Chapter Fifty-Seven

Adrik

Sephie was still sound asleep and very much tangled up with me when I woke up the next morning. I went to move and she latched on tighter, without waking up. Apparently, she wanted me to stay for a while longer. Who was I to deny her?

I fully expected her to stay asleep, but she eventually started to stir as I held her, thinking about everything that was going on lately. I felt guilty, as it was likely my emotions that were all over the place that woke her up.

She opened her eyes, smiling sweetly at me. I had to admit to adoring seeing her eyes turn blue first thing in the morning. She hid her face in my chest, pulling me closer to her if that was even possible.

After a few quiet moments, she finally inhaled and went to stretch. She winced when she did.

“Yeah, that’s my fault,” I said, trying to look apologetic and not show how proud I was of it.

She giggled. “You can be proud. I enjoyed it immensely,” she said. “But you might have to carry me everywhere today.”

I got out of bed, pulling her into my arms. “I like this idea. If I keep you so sore you can’t walk, then you’ll have to go everywhere with me and you can’t get away,” I said, walking her to the bathroom.

She cut her eyes over at me but didn’t say anything for a moment, like she was legitimately considering this option in her life. It made me laugh. “I adore you for even pretending to consider this,” I said, kissing her as I set her down.

“What? It’s a good plan,” she said. I kissed her one more time, then went to the closet. I was still laughing when she finally joined me in the closet. She was still completely naked from the night before, giving me plenty to think about the rest of the day. She caught me looking at her, but I tried to cover.

“You’re still excited that Ivan agreed to spar with you more often,” I said.

“You’re still excited that I’m still not wearing any clothes,” she said, smiling at me. “We’re both correct.”

God, I love her.

Vitaliy surprised us all by showing up with his men in the gym when we went down. We had just arrived in the gym and they walked in.

“Did you plan this last night and I missed it?” Sephie asked me.

“Nope. I told you he’d be back to get an explanation for why we feel different,” I said, laughing. I could hear her laughing in her head.

“To what do we owe this pleasure, Vitaliy?” Sephie asked as she walked over to him to give him a hug.

“Ivan said you two were going to spar this morning. I didn’t want to miss it,” he said, smiling at her. “My guys could use new partners as well. Ilya wants to see how his progress is coming too.”

Sephie had told me the night before that Ilya was happy working for my father. She’d shown me what his face looked like as he was talking to her about it earlier in the evening. It was evident that he was very excited with his new situation. It was good to see.

Ivan walked over to Sephie, throwing his arm over her shoulders. “Who do you think should spar with Ilya this time, princess?”

“I get to decide? Why do I get to decide?” she asked.

“You made such a good match last time that it got him a job. You might get him a promotion this time. Choose wisely,” he said, teasing her.

She elbowed him in the ribs, but she said, “I think it should be Bubba this time.” She looked between me and Ivan, saying, “I think they both want to prove how much they’ve improved. It’ll be a very good match.”

“Should we warn Vitaliy he’s going to want to promote him now or should we just let him figure it out?” Ivan asked.

She giggled, then called Andrei over to make sure he would want to spar with Ilya. He just smiled widely at her when she asked him. She knew all of us so well by this point that she didn’t need to snoop in anyone’s head. She just knew.

Andrei pulled her to the side while Sergei and Misha got in the ring. As her trainer, he took everything she did very seriously. I think it made him nervous when she sparred with Ivan. He knew Ivan wasn’t going to hurt her, but Ivan also had more training than everyone but me. Sometimes reflexes can be detrimental in such situations. He was trying to keep her from hurting herself, so he made sure she was warmed up and limber before she got in the ring with Ivan.

Ivan caught me watching them. “I think I make Andrei nervous when I spar with the princess,” he said, chuckling.

“I was just thinking that. He takes his job as her trainer very seriously. I do appreciate it, not gonna lie,” I said.

“It used to worry me too. I had to hold back so much with her in the beginning, but the last time I was in the ring with her, I was surprised at how much she’s progressed.”

“She’s been excited about this ever since you agreed to it. I have to admit to being quite curious to see if there’s a difference since my last level-up gave her so much extra too.”

“Shit. I didn’t even think about that. I better stretch too,” he said, walking over to join Andrei and Sephie.

Vitaliy took advantage of me standing alone. He walked up, asking quietly, “How do you feel so different to me now?”

I laughed quietly. “I got a new level unlocked.” I glanced toward Sephie, who was still warming up. “It’s actually a much better effect if Sephie is here when I tell you the specifics of it.”

“I need your demon eyes, for added emphasis. It’ll only take a moment,” I said to her. She was standing next to me a few seconds later. Vitaliy looked surprised to see her appear without me saying anything.

He snapped his fingers. “I forget you can do that now.”

“It’s quite useful,” I said. I glanced at Sephie, then looked back at my father. “I can now condemn souls and demons to Hell,” I said flatly.

Sephie slid her arm through mine, as she said, “He’s the King of the Underworld now.”

Vitaliy’s eyes went wide as he looked at her eyes. She glanced at me, knowing I enjoyed the red almost as much as the blue, then looked back at Vitaliy.

“What does this color mean, malishka?”

“It’s not so much a meaning as it is homage to the King,” she said. “This one isn’t actually me doing it. It’s my demon. Turns out she loves him just as much as I do.”

Vitaliy cursed under his breath. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes and felt it with my own hands, I wouldn’t believe it. Why did this happen? Who do you need to use it on?”

“Ricardo and Martin, specifically. Maybe Sal too, we’re still waiting to see, but he’s recently made a deal as well. Ricardo and Martin are confirmed.”

He ran his hand through his hair. “We apparently have much to discuss.” He looked at Sephie, saying, “I appreciate you letting Jessica come to dinner last night, but we apparently missed out on very important conversations because she was there.”

“Don’t worry, Vitaliy. She’ll be okay with everything soon. It’s just a little overwhelming for her right now. I didn’t want to jump straight to him being the King of the Underworld the first time she came to dinner,” she said, laughing.

Vitaliy looked surprised again. “They turn red every time you call him that?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t actually know the answer to that question. You tell me,” she said, laughing.

Vitaliy laughed at her. I kissed her temple, then pushed her back toward Andrei and Ivan. She skipped back over to them to continue her warm-up and stretching session.

“How do you deal with her constantly surprising you with the most amazing things?”

I laughed. “You do get used to it after a while. Hang around her long enough and she’ll unlock some new level for you too,” I said, laughing at his shock.

Andrei and Ilya got in the ring together, after Viktor and Aleksei were done, as well as Eduard and Stephen. Sephie was right. They both wanted to prove themselves. It was an even better match than Ilya and Misha had been. Training Sephie had made Andrei pay attention to his own technique. He was also faster now, as he had to stay ahead of her at all times. Aleksei was quite impressed with both of them.

“We should do this more regularly. I think it’s good for all of them,” he said as he stood and watched.

“You guys are always welcome. Sephie talked Ivan into sparring with her once a week for the foreseeable future. Show up when you want in,” I said.

He looked surprised. “She asked to spar with him more?” I nodded my head. “She’s not scared to do so?”

I laughed. “Those two have a special relationship. She couldn’t be scared of him if she tried. She knows he’s the biggest challenge. She’s determined to get good enough that he doesn’t have to hold back with her.”

Aleksei’s sly smile stretched across his face. “I remember someone else who was much the same when he was younger,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “It’s why you’re the only one that doesn’t need to get in the ring very often.”

“I do see some of the same determination in her that I’ve always had. For her, though, it’s so no one can ever hurt her again. She has survival as added motivation.”

“Heaven help the next person that tries to hurt her. We’ll all go after them,” he said seriously, before he walked back to talk to Vitaliy.

I watched the rest of Andrei and Ilya’s match, looking forward to seeing Sephie and Ivan. I never thought I would be waiting to watch my fiancée fight one of my guys, but I couldn’t imagine it any other way. She was perfect for me. Other women no longer existed in my world.

Andrei and Ilya were both pleased with themselves when their match was over. They both stepped out of the ring near me, as Sephie and Ivan were now standing with me waiting their turn. Sephie’s gorgeous smile was making the entire gym brighter. “Ilya! Your training is much better! Bubba is deceptively fast now too. He’s so close to teaching me how to kill people with just my thumbs. So. Close,” she said emphatically, as she hugged Andrei’s neck.

Ilya was all smiles. “My goal is to be able to keep up with Ivan at some point,” he said. Ivan raised an eyebrow at him. Sephie grinned at him.

“Keep sparring with Bubba then. He’s an amazing trainer,” she said, following Ivan into the ring.

I put my hand on Andrei’s shoulder. “Training Sephie has made you better than ever. You’re much faster now,” I said.

He chuckled. “I have to be to stay ahead of her. It’s the only advantage to being so much smaller than the rest of us.”

Ivan and Sephie had a quick conversation in the middle of the ring before starting. They were both clearly happy about being in the ring together. We all saw Sephie flip her switch. She wasn’t angry. She’d long ago figured out how to keep the power without the anger, but she switched to serious in a second. Ivan’s smile faded quickly as he soon realized that my level-up was giving her an unexpected advantage.

Andrei looked at me, his eyes wide. I looked at Misha, Stephen, and Viktor across the ring, all looking just as shocked as they watched her. Not only was she just as fast as Ivan now, but she was perfectly countering every single one of his moves. I’d sparred with Ivan plenty of times. He was not holding back. She was making him work, even more than she did last time.

Vitaliy and his men were just as shocked as all of us. Vitaliy walked to me, asking, “How?”

“When I leveled up, she got a significant upgrade through me because we’re so connected. Ivan got some through her, but not as much.”

I just heard Vitaliy cursing as he watched them. Both of them were having fun, but it really looked like they were trying to kill each other. More than ever before, I could feel Sephie’s power. She had figured out how to let her demon help her, without stepping forward. Her eyes were normal, but her demon was definitely helping her. And enjoying every second of it.

Their match went on much longer this time than the last time they’d sparred. Sephie’s endurance was definitely no longer an issue. She felt incredible. She looked incredible. She was incredible.

When they finally agreed to end the match, with no clear winner this time, everyone else in the gym applauded. Every single one of them was impressed with how well she’d done against Ivan.

Ilya was still standing close enough that I could hear him when he told Andrei, “I think I should make her my goal, not Ivan. I think she could kick my ass.”

Andrei laughed. “I know she could,” he said, a very obvious look of pride on his face.

Sephie hugged Ivan when they were done. He wrapped his massive arms around her, picking her up and holding her in the air for a few moments. He was proud of her as well. When he set her down, she turned to Andrei, running to the edge of the ring straight to him. He wrapped his arms around her, picking her up as well. He swung her around a few times, as she thanked him and he told her how proud he was of her. It was a very sweet moment, as both of them were elated with her performance.

Andrei finally set her down and she walked to me. Her beautiful smile was still spread wide across her face. “I think I might’ve gotten a bigger boost from you than we first thought,” she said, tucking herself in my side.

“I think you figured out how to let your demon help you too,” I said, kissing her temple.

“You felt that?” she asked. “Of course you felt that. I don’t know why that surprises me. Did my eyes switch?”

I shook my head no. “Not that I saw. They looked normal the whole time, but she was definitely helping you. And very happy about it.”

She giggled. “She was very happy about it. She might’ve enjoyed that more than I did, even.”

Ivan walked up to us. “Princess, I don’t think anyone but your goddamn prince has ever made me work that hard.”

“I did have help. Full disclosure,” she said, grinning at him. The rest of the guys joined us.

“What help?” Misha asked. He looked at me, thinking I was going to be the answer to his question.

“Her demon,” I said.

“Really??” Misha asked. He looked quickly to Andrei and then to Stephen. They both nodded at him. “New life goal,” they all said at once.

“Your eyes never changed though, sestrichka,” Viktor said.

“That’s the interesting part. She figured out how to let her demon help without her stepping completely forward,” I said.

“You’re going to have to teach me how to do that as well, princess,” Ivan said.

Vitaliy had overheard the conversation. He was always very curious about how everything worked. “Explain,” he said. He was a man of many words, if nothing else.

“When we use our demons, we relinquish a little bit of control, so to speak. That’s why our eyes turn black. It’s their power, but we’re still mostly in control. Just from behind the scenes, if you will. Sephie figured out how to use her demon’s power without her demon needing to step forward. It’s why her eyes didn’t change. She got a significant power boost and someone on the street would never know where it came from,” I said.

“Will you all be able to do that at some point?” Vitaly asked.

“Not sure. We only just found out she could do it,” I said.

“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, malishka?” 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, Sephie.” I felt her relax and take a deep breath, content to have my arms around her.

“Um, Boss. I hate to break this up, but she needs to stretch again. It seems to help her ribs 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 more 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 whole time.

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 sexual 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 when she got bossy, so she would be extra bratty sometimes just to drive me a little more crazy.

“Mmm hmm. 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 boner,” I said, my lips next to her ear. I felt her breath hitch.

“You like it when I’m all bitchy 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 guinea 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 as I say it with the utmost respect, 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 suspect anything out of the ordinary.

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 to meet 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 for 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 gotten away and was on her own. Now that she had it, she was never letting go of it.

Viktor walked ahead of the group to check both Eric and Doug, making it look like he was checking for weapons. The rest of us watched as their auras lit up while Kostya was fixing them. He made quick work of it. Luckily, neither of the men needed too much work. Doug’s aura had started to heal itself after Stephen had scared off the demon that was trying to attach to him.

We weren’t sure exactly how it worked, but we were noticing that a person could heal their own aura, given enough time. It seemed to work even if the person wasn’t necessarily conscious of it needing to be done. Dario’s likely healed tremendously since he’d been hiding at the building. We were all surprised to see how strong it was when Andrei showed us, especially given how broken that man was when he first got back from Colombia.

To their credit, Eric and Doug were both good sports about being checked for weapons. “I’m guessing you guys have enough firepower to level this building and you’re still worried about two desk jockeys,” Eric said, laughing quietly once Viktor and Kostya were done.

“One can never be too careful,” I said. “Tell me about your plan for Dr. Moretti.”

Eric had a small smile on his face. “We’re getting closer to figuring out a way to charge him with the back-room procedures. We can’t find anyone else who can recognize him, but we have an extensive victim list, thanks to Dr. Williams at the hospital. That, plus a money trail that we’re slowly uncovering points directly at Dr. Moretti. The brawn as well as his very clear ties to Salvadori will land him in jail for sure. It will buy us some time to find more about the illegal procedures, which should keep him in jail.”

“With what you gave us on the connection to Salvadori and Dr. Moretti, it gives us grounds to look more seriously at the connection to Henry. I know you said he’s mostly been paid in cash, but there are still ways to find details. We’re working on that one as well. It’s slightly more difficult, since Henry is trying to do the same to us, from his position,” Doug said.

I was quiet for a moment, making them think I was mulling things over in my head. They had not told me anything I didn’t already know, so far. “Niko and Vito are coming back within the next two weeks. They’re in need of more cash flow, so they’re coming back to try and force the underbosses to collect taxes. We need the people to stop it. They’ll be informed. They’re the reason the underbosses stopped in the first place. This gives you both an excellent opportunity to appear tough on crime. Dr. Moretti can be the first domino to fall, revealing the other connections to Sal and Henry once he’s in custody. The wild card in that scenario is Henry’s allegiance to Sal. If he uses the police to stop the people, the plan won’t work.”

Eric looked from me to Sephie, who was standing just behind me and between me and Ivan. “How much of this was your plan?” he asked her.

“It was a group effort,” she said.

“That job offer is still on the table,” Eric said. He looked to Doug, both of them thinking over the plan I had just laid out for them. They both nodded in agreement.

“I like it. I do, however, want your word that in the event that we get a judge that’s in Sal’s pocket, unbeknownst to us, and the doctor goes free, that you’ll take care of him,” the mayor said. “I don’t want him walking free in this city ever again.”

“That will not be a problem,” I said.

“Do you know when Niko and Vito are coming back?” Eric asked.

“No specific date yet, but we have people watching them. We’ll let you know as soon as we know. Once they’re here, everything needs to happen quickly. Sal and Ricardo don’t need any extra time to react to what’s happening here,” I said.

“We’re ready to move on Dr. Moretti as soon as you hand him over. We have people working round the clock to find a concrete connection between Henry and Sal. Once Henry goes down, most of the police chiefs go down with him, as well as his girlfriend,” Eric said.

“That does seem to be one of her favorite positions,” Sephie said, mostly under her breath, but still loud enough that we all caught it. We even heard Stephen laughing through our earpieces.

“If anything changes, let us know. We’ll do the same. If you have any information we can use that links Henry and Sal, we’ll be happy to take it off your hands,” Eric said.

“Might be worth another look at Sal’s paperwork,” Ivan said silently.

“Agreed.”

“We’ll take another look and see what we can find,” I said. Eric extended his hand to me. I felt Sephie’s hand gently grab my free hand when I went to shake hands with Eric, followed by Doug. She was borrowing my gift. She had likely been snooping through their heads the entire time and was making sure her assessment was correct. Since we’d dealt with so many betrayals, she liked to be as confident as possible in her opinion on someone. It meant using everything she had at her disposal to form that opinion.

As we walked back to the SUVs to leave, Stephen said in our earpieces, “Boss, get in the vehicles, but don’t leave until I say.”

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Henry’s guys have reinforcements we weren’t expecting,” he said. “Eric is leaving now. His usual tail is leaving with him, along with a few of the new guys.”

Doug had gone into the building before leaving, which meant we now had to wait for him to come back out and leave. There was only one entrance/exit into the parking garage, so we would be seen if we left before him, meaning Henry would be able to piece it together that we were meeting with the mayor and the DA behind his back.

Viktor sent a quick message to both Eric and Doug, alerting them to their newest addition in followers. We only had to wait a few minutes and Doug was back in the garage being picked up by his driver. We waited for Stephen to tell us whether all the tails outside left with him or not.

“Doug is leaving. His usual tail is gone. All but one tail left with the mayor. They suspect something is up. He’s waiting to see who else comes out of the garage,” Stephen said.

“Just one person? You’re sure?” Ivan said.

“Just one. He’s parked not far outside the entrance of the garage, waiting. He showed up with everyone else. They’re not discreet in the slightest. They all had a meeting on the sidewalk, then dispersed to their separate cars. He’s the only one left,” Stephen said.

“I could go have a conversation with him,” Ivan said, knowing full well that was not going to happen.

“I have an idea,” Sephie told me. “Stephen, how many car lengths between where this idiot is posted up and the entrance to the garage?”

“One, two … five,” he said.

“And what does the car look like that he’s in?” she asked.

“Dark blue sedan, four door,” he said.

“Which side of the exit is he on?”

“South.”

“Misha, can I borrow you?” she asked, extending her hand toward Misha, who was in the front seat. He turned to look at her, curious where she was going with this but also excited to see the end result.

“What are you thinking, Seph?” Stephen asked.

“There’s a restaurant in the building next door. I can smell it. I’m looking for a delivery truck,” she said.

Stephen chuckled. “You’re a genius,” he said.

She grabbed Misha’s hand, borrowing his gift as they searched the area for a delivery truck large enough to block our watcher in, allowing us to leave without him following us. Preferably without him seeing us to begin with.

“Got it,” she and Misha said together. “Stephen, there’s a truck a block and a half away, to the south. Can you and your guys borrow it?”

“Nothing would make me happier right now,” he said. He quickly gave orders to the team that was with him and they put their plan in motion. Stephen was very capable, but one of his greatest attributes was his speed. Once he knew the objective, he wasted no time in completing his assignment.

It was under ten minutes and he was back, saying, “Be ready. The truck will be here in two minutes. Kyle is driving. I want to see if we can provoke your watcher into an argument before you guys leave.”

We could hear what was happening through the earpieces. Kyle parked the truck alongside our tail’s car, effectively blocking him in. He then went to the back of the truck, opened it up, and proceeded to act like he was about to make a delivery. Just as we hoped, our watcher got out of his car, trying to get Kyle to move the truck. He pretended to not understand English very well, drawing out the conversation, while giving us instructions in Russian.

“Not yet. He’s pretty pissed, but he can still see the entrance. I can bait him to the back,” Kyle said in Russian, as he pretended to not know what the guy was saying to him.

We waited for his signal, leaving quickly when he said, “Now.” We could hear them arguing as we pulled out onto the street and turned down a side street, completely out of view.

Stephen was laughing as he said, “This might be making Kyle’s day. He loves a reason to yell at someone. We’re going to return the truck and we’ll meet you at the penthouse.”

We didn’t have to wait long for Stephen to join us. He was still laughing when he walked into the penthouse. Sephie had tried to not be worried after we lost contact with him, but she couldn’t help herself. She was visibly relieved when he walked in, walking quickly to him to give him a hug. It never failed to make me smile when I saw just how tightly he held onto her. He had taken so long to warm up to her in the beginning, for good reason, but now she was an anchor for him, just as she was for everyone else.

“Very good call on the delivery truck, Seph. Kyle said to thank you as well. He said that was the most fun he’s had in a while. He really enjoys making people angry,” he said as he relaxed his tight hold on her.

She chuckled. “Please tell me he’s still sitting outside the parking garage waiting for us to leave.”

“He was when we left. I almost wanted to leave someone to see how long he would stay there,” he said.

“You, sir, are a little bit evil,” she said. “I’m totally here for it.”

As strange as it sounded to say, it was kind of the perfect end to our day. Sephie managed to make us laugh through every tough situation we found ourselves in now.

“Would you still call me evil if you knew I ordered Thai for us on my way back here? I feel like you shouldn’t have to cook dinner if you save the day,” he said, his uncharacteristic smile that was slowly becoming more characteristic for him slowly spreading across his face.

She grinned at him. “Same order as last time?” she asked, hopeful he would say yes.

“Of course,” he said.

“You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others,” she said, once again hugging Stephen’s neck.

“I wish I would’ve known I could do this when I was a kid. I would’ve been much more rebellious,” Misha said, shaking his head as he thought about the day’s events.

“You would’ve spied on the girls’ locker room all day, don’t kid yourself,” Andrei said, teasing him.

“Shots fired, Bubba,” Sephie said, laughing. She looked at Misha and said, seriously, “He’s not wrong though.”

Once again, we found ourselves narrowly escaping trouble, faced with a seemingly insurmountable hurdle ahead of us, but we were all laughing with each other like it was completely normal and not the least bit stressful. Because of her.

It had been a few days since the meeting with Doug and Eric when Viktor walked into my office, followed closely by Ivan. “We just got word from Battista that Niko and Vita are coming back. They’ll be here in two days,” Viktor said.

“Is Battista still here?” I asked.

“No, he’s on his way back too though. He said he’s bringing his friend, the arms dealer,” Ivan said, a mischievous grin on his face.

“We need to meet with the same leaders we met with before. Is Chen still the one setting that up?” I asked.

Viktor nodded. “He still won’t let me put him on the payroll for it either.”

“I can take care of that. He thinks I’m overpaying him for his contractor work so he’s reluctant to take anything more. Truth be told, I’m not. He does fantastic work. I’ll just add to that. And have Neal hand his name out to a few more people,” I said. Chen was a good guy. I was grateful to have his help in all of this. I always took care of those who helped me.

“I’ll set it up right away. You want them here?” Viktor asked.

I thought for a moment. Last time we met with them, it was in my office. Something didn’t feel right about that this time, but I didn’t know what. I looked for Sephie, to ask her opinion on it.

“You have a question,” I heard her say to me as I was looking to see where she was.

“I do. We need to meet with the people who have organized the resistance against the bosses. Something doesn’t feel right about them coming here this time, though,” I told her.

She was quiet for a moment, then she said, “That’s because it’s not. They’re watching the building to see who comes in and out. We should meet somewhere else to protect them.”

Before I could answer her, I heard Misha’s voice, through her head, as well. “Same for me, Boss. Somewhere else is the way to go.”

“Thank you, both,” I responded. I looked to Viktor and Ivan, saying, “Apparently, they’re watching the building to see who comes in and out. I don’t want to put them in danger by coming here. We need to meet elsewhere.”

Viktor nodded, leaving to make the necessary arrangements while Ivan stayed in the office. “Do you want me to have them removed?” he asked.

“No. Leave them. We’ll make sure they don’t follow us, but if we remove them, Henry will know we know.” I couldn’t help but smile a little at the situation. “I think he still thinks he’s smarter than us,” I said.

“I know he thinks that. Wait until Stephen hears about this,” he said, laughing. “He’s gonna be so pissed.”

I laughed with him, looking forward to Stephen’s reaction when he learned that Henry was still trying to outmaneuver us. He was definitely looking forward to being able to break Henry. Stephen was so quiet most of the time, but much like Ivan, we would occasionally find people who simply rubbed Stephen the wrong way. Henry was definitely one of those people. Henry had no idea what was coming for him.

I found myself enjoying that fact more than I probably should.

Sephie’s old apartment was proving to be more useful than I ever would’ve imagined it would be. I originally kept it in case she ever changed her mind. I knew she was never going to change her mind at this point, but I still kept her apartment for the convenience of an out-of-the-way meeting spot when I needed one.

Chen met us downstairs. If nothing else, he was always early to every meeting he attended with us, proving once again that one could be professional no matter their profession. He was slightly taken aback, as Vitaliy and Battista were with us this time, which meant all of Vitaliy’s men were with us as well.

“You guys are multiplying. This must be serious,” Chen said as he walked up to us in the parking lot of the apartment building.

“Why use six Russians when twelve will do?” Sephie said, her mischievous grin on her face.

“Hey, you miscounted, pretty lady,” Boris said in his very thick Russian accent. Battista’s arms dealer turned out to be exactly who we thought it would be. Boris was so tough and crotchety on first impressions that he made Vitaliy look like a nice guy.

“My bad. We have a baker’s dozen, Chen. Because one can never have too many Russians on their side when the shit hits the fan,” Sephie said, grinning at Boris. Like all of the men in her life, she found a way to politely put Boris in his place when he tested her. Mostly polite. Afterward, he’s shown her nothing but respect.

“This maybe lesson your country don’t learn too well,” Boris said, laughing as he walked to join the rest of Vitaliy’s men, who were unloading weapons from the back of their vehicles.

Sephie and Chen looked at each other, trying not to laugh. “My entire life, I’ve been told that Russia is the enemy. Now I find out these people are just as crazy as we are, only much larger,” Chen said thoughtfully.

“It’s the governments that are the enemy, Chen. Never the people,” I said, pulling Sephie with me toward the stairs to her old apartment. She looked at the building as we walked. I could feel her emotions as she remembered her life before she met me.

“It always looks so run-down when I see it now. It never used to seem that bad to me when I lived here,” she told me as we followed Andrei up the stairs.

“When it’s all you have, you cherish it. It did its job. It got you through until you found me,” I told her.

She turned to look at me, her sweet smile on her face. “I never thought about it like that before, but you’re absolutely right. I might love this dingey little apartment a little more right now,” she said.

“I, for one, am grateful for it. It’s proven to be very useful,” I said, pulling her closer as we walked into her apartment.

“I, for one, am grateful for you,” she said, reaching up to kiss my cheek.

Misha, who had followed us up the stairs, said, “I can feel you two being disgustingly cute right now.”

Ivan, who was still in the parking lot but heard Misha over his earpiece, started laughing. “I am so glad I’m not the only one that’s happened to,” he said.

Sephie’s cheeks turned red. She went to apologize, but Misha stopped her before she could even get it out. “Don’t apologize, gazelle. I’m having jealousy issues. That’s why I brought it up,” he said, grinning at her. She went to him, laughing as he reached down and picked her up in a bear hug.

As everyone else finally made it upstairs, Sephie’s apartment got very small, very quickly. We eventually decided that Vitaliy’s men would stay outside, mostly to give us more room. We asked that all the leaders from the resistance in the city were there tonight, not just the ones from Niko’s and Vito’s areas of the city. We wanted to make sure things were as quiet as we’d been told and we also wanted to make sure that everyone was as prepared as possible. It was clear that Sal cared nothing for the people of the city, given his brawn operation, so the idea that he would use the people of the city to cause more chaos was not off the table for him.

Stephen, who was across the street monitoring things from above, alerted us to everyone’s arrival. Surprisingly, Dr. Williams showed up along with the rest this time. He was just as surprised to see us standing in the apartment as we were to see him walk through the door.

Battista laughed, telling Sephie in Italian, “I knew I liked that doctor for a reason other than his willingness to accept massive donations.” She couldn’t help but laugh before sharing the translation with all of us silently.

“Dr. Williams, it’s nice to see you here. Unexpected, but nice,” Sephie said as she went to shake his hand.

“That feeling is mutual, although I don’t know why I would be surprised. Of course it’s you,” he said. “I think you enjoy your legend in the hospital more than you let on and you’re looking to add to it.”

“I mean, who doesn’t want to be immortalized with a few legends told about them? I’m no different,” she said nonchalantly. Dr. Williams just laughed quietly, shaking his head as he moved off to the side.

Both Ivan and I were somewhat uncomfortable with so many people in such a small space. Sephie, of course, felt it. After speaking briefly with the doctor, she stepped quietly behind both of us. I felt her hand find mine, which helped me keep my murderous aura under control. I squeezed her hand lightly before taking one step forward to begin the meeting.

We discussed Niko and Vito coming back, as they were scheduled to arrive the following day. “The reason you’re here, gentlemen, is that it will send a much bigger message to Sal, as well as the underbosses that are left in the city, if you stop them from collecting taxes once they return. We can and will support your efforts as much as possible, making sure you have everything you need to resist. The message will be much clearer if coming from you, however,” I said. “The only request I make is that you leave Niko and Vito alive and hand them over to me.”

“What happens after they’re gone? Are we just going to be fighting you next?” one older gentleman asked.

I chuckled. “That would be somewhat foolish of me to provide you weapons for this and not expect you would use them on me should I attempt the same thing later,” I said. “Things will go back to the way they’ve been for years before the other bosses got greedy. I don’t need your taxes. Your communities do. The more money you make, the more you can invest in your local areas of the city. That’s what I want and that’s what will happen once the other bosses are taken care of.”

“How do we know you won’t change your mind?” someone else asked.

“You don’t,” Sephie said. “But you do remember how good things were a few years ago, compared to now. This is a much bigger conspiracy than exorbitant taxes. Without the other bosses to harass you, you’ll essentially be left alone. Just like you were before.” She took one step closer to me, pointing at me, as she said, “He is not the problem here. The other bosses are the problem.”

Dr. Williams stepped forward, adding, “He’s the one who found the doctor that’s been terrorizing this city for a decade. You’ve all heard of someone that’s had some back-room procedure done on them. He’s the same doctor that created brawn, which has been plaguing the city for years as well. This man found that doctor when the police couldn’t. He’s on our side. He wouldn’t be here right now if he wasn’t.”

“Why hasn’t the doctor been arrested then?” someone asked.

“He will be, soon. We needed to make sure we had enough solid evidence that he would be convicted,” I said. “We have that, so now he can be handed over.”

We continued our discussion as well as making a strategy for how to handle the underbosses when they come to collect taxes once more. It would be dangerous, but the people had strength in numbers. It didn’t hurt that Boris had access to enough firepower to completely level a block of the city in under two minutes.

He was also willing to donate his supplies to the cause, which he very rarely did. Sephie had been worried that he would also supply the bosses with extra firepower, since I had told her he enjoyed arming both sides of a conflict.

“Most conflicts do not include Ricardo De Luca,” Boris had said. “Whatever it takes to make sure his side is crushed, I will happily provide,” he had told her.

She had studied him for a few minutes before answering, “Is it wrong that I find your hatred of Ricardo to be one of your finest qualities?”

Boris had laughed, but Vitaliy actually spoke up in Boris’s defense, telling her, “He’s not such a bad guy, malishka. Maybe a little rougher than some of us, but not a bad guy.”

My father had known Boris for most of my life. Boris had helped him get out of a few tricky situations, even. Vitaliy spoke the truth. Boris wasn’t all bad. He just preferred everyone think the worst of him. It meant less effort he had to put in to making an impression. When everyone thinks the worst of you, it’s easy to prove them right or wrong. Boris was simply saving his energy.

Once a plan was in place, the weapons were loaded into their vehicles and everyone left separately. Dr. Williams hung back for a few minutes before taking his leave, wanting to check in with Sephie one more time. He fought it most of the time, but there was still a scientific fascination with her after her time in the hospital that he couldn’t always suppress. It irritated Ivan.

I admittedly stayed a few steps away from Sephie on purpose because I was enjoying the irritation I felt from Ivan when Dr. Williams approached Sephie again. I felt his bubble go up around her. I was sure there was no reason for it other than he didn’t like it when the good doctor showed too much interest in her.

“I know you said you’ve been healing well, but you were very beat up. Still no issues with your lung?” Dr. Williams asked Sephie.

She looked surprised when she felt Ivan’s bubble, but at least he allowed her to hear Dr. Williams through him. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he cut her hearing off completely just to be a shit. I was going to be her ears if he did, just because I was enjoying this a little too much. She answered Dr. Williams, saying, “Only if I exert myself a little too much do I have problems catching my breath, but it happens very rarely. My arm and shoulder are mostly back to normal and my ribs only hurt if I do way too much. I have very good trainers who insist that I properly stretch just so that doesn’t happen though.” She threw a glance at Andrei who was listening in on the conversation and winked at him.

“How often do you struggle to catch your breath? Is it frequent?” he asked.

Andrei walked over, catching on to what was happening as well. He wasn’t as irritated as Ivan, but he wasn’t thrilled about this conversation either. “It’s only happened twice in the last month. Both times she was doing more than she should’ve been doing,” Andrei said, smirking at her.

Dr. Williams looked from Andrei to Sephie, silently asking for confirmation. “It’s true. Sometimes I forget and try to be normal,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “But they all take very good care of me, so nothing to worry about, doc.”

Dr. Williams ran a hand through his hair, looking between her, Ivan, and Andrei. “Well, if it continues to happen, don’t hesitate to come in for a check-up,” he said.

“No offense, doc, but I would rather avoid that. That being said, they will drag me to the hospital kicking and screaming if they have to, should they think something is wrong with me.”

He laughed, studying her for long enough that both Ivan and Andrei stepped slightly in front of her. It was enough of a move to break him from whatever thoughts he was having. I was still enjoying watching when I noticed Andrei’s demon was angry. Andrei still looked completely calm, but his demon was raging.

It was completely different from everyone else. He was actually much more frightening. I would much rather deal with someone who was visibly angry than deal with Andrei. He was completely cool, outwardly, but I could tell he was thinking of at least forty-seven different ways to kill the doctor in that moment.

As Dr. Williams pulled out of the parking lot, I walked to the three of them. Sephie knew Andrei was mad; they were having a silent conversation between the three of them. When she felt my arm around her waist, I could feel the worry as she looked up at me.

“Tell me what he was thinking,” I said. She chuckled softly, amused that I already knew what was going on.

“I felt Ivan’s irritation through Sephie, so I paid attention. The doctor has some weird fascination with Sephie since he saw her shaking in the hospital when she was away from you. It’s turned into somewhat of an obsession, but he can’t bring himself to ask her about it.” Andrei said.

“That’s what has you ready to follow him and rip his head off?” I asked.

Sephie looked up at me, grinning. “You can feel him too?” she asked.

I shook my head no. “Andrei? No. Andrei’s demon? Absolutely. He’s going complete apeshit in there right now.” Sephie giggled.

“No, it was him replaying checking her over in the hospital in his mind that did it. When he lifted her hospital gown to check for internal injuries,” Andrei told me.

I felt Sephie grab both of my arms and wrap them around her waist as she held onto them. Her grip tightened as she felt my anger making an appearance, which only served to make Andrei and Ivan even more angry.

“Boys,” Sephie said sternly. “You all intimidate the absolute fuck out of that man. It will never be an issue unless I’m left alone in a room with him.” She paused, then added, “Under heavy sedation, since he clearly knows how to paralyze me.” Her body shuddered at the thought.

I looked at Ivan. “Your bubble was just because he irritates you? Or did you actually see something on him?”

Ivan laughed. “No, he’s clean. I’m just irritated with him. I didn’t know what he was thinking about, but I knew he’s been strangely fascinated with her. That’s not a good combination in my world.”

“You were right to do so. I knew he was fascinated by her. I did not think it was to that extent or I would’ve come over,” I said, still smoldering.

Sephie was somewhat indignant with us. “You three act like I can’t handle myself.” She held her thumb and forefinger up, with barely any space between them. “I’m this close to being able to kill him with just my thumbs,” she said, giggling.

“It’s not a matter of whether you can handle yourself, love. It’s more a matter of his disrespect. It’s not something I tolerate. I know he wouldn’t stand a chance against you,” I said, turning her to face me. I pushed a few curls out of her face, enjoying that they immediately returned.

“He also suspects something is different about her eyes. I didn’t think he ever caught it, but he did a few times when she was in the hospital and when she went back for check-ups,” Andrei said. “He only ever caught glimpses, but his curiosity is getting the better of him.”

“We should only ever be in situations where we’re wearing our contacts around him. Or, and hear me out here, we just all show up one day and switch them to black and enjoy watching him shit himself,” Ivan said.

I laughed, along with Sephie. “See? I told you that idea would work for someone at some point,” I said, pressing my lips to hers.

Once we were back at the penthouse and alone, I brought the subject up again with Sephie. “I don’t want you to think that I think you can’t take care of yourself,” I started. Her sweet laugh cut me off. She immediately pressed her lips to mine, wrapping my arms around her waist and pressing her hands on my chest.

“I don’t think that. I was teasing. I absolutely adore how protective you all are of me. It’s a massive confidence boost for me. Honestly, you’re all lucky that I’m not more of a shit than I am. I could just be a major bitch to everyone, knowing that you guys would clean up my mess,” she said, grinning at me. “I know that no matter who’s with me, I’m always safe. From anything and anyone. Hell, I even know that about Vitaliy’s men too.”

I smiled at her, some of the irritation from earlier managing to come back. She searched my eyes for a moment, then asked, “You’re just irritated with him? Not anything else?”

“Having my mind go back to your time in the hospital was unexpected,” I said.

“I see,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip. She looked up at me, her eyes wide and innocent. “I think we need to take your mind off that.” She raised her hand to my face, her finger running lightly over my facial hair. “How should we do that?” she asked, one side of her lips curling up into a smirk, her bottom lip still between her teeth. In one instant, I completely forgot everything but my need for her.

Fuck. I love her.