ivan and Adrik went on for much longer than the first two matches. There was no clear winner between them; they just decided to stop. Vitaliy’s men stayed quiet, silently glad they’d refused to spar with Ivan. Aleksei walked up beside me and Andrei, as Adrik was climbing out of the ring beside us. He said quietly, “You might be solving the problem of the little flowers today and creating a new one for me.”

Adrik raised his eyebrow, wadding his shirt up in his hand to wipe the sweat from his face. Aleksei chuckled. “They might quit on their own. Then we’re going to have to find replacements for them.”

I looked at Andrei. He had been nervous, but now that his time was nearing, he was focused. I glanced at the other side of the ring where Misha was. He looked just as focused. They both knew that Ivan was the best out of all of us, but they also knew they could hold their own with him. I’d seen it. Those two assholes didn’t stand a chance if they weren’t taking their training seriously.

Adrik said quietly, “Don’t hold back, Andrei. It’s not your fault they haven’t taken their training seriously. You’re the wake-up call they need.”

Andrei looked at me, then Adrik. He nodded once before pulling his shirt off and stepping in the ring. Aleksei informed asshole #1 that it was his turn. He did not look as nervous as I thought he was going to be when he saw Andrei step into the ring. I looked at Adrik, “That moron still thinks he has the advantage over Bubba because he’s so much younger. His day is about to be ruined.”

Ivan walked up, handing Adrik a bottle of water. “Squish, I just want to thank you for holding back when you spar with me. You clearly love me and I’m here for it,” I said.

He laughed. “I don’t have to hold back as much as I used to, princess. You’re making serious progress.”

“I happen to have very good trainers,” I said, smiling sweetly at him. I looked between both Adrik and Ivan, each standing on either side of me. “I could feel how much you two enjoyed that. You were almost giddy.”

They both chuckled. They looked over my head at each other. “It’s been a few years since we’ve done that. We should do it more,” Adrik said. “I forgot how much fun you are.”

“It’s the only time I get a challenge,” Ivan said.

“Do you two want me to leave so you can bromance in peace?” I asked, smirking at both of them. They both laughed loudly, causing everyone to look at us. While I never cared that the guys were looking at me, I suddenly panicked when Vitaliy’s men looked at me. This was really becoming an annoying development in my life.

Ivan and Adrik both stepped in front of me, partially shielding me from everyone. Andrei stepped back in front of me as well in the ring. I saw Misha walk from the other side of the ring to quietly stand behind me. Not a single one of them said a word, they just silently moved to make sure I felt safe.

“I love you all,” I said quietly.

Andrei’s opponent took advantage of his momentary lack of focus when he was worried about me to launch his first attack. Rude. He landed the first hit, which Andrei took like a pro. I could feel that he almost enjoyed it. He was calm, like he was feeling out the other guy’s skills first.

Andrei might’ve been calm, but my anger was coming to the surface watching the other guy in the ring with him. He was so fucking smug, it was irritating. I found myself wishing I could give Andrei some of my anger. Since I’d learned how to control it better, it was quite useful, especially when sparring. It amped up the intensity for me. I felt stronger and faster when I was using my anger.

Andrei pushed asshole #1 back, then I caught him looking at me, a look of surprise on his face. I saw it, but it didn’t quite register as I was still busy thinking about how I wanted to share my anger with him.

We watched as Andrei played it safe with his opponent for a few more minutes, but then we all saw it happen. It looked exactly like what they’d been telling me happened when my switch flipped. Andrei’s switch flipped and he went from defense to offense in a split second.

“Holy shit, who knew he had a switch too,” Misha said behind me.

Once he switched, I could feel Andrei’s anger just as clearly as I could feel Adrik and Ivan. I could also clearly feel that his was feeding into mine, the same way the other two did. There was a difference to him, too. While both Adrik and Ivan felt like chaos personified, Andrei’s anger was quiet. Controlled, but no less deadly. I found myself happy to feel it.

I wanted to tell the guys what I was feeling, but I didn’t want to interrupt Andrei’s focus, so I waited. While asshole #1 had started the match thinking that he had the upper hand, it was very obvious that he was sadly mistaken. Andrei was on the attack and that guy couldn’t do anything but try to defend himself as best he could. He kept trying to position himself against the ropes, but each time Andrei would push him away from the ropes. They knew if someone got caught on the ropes, the match was essentially done. He was trying to end the match without an obvious surrender, and Andrei wouldn’t give it to him. I was so proud of him in that moment.

Asshole #1 gave out before he could force the match to end. His legs gave out on him and he tripped trying to step away from Andrei. He landed hard on the mat and stayed down long enough that we all knew he was done for. We watched him tap the mat twice, indicating that he gave up and was visibly admitting defeat. Andrei simply turned away from him, walking back toward us. Once he was facing away from the others, we saw him smile. My heart might’ve swelled watching him take pride in what had just happened.

He climbed out of the ring, wiping the sweat from his face. He caught my eye and I knew he had something he wanted to talk about, but he stayed quiet as it was Misha’s turn. Once Misha climbed into the ring, Andrei took his spot behind me. He leaned forward, quietly saying, “Whatever you just did for me, do the same for him. It helped.”

Adrik and Ivan both heard him as well. They turned to look at me and then him. I looked back at Andrei, somewhat surprised. “I don’t know what I just did though.”

“Whatever you were thinking about, think the same with Misha. You’ll see,” he said.

Misha pulled his shirt off, tossing it back toward us. He felt nervous, too. The same as Andrei did when his match first started. I watched asshole #2 climb into the ring. He had a little less bravado than his buddy, but he was still more smug than I would’ve liked. It suddenly hit me. I could push my anger to Andrei. It wasn’t his switch; it was my switch that flipped.

I heard him chuckle quietly behind me. “Do it again,” was all he said.

I started to think about the same things with Misha as I had for Andrei. I wanted to push my anger to him to give him even more of an advantage. It was obvious with Bubba that he didn’t need my help, but I wanted an extra “fuck you” for those two assholes. Misha was holding his own with his opponent, learning his moves just as Andrei had done. I concentrated on my anger, noticing that both Ivan and Adrik felt it this time, looking down at me.

They looked back at Misha just in time to see the switch flip with him much like it had with Andrei. He switched to offense in the blink of an eye. He was faster than Andrei, as Misha was a little leaner than the other guys. He was similar to Adrik’s build. He probably had an easier time finding suits than the other four guys, but he was just as strong. Combined with his speed, it meant the other guy never had a chance.

Like Andrei, I could now feel Misha’s anger. I wasn’t at all surprised to find out that there was an element of fuckery in his anger. He was working to figure out how best to embarrass that guy in front of everyone, for maximum humor and maximum embarrassment. I fully supported it.

While Andrei drug out his match, emasculating his opponent by exhausting him in front of everyone, Misha made quick work of asshole #2. He took his legs out from under him, sending him to the mat hard and fast. It knocked the wind out of the guy. He almost lost consciousness, but managed to hang on. He was smart enough to tap out though. He didn’t want a repeat of that fall. Misha stood over him for a moment while the guy tried to catch his breath. He didn’t say a word, he just stared him down as he watched him struggle to breathe for a moment. I don’t think those two are going to be a problem anymore.

When Misha climbed out of the ring, he looked straight at me, his eyes wide. “How did you do that?” he asked quietly.

Adrik noticed the looks from some of the other guys. He said quietly, “Not now. Not here.”

We all nodded. Viktor and Stephen walked up, congratulating Misha and Andrei. They picked up on something, but didn’t ask about it while we were still with everyone else. Aleksei walked over, amused at what had just happened. “I’m going to get enjoyment out of this for a very long time,” he said. The other guys who had been with Vitaliy for years were also visibly enjoying it.

Vitaliy walked up, a small smile on his face. “You’ve given me a treat this morning,” he said before walking back into the gym to complete his own workout with Aleksei.

Adrik, smirking, told the guys to come to the penthouse before getting cleaned up so we could take advantage of having the penthouse to ourselves for a few minutes before Vitaliy and Aleksei got done.

Once upstairs, Viktor and Stephen were curious about what happened, as they weren’t close enough to hear Andrei after his match. Andrei said, “I don’t know how, but she managed to push her anger to me. It was like an insane power boost for me.” He looked to Misha. “You felt it too, right?”

“Yeah, it was like Mario eating one of those magic mushrooms,” he said, his wide smile stretching across his face.

Adrik looked at me, surprised. He’d been feeling me pushing things to him for a while now, but neither of us knew I’d be able to do it with anyone else. “Is it the same with them?” he asked, curious.

“I don’t think so. It was more difficult. They feel different, too,” I said.

“Your anger levels were off the charts, princess. I could feel that,” Ivan said.

“I think I had to get to that level to be able to push it to them. I can do it much easier with you and easier still with Adrik.”

“You guys saw the switch flip, right?” Andrei asked. Everyone nodded. “It wasn’t my switch. I don’t have a switch. Neither does Misha. It was her switch.”

“It was exactly like watching Sephie when hers flips,” Stephen said. “It was clear when it happened. I think everyone saw it, even.”

“It was impressive. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two look that good in a practice match. When your life is really on the line, sure, but not when you know it’s a practice match,” Viktor said.

“They feel different to you?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah. You and Adrik are similar, in that you’re both very chaotic with your anger. It’s controlled but barely. Although, it’s becoming more so lately. Andrei is quiet and very controlled but just as deadly. Misha’s might be my favorite, just because he delights in it. I can feel the fuckery increase with his anger,” I said, laughing.

Misha laughed loudly. “You knew I was trying to find a way to embarrass him as much as possible.”

“Yep. You both did, just in different ways. I’ve never been more proud,” I said.

Viktor, ever the proud older brother, said, “I don’t think those two will be a problem moving forward. They might quit after today.” His deep belly laugh filled the kitchen.

The guys left to get cleaned up, giving Adrik and me the penthouse to ourselves for a few more minutes before Aleksei and Vitaliy came back upstairs. I couldn’t keep my hands off Adrik. Normally, it was the other way around, but seeing him in the ring with Ivan was an unexpected major turn on.

“I’m actually glad I figured out that I could push my anger onto Andrei and Misha because otherwise, I would’ve been left thinking about how fucking hot you are. I mean, they might agree, but I don’t think any of them necessarily want to feel that,” I said, pulling my shirt off before trying to pull his shorts off as I also tried to drag him toward the shower.

He laughed, his lips still against mine, his hands pulling at my clothes just as feverishly. He walked into the shower, turning the water on, then quickly came back to me. He grabbed me around the waist, pulling me to him roughly. “I might’ve felt it while I was in the ring. You’re very good motivation,” he said, turning me in his arms so my back was to his chest, his hands roughly squeezing and running over my breasts. He walked us into the shower, stopping just before he pressed me against the wall. His hands ran down both of my arms. He grabbed each of my hands and placed them on the wall in front of me. “You’re going to need this,” he said, as he grabbed my hips and pulled them back toward him so I was slightly bent over.

“Need it why?” I asked, trying to turn around to look at him. He caught me and put my hands back on the wall with one hand. The other hand slid down my back, in between my ass cheeks to my slit.

“Because I’m going to fuck you,” he said, removing his fingers from my pussy and slamming into me with his cock. I moaned loudly, now grateful I had something to brace against. I pushed my hips back into him, already wanting more.

He grabbed my hips, his hands holding me firmly as he slammed into me repeatedly. My walls clenched down on him as he buried his cock deep inside me. I pushed back on the wall, my hips meeting his each time he thrust into me. I couldn’t contain the moans that escaped as I felt myself building to orgasm. With each thrust, it felt harder to stand up as my body was nothing but pleasure. I felt his hand slide up my back, to the back of my neck. He grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling my head back as he thrust into me harder. I was breathing heavy, unable to quiet my screams of pleasure. I might not be able to walk later, but I still wanted more.

“Harder,” I managed to say in between trying to breathe and moaning in pleasure. I heard him groan as he readily obliged. He let go of my hair, but held onto the back of my neck as he pulled me to him each time he slammed into me. I could do nothing but try to remain standing as he continued to fuck me.

Finally, just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, I felt him find his release. He slammed into me one last time, exploding inside me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, pushing me against the wall as we both worked to catch our breath.

He stood up, pulling us both back under the water. He kissed my neck gently. I was still struggling to catch my breath. I held onto his arms, my grip getting tighter the longer it took to slow my breathing.

He felt my panic start to set in as I couldn’t catch my breath. He kept his arms around me tightly, holding me up. His lips next to my ear, he calmly said, “You’re okay, solnishko. Listen to my voice. You’re safe. You’re with me. You can breathe.” He kept repeating it over and over again until my breaths started to calm down slightly. My grip on his arms relaxed somewhat, but I didn’t let go.

He turned me to face him, still quietly repeating his calming words, trying to help me relax so I could breathe normally. I finally took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I felt his hands on either side of my face and felt him press his lips to mine.

He started to say something, but I cut him off, without even opening my eyes. “Don’t apologize for that. I very much enjoyed that,” I said, smiling at him.

He laughed. “I don’t like that you can’t catch your breath. I don’t like feeling your fear so close to feeling your pleasure. Those two should not be connected,” he said.

“I don’t disagree,” I said, resting my head on his chest.

“You had trouble catching your breath the other night too. Have you been having trouble other times?” he asked, his fingers massaging my scalp as he washed my hair.

“I don’t think so. I haven’t done that much though. It’s easy to breathe when you’re not doing anything strenuous.”

He chuckled. “Then it’s my fault for being too strenuous.”

“But I like when you’re strenuous. I need a nap now, but I love it,” I said, finally opening my eyes to look at him.

“You need a nap because of me? That’s not normal either, no matter how strenuous I get.”

“Stop worrying about me. You’re not going to break me,” I said, reaching up to kiss him.

He clicked his tongue. “I’m going to have Andrei check to make sure you’re okay. I don’t like that you’ve struggled to catch your breath twice in a row. I still can’t feel anything from your lung. I only feel your panic when you struggle to catch your breath,” he said.

“I don’t feel anything from my lung either. Except the panic when I can’t catch my breath. You’re not missing anything,” I said. “I don’t want you to worry that you’re going to break me or be scared to touch me. I love it when you’re strenuous when you fuck me,” I said, grinning at him. I stood on my toes and ran my tongue slowly over his bottom lip as I sucked it into my mouth.

He narrowed his eyes at me. He pulled me close, kissing me passionately, but quickly. “What am I going to do with you …”

Adrik had meetings that afternoon. Vitaliy informed us that he also had meetings elsewhere in the city, so he wouldn’t be back until the evening. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in the city that everyone wants to see me when I’m here. It’s partly why I never come to the city,” he said. He sounded almost grumpy about having to go.

“You can tell them to fuck off, Vitaliy. You know that, right?” I said. I wanted to see what kind of reaction I could get out of him. “They’re not the boss of you.”

He laughed loudly. He pulled my arm through his, patting my hand. “If only everyone were as fun as you. I wouldn’t mind meetings then.”

“The world could not handle more than one of me, Vitaliy,” I said. He surprised me by kissing my forehead. He simply smiled at me, telling us all he would return, then walked out of the penthouse with Aleksei.

Once he left, Adrik looked at Andrei. “Sephie has had trouble catching her breath twice now in the last two days. The second time was worse than the first. I’m worried there’s something wrong that she doesn’t want to tell me about.”

Andrei looked at me, almost like he was asking permission. I smiled at him. “It’s okay, Bubba. You can look. If there’s something wrong, then even I don’t know about it.”

He studied me for a few minutes. He went to speak, but stopped himself. He was quiet for another few minutes, then finally said, “Her lung isn’t as bad as when she had pneumonia, but it’s not 100 percent either, but it’s made worse because she has anxiety about it now. She’s having small panic attacks when she has trouble catching her breath. That makes it harder to catch her breath. That’s why you talking to her and repeating phrases to her helps calm her down. She’s also still due for sleeping in, but she’s fighting it because of everything going on.”

“Have you had panic attacks before, Seph?” Stephen asked.

I shook my head no. “Not that I know of. I wouldn’t have said me not being able to catch my breath was a panic attack though, so there’s that.”

“It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot recently. You’re still processing everything,” Viktor said.

Adrik was quietly contemplating everything, but he seemed mostly satisfied that I wasn’t hiding anything from him or he wasn’t missing anything on his own. I walked to him as he opened his arm for me. He pulled me to him, kissing my temple. “It appears it is my fault,” he said quietly, with a smirk on his face.

“Battista arrived last night. He wants to meet tomorrow. He made reservations at his favorite spot,” Vitaliy said during a lull in the conversation at dinner.

“Please tell me his favorite spot is someplace fun, like the zoo,” I said.

Vitaliy laughed. “Net, but you might be able to talk him into it next time.”

“Dammit. Missed opportunity,” I said. “Where’s his favorite spot? Although I can tell you right now, I’m not going to enjoy it as much as I would the zoo.”

“He loves one restaurant at his hotel downtown. He always has important meetings there. But since he owns the place, he’s usually the only one in the restaurant for those meetings. It’s very convenient,” Vitaliy said.

“What hotel?”

“Same one Mr. Turner works at,” Ivan said.

“Oh, that hotel. Shit. That means I have to wear heels. Yet another point for the zoo over this boring ass hotel,” I said. “But my consolation prize is I’ll get to say hi to Mr. Turner.” I hadn’t been back to that hotel since the night of the ball. I couldn’t say I was looking forward to it.

While everyone was busy talking, Ivan caught me off to the side. “No one is leaving your side this time, princess. Especially not me. Especially not your goddamn prince.”

“You’re getting very good at reading my emotions, Squish. Even when they’re not out of control yet.”

“This one was easy, princess. I have the same fear as you do. There’s no way I’m letting what happened last time ever happen again. You won’t be alone at any point. Might make the bathroom situation awkward, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make,” he said, grinning at me.

I laughed at him. “You’re my favorite, Squish. Don’t tell the others.”

It was quite the sight to behold when we arrived at the hotel the following day. Between the seven of us, plus Vitaliy and all of his security, you would’ve thought a foreign dignitary had arrived.

Mr. Turner, always happy to see us, was waiting to open the door as we walked up the steps. “Miss Sephie, you look beautiful as always,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

I stepped away from Adrik to give Mr. Turner a hug. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Turner. How are things today? Good? Quiet?”

“You know I love my quiet days, Miss Sephie.” Before he let me go, he whispered in my ear, “Come see me when you can.” I nodded as discreetly as I could. Mr. Turner very rarely asked me to come see him, so I had a feeling he knew something he thought I should know. He winked at me as I stepped back to Adrik. “I’m glad to see you fine gentlemen taking care of her as usual,” he said, nodding to Adrik and the guys. He opened the door, stepping to the side for everyone to enter.

Once inside the hotel, Vitaliy looked at Adrik and me, somewhat surprised. “He used to be my neighbor. I’m nowhere near that friendly to just anybody,” I said, laughing at the relieved expression on Vitaliy’s face.

Battista was waiting on us in the restaurant. It was just as Vitaliy said it would be. The entire restaurant was empty, except us. Battista was around the same age as Vitaliy, maybe slightly younger. His olive skin and black hair gave him the appearance of a much younger man, however. Vitaliy greeted him as warmly as he was capable of. When Adrik stepped away from me to shake his hand, the guys all silently moved closer to me, effectively boxing me in. I smiled to myself.

There were two other people with Battista, which was unexpected, at least to me. He introduced the first one to Vitaliy. I watched as Vitaliy shook his hand, his cold smile on his face, like normal. The second person had gotten a phone call as we were walking up, so she had stepped away just before we got to them. She had finished the call and was walking back to us. I noticed Ivan who was standing partially in front of me suddenly stiffen. No sooner had I felt his unease when I felt his protective bubble go up around me. Since no one was necessarily paying attention to us yet, I grabbed his hand, asking quietly, “What’s going on?”

He squeezed my hand and turned to look at me. He looked shocked, but I could also see a flash of fear across his face before he got it under control. “Something’s happening. It’s different. I’m okay, but I might need you,” he said. I nodded my head, keeping my hand in his as he turned back toward Adrik, Vitaliy, and Battista.

I watched as Battista introduced the woman to Vitaliy. When Vitaliy shook her hand, I noticed the very quick look of shock flash across his face before it went back to cold and hard. Adrik noticed too, as he cut his eyes over to me before looking back at Battista as he introduced him to the woman.

Vitaliy turned toward me, motioning me to come and meet Battista. I looked at Ivan, silently asking if he would be okay without me for a moment. He nodded his head and let go of my hand. Adrik saw the exchange between us before I walked to his side. After I greeted everyone, he quickly searched my eyes to find out what had happened with Ivan. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he gently pushed me back toward Ivan and the other guys. I grabbed Ivan’s hand as soon as I was partially behind him and Andrei once more. I felt him relax slightly, but he was definitely on high alert. There was something about the woman that he didn’t like. I had a feeling that Vitaliy didn’t like it either, but I couldn’t exactly ask in front of everyone.

We sat down at a table that was large enough that Ivan could sit next to me. I kept my hand on his knee under the table the entire time. I’d only ever seen him like that when he was at the hospital, so it was unnerving that he was having this reaction now.

Since Vitaliy was with us this time, I wasn’t needed for translation purposes. It meant I could sit and observe everyone, which I was happy about. Adrik was happy about that as well. I could tell that Battista and Vitaliy had a good relationship. It was obvious that Vitaliy was at ease with Battista. Adrik was too. The other man who was with Battista was quiet, but honest when he spoke. While Battista was loud and boisterous, his associate was quieter and almost shy. The woman was a little bit of a different story. She wasn’t quite as old as Vitaliy and Battista, but she was older than Adrik by at least a decade, if not more. It did not stop her from gazing longingly at him every chance she got. After his initial introduction, Adrik hadn’t even glanced at her, but she was almost fixated on him. She didn’t talk much, but when she did, she was fake. Very fake. I did not get a good feeling from her, but she wasn’t talking enough for me to figure out why I didn’t like her.

Every time she spoke, Ivan would tense. He would look away from her, even. It was starting to concern me. After they got the important business out of the way and the conversation turned to more meaningless subjects, I leaned over to Adrik. “I need to get Ivan out of here for at least a few minutes. He’s going to escort me to the bathroom. I could use Andrei too, if that isn’t going to cause too much of a scene.”

He nodded his head. He leaned in, a small smile on his face as he kissed me gently, his lips lingering on mine before I went to get up. He looked to Andrei and jerked his head slightly toward me as I stood up, excusing myself for a moment. Ivan was immediately by my side, as was Andrei. We walked quickly toward the restroom at the back of the restaurant.

Once we were away from everyone, I asked Ivan what was happening. “I’m not exactly sure, princess. But that woman, I can’t look at her. Does she look normal to you?” he asked. He sounded almost afraid when he asked me.

“I don’t get a good feeling from her, but I can’t figure out why. Have you gotten anything from her, Bubba?”

“Same as you. I don’t like her, but she’s not saying enough for me to figure out why I don’t. Why can’t you look at her, Ivan?” Andrei asked.

He was quiet for a minute, looking from me to Andrei nervously. “Squish, Bubba has known about your past longer than I have. He knows what happened to you. He heard you one night talking in your sleep. You can say whatever you need to say,” I said, grabbing his hand once again.

He looked almost relieved to know that Andrei knew about his past. “Part of the reason that I’m so haunted by the doctors that used to experiment on me is that their faces never looked normal to me. Princess, when you said that my demons pull other people’s demons out so the world can see them like I do, I’m not sure if you knew how accurate that statement is. I never saw the doctors’ faces. I saw the demons inside them. It’s only ever happened at the facility and I had written it off to being a kid and being tortured, but I’m seeing it in that woman out there.”

“You’re not the only one. Vitaliy got something from her too. I saw his look when he shook her hand that meant something was off about her,” I said.

“Vitaliy is different too?” Andrei asked.

I smiled and nodded my head. “That’s why we told him about you and Misha. He felt it when he shook my hand. That’s how he’s special. He can feel if a person is good or bad when he touches them. We all feel different to him, for the record.”

“Must be where Boss gets it,” he said.

I glanced at Ivan. “What do you need to be able to make it through the rest of this meeting? I’ll fake an illness to get us out of here if I have to.”

“I’m not sure, princess. This has never happened before so I don’t know how to handle it. Your hand on me helps keep me grounded,” Ivan said.

“I can do that. Adrik knows something is happening. He’ll be able to get most of this conversation when we get back to the table without me saying anything. I’m hoping he can make the meeting shorter. I don’t want to have to look at her make bedroom eyes at my future husband any longer than I have to anyway,” I said.

Andrei laughed. “She’s worse than Giana about making it obvious.”

“Right? Is there no subtlety left in this world?” I asked. Before we walked back to the table, I pulled Ivan toward me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, knowing he was struggling to keep it together. “We’ll get out of here as soon as we can. You’re doing great and I’m proud of you,” I said. He held onto me tightly for a few moments before I felt his arms relax around me.

Andrei and Ivan both walked slightly in front of me as we walked back to the tables. I had a hold of Ivan’s hand still. I was mostly lost in my own head, thinking about Ivan and how to help him when I felt his grip on my hand tighten. I looked up, snapped back to reality.

The woman was sitting in my chair, turned toward Adrik, talking to him quietly. Adrik had leaned as far away from her as he could without falling off his chair. He was forced to look at her, but would only glance at her before looking away. I said to Ivan and Andrei, “Get behind me. Ivan put your hand on my back, I need to let go.”

We still had some distance before we were back at the table, so they moved instantly behind me and I felt Ivan’s hand on the small of my back. I crossed my arms over my chest as we walked the last few steps to the table. We were walking behind the woman and Adrik, so while he knew we were there, she still hadn’t seen us.

I cleared my throat as I stopped behind my chair this woman was sitting in. She continued talking to Adrik like she didn’t hear me, so I cleared my throat louder this time. She finally glanced at me but didn’t make a move to get up. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I was so angry at her blatant disregard for my presence that I didn’t care. As she was talking to Adrik, I could hear the thoughts in her head. I could also feel the hatred she had for me. She was doing this on purpose.

I looked at Vitaliy, then to Battista. In Italian, I said, loud enough that everyone could hear me, “Battista, do you always surround yourself with such ill-mannered women, or you brought her special for us? If you did, I’d like to thank you. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had the chance to make another woman cry.”

Vitaliy couldn’t contain his laughter. Even Battista looked amused. The woman stopped talking to Adrik, noticing everyone looking at her. She finally made a move to stand up. When she turned around to look at me, I felt Ivan’s hand press into my back at the same time I felt his bubble go up around me. When she looked at me, I saw exactly what Ivan saw. It wasn’t her face that I saw. It was something entirely different and not exactly human.

As she turned to walk back to her original seat, she looked at me with every bit of hatred she could muster. It was very much the same feeling I had when Sal and Armando looked at me when they took me and Ivan. I didn’t like it. I felt the panic start, but I pushed my anger to the surface as much as possible, trying to override the panic. Ivan and Andrei both caught on to what I was doing, and I felt their anger feed into mine. The panic was pushed down and I was able to hold her gaze until she looked away.

As she moved to walk past me, I said in Italian, so only she could hear, “Try to touch him again and you will no longer have functioning hands.”

She didn’t respond, but she walked very quickly to her original seat. I graciously sat back down with as pleasant of a smile on my face as I could muster. Adrik moved his chair closer to me, so I could still keep a hand on Ivan. He stretched his arm across my lap, leaning over to kiss me in front of everyone. I had to admit to feeling ecstatic when I looked at her and saw her red face at seeing him give me affection.

Battista and Vitaliy had been quietly conversing while this was happening. Vitaliy caught my eye, winking at me. The woman was much quieter for the rest of the meeting but would still interject occasionally. Her little stunt seemed to irritate Battista, as he was much colder to her for the rest of the meeting. Before, he would let her talk and seemed to take her opinion into account. After, he was very dismissive of her and would interrupt her frequently.

Ivan managed to hold it together, as long as I could keep a hand on him. I was anxious for the meeting to end so I could tell him that I saw what he saw. I was curious if Andrei could also see it. The woman still took every opportunity to look at Adrik, but he never took his hand off my lap and he made sure to look at me more often than normal. He practically didn’t look at anyone else the rest of the time.

When the meeting finally came to a close and everyone stood up to leave, I felt his arm around my waist, pulling me as close to him as possible. I made sure that she saw it. Adrik walked to Battista, shaking his hand, never letting go of me. The guys were close behind us. Battista stepped closer to us, taking my hand. He turned it over, kissing the back of my hand as he quietly said in Italian, “You’ve done me a huge favor today. I’m in your debt.” He smiled warmly at me as he stepped back and went back to talking to Vitaliy.

While Vitaliy and Battista continued to talk, Adrik looked at his watch. I knew he didn’t have any more meetings scheduled today, but he still told them he needed to get back for one. They both nodded, both of them smiling at me as we turned to leave. I caught her staring at us one last time as we turned to walk away from everyone. I felt Adrik’s hand slide down to my ass as we walked away. I could barely keep my laughter in until we were out of the restaurant.

“You’re just as savage as I am now. I fucking love it.”