Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Adrik

I felt a pull in my chest as my heart swelled listening to Sephie laugh in front of me. It was one of my favorite sounds, especially when it helped my anger subside. I was very happy that she had gotten up to leave the office after Andy's admission. It gave me a reason to do the same. I think the guys also needed a reason, as they all went after her as well. I noticed the looks on Armando's guys' faces as we went after her. They don't understand the special relationship we all have with her and it was clear that at least Mike was struggling with it. Of course, Sephie already knew and I fully supported whatever she wanted to do to make him even more uncomfortable about it.

When it came to my guys, I never had a moment of jealousy or doubt regarding them and Sephie. I trusted her and I trusted them. I knew she looked at me differently than she looked at them. It was clear that she had a role in each of their lives. She was helping each of them to fully realize their potential, just as she was helping me to realize mine. I wasn't going to stand in the way of that. My guys were my family. We'd been through hell together. I was closer with them than I was with anyone. It made me happy to see them with her and to know that she was safe when I wasn't around because they would be there. I could see how someone on the outside of our little family might struggle to understand the dynamic, but that was their problem as far as I was concerned.

"We should probably go back. At least so the guys don't get anxious and murder Andy to make me happy," Sephie said, her fingers lightly running over my facial hair. She still had a wide smile on her face.

I sighed. I really could use a minute or two longer away from them. "Not yet, but I'll make sure they don't murder him just yet," I said. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her off the floor and walking to the elevators. I set her down and looked at the guys. I jerked my head toward us to indicate they should come to us. They all quickly walked to us. I knew they were waiting by the office door to make sure no one decided to leave. This way, we could still ensure no one would leave, but we could have a moment to ourselves. I valued their opinions, always. Especially if it involved Sephie. I knew they had her best interests in mind always, just like I did.

Once they were all standing next to us, I said to them in Russian, "Sephie was worried you were going to murder Andy just to make her happy before we went back into the office."

"Say the word, Sephie," Stephen said, his voice dripping with anger. It took me by surprise, as he was usually the quiet one of the group, but I could clearly see his anger. She stepped away from me to give him a hug.

"Aww, Stephen. You're all soft and nougaty now too," she said as he held onto her tightly. I knew he was using her to calm down. I'd honestly only ever seen him that angry a handful of times and it never ended well for the other person. Stephen was a dark horse. He was the shortest out of all of us. He was still tall comparatively, but at 6'2", he was visibly shorter than the rest of us. Compared to the other guys, Stephen looked like the weakest link, but he was anything but. He could be a monster, just like the rest of us. I'd seen him get pushed past his limit before. It wasn't pretty. He admittedly took the longest to warm up to Sephie, but those two had gotten closer lately. I think she recognized that he was the loner type and let him come around when he was ready. Clearly, he was just as attached to her now as the rest of us.

She stepped back from him, smiling sweetly at him. It made his cheeks flush slightly. She moved back to my side, as I pulled her to me. "Now," she said, still speaking Russian in case we were overheard, "I still don't fully trust Andy. He was definitely holding back when he first got here, but I don't know if it was only the kidnapping attempt or if there is something more. He's genuine in everything he says. His face is an open book. I just want to make sure he's not holding anything else back from us because that's the biggest feeling I get from him. He's telling us the truth when he speaks, but I don't think he's giving us everything." She paused, but then added, "and I'm still not completely sure about Mike either. I thought checking him last night would solve it, but he still seems to have a problem with me, especially when he sees me with you guys versus my boyfriend who happens to be the Lord King Boss of the underworld. There's a lot to unpack there, if I'm being honest."

I chuckled at her description of me. Stephen spoke up again, "I have some insight into that, but we can talk about it later. I think the more important situation is what Andy just told us and what to do about the warehouse."

"Noted, but follow-up question: is it worthy of an appearance on the white board? Because we're gonna need to know about that right now if it is," Sephie said, grinning at him.

We all laughed. Stephen shook his head no. "Not white board-worthy. It really can wait," he said.

"Priorities, people," Sephie said, like she was conducting a business meeting. It made us all laugh even more.

Ivan said, "I think, as Sephie put it, asking them nicely to stop distributing is the way to go."

I nodded. "I agree. But I don't necessarily want to let the others in on that plan just yet. Mike isn't making me happy right now. I don't know how much I trust that guy."

Viktor looked apologetic. "He wasn't like that when I interviewed him."

"Papa Bear, it's not your fault. He has some weird women issues that he's projecting onto me. It wouldn't have come up in an interview. I'm not even sure it would've come up if he just had to deal with Giana. It seems directed at me. Maybe he hates redheads, I don't know," Sephie said as she went to Viktor, wrapping her arms around his waist. She rested her head against his chest as he kissed the top of her head, his giant arms engulfing her.

"How does anyone hate redheads? You're all feisty and shit," Misha said, grinning at her.

"It's a real thing, my adorable Russian guardian. It's a clear love/hate situation. Men either love us or hate us. There's very rarely an in between. I just figure the ones that hate me are descended from the men who burned my kind hundreds of years ago, so I don't want to be around them any damn way," she said, walking back to me.

Armando came out of the office, looking somewhat concerned. He walked up to us, "Everything okay, Boss?"

I nodded my head. "We were just coming back in. We just needed to discuss a matter privately first." I knew Armando wouldn't question me. I felt a slight pang of guilt for taking advantage of that. I would tell him the plan if my mind was changed about Mike, but not before.

"Is Andy trustworthy?" Armando asked Sephie.

"I haven't completely decided yet. I want to say yes, but I need to make sure before I make up my mind definitively," she said, her sweet smile on her face as she talked to Armando. She really did like him, but she also knew not to say too much. It was a tricky situation.

Armando ran his hand through his hair. "What a mess. We still need to ask about my water district guy and what he knows about that. I'm really concerned about that. I can't have the people in my area exposed to that much brawn."

"I would like to know if he knows anything about Anthony's ex-girlfriend as well," Sephie said.

"Come, let's go find out," I said as I pulled her toward the office.

When we walked back in, Andy was clearly worried. I remained silent, as did Sephie, as I sat in my chair. She hopped onto the bookshelf behind my desk once more. I looked to Armando, giving him the lead for questions about his water district.

"Andy, what do you know about the guy in my water district that they approached?" Armando asked. He was clearly stressed about this situation. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping very well. I caught myself wondering if Giana was as good at comforting him as Sephie was at comforting me.

"That guy's name is Brian, I think?" Andy asked. Armando nodded. "Brian's sister used to date Anthony." Andy looked at me. "That bracelet Sal gave you the day you banished Anthony?" I nodded. "That bracelet was made for Brian's sister. Jennifer is her name. Anthony was sure she was cheating on him, so he gave her that bracelet to listen in on her conversations. She was pregnant at the time too. Turns out she was cheating, but she swore the baby was Anthony's. She could never get him to submit to a DNA test to prove it, but she always remained constant that it belonged to him. When Sal was looking for ways in, he remembered that Brian was Jennifer's brother and that he worked at the water district in Armando's area of the city. He went to Jennifer and agreed to have his DNA tested against her kid. If the kid was Anthony's, it would share DNA with Sal. Once it was proven that the kid belonged to Anthony, Sal went to Brian and agreed to take care of the medical expenses for the kid and to support Jennifer as well, but Brian had to give his people access to the water supply. He didn't tell him why, but he said the deal was completely dependent on that. Brian was in a tough spot. He'd been supporting his sister and now with the kid being diagnosed with cancer, he was struggling to keep up with medical bills. He agreed," Andy said.

"How much do you know about the relationship between Anthony and Jennifer when they were dating?" Sephie asked. I could still hear an edge to her voice, as could the guys, but she was trying to control it. Ivan looked at her, still concerned. I assumed she smiled at him, as I saw his expression soften slightly and he winked at her.

"Anthony is much like Massimo. I would more readily believe that Massimo was Anthony's father than Sal, to be honest. Anthony is a psycho. Like it didn't surprise any of us one bit what he did to you at the restaurant, Sephie. That was just the first time he'd gotten caught and suffered the consequences of it. Jennifer would show up with fresh bruises regularly. She would have choke marks on her too. One of Sal's underbosses was concerned for her. He thought maybe her father was beating her. It never occurred to him that it could be Anthony. He's the one who started a relationship with her while she was still with Anthony," Andy said. I could see the fear flash across his face again.

"Did Anthony kill him or did Sal?" I asked.

"Sal did. Once they found out she was seeing him, Sal called him into his office and shot him point-blank. Anthony had convinced Sal that he was trying to steal his woman and child from him. But after the underboss was dead, Anthony abandoned Jennifer and his kid. Completely cut her off. She had nothing."

"Sick fucks," Sephie mumbled under her breath behind me. I was the only one that heard her.

"I couldn't agree more," I said quietly in Russian, so that only she could understand me.

"What do you know about Anthony's plans once he gets back to the city?" Ivan asked. "What's the end goal here?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I know he can't stand Ghost since that night at the restaurant when he got his ass handed to him multiple times in one night. Anthony is a petulant child in a grown man's body. He doesn't take reprimands well. Even worse that they were public. I've seen the look on his face when Ghost yelled at him for slapping Sephie in front of everyone. He won't stop until he destroys her to get to Ghost," Andy said.

"What's Sal's relationship like with Anthony? I got the impression he's scared of his own son," Viktor asked.

Andy nodded. "He's definitely scared of him. He always has been. Even when Anthony was young. He learned as a small child that he could throw a fit and he'd get anything he wanted. It's only gotten worse as he's gotten older. I've seen him choke Sal before. Sal basically does whatever he wants. Even Anthony going to Sicily was Anthony's idea. He just didn't expect you to banish him there. He was expecting to go there, take care of business with Lorenzo, and then be able to come back. In his mind, he's untouchable."

That was good. When you get cocky, you get sloppy. He'd be an easier target that way.

"What do you know about their talks with the Colombians?" Ivan asked.

"I don't know much about it, but if the Colombians don't play ball with Anthony and Lorenzo, they've been making their own plans to completely bypass the Colombian supply. They've been talking to the Mexican cartels in secret," Andy said.

Sephie laughed behind me, causing everyone to look at her. I knew where she was going before she said anything. "Do those dumb fucks not know the Colombians are the ones that supply the Mexican cartels with product? They can try and bypass the Colombians all they want. They'll just cut off the supply completely. No nothing. You can't even make brawn that way. Jesus, these people are stupid."

I felt the smile creeping across my face as I watched the rest of the room, outside of our group, realize what she had just said. Clearly, no one else had thought about that except the Russians in the room and Sephie. I couldn't help but feel proud that she was mine.

"How do you know that, Sephie? I didn't even know that," Armando asked, clearly surprised.

"I thought everyone knew that it takes the specific climate of Colombia to grow the plants. You can grow it further south as well, but the yields aren't as high and the quality isn't as good. Colombia is the prime location for growing the plant that makes the drugs," she said, somewhat flippantly.

Ivan grinned at her, saying in Russian, "They were today years old when they learned that you could run the organization better than they can."

She laughed, hopping down from the bookshelves and going to him. She sat down in between him and Misha, so she'd be on Ivan's good side. He put his arm around her shoulders, letting her curl up beside him. He kissed the top of her head. I glanced in Mike's direction, who had a strange expression on his face. I couldn't tell if he was shocked or angry or both. I glanced back toward Sephie and caught Misha's eye, who had also seen Mike's expression change. Without a word, he reached over and grabbed one of Sephie's legs and stretched it across his lap, keeping his hand protectively on her leg. "This is definitely going on the white board," she said in Russian. "This might replace the creative ways to die as my favorite white board addition, even."

Of course, we all laughed, forgetting for a moment about the severity of the situation.

We continued to talk with Andy, but it was starting to get late. Armando wanted to leave to go check on Giana, who had been alone most of the day, as she still felt intimidated by being in the same room with so many men. We set Andy up in a spare apartment, close to Armando's guys. Viktor gave strict orders to all the security that Andy was not to leave the building unless he was with one of us, under any circumstances. They had orders to shoot him if he tried.

I was somewhat relieved for it to be just us once again, so we could relax somewhat. Sephie got up from between Ivan and Misha, declaring, "I need a change of scenery. Everyone come upstairs. We're ordering food." She had a grin on her face. I think she enjoyed giving us orders once in a while.

Stephen pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Chinese or Thai?"

We all looked at each other, then looked at Stephen as we all said "Thai" at once.

"Done and done," he said as he walked out of the room to make the order.

Once upstairs, we continued the conversation about what to do. "I'm going to call Trino in the morning, but I want to keep Armando in the dark for now. I don't think Trino knows Anthony has been talking to the Mexicans. They have a very strained relationship at best. I don't like dealing with them at all. This could start a war between the Colombians and the Mexicans if we're not careful," I said.

"I think Trino is on your side completely. I think Armando is too, but I don't trust Mike at the moment, until we figure out what his issue is," Sephie said. She thought for a moment. "What does asking nicely entail exactly?"

Andrei chuckled. "We need more details about the building, so we know where to place the charges. And if we can gain access inside or if we have to do it from the outside."

"What's the difference?" she asked.

"Inside is a cleaner demolition. Outside makes a bigger boom, basically," Andrei said.

"Bubba, I had no idea you enjoyed blowing things up this much," she said, grinning at him.

"Who do you think blew the hole in the wall of the Syrian prison to ask nicely if Viktor could come out and play?" he said, laughing.

"I did not bet on you, I'll be honest. You don't strike me as that turbulent," she said.

He laughed. "I'm not. But I really enjoyed chemistry class."

"Nerd alert!" she said, laughing, causing everyone to join her in yet more laughter.

Right on time.

"So how do you guys get the details of the warehouse that you need to make it go boom?" she asked, clearly curious about this plan.

Viktor exhaled loudly. "That might be the most complicated part. I'm sure they're going to have the place surrounded and watched constantly. If it's at the docks, that could work to our advantage or disadvantage, depending on the exact location. If it's on the water, that could work in our favor."

Sephie thought for a moment. "Andy said the area was mostly abandoned. What if we make it not abandoned, so there's a reason for people to be down there?"

We all thought for a moment, nodding in agreement. "That could work. We'd need a lot of people to make it work well, though," Viktor said.

"How many dealers are in the city? If Chen was right and most of the dealers aren't down with selling brawn, I would bet good money they would help. There's a hierarchy of dealers, apparently, too. Like, I don't even think the bosses know all the dealers in the city. The dealers have dealers who have their own dealers," Sephie said.

We were quiet for a moment, all thinking about her idea. It was a good one. Set up a fake warehouse for a few weeks to give people a reason to be there while they collected information on the building.

Ivan said, "That's not a bad idea. If we can set up a fake warehouse next to the one they're using, it would give us a reason for electricians and the like to be close to their warehouse and maybe even in their warehouse."

Sephie's face lit up. "Chen is a contractor too. He can help us get real … whatever we need to make it look as legit as possible. I'm sure he knows electricians too." She pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to Viktor. "I know Chen will help us, for sure. He's the most laid-back dude I've ever met, so for him to be angry about something means he feels very strongly about it. He was not happy about the possibility of being forced to unknowingly sell brawn. If he's right about the other dealers, they'll help us out as well."

"We'll start checking it out tomorrow and see what we can come up with," Ivan said.

Stephen's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket, looked at the screen, then put it back. "Food's here. I'll be right back," he said, walking toward the door.

"When you get back, I want to hear your insight into the Mike problem," Sephie said.

"Deal," he said, walking out of the penthouse. Sephie caught me smiling to myself, happy that those two seemed to be getting as close as she was with the other four guys. It took me a while to warm up to Stephen as well, but he was an integral part of the team at this point.

While we were all eating, Stephen enlightened us with his insight on Mike. "I was in the gym at the same time as Keith the other night. We were just shooting the shit. I asked a lot of questions, curious about where they all came from. Keith used to work with Mike, you know." He looked at Viktor, who nodded his head.

"They told me when I was interviewing them that they knew each other," Viktor said.

"Right, well, they worked together in a really small town. They were both on the police force. It was the town they grew up in too. Mike climbed the ranks quickly after joining the force. He was a very big fish in a very small pond, basically." He paused to take a bite of food. I glanced at Sephie. I could tell she was beginning to put pieces together. Stephen continued, "Keith says he's always been that stereotypical alpha male type, but not in a good way. He takes the aggression to an extreme, things like that."

"Do you know what made him leave that small town?" Sephie asked.

"Keith said he made it as far as he could without someone above him dying. He got tired of waiting. He's big on titles. He likes authority, Keith said. My best guess, and you might tell me I'm completely wrong, Seph, but I think he almost feels threatened by you. He operates by the rules of the animal kingdom, if you will. He sees all of us and we're clearly a formidable opponent, so he respects that automatically. But then he sees Seph and, at least in his mind, she's clearly inferior, but then he sees us deferring to her, protecting her, and, well, following her around like puppies, because let's be real, we do that. But I mean, it's by choice. We all want to be near her. But for someone like Mike, who isn't necessarily smart enough to see past the black and white of big male equals strength, small woman equals weak rules, it's likely disturbing." We all chuckled when he called us puppies. Guilty. But I didn't see any of us changing that anytime soon.

"Has the man ever been laid?" Sephie asked.

Stephen laughed. "I don't know the answer to that question. That's not really information I was interested in." Stephen looked at all of us, somewhat nervously, adding, "Mike really isn't my type."

I caught Sephie's eye, knowing she knew what that meant, but waited to see if any of the other guys picked up on it. They laughed, thinking he was joking. Sephie looked thoughtfully at Stephen, trying to figure out if he really wanted to have this conversation or not right now. He looked at her, realizing that she picked up on his hint. They had a silent conversation, then Sephie asked, "But Keith is your type, isn't he?" Stephen blushed, slightly, but a small smile crept across his face. Sephie said, "He's way hotter. Good choice."

The other four suddenly realized what he had meant. Andrei looked at him, smiling. "This makes so much more sense. I thought you were a monk, dude. You've never once been interested in a girl. I was beginning to worry there was something wrong. I'm so relieved."

Misha's broad smile stretched across his face. "Me too, bro. And I agree with Sephie. Keith is definitely the better choice. Now I understand why he's been staring at the back of your head so much."

Stephen looked surprised. "He has?"

"Yeah, dude. We've all noticed it. We thought he was just awkward after you saved his ass when you guys went to get Andy. You know, some dudes have a problem saying thank you. I put him squarely in that category. Turns out I was wrong," Ivan said, laughing.

Stephen suddenly looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "You guys don't care?"

Viktor looked at him, seriously. "The only thing I care about is that you kept it from us for so long. You could've told us before now. It wouldn't have changed anything. But I have to say I'm impressed you hid it so well. We had no clue."

I cleared my throat. They all looked at me. "Well, it should come as no surprise to anyone, but Sephie knew. She just wanted Stephen to feel comfortable enough to tell you guys himself."

They all said, "Of course" at the same time. Stephen, curious, asked, "When did you figure it out, Seph?"

"Not that long ago, honestly. When we were at the club with Trino. I saw you talking to one of his guys while we were making bets at the bar. He was also very attractive. You like them pretty," she said, grinning at him. Stephen stood up and went to her, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you. For letting me tell everyone in my own time. And thank you for showing me how much more awesome it is to just be yourself all the time," he said. She hugged him tightly.

He walked back to his seat, visibly lighter. I smiled to myself thinking about how Sephie had brought out the best in all of us. I remembered Ms. Jackson's words from so many months ago. She'll show you the best parts of yourself, if you let her. I hoped she'd never stop.

Stephen said, as he cleared his throat, "Back to Mike. You add in that she's affectionate with all of us, while usually in the same room as her boyfriend and Mike just assumes that something else is going on with Seph and all of us, which proves to further his original assessment that she's the weaker of us and using sex to gain favor."

Ivan looked to Stephen, "So how do we check Mike more forcefully, so he learns his place?"

Stephen thought for a moment. "I only have one idea so far, but I'm not sure you're going to like it."

"Let's hear it," Sephie said.

"I think you're going to have to kick his ass," Stephen said.

I watched Sephie's reaction at Stephen's solution to the Mike problem. She thought for a minute, clearly unsure about it.

"I don't know how I feel about this," I said. "It's one thing for you guys to spar with her. I know you guys won't hurt her. I don't know that I can say the same for Mike. If he hurts her, he's a dead man."

She leaned into me, smiling sweetly at me. She had that spark in her eyes that only I could see. I felt my heart jump in my chest as I looked at her.

"Mike doesn't have the same training as Sephie does now," Viktor said. "This could actually work out really well. I was going to have them start training with us starting Monday anyway."

"Sephie can be his first test. I heard him trying to convince you that he didn't need any training. Tell him if he can best her, then he can skip it," Ivan said, a sly smile stretched across his face.

"But what if he really can best me?" Sephie asked.

Misha and Andrei looked at each other, laughing loudly. "Gazelle, you don't need to worry about him besting you. We need to worry about being able to pull you off him, so you don't seriously injure him."

"But he's not you and Bubba. He's not going to know what to say to piss me off. I don't know how to just summon the anger," she said. She still had a worried look on her face.

"That's what we're for," Andrei said. "We'll get you to see red and throw you in there with him."

Stephen had been quietly contemplating this plan, as he was wont to do. He looked at Sephie, "From the impression I got from talking to Keith, Mike is more talk than anything. He likely did well on the force in the small town, but it's not saying much when you're King Turd on a pile of shit."

"Okay, one, it's going to be extremely difficult for me to not call him that to his face from now on, so thank you for that. And two, he's still a dude and bigger and stronger than I am. Biology can't be ignored," she said.

"He's bigger and stronger, but you're lighter and faster. That's always your advantage, spider monkey. That's how you keep all of us on our toes. We have brute force, sure. But it's harder to move that much mass as quickly as you can move your lighter, smaller body. And when you're angry?" He scoffed, "You're, like, lightning fast. That's why me and Misha enjoy pissing you off so much. You're a serious challenge when you're angry," Andrei said.

"If you fight him like you did Misha on the beach, Mike won't know what hit him. That's the best I've seen you look, princess," Ivan said. "If Keith is right and Mike never really took his training seriously, it's going to be painfully obvious very quickly. And something tells me that you don't need to worry about being able to summon your anger with him. I don't even think you'll need Andrei and Misha as backup to make you angry. I'm fairly certain Mike is going to inevitably say something to piss you off, even more than we're able to."

Stephen said, "I feel like this definitely needs to make it to the white board. Both for how long it takes her to take him down and for how long it takes him to say something that will unleash the fire we all know is in there."

They all ended up looking at me, as they knew it wouldn't happen if I didn't want it to. I looked to Sephie. "This only happens if you're okay with it and want to do it. I have zero doubts that you'll be able to handle him. He does strike me as more bark than bite, but we don't know that for sure either."

She looked at me for a moment. I could still see the uncertainty in her eyes. She then looked at each of the guys. "You'll all be there?" Everyone nodded. She looked down, her hands fidgeting in her lap. She took a deep breath, then said, "I'll do it."

The guys all erupted in elated yells. I couldn't help but laugh. I knew Sephie would be able to handle herself. My guys were trained by the best and they trained her. I'd seen what she could do and I knew she was still holding back. This might even be good for her.

I was worried, however, about controlling my own temper in the event she got hurt. It would take all five of the guys to pull me off Mike and Ivan still only had the use of one arm. The odds were in my favor and I knew it. That didn't bode well for Mike, if it came down to that.

Sephie couldn't help but smile at the guys' reactions to her agreeing to this. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it could be good for her. She was holding back, but only because she didn't believe in her abilities 100 percent. Facing someone she knew nothing about could be a major confidence boost for her.

I called Trino the next afternoon. I waited until after noon, to give him time to recover from his night of partying that I assumed happened. When he answered his phone, he sounded like he had just woken up.

"Jefe, que pasa, amigo?" he said, the sleep still evident in his voice.

"Trino, I have more information that you're going to want to hear," I said. I filled him in on what we'd found out about Dario and Massimo, as well as what Salvadori, Anthony, and Lorenzo had been planning. When I got to the part about them negotiating with the Mexican cartels, Trino's anger erupted over the phone.

"THEY DID WHAT?" he yelled into the phone. I could hear him move the phone away from his face, cursing loudly. He gained control, but he was still cursing in Spanish as he said, "Do those pendejos not know that I supply the Mexican cartels? I do. ME. There's no bypassing me."

I had to laugh. "Sephie is actually the one that informed everyone else of that fact. Mando didn't even know that, nor did his guys, or Sal's guy who's giving us this information."

"If you don't marry her, I'm going to steal her, Jefe. I respect you, but I'm telling you right now, I will risk it all to get her. She can learn to love Colombian men," he said, laughing.

"I might actually like to see you try, if I'm being honest," I said.

"That hurts, Jefe. I'm a sensitive man," he said, still laughing.

"We're working on getting more information on the warehouse where they're manufacturing the brawn. We'd like to have New Year's fireworks early. How much longer do you think you can keep Anthony and Lorenzo down there?" I asked.

He exhaled. "I can keep them as long as I possibly can if it's helping you out. I'm enjoying toying with them. It might be concerning how much I'm enjoying toying with them. They still don't know that Dario and Massimo are down here. I've kept them separate from each other. I can let that slip and watch them fight each other for at least two weeks. It'll give Massimo hope that I'm going to let him live. Makes it that much sweeter when I throw him off that cliff."

I laughed. "Have you picked out which cliff? I vote for the highest one you can find. Draw it out as long as possible. He's truly a sick fuck, Trino. He killed Dario's parents when he was just twelve years old. Then he convinced Dario that he did him a favor by killing them."

There was silence for a moment on the other end. "That's evil, Jefe. That's true evil. I mean, you and I are no saints, but we've got rules."

"If you were wavering at all about ending him, there's your motivation to stick with your original plan. You're doing the world a favor," I said.

I could hear him cursing in Spanish. "What about the warehouse? Do you need help with that? My dealers weren't too happy to find out they were trying to replace their supply without telling them. None of them want to sell brawn. That's going to kill at least half their customer base. That's a terrible business decision."

"That's what we're finding on our end too. When brawn originally surfaced, the story was that the bosses were the ones that forbade the dealers from making it and selling it, but I'm not sure I believe that story anymore. Something else went on. Or the city has entirely new dealers, which isn't likely." While this wasn't a priority, I was curious to find out what really happened when brawn had originally appeared in the city. Somehow the story wasn't adding up now.

"I can have my dealers get in touch with your guys. A few of them already offered to help. The rest of them will help if I tell them to. Lazy cabrons…" he said, trailing off.

"That would be great, Trino. We're gathering information right now to find out the best course of action. The warehouse is in an abandoned area, so we're going to try to set up a fake warehouse next to it to gather intel. Gives us a reason to be there without arousing suspicion," I said.

"Good plan. But as every good Colombian knows, a car bomb will work in a pinch," he said.

I chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind, Trino."

"I'll keep you posted on the morons down here. If you hear anything more about the Mexican cartels, I would appreciate a heads-up. Our relationship is strained at best."

"Will do, Trino. I'm trying to avoid a war between you and them. I'll keep you informed. And on the off chance you talk to Armando, he doesn't know of our plan for the warehouse yet. We're still unsure of one of his security guys, so I haven't brought him in on the plan yet."

"You have my word, Jefe."

The weekend seemed to fly by. We spent most of Saturday finding information about the area of the docks where the warehouse was located. Andy had given us the exact location, so we were looking at the surrounding buildings to see what our options were. It takes time to track down who owns what building and what that building was used for when it was occupied. If we were going to move into one of the buildings, it needed to be for a believable excuse.

The guys spent most of Sunday morning trying to calm Sephie's nerves about the following morning's plan for Mike. She was still okay with the plan, but she was still worried about it. Giana had asked Sephie if she wanted to go to lunch with Ms. Jackson on Sunday over a week ago. I sent Viktor, Misha, and Stephen with her. Armando sent Mike and Keith with Giana.

When Sephie got back, she was ready for the following morning. "Yep, I feel good about kicking his ass now," she said as she walked back into the penthouse with Viktor, Misha, and Stephen. They were all laughing.

Ivan and Andrei had been with me, still trying to find more information on the buildings at the docks. We all looked expectantly at Sephie as she walked in and sat down next to me on the couch. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. I couldn't tell if it was because it was colder outside or if she was angry.

"Did something happen, solnishko?" I asked as she sat next to me on the couch. She exhaled loudly. I could see her frustration clearly on her face.

"You know it's bad when Ms. Jackson says he's not allowed at Bingo," Misha said, laughing.

Viktor, still laughing, said, "He's going to need that extra training. He might've embellished on his experience level."

Sephie looked at Stephen. "King Turd," she said, laughing. Stephen just nodded, laughing with her.

"I thought they did an okay job getting Andy?" I asked, somewhat confused.

"They did. Apparently when you add women, Mike turns into an asshole. Sephie had to check him again when he got a little too harsh with Giana," Viktor said.

"Tomorrow is going to be a very hard day for him," Sephie said, leaning into me. She held onto my arm as I stretched it across her lap, leaning her head onto my shoulder.

"Bad day for him, but a good day for the rest of us," Misha said, grinning at her.

"What happened?" Ivan asked, curious.

"Giana is used to you guys at this point. You know what you're doing and you kind of guide those of us that are mostly clueless along without saying anything and usually without us even realizing you're doing it. You're all very good at your jobs, which means you can quietly do your jobs. Mike is not that way. He yelled at Giana for going the wrong way, so I yelled at him. It was completely unnecessary and now she's scared of him even more than she's scared of you guys," Sephie said.

Ivan cursed under his breath. "Tomorrow is indeed going to be rough for him."

Sephie was awake bright and early on Monday morning. She woke up before the sun even really started to rise. I felt her stir, moving off my chest. She stretched next to me, her joints popping like normal. I rolled over, wrapping my arms around her and burying my face in her neck.

"You're up early, my love," I said.

She turned toward me, draping her leg over mine, her hand running lightly over my back. "Yeah, I can't sleep anymore. My brain won't stop."

"You're still worried about Mike?" I asked. I moved so that I could look at her.

"Yes, but not just him. I just keep thinking about everything happening, really. I'm even worried for Trino now that we know just how sick Massimo really is." Her fingers started to lightly play with my facial hair.

I laughed. "If you don't mind, I'm going to skip telling him that. He told me he was going to steal you yesterday. I don't want to give him any more hope that you can learn to love Colombian men." She looked at me wide-eyed, her fingers frozen in place. "I told him I'd like to see him try," I said, grinning at her.

"He was kidding though, right? Please tell me he was kidding," she said. I could feel the faint shaking in her leg start as she thought about the possibility of having to worry about Trino coming for her as well.

"He was kidding, Sephie. He would never. He was laughing when he said it. He's made it clear that he's fascinated by you, but he has too much respect for me to try anything. And besides, you've seen Trino. You could snap him in two without breaking a sweat. He's the last person you need to be worried about." I wrapped my arms around her tighter, pulling her closer to me, trying to keep the shaking from getting worse. I felt her sigh and her body relax as I held her. I kissed her forehead. "Come, I'll make you breakfast. You need fuel for Mike's big day."

I grabbed my phone as we got out of bed. I had a feeling that the guys were all awake too. They were like children on Christmas morning about this training session with Mike. I sent Viktor a text telling him to come up for breakfast.

"Who are you texting so freaking early?" she asked as she was putting her hair up into a bun on top of her head.

I grinned at her. "I told the guys to come up for breakfast too. I'm sure they're all awake by now. They can't wait for Mike's big day either."

"I mean, no pressure," she said, rolling her eyes. A small smile crept across her face, though.

We barely had time to get dressed and the guys were walking into the penthouse. We had just walked into the kitchen when they all walked in. Yep, they were excited about this.

Ivan walked to Sephie, sliding his good arm around her shoulders. "Good morning, princess," he said, squeezing her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head as she leaned into him.

"I think you're all more excited about this than I am," she said, smiling at each of them.

"Maybe a little," Misha said, grinning back at her.

"You're going to be fine, spider monkey. We were trained by the best and we trained you, which means you were trained by the best too," Andrei said, as he made her a cup of coffee.

She still looked slightly unsure, but she didn't say anything more about it. She looked up at Ivan, "We need to change your bandage again. It should be close to time to get an x-ray to see if the bone is healed enough so you can take that stupid sling off."

"Not looking forward to that and also looking forward to that," Ivan said, winking at her.

"I'll be there the whole time. I'll make sure it's quick," she said, smiling broadly at him. We could see him relax as she smiled at him. There was definitely a stronger connection between those two since Ivan almost died. The rest of us could see it, but we didn't necessarily understand it.

Mike, Chris, and Keith were on time to the gym, which was a good sign. It was obvious that Mike didn't think he needed to be there, however. Chris and Keith seemed happy enough to be there. Keith even more so when he caught Stephen's eye. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I watched those two be awkward with each other.

Viktor informed them that they needed to have their skills assessed so he could see where their training needed to start.

"I told you the training I had, Viktor. You already know this," Mike said, a slight edge to his voice.

Sephie folded her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow. Her hackles would go up anytime anyone was the slightest bit rude to one of us. It was, in fact, adorable.

"And I could tell you that I'm the Queen of England. Doesn't necessarily make it true," Sephie said. We all heard her tone of voice. We all instinctively took a step back from her.

Mike glared at her for a moment, but realized a second too late what he was doing. I stepped behind her, my gaze fixed on him. He quickly looked down.

Ivan, who was really enjoying this exchange, said, "Make you a deal, Mike. If you can pass the test today, you don't have to continue with the training. If you can't, you get to start at the beginning."

While Chris and Keith knew that something felt a little off about Ivan's offer, Mike jumped at the chance. "Deal. This should be easy," he said.

Keith looked at him, surprised. "You don't even know what the test is yet, Mike."

"I don't need to. I'm sure I can pass it," he said with as much bravado as one man can have.

Sephie looked at Stephen. I couldn't see her expression, but he was smiling at her. They both said, "King Turd" in Russian, making each other laugh.

Viktor said, "If you can best Sephie in the ring, you can skip training, Mike. If you can't, then I don't want to hear another word out of you about training. Understood?" We all glanced at Viktor somewhat surprised. He rarely lost his cool, but we could hear the anger in his voice.

Mike laughed loudly. "You're not serious, right? You're really going to sacrifice your precious woman?"

Ivan looked at Mike, threateningly. "We're sacrificing you, you dumb fuck."

That made Sephie laugh. She said, in Russian, "Super Squish, I kind of love you right now."

Mike still thought he had the clear advantage. He climbed into the ring, "All right, let's get this over with, but don't be mad at me when I mess up her pretty face and she's got nothing else going for her. I can't believe you guys are dumb enough to let me wreck her face."

We all saw it. The switch flipped. We knew that look. Mike was in trouble and didn't even know it. Even Chris and Keith saw it. Their eyes went wide as they watched her climb into the ring with Mike. I glanced at all the guys, who had stepped closer to the ring. They were all angry as well. Whatever happened, this was not going to end well for Mike today. It might be Mike's last day.

Viktor stepped in the ring, explained the rules to Mike, then moved to a corner to be out of the way. He stayed in to be able to pull her off Mike when needed because we all knew that was coming.

Mike, still cocky as ever, walked toward Sephie. He thought his size was a clear advantage over her, which meant this was likely going to be over with quickly. She waited for him to throw the first punch, which she dodged easily. She didn't return a punch either. He threw another, she dodged it, but waited. She's playing with him. My heart might've swelled in my chest a little as I felt pride watching her.

The third time Mike threw a punch, she dodged it, then returned a quick hit to his ribs. She was controlling her anger better than we'd ever seen her. Mike coughed once, but tried to play it off. "Is that all you got, sweetheart? It's going to take a lot more than a cheap shot to my ribs to take me down."

"Careful what you wish for, motherfucker," Sephie said.

Her comeback only served to make him angrier. We watched as he lost control of it and his true side came out. He went on the offense once again, but she easily dodged most of his punches, never letting him land a square punch, making him even angrier that he couldn't get to her. She was still playing defense, but I got the sense that she was learning his moves and what to expect from him. She allowed him to think he was getting to her, testing his strength, but on her terms instead of his. She would let his punches land, but would deflect them enough that she really wasn't hurting from them.

"You seem to do a lot of running, little girl. This isn't really that much of a challenge," Mike said. While he said it wasn't a challenge, he was breathing heavier than she was. She wasn't even making a real effort yet. "You seem to think you can hang with the big boys, so why don't you fight like one?" he said, moving closer to her to begin his next assault.

She didn't give him time to comprehend what was happening. She switched to offense so quickly that it was hard to keep track of her movements, even for those us watching. She landed so many hits in such a short amount of time that he was stumbling backward before he knew what was happening. He did manage to gain his footing and tried to stand his ground. He threw a punch that I thought for a split second was going to land squarely on her jaw. She moved at the last second, grabbing his arm, using it as leverage to lift herself higher. She landed a kick on his thigh, effectively taking his knee out from under him. She still had a hold of his arm as he went down. She bent his arm backward behind his back, making it almost impossible for him to get out of her hold. Any normal man would've realized he was beaten, but this was Mike and his ego couldn't let go yet.

His adrenaline kicked in, giving him a surge of energy. He jumped to his feet. Sephie let go of him as he jumped up, a smile on her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing coming faster now. She walked to Viktor, pulling her shirt off and handing it to him. We saw Viktor say something quietly to her as he took her shirt. She simply nodded her head and walked back toward Mike.

Misha said, loud enough for Mike to hear him, "You better be careful, Mike. She'll fuck you up if you don't tap out next time."

Mike just glared at Misha, but said nothing. I glanced at Chris and Keith. Their jaws dropped when they saw Sephie's scars. I knew Mike had brought all her anger to the surface, if she was willing to show them her scars. I was glad to see it. She needed to know that her scars made her stronger, not weaker.

Mike looked at Sephie, now just in a sports bra. He was sweating, his breathing was heavy. He was clearly struggling more than she was. "You're taking your shirt off now to try and distract me? You can't spread your legs and use your sexual charms to get me to do your bidding like you do the rest of these guys. Unlike your harem of men, I don't want to take a ride on the village bike, little whore."

I felt my anger coming to the surface now. I made a move toward the ring. I don't know how Sephie knew because she couldn't see me, but she looked to me immediately and put her hand up, signaling she was fine. I glanced to Ivan, who was just as angry as I was. This was going to be Mike's last day, regardless of how this turned out.

Misha, always the instigator, said to Sephie in Russian, "I warned him, gazelle. If you don't end him, we will." She turned to look at Misha. One side of her mouth curled up into a half-smile and she winked at him. She was in total control.

Mike used her momentary lack of focus to launch his next attack. He rushed her, grabbing her, trying to take her to the ground. She used his momentum to flip him over and off her. He scrambled to his feet quickly, looking somewhat surprised. She didn't give him time to get his bearings. She was a flurry of hits and kicks, pushing him back toward the ropes. She landed every single punch and every single kick on him. His nose was likely broken at this point. He was going to have at least one black eye, maybe two. She landed one kick on his ribs and we all heard the crack. She heard it too and she focused on that area, landing multiple kicks, inflicting the maximum amount of pain. At this point, he could barely see. He could only try to protect his head and his torso as best he could. He still wouldn't give up, though.

She took out his knee again, causing him to go down once more. She paused, asking him, "Wanna reconsider your opinion of me yet?"

He spit out blood toward her. "Fuck you, whore." He mumbled something after that I didn't quite catch, but Sephie clearly did.

She delivered a kick straight to his head, causing him to crash to the mat as he lost consciousness. He might've been dead. I found myself not caring. Viktor walked to her with a towel to wipe Mike's blood off her with and handed her shirt back to her. I walked into the ring, standing next to her, looking down at Mike. I looked to Viktor, "He's done here. If he wakes up, make sure he understands he won't next time if I ever see him in this city again," I said.

Sephie looked at me. I could still see the anger in her eyes. It was almost like they had changed color. The brown in her eyes was more prominent and darker. The soft green and blue rings were almost nonexistent. She looked intimidating. I found myself completely turned on by it. She looked to Viktor, then back at me. She said in Russian, "He's done on this Earth. He's not going to let this go, ever. He'll either spend the rest of his life trying to get to me or he'll run to Sal to tell him everything he knows about us. Or both. He can't walk out of this building."

Viktor looked at her, the look of a proud older brother on his face. "You both are assuming he's going to wake up. Ten bucks says he's already dead."

Chris and Keith walked into the ring. Chris went to check Mike's vitals as we were still standing over him. Keith looked at Sephie, saying, "I had no idea he had that much hatred for you, Sephie. He's always been a dick to women, but this was a new level, even for him. He deserved every bit of that. He never would've stopped."

Chris looked at Sephie. "I hated that guy."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hated? As in past tense?"

He nodded his head. "No pulse. I think that last kick to the head did him in."

She stood frozen for a moment. Her expression was blank. She then looked at Viktor, saying in English, "I guess I owe you ten bucks, Papa Bear."

Ivan, Andrei, Stephen, and Misha stepped into the ring as well. While they were trying to be somber, as they weren't sure how Sephie was going to handle knowing she just killed a guy, I could clearly see the pride on all their faces. She looked at them, still in shock.

Ivan, ever the wise one, said, "Sephie, he sealed his fate the second he called you a whore. If you hadn't ended him, we would have. There was no walking out of here alive for him today. You just delivered his sentence, princess." His face softened when he said that last sentence. It was exactly what she needed to hear as we watched the switch flip back. She walked quickly to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face in his good shoulder. He held her against him tightly with his good arm, whispering something to her that only she could hear. She took a deep breath and nodded her head, but kept her face in his shoulder. He had a small smile on his face as he said one more thing to her quietly that made her laugh. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, but smiling. She reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Oh God, I'm using my sexual charms again!" she said, dramatically. "Somebody please stop me."

We all erupted in laughter as we stood over Mike's body. A strange scene for sure.

Misha caught her as she was walking back to me. He wrapped his arms around her, picking her up. "Please never stop, gazelle. Never ever," he said. She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I promise, my adorable Russian guardian," she said as he set her down.

I took Sephie upstairs while they guys dealt with everything in the gym. I took her straight to the shower, knowing she would want to get any and all traces of him off her as quickly as possible. She was quiet. I pulled her to me, the warm water running over both of us. I looked at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She looked at me, a questioning look in her eye. "What does it mean that I don't feel bad for what just happened? I felt the same standing over Mike as I did standing over my uncle. Completely void," she said. I could see the hint of fear in her eyes as she contemplated what she was capable of.

"Ivan was right, Sephie. He sealed his fate with me when he said your pretty face was all you had going for you. Ivan too. It just kept getting worse as he got angrier. Do you believe me now that what's said in anger is someone's true feelings?" I asked, running my fingers through her wet hair.

She smiled sweetly at me, nodding her head. "He really didn't know when to shut up," she said. She turned around, leaning back against me. She held her hands up, looking at the bruises that were already becoming visible. I massaged her shoulders, running my hands down her arms to grab her hands. I looked them over. The skin on her knuckles was broken in a few places and they were starting to swell and change colors as the bruising settled in.

"I have a trick to help this," I said, holding her hands gently in mine.

"From all those punching bags you used to break?" she asked, looking up at me.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "How do you know about that?"

"Tori told me about it. She said they thought you had anger issues because you were constantly breaking punching bags. That one was hard for me to believe, honestly," she said. She pulled my arms around her waist, leaning her head back against my shoulder.

"She was right. They used to have to keep an extra supply of bags because I went through them so quickly. I think I've only broken one bag since I met you, though." She looked up at me again, surprised. I smiled at her. "I told you, solnishko. You made that side of me go to sleep."

She chuckled. "Not entirely, though. I could feel your anger when Mike made the comment about my sexual charms."

I looked at her, now surprised. "Seriously? I did wonder how you knew I had made a move toward the ring."

"I noticed it the other night when we were talking to Andy about the kidnapping attempt. It's like your anger feeds mine. I don't know how to describe it, but I could feel it then and I could feel it today." She turned to face me again, her eyes searching, worried I was going to think she was crazy for saying it out loud.

"You do read my mind already. I don't know why it would be any different that you can feel what I feel," I said, smiling at her. "It's one of the many things I love about you."