Chapter Seventy-Eight

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Sephie

Misha and I walked the rest of the way to the house, laughing, but he kept his arm around my shoulders and I kept mine around his waist. I loved that they all humored me and my silliness. I hoped they never stopped.

As we got to the doors of the house, Viktor met us with his phone in hand. "Chen," he said, motioning us to follow him. He walked quickly back to the kitchen, everyone else waiting for us. I glanced at Misha, trying not to laugh at feeling like we were somehow in trouble.

Viktor put his phone on speaker and handed it to me.

"What's up, Chen? Sorry to keep you waiting," I said.

"No worries, my girl. I know how you are when you go for a run. I was expecting to wait for another hour, minimum, so technically you're back early," he said, laughing.

I couldn't help but laugh. Apparently, I'm slightly more predictable than I thought. "What did you find out?"

"I talked to Trino's guy. Gus is his name. He said he wanted to meet with you and your giant security people and then he said Trino called him and told him he had to, so that's happening. Gus also talked to the couple other guys that are kind of running things with him. They want in as well. And, uh, when were you going to tell me that you datin' Ghost? Like THE Ghost? Like THE man that runs the whole damn city?" he said. He sounded like he was trying to be mad, but he was likely scared as he just now realized how big this really was.

I glanced to Adrik, who just smirked at me as he walked the few steps to me and the phone. He asked Chen, "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Oh, fuck me that's him, isn't it? No, sir. No problem at all, sir," Chen said. I could hear the nervousness in his voice now. I couldn't help but laugh. Adrik was clearly enjoying this as well.

"Chen, relax. You've done nothing but help us in all of this. You have nothing to worry about," I said, trying to help calm him down. He was quiet for a moment. I thought he had hung up. "Chen? You okay, man?"

"I'm okay, but holy shit this is way bigger than I thought," he said. We could all hear the fear in his voice now.

Adrik took the phone from me with one hand and wrapped his other arm around my waist. "Chen, you can get out now and no harm done. Sephie was right. You've done us a massive favor. You'll be safe as long as you're in the city, you have my word. You can always call us if you're in trouble too. This is big. Really big. No harm if you want out now."

Chen was quiet for a moment again. He was struggling with what to do. "I appreciate your offer, sir. But I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing this was going on and I didn't try to help stop it. I'm still in. I'll do whatever I can to help."

Adrik said, "I'm glad to hear that, Chen. Are you up for being the liaison between us and the dealers for now? I prefer to stay as anonymous as I can, but Sephie trusts you, which means I can trust you."

"Yes, sir. I can do that."

"Good, Chen. We'll get back to you with a place to meet on Monday and a time. Can you make sure Gus and the other guys that have taken charge are there?" Adrik asked.

"Absolutely, sir."

"We'll be in touch," Adrik said, ending the call. I couldn't help but laugh a little at how scared poor Chen was. I think his reaction surprised me, honestly. Adrik could be intimidating, for sure, but I just didn't think of him that way. It was a new experience to see the fear firsthand.

"I had no idea that your reputation was so ominous," I said, grinning up at him. He just smirked down at me.

"Who do you want meeting with them and where?" Viktor asked.

Adrik was quiet for a moment. He looked at Misha as he said, "All of us." I didn't need to look at Misha to know that he was checking outcomes. Adrik's face softened slightly, so I knew he'd gotten approval.

Misha said, "It needs to be all of us." His voice was serious enough to know that he was honoring his pinky swear. I turned around to look at him, smiling. He was standing with his hands on his hips. He winked at me, tapping his pinky finger against his hip.

"Good. I need Sephie to be there to make sure we can trust the other dealers," Adrik said. He pulled me closer to him.

"Where do you want this to happen? I'm not sure your office is the right place. It's not being watched, but it would be obvious should anyone see them there," Viktor said.

"Agreed. I don't necessarily want them at the building until we know we can trust them." Adrik said.

"What about my old apartment? Chen said it was basically no man's land there. Like that part of the city doesn't really belong to any one boss. They're likely not watching it. And it was easy enough to secure when I went to talk to Chen, right?" I asked, looking between Viktor and Stephen.

Stephen agreed. "Yeah, it's got a couple great vantage points where we can see everyone coming and going."

Adrik looked to Misha, who had that faraway look in his eyes as he was checking outcomes. "It's good," he said.

"Let Chen know. Monday night. I prefer to do this well after dark, if possible," Adrik said. He leaned down, pressing his lips to mine. He smiled against my lips, saying, "It helps perpetuate my ominous reputation."

Adrik was lying across the bed, lost in thought as he waited for me to finish drying my hair. I hadn't planned on washing it after Misha and I got back from our run this morning, but since Adrik couldn't keep his hands off me in the shower, it meant my hair was washed and now needed to be dried. It was getting colder outside and he knows how much I hate to be cold, so he insisted.

I walked to the bed, climbing on top of him. His hands immediately went to my neck and my hair as I laid down on top of him. He clicked his tongue. "Your hair is still wet, solnishko. I don't want you to catch a cold."

I laughed. "I'd be in there for like another hour if you want me to dry my hair completely. It's dry enough. I won't catch cold." I snuggled into him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. "Especially not if I have you to keep me warm."

"I'll make you wear a hat later," he said. It sounded like a threat, so I picked my head up to look at him. He laughed at my expression. "I'm leaving my phone with Viktor this afternoon and you and I are going to the lake. For as long as you'd like to stay," he said, fighting his usual battle with the curls around my face. He looked more amused than usual with my hair. He smiled, adding, "Your curls are even more out of control when you use the hair dryer. I didn't think that was possible."

I laughed. "It's why I don't usually use the hair dryer. My hair revolts, which is a situation nobody wants." I loved watching the wonderment on his face as he tried to get my hair to obey his wishes. "You're really going to ditch work this afternoon?" I asked.

He nodded his head, taking a deep breath. "I could use a break too, and I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon than with you, away from everyone."

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. I couldn't think of a better way to spend an afternoon than with him either. He pulled me down to him, pressing his lips against mine.

We were sitting in silence by the lake. It was one of the many things I loved about Adrik. His ability to be comfortable in the silence was unmatched. I had a feeling he loved it about me too. We had talked on the way to the lake. He kept his fingers laced through mine the entire way. He would steal glances at me as we were walking and talking, like he enjoyed watching me more than the scenery around us.

We were sitting on the ground, leaned up against an old tree that had fallen years ago. He finally broke the silence, saying, "This has always been my favorite spot to come to when I needed a break from everything. It's why I bought this house."

I leaned my head over on his shoulder. "It was a good purchase. There's something magical about this place. Even Misha knows it, without knowing it. It's why he ordered you to bring me here," I said, giggling.

He laughed too. "That kid has never given an order in his life." He laughed harder thinking about it.

"I made him promise to do it more if he gets the response he did about coming here. It's a powerful reaction that he gets now and I made him pinky swear he would always tell us," I said. Adrik reached over and put his arm across my legs, pulling them toward him. I held onto his arm as we talked.

"Is it the same reaction he's always had or it's a new one now?" he asked.

"New. He used to only get a reaction when something was going to go wrong. He said since he's been using it more, now he can get a reaction when something is going to go right. It's a different reaction to each, so he can tell the difference. When he thought about coming here, he wasn't just thinking about the house, and he got goosebumps. My mom used to tell me goosebumps were how you know universal truths. Like when someone tells you something and you get goosebumps on your body? It's a universal truth and your body recognizes it," I said.

Adrik was quiet for a moment, then chuckled. "You've given me goosebumps when you've told me things before, solnishko." He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "What was Misha thinking about when he thought about coming here?"

"He said he was looking at me when we were talking about Giana, thinking about how I looked like I did after we got attacked, just without the concussion, and how I looked after the ball, just without the hole in my hip. He knows that coming to the lake recharges me, if you will. He said he got goosebumps when he thought about it, so he waited until Armando left and that's when he basically ordered you to come here," I said, still laughing at his delivery.

He moved to look at me, surprise on his face. "Misha saw that too?"

"Saw what?"

"That your light had dimmed again."

I shrugged my shoulders. "He didn't say it exactly like that, but he noticed."

"Maybe I underestimated the rest of them," he said. I looked at him, expecting him to finish his thought, but he stayed quiet. The wind had picked up slightly as we were sitting by the lake. We both heard a loud clap of thunder that sounded like it was almost above us. I sat up and looked behind us to see that a storm had blown in quickly while we were at the lake. Adrik saw it too. He stood up, pulling me up with him. "We should head back. That doesn't look like it's going to blow over," he said, watching the sky. Just as he said that, a streak of lightning stretched across the sky, followed quickly by another loud clap of thunder. I felt the first few raindrops start to fall.

I looked at him, trying not to laugh. "What gives you that impression?" He grinned at me, grabbing my hand as we started to walk quickly back to the house. The trees in the forest kept us from getting rained on, but once we got to the other side of the forest by the back lawn of the house, it had started pouring. There was no way to avoid getting wet. The temperature was dropping with the storm as well, making the rain cold and biting. Despite running back to the house, we were completely soaked and I was shivering when we made it to the back door. The guys were all on the couches when we got back, mostly amused that we'd gotten soaked. Ivan and Misha were especially excited. Apparently, they'd all seen the storm coming, so they made a bet to see whether we would make it back before the storm hit. Ivan and Misha said we wouldn't, so they were the winners.

"You're welcome!" I yelled as we ran upstairs to change into dry clothes. Adrik turned the hot water in the shower on, puling me inside before I even had a chance to take any clothes off. I couldn't help but laugh. "And you were worried about my hair earlier," I said, grinning at him. He peeled his shirt off before doing the same to mine. He pulled me under the water as he worked on getting my pants off. I was still shivering, despite the hot water. I laughed at our pile of wet clothes in the corner of the shower. Adrik seemed concerned about getting me warm, but he was also amused at how our afternoon turned out.

He bent down and picked me up, wrapping my legs around his waist as he made sure I was under the water, trying to get me warm. He flinched when I wrapped my legs around him. "Your legs are so cold, solnishko," he said, running one hand up and down my leg rapidly to try and warm me up. He looked up at me, still laughing about our situation.

"It might not have ended the way I wanted, but I'm so happy I got to spend time with you this afternoon. Hopefully, your phone didn't drive Viktor crazy while we were gone," I said.

"You look even lighter, solnishko. Who knew getting caught in the rain was so healthy?" he said, still laughing.

I unwrapped my legs from his waist and stood in front of him, but stayed under the water as I was still cold. "I owe Misha one for ordering you to bring me here," I said, grinning at him. "I needed this break, I think."

"Let's maybe not let him know that he can order me around so easily," he said, smiling at me. He leaned down and kissed me. "I needed a break too. I was happy he ordered me to come here. But let's keep that between us for now."

I put on the warmest clothes I had at the house and was still cold, even after the hot shower. Adrik walked out of the closet with a sweatshirt. "Here, solnishko. Put this on. It will help. Let's go get you something warm to drink too," he said. He waited for me to pull his sweatshirt on, then grabbed my hand pulling me toward the door. "Do you want some tea?" he asked on our way down the stairs.

"The only tea I really like is what I use to sleep and I don't want to sleep right now. Coffee sounds good though. If nothing else, it might make me hyper enough that I warm myself up from not being able to sit still," I said as I jumped down the stairs behind him, laughing.

"That seems like a good life choice for you right now," he said, shaking his head at my shenanigans. "I will make you some coffee, love." He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, pulling me to him to kiss me.

"This is why you're my favorite," I said, smiling against his lips. "You don't have to worry about not telling the others though. They already know, trust me. It's not a secret."

He laughed, wrapping his arms around me. "I love you, Sephie."

"Is it because you're looking forward to me having endless energy later? Because I'd love me for that too," I asked, laughing.

He cursed under his breath. I could see where his mind was going. "I'm going to make your coffee extra strong," he said, a devilish grin on his face.

"Challenge accepted."

Viktor was in the kitchen when we walked in. Adrik asked him what he'd missed while we were at the lake. As they were talking business and Adrik was making coffee, I walked to the back room to see who was there. The storm was still going strong outside and I wanted to watch the lightning as well. The back room had the best windows in the whole house.

Ivan and Misha were on the couches when I walked in. "Where's Bubba and Yoden?" I asked as I walked to the windows to watch the storm clouds outside. I pulled my hands in the too-long sleeves and crossed my arms across my chest, trying to stay warm. I heard Ivan click his tongue, but he didn't say anything, he just got up and walked toward their rooms.

Misha answered, "They're playing video games. They're playing against Keith and Chris right now."

I looked at him, grinning. "Do I need to ask who is winning?"

"Only if you've hit your head recently and have no clue what's going on around you," he said, laughing.

Ivan walked back in with a beanie in his hand. He walked up to me, pulling it on my head. "Princess, you have to keep your head warm if you expect the rest of you to stay warm." I had braided my hair when we got out of the shower because I just didn't feel like dealing with having to dry it again. Ivan picked my still damp braid up and said, "Especially if your hair is still wet." He smacked me lightly with my braid as he went to the couch again.

Adrik walked in with a steaming cup of coffee, handing it to me. He had one in his hand as well, which made me smirk at him. He couldn't help but grin at me as he took a sip. I felt my cheeks flush. In an effort to distract myself from thoughts of what was going to happen later, I asked, "How bad was your phone while we were gone?"

"Not terrible, but I do have a couple of phone calls I need to return. It shouldn't take too long," he said. He was looking over the beanie that Ivan had put on me. "Are you still cold, solnishko?" he asked. His eyes were still amused.

"How are you not?" I asked, surprised that he wasn't cold in the least.

He clicked his tongue. "Drink your coffee. It will help. I'll be back soon," he said. He leaned down, his lips close to my ear. "I have an idea to make you warm again. Several ideas." He lightly brushed his short facial hair against my cheek, then kissed my cheek, making my mind race about what exactly he had planned later. He saw me bite my bottom lip and smirked at me before leaving with Viktor.

I stood by the windows, watching the storm and drinking my extra strong coffee for a few minutes. The lightning was almost constant. It was beautiful to watch.

"It doesn't make you nervous to be standing by the window while the sky is basically on fire, gazelle?" Misha asked.

I turned toward him, already feeling the effects of the caffeine boost. "Nope. My mom told me I was born in the middle of a storm like this. I've always been fascinated by them."

Ivan looked surprised. "My mom told me the same thing."

"It's why you're both all feisty and shit," Misha said, looking between Ivan and me. His wide, handsome smile stretched across his face.

"Did your mom tell you that children born in storms should never fear the dark because the light is always with them?" I asked Ivan.

"She did not. She did, however, tell me to stop breaking bones. She did that quite a lot," he said.

"I can imagine you were barely contained as a child, Super Squish." I looked at Misha, who was still smiling. "And you, my adorable Russian guardian, I'm convinced you got away with murder because you were so adorable. Your poor mothers," I said, shaking my head, but smiling at the thought of both of them as rowdy little kids. I turned back to look out the windows. A giant streak of lightning stretched across the sky, immediately followed by a second, even brighter streak across the sky and a loud crack of thunder. It was so loud that I didn't hear Misha get up from the couch. I felt his hands on my shoulders pulling me back from the windows.

"You make me nervous, gazelle. Maybe don't stand so close to the windows while the sky is angry," he said. He walked back to the couch, sitting once more.

"Which one of you is warmer?" I asked, walking closer to the couches. "Never mind. I'll run my own experiment," I said, sitting beside Misha. I curled up next to him as he threw his arm over my shoulders.

"Are you still cold, gazelle?" he asked. I just put my cold hand on his face, laughing at his reaction.

Andrei and Stephen walked in as I was still laughing at Misha. "Spider monkey, you look like you're frozen," Andrei said, plopping down on one of the couches. Stephen, in his normal quiet way, walked to the kitchen.

"Not completely frozen. Slightly thawed, but not room temperature yet," I said. "I'm currently conducting research to find out which one of you is the warmest. Misha's data set is looking like the low end so far." He wrapped his other arm around me and then threw one of his legs over me as well, trying to help me warm up. He stayed like that for a few minutes, with me laughing and trapped underneath him. "Not helping." I pushed him off me and moved next to Ivan. He threw his giant arm over my shoulders as I curled up next to him. "Warmer than Misha."

"Hey, I warmed you up by making you laugh. It should count," Misha said, feigning outrage.

"I'll make mention of it in the results section of my report," I said, grinning at him. I looked at Andrei, asking, "Did Keith and Chris get tired of getting virtually killed by you and Yoden?"

He chuckled, nodding his head. Stephen walked to one of the couches, saying, "I'm going to be saving their asses for a while."

"That bad, huh?"

"Let's just say it's a good thing it was a video game and not real life," Stephen said.

"Ouch," I said. Ivan really was much warmer than Misha. I found myself moving closer to him, trying to finally get warm. Andrei noticed me moving and opened his arms to me. "Come here, spider monkey. I'm always hot." I grinned at him as I got up and moved next to him as he threw his giant arm around my shoulders. "Warmer than Ivan. This explains why you're totally fine in a t-shirt right now," I said.

"Told you. I'm always hot," Andrei said.

"Mental note taken, Bubba," I said as I moved closer to Andrei. I finished my coffee and was almost warm again. Almost. We stayed quiet for a few minutes, listening to the thunder rumble outside. It was still loud. It sounded like the storm was sitting directly above us, not moving. Andrei really was quite warm and I finally felt my body start to relax next to him. My mind wandered back to the week we'd all had. I glanced at each of them, asking, "How do you guys cope after you've killed somebody?" Andrei's giant arm held me tighter. They all looked at me, knowing looks on their faces.

Ivan sighed. "It's different each time, princess. Some I still regret. The first ones," he said, knowing I would know what he was talking about.

"Why those? Those are the ones I would think you felt the least regret about, Squish. They clearly had it coming," I said.

He thought for a minute. "Yes and no. I still think a few of them were mostly innocent. They were just in the way."

I could tell that Misha and Stephen were curious about what we were talking about, but trying to be respectful of Ivan's privacy. Andrei just kept a tight hold on me. Stephen looked at me, his usual serious look on his face. "It might be disturbingly easy for me, since I'm usually nowhere near my targets. I think about that sometimes and worry that I might be a serial killer."

Misha caught my eye, trying not to laugh. I looked at Stephen, "Yoden, if I'm being honest here, we've all wondered about that as well." I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't contain it when he started laughing as well.

"I mean, I am like the textbook personality for it. Quiet, keeps to myself, never had many friends…"

"Until now," Misha said. Stephen looked at Misha, clearly surprised. Ivan and Andrei both nodded in agreement. I watched as Stephen's cheeks flushed.

"You're part of the family, man. You know that, right?" Andrei said.

Stephen was speechless for a moment. "I mean, I guess so," he said, still clearly surprised.

"You just never believed it until it was said out loud?" I asked.

He looked at me, smiling. "Clearly not."

"Then I'll say it again, so you get it through that giant brain. You're family," Ivan said. Ivan and Stephen were similar in their delivery methods. While Ivan was heavy on the intimidation factor when needed, Stephen could say virtually anything with a straight face. Ivan went easy on the intimidation in this case, but his tone was very serious. He wanted to make sure Stephen believed him.

I got up and moved next to Stephen. I knew he wasn't as affectionate as the other guys, so I just hooked my arm through his. We could clearly see him actively working to keep his emotions in check. I just said quietly to him, "Life wouldn't be the same without you in it." He looked over at me with tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

I stayed next to Stephen for a few minutes, but then jumped up and ran back to Andrei. "You're colder than Misha!" I said as I curled up next to Andrei again. They all laughed at me, while Andrei moved so I could lean back against his chest, helping me warm up again. "Plot twist, Stephen's not a serial killer. He's a vampire."

"Wouldn't those things essentially be the same though?" Misha asked. This sparked an entire debate on whether vampires could be considered serial killers. We were still heavily debating the topic when Adrik and Viktor walked in.

"You guys are very serious about whatever you're talking about," Viktor said.

Stephen, as only he could, said, "Oh, we're discussing whether or not I'm a vampire and then whether or not that also makes me a serial killer."

The looks on Viktor and Adrik's faces were enough to make us all erupt into a fit of laughter. Adrik looked at me, amused. "How do I already know that you're behind this conversation?"

Andrei wrapped his arm around me like he was protecting me. "In her defense, it started as a very serious conversation about how to cope after killing someone. We just got distracted. It's not her fault," he said like he was the older brother taking the heat for his favorite little sister.

Adrik sat on the other end of the couch from me and Andrei. His face showed clear amusement at Andrei's defense of me, as well as his protective arm around me. I could tell he wanted me to come to him, but I also wanted to be bratty to see how long I could make him wait, so I stayed next to Andrei. He was warm enough. I could manage for a little longer.

Five minutes. I lasted five whole minutes before I had to move to Adrik.