Chapter Fifty-Eight

Sephie

Adrik had kept his schedule purposely light the rest of the week, given that Niko and Vito were scheduled to be back. He wanted to be available in the event we were needed for anything. He made sure he had extra people throughout the city, just in case.

Because we both knew he didn’t necessarily have to get up at a decent hour, as Niko and Vito weren’t scheduled to land until later that afternoon, we both woke up much later than usual. It didn’t help that he spent much of the night before claiming me after the doctor incident in the parking lot of my old apartment building.

I was deliciously sore this morning, but I can’t say I minded it. I thoroughly enjoyed his protective streak. I was already considering ways to make it appear on a more regular basis, I enjoyed it so much.

I groaned when I stretched, my muscles protesting being stretched. I heard Adrik chuckle next to me. “My fault,” he said, rolling over so he was on top of me.

“I know you’re not even the slightest bit sorry for it either,” I said, running my hands through his messy morning hair.

“Not even a little,” he said.

I laughed. “You realize he’s only fascinated by me because of the relationship I have with you, right?” I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me, silently asking for more of an explanation. “Bubba missed it because he was so angry at the other stuff. I don’t blame him. I almost missed it too. He’s completely fascinated that you were able to control my shaking just by touching me. He saw me lose control when I came back with Ivan to get his stitches out and start shaking. He knows Ivan and Viktor helped me, but he also knows you completely stopped it. He knew I was about to lose my shit on him the one time he chastised me for not eating at my check-up. That’s when he caught a better glimpse of my eyes, but he knows you somehow contained that as well. He’s almost just as fascinated with you as he is with me, but really, I think he doesn’t understand our relationship. He just knows on some deeper level, he would like to.” I kept running my fingers through his hair while I talked. His eyes closed, enjoying my touch.

His eyes opened, softening as he looked at me. I could feel the pull in his chest as he thought about the doctor being jealous of what we have, rather than him being jealous of the doctor.

“Full disclosure, I didn’t tell you last night on purpose,” I said. “I might have to find ways to make you jealous more often.”

There were times when Adrik would smile at me with the look of a man who had no worries in the world, even though I knew he had the weight of the world on his shoulders pretty much at all times. He had a boyish grin that would make my knees weak every single time I saw it. He gave me that grin just before his lips found mine.

I couldn’t help but wrap my body around his. I felt my warmth spread through my entire body, thinking about just how much I loved this man. So completely, in fact, that others were fascinated by it and wanted to study it.

I felt the familiar stretch as he slowly slid inside me, needing once more to make me his. To prove to me that he was mine and I was his. I laughed quietly against his lips, pulling him closer to me as he pushed deeper inside me. He knew exactly how to make my body putty in his hands and he used that information freely.

My breath was heavy, my body sore, but already pushed to extreme levels of pleasure from two strokes from this man. And he knew it. He broke the kiss, leaning up enough that he could look at me, his boyish grin still across his face. It made his features softer and sexy at the same time. If I wasn’t already completely in love with him, I would think he might be trouble from the look he was giving me.

His hand trailed down my body, leaving fire in its wake. I moaned at the pleasure his touch ignited, the warmth helping to wake up my already sore body. He felt my body starting to come alive and increased his rhythm. His hand ran down my leg; hooking his arm behind my knee, he pulled my knee up toward his shoulder as he drove into me. He kept his control, as he could feel how sore I was already, but he still managed to push me over the edge almost immediately.

I grabbed his shoulders, trying to hang on as my back arched and my body gave in completely to him. It was my favorite way to wake up. Sore muscles aside, this man could make my body feel things I never thought possible. His rhythm increased slightly just before he found his own release, groaning quietly as he collapsed on top of me.

“Definitely going to need to find ways to make you jealous on a regular basis,” I said, after a few minutes of silence. His body vibrated as he laughed quietly on top of me.

He got up, pulling me with him. “If we can have a repeat of last night, I’ll happily be jealous more,” he said, picking me up to carry me to the shower.

“You drive a very hard bargain, but I accept,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.

That afternoon, we moved to the house. It took us three times as long to get there, as Henry still had people watching the building. They would try to follow us each time we left. Adrik was enjoying it. He would have at least ten different SUVs all leave at the same time, all heading in different directions. The tails would inevitably pick the wrong ones to follow, leaving us to go where we pleased. The other SUVs would just drive around the city for hours, keeping the tails busy while we went wherever we needed to go.

I had to admit to enjoying it almost as much as Adrik. The more Henry tried to find out about Adrik, the angrier I got at him. I was very much looking forward to the day that Stephen could break him.

Once at the house, we had a few hours of relaxation before Niko and Vito were set to arrive. Adrik wanted to be at the house so Henry wouldn’t see us, should we need to step in and help with the situation pertaining to the underbosses collecting taxes.

Vitaliy’s team was ready as well, along with Boris, to step in and help if needed. Given the ample firepower that our side now had at their disposal, we were hoping we wouldn’t be needed, but we were ready just in case.

It was easy to turn it all off and just enjoy a few quiet moments at the house. Adrik gave the house staff the rest of the week off, just so we could be alone and didn’t have to worry about anything. We still ended up discussing the situation at hand. We couldn’t help ourselves.

“So what happens after Stephen breaks Niko and Vito? Do we send them to the same home that Armando is in? It can be our collection home of zombie bosses,” I said.

“Somebody else besides Stephen has to deliver them though. They might catch on if he shows up with them,” Ivan said.

“I’ll allow someone else to deliver each of them. I needed to drop Armando off for me. I don’t have the same need when it comes to Niko and Vito,” Stephen said.

“It is fun to make up back stories on all of them, not gonna lie there,” I said, laughing.

Ivan’s phone beeped, alerting him to Niko and Vito’s arrival. He glanced at it, telling everyone, “They’re here. Now we just have to wait and see how long it takes them to stir up trouble.” Both he and Viktor sent the necessary messages to the necessary people letting them know Niko and Vito had landed and were back in the city.

Now, the waiting really began.

The hardest part of waiting was feeling like we needed to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. If things got bad in any part of the city, we all felt like we should be there as quickly as possible. It made trying to do anything else next to impossible.

The first day was spent largely sitting around trying to stay “available” just in case. The second day, we finally got tired of doing nothing, so we went about our day as normally as we could. Even though we all felt like we were waiting for the other shoe to drop, we still managed to have a good time. It was one of the countless things I adored about the guys. I knew we were at least going to have fun doing whatever it was that we were doing.

We ended up on the couches in the back room that afternoon. There was a storm rolling in, with dark clouds above us. We could hear the thunder in the distance. Otherwise, I would’ve dragged them all to the lake with me.

“Okay, so now that we’re all in one spot, I have an experiment,” I said, trying to think of ways to pass the time. Adrik and Ivan were able to still talk to me, no matter where they were. Adrik was able to find me anywhere now. Even I couldn’t do that yet. I think he was making sure that he could find me quickly in the event that we were ever separated again. I loved him a little more for it.

“What kind of experiment and does it involve dissection at any point?” Misha asked.

I chuckled. “No dissection. At least not that I know of,” I said, thinking for a minute. “Look, I’m not going to rule it out now that you mention it.”

The other guys looked at Misha like he was in deep shit, which just made him laugh. “Okay, gazelle, what’s your experiment? Save me before they all beat me for giving you ideas,” he said.

I grinned at all of them. “Adrik and Ivan can both still communicate with me and with each other even when we’re not together, but I haven’t been able to do it with you three yet. I want to see if we can make it happen.”

Misha clapped his hands together, like he usually did when there was fuckery afoot. “This is like an advanced level hide and seek game. I’m completely on board with this,” he said, jumping up from the couch. He ran from the room toward the gym. Once he got farther down the hallway, he yelled, “Count to twenty! I know the perfect spot!”

We were all too busy laughing at him to bother counting. Ivan said, “I think we should just wait and see how long it takes him to come back. Tell him it didn’t work.”

“You’re a little bit evil, Squish. He’s clearly bored,” I said, still laughing at Misha’s exuberance.

“And stressed. We all know he turns up his antics to relieve stress,” Stephen said.

“I’m wondering if this will work as well. I’ve heard Misha before, but I think it was through your head that I heard him. He was with you when we were talking,” Adrik said.

I concentrated on Misha, trying to see if he could hear me the same way he could when we were in the same room. I waited to see if he answered. When I heard nothing from him, I looked at Adrik and Ivan, seeing if either of them could get through to him. There was now a chance that Adrik would be able to do it, even if I couldn’t, since his latest level-up.

Misha eventually came back after ten minutes. He was still smiling, clearly enjoying being a test subject. “I could hear you, but I’m guessing you guys couldn’t hear my response?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything. I thought it didn’t work because I never heard a response from you,” I said. “Could you hear Adrik and Ivan too?”

“I heard you, then I heard Boss, then I heard Ivan. I answered all three of you, but I’m guessing that’s where it went wrong,” Misha said.

“Interesting. I wonder if it will always remain that way or if you just need to strengthen your connection with your own demon before you can do it too?” I asked nobody in particular.

“It might always stay like it is now. Your dad said the connection between the three of us is always going to remain slightly different. Maybe this is a perk reserved for the three of us,” Ivan said, his hand rubbing his goatee as he contemplated.

“It’s still useful to know we can at least get messages to you when we’re not with you,” Adrik said to Misha. “Even if you can’t answer yet. We still need to figure out how to get messages to Stephen and Viktor without someone needing to touch them.”

“I think half the time Stephen already knows what we tell him,” Ivan said.

Adrik laughed. “I’ve been telling Sephie that for months now.”

Stephen laughed as well. “Sometimes I do, sometimes it’s new information. It’s always appreciated though.”

“I still haven’t figured out how to get around the need to touch you to relay info though,” I said, chewing on my bottom lip.

“I think it still has to do with my aversion to having anyone in my head,” Stephen said, giving me the side-eye.

I grinned at him. “Maybe. It’s also how you get information from people when you’re helping fix them, too, so it makes sense it’s the way you get messages. I do find it hilarious that you were so opposed to physical touch when I first met you and now we’re forcing it on you to get messages to you whether you like it or not,” I said, laughing.

“It’s because I’m a vampire. You’re all so freakishly warm that it felt like fire at first. I still have a strong dislike of fire most of the time,” Stephen said, making us all laugh.

“We’ll take this into account once Vlad finally makes it out of customs,” Ivan said.

The following morning, we finally started to hear grumblings from the city. Adrik had extra guys placed throughout the city to keep an eye on things. Every one of the leaders knew to keep us informed of what was happening when they could as well. We were most worried about police intervention, as we weren’t sure how much Henry would use the police against the people.

Ivan and Viktor started getting reports of small skirmishes between business owners and some of Niko’s guys mid-morning. Our guys started sending word shortly after.

“No casualties on our side. Niko lost a couple guys, which will likely only increase the violence. He’ll want retribution,” Ivan said, after getting off the phone with one of our guys.

“No police yet,” Viktor said, walking back into the room from taking a phone call as well. “I’m thinking Henry won’t intervene until it’s quite obvious his side is losing.”

“Everyone’s still on alert in the city?” Adrik asked. He was stressed about this. He hated the fact that the people were involved in any way, but it was the only way to make the entire plan work, start to finish.

Ivan nodded his head. “Everyone in Niko’s and Vito’s areas are on high alert. Everyone else is waiting, much like we are. The hospitals have all been alerted as well. They’re ready, if need be.”

“Good,” Adrik said. I could feel his tension from across the room. I walked to him, sliding my arm around his waist. He relaxed, but only slightly, as he pulled me to him.

“Maybe the underbosses will back down again, since they’re met with resistance right away,” I said. I didn’t believe what I was saying. It felt like this was going to get ugly before they backed off, but I was trying to stay positive.

I felt Adrik stiffen as Misha said, “I don’t think that’s going to happen, gazelle.” I didn’t need to look at him or know any more details. I could feel his nausea. I knew whatever outcome he’d just seen wasn’t a good one.

“Could you tell if Henry got involved?” Adrik asked.

“I didn’t see police, but that’s not to say they won’t eventually step in. They must really be hard up on cash. Niko and Vito are going to go through every single underboss trying to make this happen,” he said.

“As shitty as it will be, that actually still works in our favor. Then we don’t need to worry about what to do with the underbosses once this is over,” Ivan said.

Both Viktor’s and Ivan’s phones started ringing, cutting our conversation short. Adrik pulled me closer, his hand running up and down my back in an attempt to keep himself calm. He used to feel like he was ready to explode any time his anger was threatening to come to the surface. Now, he felt completely cool. Completely in control. And completely lethal.

I knew if we had to step in, it would not end well for Niko and Vito, or any of their underbosses. They would all be dead by nightfall.

Ivan came back first. “Same situation in Vito’s area of the city. Small skirmish, but Boris’s supplies put the odds in our favor. Vito lost two guys, three more injured. A few injuries on our side, but no lethal wounds.”

Viktor came back in, confirming everything Ivan’s guy had told him. “Injured are on their way to the hospital. One gunshot, one head injury, and one broken bone. Vito’s guys got out of there quick when their guys went down. They’re scared.”

Adrik sighed, but was quiet for a moment. “Tell Sal’s area to be ready next. My money is on those underbosses for the next attempt.”

Before we came to the house, Ivan had the brilliant idea to let Dario get in touch with a few of his underbosses. They all knew Massimo had been killed, but no one ever got confirmation on what had happened to Dario. He gave them the same story he was planning to give Sal: he had gotten away from Trino after Massimo was killed and he was in hiding.

When he talked to his underbosses, he made it seem like he was in contact with Sal. They somewhat knew what was going on, but because Dario had been gone so long, they weren’t entirely sure of the details. Dario told them that Sal had betrayed him and Massimo and was the reason for Massimo’s death. He was trying to come for the city and was planning to take them all out. Niko and Vito were with Sal, but Sal was planning on turning on them too.

It was all fabricated lies, but it was also believable enough that the underbosses knew not to cooperate with Niko and Vito or any of Sal’s men. It meant Dario’s area of the city was mostly safe, for the time being. It also increased the chance that Dario’s guys might take out more of the other bosses’ guys for us.

“Your ability to create chaos within the chaos is one of my favorite things about you, Squish,” I had told Ivan after Dario was taken back to his room.

“It’s one of my best qualities,” he said, winking at me.

Viktor had given the guys who were on Dario instructions to allow him to speak to his underbosses, should they try to contact him. It needed to be believable that he was in hiding, but could also be reached. They called him shortly after we got word of the skirmish in Vito’s area of the city. The guys on Dario called Viktor immediately, informing him of the news Dario had gotten.

When he walked back into the kitchen, he had a small grin on his face. “Vito actually showed up to meet with Dario’s underbosses. They’re holding him for us.”

“Just Vito? Niko is still out there?” I asked.

Viktor nodded. “Dario told his guys he was working with us now, because of Sal’s betrayal. I can send a team to fetch Vito and take him to a safe house until it calms down.”

“You already have it all set up too, don’t you?” I asked, smiling at his efficiency.

He smiled his sweet smile at me. “I was hoping this might happen, yes. The safe house is ready to go and the team is waiting for me to say the word to go pick him up,” he said.

“You’re so efficient,” I said.

Adrik looked to Misha, asking for confirmation to send the team to go get Vito. His eyes went black as he checked for outcomes.

As Misha was checking, Adrik said quietly, “I feel like extra guys are needed.”

Once Misha came back to the present moment, he said, “You’re right, Boss. Extra guys are needed, but it’ll work out. They’ll get Vito out and take care of his remaining underbosses as well.”

“Send them,” Adrik told Viktor.

All was quiet as we waited for news. I passed the time by starting dinner. Even if we had to abandon it, it gave me something to do to keep my mind busy. Misha and Andrei both seemed happy to have a distraction as both offered to help me.

Both of them had helped me so much in the kitchen, I barely needed to give them instructions any longer. Misha moved into the sous chef role. He found he really enjoyed cooking. He was really quite good at it too. He’d made suggestions for a few recipes that made them even better.

Andrei was more the taste-tester and clean-up guy. It was still a very important role for any kitchen. He was listening to Misha make suggestions on changes to make to spices for one dish and laughed, saying, “This is how I know Misha is going to be the first to get married. Women love men who can cook.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Bubba. Women also love men who are willing to wash the dishes for them so they can concentrate on cooking. You’re just looking for two different types of women,” I said.

Misha grabbed a mushroom from the bowl, popping it in his mouth. “I think you’re right. I just have no idea what either of those types of women are,” he said, grinning at me.

“I don’t think you need to overthink it. If I learned anything from my time as Max’s friend, it was that nobody has a clue what they want. Men or women,” I said.

Adrik had walked into the kitchen from his office upstairs as we were talking. He smirked at me as he walked over to give me a kiss. “They always say you find your person when you least expect it. I used to think that was bullshit. Turns out it was exactly right. Keep working on making you a better version of yourself than you were yesterday and your perfect person will appear.”

“I can’t say I disagree with him,” I said. “But just make sure she’s a tough chick, because I might be planning on giving her hell to make sure she’s good enough for you.”

Misha chuckled. “Between you and Ivan, they’re going to need some kind of superhuman resolve to date me.”

“That’s the point, my adorable Russian guardian,” I said, grinning at him.

Andrei laughed. “I’m just waiting to see what kind of woman Ivan ends up with. She’s going to have to be a clone of Sephie and that might not work so well.”

“Might not work why?” Adrik asked. I could feel his hackles going up, thinking Andrei was throwing any kind of shade my way. It made me laugh.

“He doesn’t mean it as an insult to me. He means that stubborn women don’t usually get along with each other,” I said. “But I don’t think anyone needs to worry. Whoever can put up with him and can climb his very high walls will earn my respect.”

Viktor walked into the kitchen, inhaling deeply. “Oh, I’m going to be so happy soon,” he said, rubbing his belly. “Vito is at the safe house. Extra guys were a good call, but they got out unharmed. Vito lost another two of his bosses. I think that might be all his underbosses gone now. We’re still waiting for final counts.”

“And Dario’s men?” Adrik asked.

“They’re good. They said to give them a call if needed, otherwise they were staying out of this fight,” Viktor said.

“What about Massimo’s underbosses? Do we know what they’re doing?” I asked.

Ivan walked into the kitchen, answering my question. “We do know. They’re sitting this one out along with Dario’s men. Massimo’s area of the city pushed back harder than the other areas at first. Without Massimo to tell them otherwise, they feel like this isn’t their fight.”

“Let’s hope they don’t change their minds anytime soon,” I said. “Misha, do you know where Niko is?”

Misha’s eyes switched to black without him blinking as he checked the city, trying to find Niko. We could see his grin slowly appear as he found him. His eyes slowly faded to their normal green as he rejoined us in the present moment. “He knows something happened to Vito. He just doesn’t know what yet. He’s scared, but he’s still trying to send his underbosses back out. It looks like he’s more scared of Sal.”

“If he sends his underbosses out again, that’s the perfect chance to pick him up too,” Ivan said.

“That’s what I was thinking. Do you have his exact location?” Adrik asked Misha. He nodded. “Can you see if his underbosses are actually going to listen to him and go back out?”

Misha’s eyes went black one more time as he checked on that outcome. His eyes didn’t switch back to their normal green this time. He was fully in boss mode. We could all feel it. “We need to move quickly, but there’s a small window when he’ll be incredibly easy to grab.”

We didn’t say another word. Andrei and I shut everything down in the kitchen until we returned and we were out the door within two minutes, on our way to grab Niko.

Viktor and Ivan coordinated extra guys to meet us close to Niko’s location. Adrik wanted to stay out of sight as much as possible, but he was also nervous about Niko getting away. We would serve as backup for the extra guys. He wanted it to look like the people of the city had revolted, more than he had stepped in. It was just one more way to give a “fuck you” to Sal and Ricardo. If the people of the city rejected them, it was a very big hurdle to them ever coming back. And Sal knew it.

Misha spent the drive to Niko trying to get as many details of the layout of the building he was in as possible. He shared everything with Andrei and Ivan. They relayed the information to the guys who met us a block away.

We stayed behind while they left to grab Niko. The whole thing was over in under twenty minutes and Niko was on his way to a separate safe house from Vito.