Chapter Eighty-Six

Chapter Eighty-Six

Adrik

I found my mind wandering during the afternoon's meetings. I slept great the night before, thanks to Sephie forcing me to take a bath with her before bed. I still couldn't get over her reaction to me telling her that I was thinking of getting rid of the other bosses and running things on my own.

It was something my father had tried when I was much younger. It was one of the reasons I had multiple attempts made on my life before the age of ten. My father eventually relented and divided the city between the six bosses that were now trying to usurp me. Relations had been mostly good throughout the years between my father and the other bosses. Then, when I took over, things had been quiet until this year. The city was thriving and the bosses were thriving, so it didn't make sense that they were trying to grab more power from me. Greed does strange things to people.

My mind kept returning to the thought of running the entire city with Sephie by my side. I would finally realize what my father had tried to do so many years ago. And do it in a way that would save the people of the city, rather than sacrifice them as collateral damage.

My last meeting of the day was over. When Stephen returned to my office, I could tell by the look on his face that I was not going to like what he was about to tell me. "Boss, I just heard from Keith. Armando left early for his house with Giana. Keith said he moved all his meetings there for tomorrow instead of staying here."

I inhaled deeply. While it didn't make me happy that he had chosen to not come clean with me, it did mean that we would get a chance to listen to more of his meetings, since Keith would have an easier time recording him at the house.

Viktor walked into the office. "Chen called. I told him Sephie would call him back in five minutes. Do you want to go upstairs or should I have her come down here?"

"I'll go up. I need a change of scenery. She promised Andrei she would cook his favorite meal tonight since he saved her from having to cook yesterday. She's likely busy anyway," I said. My stress from the day already starting to subside at the thought of having her in my arms.

Viktor's smile made it clear he was happy about this news. He really did love it love it when Sephie cooked. We all did, but for some reason, it was an extra special treat for Viktor. "Apparently, I owe Andrei one," Viktor said as we walked to the elevator. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Andrei's favorite happens to be mine as well," he said. He was practically drooling as he thought about it. We really had become quite spoiled with her cooking for us. Even takeout didn't taste as good anymore.

As soon as we opened the door to the penthouse, we could smell her cooking. My stomach growled in anticipation. Viktor laughed, as he'd heard it. "At least I'm not the only one overly excited about this," he said as we walked in. Sephie saw us, her eyes landing on me quickly. Her smile made the room even brighter. She had her hands full, so she couldn't drop everything and come to me the way I'd grown to adore. Instead, I went to her, standing behind her while she finished what she was doing. I leaned down, pressing my cheek to her neck, my hands on her hips, kissing her lightly. She freed up one hand and pressed her palm to my cheek for a moment before returning to what she was doing.

"Sestrichka, Chen called earlier. I told him you'd call him back in a few minutes. Can you talk now or should I tell him a few more minutes?" Viktor asked him.

"If someone can hold the phone for me, I can talk to him now. These raviolis aren't going to stuff themselves, Papa Bear," she said, smiling at him. He dialed the number, putting it on speaker, then handed me the phone to hold for her.

"Yay, teamwork," she said giggling as we waited for Chen to pick up.

"How did you call exactly five minutes later? Like were you guys just fucking with me and making me wait five minutes for no good reason?" Chen asked when he picked up the call.

Sephie laughed at him. "No, Chen. They had to find me. Sometimes I play hide and seek to keep them on their toes. You know, ongoing training and what not," she said. We all laughed quietly.

"For real?" Chen asked. He clearly believed her.

"Oh, totally. I once climbed out one of the windows onto the ledge. Took them six hours to find me. Most peaceful day I've had in a long time," she said. There was silence on the other end. She couldn't contain her laughter any longer. "No, Chen. I'm only messing with you."

"At this point, I put nothing past you," he said.

"What do you have for me, my favorite French person?" she asked.

"I did hear from the people in Vito's area of the city. They're down to meet. They said name the place and time and they'll be there. DJ finally got back to me. He apologized for the delay, but he said one of his kids has been really sick. The people in charge in Sal's area of the city are also down to meet. I don't know if you guys want two separate meetings or you want to combine them, but let me know when and where. I'll make sure everyone knows," he said.

"You're such a professional public servant, Chen." She glanced at the guys, then tried to turn around far enough to look at me. I surprised her by kissing her cheek. I looked at Ivan, who was holding up one finger, as was Viktor. I nodded in agreement and looked to Misha, who confirmed meeting with everyone at once would be fine. Sephie saw everything and responded to Chen. "We can meet with everyone at once. Same as last time, we'll get in touch about when and where. Thank you, once again, for being our go-between," Sephie said.

"You got it, my girl. Hey, I talked to Max last night. I stopped by the restaurant. He told me what happened. Well, most of it. I'm pretty sure his dumbass left out some important details. I don't know everything about your relationship with him, but you did the right thing, Sephie. You were always a way better friend to him than he was to you," he said.

It took her a second to respond, but she thanked him and the call ended. I handed Viktor his phone back, my hands once again moving to her hips. I felt her sigh quietly as she continued what she was doing. I kissed her neck, whispering "I love you" in her ear. She leaned her body back against me, leaning her head on mine.

"It's less likely that anyone will recognize civilians coming to meet with you. That's a normal occurrence. Should we have them come here?" Viktor asked.

"If we do, it needs to be while Armando is gone. I want him left out of all plans for the time being, until we have a chance to find out more on him," I said.

"Is he still leaving tomorrow?" Sephie asked.

"He left today. Keith let me know he had changed plans. He's moved all his meetings tomorrow to his house," Stephen said.

"Hmm. That's weird," she said.

"Did Ms. Jackson have any insight about Giana?" Viktor asked.

"Not much, but she did say she was just as ambushed as we were that day when Giana pretended to apologize to me. She's also been suspecting that Giana's been on something for a while now and she feels like Armando has to know. She said they've had dinner with her and Mr. Turner a few times and it was really obvious she was blitzed out of her mind," she said.

"She also said Giana told her that they were planning on going to Italy at the end of the month," Misha said. "So, either Armando is planning on leaving, or that's when Giana is planning on robbing him. Or both, I don't know yet."

"He's really not doing himself any favors by leaving early and he'll essentially be cutting himself off from any favor if he thinks going back to Italy right now is a good move," I said.

Sephie had come to a stopping point and wiped her hands. She turned to face me, smiling at me. "Have you talked to them about what you told me last night yet?" she asked me quietly enough that only I could hear her. When she turned to look at me, I felt her warmth spread over my body. I leaned down, kissing her quickly. I stood up, still looking at her gorgeous smile. "I think you should," she urged. She held her arm up in between us, showing me the goosebumps that were clearly visible. I kissed her once more, overcome with just how much I loved her.

I looked to the guys. "I've been thinking I should do away with all the bosses, Armando included, and run the city myself. With Sephie and you five, I think it's possible," I said. They were silent for a few moments as they thought about what I'd just said. I was most curious about how Misha would react, honestly. As was Sephie. She turned to look at him, so she could see his reaction. He had his faraway look in his eye, but then we all saw his upper body shudder as he shook off the reaction.

Sephie laughed at him. "Same, Misha. Same," she said.

Ivan's sly smile spread across his face. "Trino called this one, you know." The other guys looked to him, curious as to what he was talking about. Sephie must've told him what Trino said when we were at his island house because I don't remember mentioning it to anyone. I felt Sephie laugh quietly. Ivan said, "This was suggested when we were at Trino's island house. Trino said the city already had their rightful King and Queen and didn't need anything else. I happen to agree with him."

We set a meeting with the people organizing in the different areas of the city that we knew about so far. Since Armando was at his house, I had everyone come to the building to make it easier. I regularly met with groups of people from all areas of the city, so it wouldn't raise suspicion. It wasn't the same as having known drug dealers walk into the building to meet with me. After the meeting, we had planned to go to the house. I knew the guys were just as stressed as I was. Being away from everything, if only for the weekend, helped everyone relax to make it through the week.

The meeting went well and Sephie was happy with the people that showed up as well. "It's obvious the people love you. It's always been obvious to me. You're so popular that I still can't believe I'd never heard of you before the night I first met you at the restaurant. Not once did any of the other bosses mention you when they were meeting at the restaurant," she said. We were in the backseat, on the way to the house.

"I do try to stay as anonymous as possible. The other bosses wouldn't necessarily need to mention me unless there was a problem. That's why I showed up that night," I said.

"Was it just Anthony's side hustle or was there something more?" she asked me, as curious as always.

"That and I was already hearing rumors of increased taxes in a few areas of town. Not as bad as it is now. Anthony made sure that conversation didn't happen, so the bosses took advantage and raised taxes on everyone quickly."

"At least the people are smart enough to know it wasn't you. Now they know they can count on you to help solve the issue too." She leaned her head on my shoulder. "You're a good King," she said wistfully.

Our conversation on the way to the house made me start to wonder if Anthony had been put up to doing what he did that night at the restaurant specifically so I wouldn't call the other bosses out about raising taxes. They couldn't have known I would come to Sephie's defense. I'd never shown any favor to any woman in public, well, ever. At this point, I was starting to question everything and everyone around me.

Later that night, I brought it up to Sephie again. "How well did the other bosses know you, solnishko?"

"I think you'd have to ask them that question, but Armando is the only one I ever really spoke to. Even with him, it was rare. He asked me questions a few times about whether I had a boyfriend and things like that, but he made it seem like he was trying to set me up with one of his sons. He would always say ‘my son is about your age' and then he'd tell me what his son did or was going to do about whatever we were talking about. I just let him talk, same as I do now," she said. She thought for a minute, then added, "I got free help out of him when it would happen, so I never really minded. But I kept the details about my life to myself. I didn't like the idea of him having more information about me than I wanted him to, regardless of whether he was nice to me or not."

"Maybe he was trying to gauge your interest in him, not his son," I said. I hadn't given it much thought, but Armando was very affectionate toward Sephie, even from the very beginning.

Sephie looked at me and scrunched up her face. "Eww."

I couldn't help but laugh. I never had to question her love for me. I would be more worried about her leaving me for one of the guys than I ever would about her leaving me for someone else. And I never worried about her leaving me for one of the guys.

"I mean, Armando is a nice-looking man. He takes care of himself much more than the other bosses. Those dudes have been letting their money attract women for years now. Armando still has some self-respect and tries to keep in shape. He looks good for his age, although now that I think about it, I really have no clue how old he is," she said.

"He's roughly ten years older than I am," I said.

"That's young to be a boss. I know how you became the world's youngest boss, but how did he manage it? And how long has he been a boss?" she asked as she climbed into bed, waiting for me to turn the overhead light off.

"Armando was the underboss of the man he took over from. That man only had one daughter and she was never interested in anything related to business. He handed everything over to Armando when he became too ill to run things." I stretched out on the bed, waiting for Sephie to lay across my chest.

"And has he done a better or worse job than that guy?" she asked, settling in. She rested her chin on my chest, so she could look at me.

"Mostly better. He's made a few deals that have gone bad, as you know. Overall, he's tried to win the favor of the people in his area. He's quite generous, has a good relationship with the important people, and looks out for the people in his area."

"Did he become boss before or after you did?" she asked. I could see her mind trying to make a connection, but I wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this line of thinking.

"Before. Until I took over, he was the youngest boss the city had ever seen," I said. She chewed on her bottom lip, lost in thought. I stayed quiet, curious where her mind was going. I also loved watching her when she was deep in thought. It was almost as adorable as when she was confused about something.

"What if he's been playing both sides this whole time?" she asked. She thought for a moment longer. "He always had a good relationship with the other bosses, from what I could tell at the meetings. He was always the one that would get everyone to come to an agreement when they'd argue over something. He would work the problem out. Eventually, the other bosses started to look at him for direction. Like they would defer to him, almost." She sat up, crossing her legs, so she could fidget with her hands. I sat up farther as well, so I could see her better. "Let's just pretend for a minute that he got it in his head that he was going to run the city because the other bosses had been giving him more respect. Add in that he might've been trying to feel me out," she shuddered at that thought. "Still gross, for the record," she said, smiling at me. "You were gone for a few months prior to the night I met you. Maybe Mando started thinking he could run the city himself, without you. Then you come back and in one night, take the city back, and take me from him. Remember that first night at his house in Italy? How weirdly thoughtful he was about trying to set me up with his son and how that didn't work out because I was meant for bigger and better things? And then again when we were at the restaurant after the meeting with the scummy lawyer?" she asked.

I nodded my head. "I let those go because I thought he was just being a creepy old dude. You guys made me all squishy inside talking about me anyway, but Mando's comments made me tense. It was just covered up by what you guys said about me. Mando doesn't know me well enough to say things like that about me. He still doesn't. He might think he does. He might wish he does, but he doesn't. I would take a comment like that from Trino better than I would Armando. At least Trino is honest about his intentions." Her fingers were nervously picking at the waistband of my pajama pants. She had taken the drawstring, rolled it up, unrolled it, twisted it around her fingers, and now she'd moved on to the waistband as she talked.

I thought about what she'd just said. "I knew Armando had a good relationship with the other bosses, but I didn't realize they had put him in any kind of leadership position, if you will," I said. "I did miss out on some very important details while we were gone trying to get Viktor back." I ran my hand through my hair. That period of my life was one of the roughest times I've been through. Trying to get Viktor out, without getting the rest of us caught was quite possibly the hardest thing we've ever done. I was more nervous walking into that meeting at the restaurant that night than I'd ever been. I'd been away for months. A lot can happen in that amount of time. Everything faded away when I walked in and saw Sephie staring at me.

I felt her fingers lightly running over my cheek and through my short facial hair. "Penny for your thoughts," she said quietly.

I looked at her, smiling at me. Her hands had quieted and she was waiting for me to think through what was going through my mind, just as I had waited for her. It was one of the many things I loved about her. "I was thinking about being gone, trying to get Viktor out. It was a rough time. I rarely get worried about business, but I was nervous walking into that meeting that night at the restaurant. I'd been gone longer than I had wanted to be. I didn't know what to expect. Then I walk in and find you staring at me," I said, smiling at her. "Everything else seemed inconsequential from that point on."

The smile that spread across her face made my heart threaten to stop.

Misha and Sephie left for a run the next morning while the rest of us went to the gym. Where Misha had dreaded having to run with Sephie in the beginning, he now looked forward to it. After the attack on them, they rarely went for a run in the city anymore. They would use the treadmills in the gym, but they both said they hated it. When we were at the house, though, they would be gone for sometimes two hours. Sephie had told me that Misha was now wanting to take the long route each time they went for a run. It made her happy to not feel like she was killing him any longer.

I discussed what Sephie and I had talked about the night before with the other four guys while we were in the gym. "It should surprise no one that Sephie made a great observation last night." The guys all stopped and turned toward me to hear what she'd come up with this time. I laughed at their curious but not surprised in the least expressions. "We were talking about Armando and how well he and the other bosses knew Sephie before she met me. She said Armando was the only one that would ever talk to her like a person, but she always got the feeling he was trying to set her up with one of his sons because he would mention he had a son her age frequently."

"Yeah, I don't think it was for his son. I think it was for him," Ivan said.

"Sephie ended up saying the same thing last night, but I'm curious to hear how you came to that conclusion," I said. Ivan never ceased to amaze me with his observation skills. They were almost as good as Sephie's.

"I caught him looking at her a few times, but I don't think I would've noticed had he not made a few comments about her when we were at his house in Italy. He doesn't really know her, so they seemed very out of context. They came across as mostly harmless at the time and they would've been had he known her better, but she told me that none of the bosses knew much, if anything, about her. Including Armando. It just felt wrong, so I started paying attention. It's calmed down somewhat since he and Giana got together, but much like her inability to not stare at Misha, he's incapable of not staring at Sephie when he thinks no one is watching."

I thought about his words for a minute. What Sephie had said last night was starting to make more sense. "That makes the rest of what she said last night seem more plausible," I said.

"What else has she known all along that none of us caught on to until she pointed it out?" Andrei asked.

I chuckled. "I wouldn't say she's known all along. She's just seeing Armando in a bit of a different light with everything going on and remembering things in the past that seemed benign at the time that didn't age well. She told me that the other bosses were starting to put Armando into a bit of a leadership role among them before I came back. She said Armando would help settle disputes and would get them all to agree. She's also said all along that she never even knew of my existence until that night at the restaurant. She said she never heard the other bosses mention my name. Not once."

"That's why she calls you the Lord King Boss," Viktor said, laughing. "She didn't know who you were or what to call you when she found out you were coming to the meeting."

"It's authoritative," I said, causing more laughter from everyone. I think they enjoyed the lighter side that Sephie had brought out in all of us, but especially me. I hardly ever joked about anything before Sephie, but now we could find the lighter side of just about anything. It was a welcome change.

"So, you think Armando is playing both sides to see which side will win? That way, if you lose, he can still keep favor with the other bosses?" Ivan asked.

"It's entirely possible. Given that he didn't come clean about his argument with his associate after the meeting on Monday, I'm rethinking his loyalties. You all know how well I take betrayal of any kind," I said. "Sephie said last night, just to play Devil's advocate, that Mando might've gotten it in his head that he could run the city while I was gone. If you add in that he might have been feeling Sephie out for himself instead of the story about his son like he said and her point was that I basically came back and in one night took it all away from him. He might be playing both sides out of spite."

"Sephie didn't give him any hope that he had a chance with her before she met you, did she?" Stephen asked. I could tell he was perplexed over Armando's behavior, if this really was true.

"No. She said that thought was gross. Given the convulsions she has thinking about it, I believe her. She said he used to stay after occasionally and would help her clean up after the other bosses had left. He would ask her questions about her life, like he was trying to find more information out about her. She said she never told him anything important and that she didn't like the idea of him knowing things about her. We know how private she can be. I doubt he got anything useful out of her," I said.

"In all my 900 years, I'll never understand people getting upset about losing things that don't even belong to them in the first place," Stephen said.

"You and me both. It's still just a working theory about Armando, but it seems to be making more sense the more I think about it. We should hopefully be able to get some answers if Keith and Chris can record his meetings. He's never taken his security seriously. I'm hoping that remains the case and they're able to record him easily," I said. "But, for now, I want Armando left out of everything."

"We might be able to test his allegiance. Give him false information and see what he does with it," Ivan said.

"I agree. We just need to be careful and time that right. We don't want to scare him into hiding too soon if he finds out we're on to him," Viktor said.

"Agreed. We definitely need to time everything just right. I'm not doing anything without Misha and Sephie," I said. I remembered something Ivan had said the night before, while Sephie was still cooking dinner and we were all standing in the kitchen together. "You know who originally suggested that I do away with the other bosses?" I asked, looking at Ivan. He shook his head no. "Armando."

"That kind of an idea comes up in conversation because you've already been thinking about it," Ivan said, his hand running over his goatee.

Viktor did some digging on who the man was that we overheard arguing with Armando late morning. He had to rely on Sephie for translation, as many of the articles were in Italian, but he managed to find a few that were in English since he spent part of the year in the city. She was curled up next to him on the couch, so he could search for information and she could translate what he'd found.

"It appears he and Armando are related, but distantly. They've been business partners since Armando was much younger, however. I've found quite a few business deals going back decades," Viktor said. "I can't find any indication that he's involved in the illegal side of Armando's business. At least not directly. It doesn't make sense that he would be urging him to switch sides if he's not involved."

"Do the other bosses make business deals with each other like you and Armando?" Sephie asked me. As soon as she said it, a lightbulb went off in Viktor's head and he started down an entirely new rabbit hole, digging for more information.

"Minor stuff, mostly. The other bosses tend to rely heavily on the illegal side of things. They have a few legitimate businesses set up, mostly mattress stores, but they're mostly a front and a way to launder money. They don't make very much money off of those businesses. Their wealth comes from the illegal side almost exclusively. Armando is the only boss other than me that invests in legitimate ventures," I said.

"Maybe that's why they're getting greedy. I would think there's a finite number of addicts in the city. That's a fixed income supply." She was still reading an article that Viktor had given her to translate while she talked out loud. "Plus, a significant portion of your customer base dies every year. If you're an idiot like Sal and push brawn on your customer base, then you're going to lose more customers than you gain." She looked up at me, a smirk on her face. "I don't even know anything about business and I know that's a terrible model for trying to stay wealthy."

"You do make a good point though, love," I said. "It would explain why they're getting greedy. The commissioner instituted a drug prevention program for at-risk youth last year. He talked to me before he started it. Most of the addicts in the city are adults, so taking the younger people out of the supply chain, if you will, shouldn't have made a significant difference. Maybe it was more successful than the other bosses expected. I would expect nothing less than for them to not see that coming."

"Commissioner 1, Bosses 0," Sephie said, going back to translating for Viktor.

Keith and Chris sent over the recordings they were able to get that day from Armando's meetings. Stephen had relinquished his cell phone to Sephie, so she could listen to everything. She had earphones in to try and hear everything that was said and a notepad. She was diligently making notes on everything she could hear. Keith had told Stephen that he was unable to record all the meetings that day. He said there were two that Armando closed the door for. Chris, however, was able to get pictures of everyone without being noticed.

One of those meetings that Keith was unable to record was with the same associate we overheard Armando arguing with after the building project meeting. That didn't look good for Armando.

At one point, Sephie took the earphones out of her ear and pressed her hands over her eyes. She leaned back in the chair she was sitting in, stretching her legs. "I feel like I'm doing homework again. I hated homework," she said. She took her hands from her eyes, looking at me. "I haven't gotten anything useful so far. Unless you want to undermine his business deals just for funsies." She looked at me with a devilish grin on her face as she put the earphones back in and went back to listening.

A few minutes later, she stood up and took Stephen his phone. "I'm not done yet, but you're getting texts and I don't want to be nosey."

He checked his messages. "Keith said he checked the window that Giana had outlined in that note she handed to her dealer. It doesn't lock. It looks like it was deliberately tampered with too."

"That's apparently how they're getting in, then," Ivan said.

"Please tell me you have a vampire remedy for securing that window," Sephie said to Stephen.

"Breaking and entering is not a thing vampires do, Seph. We have to be invited in," he said.

"Well, shit," she said, laughing. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, then added. "I wish we knew when they were going to do this, so somebody could just be waiting for them when they climbed through the window. Oopsie."

Sephie finished listening to all the recordings Keith had sent over. "I didn't find anything useful. All business talk on his ongoing projects." She ran through the projects he talked about. I knew about all of them and none of them raised any red flags.

"We'll see what tomorrow brings. Make sure Keith knows I'm grateful for him doing this," I said to Stephen. I glanced at my watch. It was still early enough that we had some daylight left. I stood up from my desk and walked to Sephie. I extended my hand to her, pulling her up in front of me. "Let's get you a jacket. I need some air," I said. We might not be able to go all the way to the lake, but we could at least get outside.

"You ain't gotta ask me twice," she said.