Chapter Eighty-Nine

Chapter Eighty-Nine

Adrik

Once Trino and I ended the call, we all stood in stunned silence for a few moments. Not only had Dario dropped heavy information on us but Sephie and Misha had also seen what happened to Trino, seemingly as it was happening.How?

Sephie was still standing next to me, tucked into my side like she was made for that spot. I had a tight hold of her, feeling even more protective than usual of her. I'd lost count of how many times I'd told her that she was the most amazing woman I'd ever known, but she continued to raise the bar on that standard. I found myself curious to see what else she could do.

I glanced at Misha, who was still stunned at what had happened. He had his hands on his hips and was staring at the floor in front of him like he wasn't sure what to do or say.

"Misha, how does your gut instinct usually work? Can you normally see things as they happen?" I asked him.

He snapped back to reality when I called his name. He looked to me, then to Sephie, then back to me. "I get snapshots of what's going to happen, but it's like still pictures. When Sephie was holding my hands, it was a full-on movie. In real-time, apparently." He still looked stunned and almost baffled at what had happened. We all were, really.

I looked down at Sephie, who looked back at me. "Don't look at me. I have no explanation," she said. She looked just as stunned as Misha did.

I caught Ivan's eye, then looked back at Misha. "If I've learned anything from Sephie, it's that she shows you what your potential is," I said. "She shows you how to get to the next level, if you will. Think of her like the Game Master."

She looked up at me, smiling. "Calling me the Game Master implies I know what the hell this game is that's happening with all of us. I'm in the dark just as much as the rest of you."

"I think you're selling yourself short, spider monkey. You might not be completely conscious of what's happening, but you feel literally everything around you. I could tell you were anxious before Boss called Trino. It got worse when he didn't answer. It got worse still when Misha had the same reaction. You know more than you think you do, Sephie," Andrei said. Sephie looked at Andrei, but didn't know how to respond. She was chewing on her bottom lip; her hands were starting to fidget as well.

"I saw her eyes go dark this time when she was talking to Dario too," Ivan said. Stephen nodded beside him. "I did too," he said.

I felt her anger rise quickly at the mention of the conversation with Dario, but she had it under control just as quickly as it appeared. She looked at Ivan.

"Holy shit, I see it now," Viktor said. Sephie looked to me quickly, confused. "Blink, love," I said, kissing her temple. Her eyes were as dark as I'd seen them, but she felt completely calm to me. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. I got hit with a sudden feeling of panic that I knew wasn't mine. When she opened her eyes and looked to me for confirmation, they were normal again. But I could see the fear in her eyes.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" she asked quietly. Her feeling of panic was growing. She was an expert at controlling her anger, but her fear was clearly a different story. She was losing control quickly. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tight against me. She clung to me like I was her lifeline to reality.

"Princess, you joked that your eyes going dark was your villain origin story, but I think it's exactly the opposite. I think it's your hero origin story. We may not know what happened just now, but you're doing what you always do—making sure that people you care about are taken care of. That's hero behavior," Ivan said. She took a deep breath, but didn't loosen her grip on me. Her face was still buried in my chest.

"Didn't your dad tell you that you were here to help each one of us with something important?" I asked her, trying to coax her head away from my chest. Not that I minded her body pressed against mine. I just didn't want her to be scared. She nodded her head.

"He did?" Misha asked. She nodded again, but this time she looked up at me. The look of fear was slowly disappearing. She turned so she could look at Misha, but she kept my arms wrapped tightly around her.

"He told me I was supposed to help you develop your gift, my adorable Russian guardian," she said, looking at Misha. She then looked at Andrei. "Bubba, we're apparently here to make each other better. It's why you're so good at pushing me and training me to be better and why I'm constantly reminding you of how awesome you are." Andrei's wide smile stretched across his face. She looked at Stephen and said, "Yoden, I was supposed to show you how much better life can be when you just decide to be yourself." Stephen's cheeks blushed, as he ran his hand through his hair. "And Papa Bear," she said, looking at Viktor. "I was supposed to help you get your confidence back. You do a very good job of hiding it from everyone else, but I know how debilitating it was becoming for you since you lost your wife." Viktor looked at her, smiling. She really had helped him feel much more confident since she'd come into our lives. I hadn't noticed it much before Sephie, but Viktor was back to the way he was when I first met him. He'd lost his light before Sephie, but she was the spark he needed to remember who he was and how great he was at his job.

"What about Ivan?" Misha asked. Sephie looked at Ivan. I could tell by the look on his face that she was smiling at him. His face always got softer when she smiled at him. She glanced up at me and held my gaze. She was silently asking my thoughts on whether she should tell them everything. I nodded once.

She sighed, then walked to Ivan. "Ivan and I have a special deal. My dad explained it like this: there are different types of soulmates. Adrik and I are meant to find each other and fall in love over and over again in many lifetimes. I don't think any of you are surprised by that," she said, laughing. "I don't know how many lifetimes I've spent with the rest of you, but Ivan gets the role of my protector in each one. He proved he was ready the day Sal's guys tried to grab me when he used his body to shield me from the impact of the truck that hit us." She had put her arms around his waist as she was talking, with her head resting on his shoulder. He held her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

"I nominate Stephen to document each future version of us that he meets in his one extremely long lifetime," Misha said. The smile that Sephie gave him was enough to make the room twice as bright. She squeezed Ivan and then ran to Misha, laughing. He picked her up and swung her around. Her squeal was music to my ears.

"I love that you're as much of a dork as I am, Misha," she said as he set her down.

"He definitely wasn't this much of a dork before you came along. You brought it to the surface," Andrei said, laughing. "Just like you did with the rest of us."

"I mean, I'll apologize if you don't like it, but I happen to love it. You're all much more entertaining this way," she said, walking back to me.

"Don't you dare apologize for it," I said, pulling her to me forcefully, causing her to giggle as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She pressed her lips to mine, still laughing against my lips.

"Come on, I'll get started on dinner," she said, pulling me back toward the kitchen.

"We can order takeout, sestrichka. It's been a long day for everyone," Viktor said.

"Papa Bear, if you haven't figured out by now, feeding you is how I show all of you just how much I love you," she said, her sweet smile on her face.

Andrei pushed his stomach out to give himself a belly. "So. Much. Love," he said, as he rubbed his pretend belly.

The next morning, the guys were back in the penthouse early. We had agreed the night before that we didn't trust anyone else, so all conversations between us were to be had in Russian and in the penthouse when possible. Sephie struggled to wake up this morning. She was so exhausted last night that she was sound asleep almost immediately after laying across my chest. I can't take the blame for her tiredness this morning. Whatever happened between her and Misha completely zapped her energy. Not to mention dealing with the stress of everything Dario told us.

When I came out of the bedroom without her, the guys were noticeably concerned. I smiled at their concern for her. "She's awake. She's still getting ready. She was exhausted last night and struggled to wake up this morning," I said.

"Same," Misha said as he walked to the coffee maker. "I'm starting to understand why you both needed extra coffee the day after whatever happened between you two that zapped you both. I feel like I could sleep for three days right now."

"It only lasted a day for me. Hopefully, you'll be the same," I said, laughing at his exhausted expression. He looked like he could barely keep his eyes open.

Viktor pulled his phone from his pocket, typed a short message, then put his phone back in his pocket. "Breakfast will be here shortly," he said. "Although I can tell you right now that I'm not going to enjoy it as much." We all laughed at his crankiness over not getting Sephie's cooking.

Sephie walked into the kitchen just as Misha was pouring her a cup of coffee. "Perfect timing, gazelle. You're going to need this," he said as he handed her the coffee mug. "I might've made it a little strong. Apologies if it's too strong."

"Are you as exhausted as you look and I feel, my adorable Russian guardian?" she asked. He nodded. "What the fuck happened yesterday," she whispered as she sipped the coffee.

"I can't answer that yet, but I did get more recordings from Keith last night. Armando is back from his house as of late last night. Keith sent over what he had from this weekend. He said Armando met with Ricardo, but didn't close the door this time. Keith thinks Armando wasn't aware that he was there. After what Dario told us, I'm not sure I believe the bumbling idiot persona of Armando anymore, so it might've been intentional. It's possible he's caught on to Keith recording his meetings somehow and now he's feeding us false information, but we won't know until we get them translated," Stephen said.

Sephie sighed. "I'll get started after I finish breakfast," she said.

"Breakfast is on its way, spider monkey. Viktor already took care of it. You need a break this morning, Game Master," Andrei said, grinning at her.

She looked at Viktor, her sweet smile that made him melt on her face. "Papa Bear, you're my favorite. Don't tell the others."

Sephie listened to everything Keith had sent over from Armando's meetings over the weekend after breakfast. She had a serious look on her face listening to one of the recordings. She kept replaying it over and over again like she was trying to hear something else on the recording. Stephen had given her headphones again to help her hear more clearly. She finally looked at Stephen, then looked to Viktor. "There's not much that's useful from Armando's meetings, but in this one recording, I can hear Giana talking in the background for just a minute, like she's walking by on the phone or something. It sounds like she asks when she can go back to Italy, then it sounds like she says it wasn't her fault. She must have walked too far away because I lose her voice for a few minutes, but she comes back through. She's still talking, but it's too jumbled for me to be able to hear what she says clearly when she comes back through."

"There's a way to separate the voices on the recording," Viktor said. "I'll be right back," he said, walking quickly toward the door.

"What about his meeting with Ricardo this time?" Stephen asked.

"Um, let's see. They talked about Ricardo needing to see a doctor for his knee. They talked about the weather, then they talked about how nice it would be to go to a tropical island because it's getting colder here, then they talked about Ricardo needing to pick up his clothes from the cleaners. Oh, fuck me they're talking in code, aren't they?" she said, putting her hand on her forehead as she realized what she'd been listening to.

We couldn't help but chuckle at her. She really was tired. Normally she was very quick to catch on to such things. "It's likely it was code, solnishko. Can you tell me exactly what they said?" I asked.

"I'm gonna need more coffee," she said as she put the earphones back in and started the recording again. She started writing the conversation out right away.

Viktor came back with his computer to try and separate Giana's voice from the others on the recording. She handed Stephen his phone back once she was done, then handed me the translation from the meeting with Ricardo. Ivan got up to move closer to me, so he could read the translation as well. Andrei got up and made Sephie another cup of coffee while everyone was busy.

It didn't take Viktor and Stephen long to get Giana's voice separated from the others, so we could hear her more clearly. Sephie went to listen to what she previously couldn't understand. "I was right on the first two. She asks when she can go back to Italy, then says it wasn't her fault. She sounds angry on the last part. She says, ‘I'm not a child. You're lucky I'm still here. The longer you leave me here, the more likely I'm going to disappear.'"

"If she's been a plant all along, she might be tired of the game. Armando has been using her, he may or may not have gotten her hooked on coke, and we all hate her now, so maybe her plan to rob him is really her plan to get away from Armando and her family," Stephen said.

I looked to Misha, to see if he had any thoughts on potential outcomes, but he was still so tired that there was little to no chance he'd be able to see anything. Sephie saw me look toward Misha, then saw the look on his face and giggled. "I don't think it will work on her. Not with the level of hatred Misha has for her. That's going to cloud the outcome," she said, smiling at him.

"She deserves whatever she gets," Misha said flatly.

Ivan, who had been looking over Sephie's translation from Armando and Ricardo's conversation, said, "I think Stephen was right. The persona of Armando as a bumbling idiot is exactly the opposite of how he really is. He fooled all of us. Unless they've changed their codes, they're talking about a hit on Trino, although I can't tell who ordered the hit from what they said. They're just discussing it."

"Shit," Sephie said. "Could they be referring to what happened last night? When did Keith record this one?" she asked Stephen.

He checked his phone. "It was before they got to Trino, so that adds up. They wouldn't have known it was unsuccessful at this point," he said.

I felt my own anger rising to the surface, but I immediately felt Sephie's almost overtaking mine. I glanced to her, worried she was about to lose control, but once again, she looked completely calm. She looked to me, her eyes completely dark. "I know," she said, indicating that she was in control and was aware her eyes were likely dark. "I'm still not over Dario's comment about Sal and Armando fighting over me before you came back. I need a minute to be angry about that complete and utter bullshit, as well as being wrong about Armando."

I couldn't help but laugh at her response. The guys did too. Stephen looked at her, completely straight-faced and said, "Maybe your milkshake really does bring all the boys to the yard, Seph."

That was all it took to make her laugh and I felt her anger subside. When she looked at me again, her eyes were back to their normal three colors. I was becoming more and more impressed with her level of control of her anger. Her eyes only changed colors when she was a raging inferno internally, but from the outside, she looked completely calm and in control. I could only tell she was angry because I could feel it, not because she looked it. Other than her dark eyes. My Game Masterwas showing me how to increase my own anger to insane levels while remaining in control of it. I felt her cool hand on my face, breaking me free from my thoughts. She searched my eyes for a moment, finding the answer to her silent question of what had me distracted. She just grinned at me, standing on her toes to kiss me. God, I love her.

I had Sephie call Chen before we moved down to my office for my schedule to begin that day. We had also decided last night that we were going to move quickly on shutting down the brawn operations as well as grabbing Dr. Moretti. Those two things needed to happen at once. After that, I was going to move against the bosses that were in the city before they had a chance to realize what had happened.

I'd been quiet up to this point on purpose. It made me look weak and unsure of making a move against the other bosses. I was trying to lull them into a false sense of security. It was exactly the opposite of what my father would have done. My father was brutal in his rule. He made rash decisions and unleashed chaos quickly. He was effective only because he's a smart man, but he was more like a tyrant than a king.

I took a different approach. I gave my opponents time and enough rope to hang themselves usually. I wanted to know their plans. All of their plans because when I ended them, I didn't want to have to deal with tying up any loose ends. I had ended complete family lines before. When I made a move, it was utterly devastating. But it was focused devastation. With my father, there was always plenty of collateral damage. I always tried to keep that to a minimum. Innocent people didn't need to get hurt in the process.

It was time to unleash my own brand of chaos on the other bosses. We'd decided days ago on how to hit the three brawn operations in the city. We needed the help of the dealers though. It was a large enough operation that we couldn't do it ourselves. Not if we wanted it to happen simultaneously anyway. We decided it was best to recruit the dealers to help us, especially with the two smaller warehouses that were producing brawn. Now, we needed to fill them in on the plan.

"Sephie, you're calling early, my girl. Should I be happy you're thinking of me so early or worried you're delivering bad news?" Chen asked when he answered the phone.

Sephie laughed. "I guess it depends on your definition of bad news, Chen."

"What's up, my girl?" he asked as he was laughing at her response.

"We need to set up another meeting with Gus and DJ. We're going to need help taking out the warehouses," she said. "We also need to move quickly. Do you think you can get them to the same place tonight? Sorry for the late notice, but things are escalating."

"Oh, we heard about the attempt on Trino. Gus called him for something else and found out about it last night. I've been expecting you to call, actually. I can get them both there tonight. In the absence of Smith and Chucky, there's been a new guy that's stepped up to help. He's one of Trino's dealers. Do you want him too or just Gus and DJ?"

"Bring the new guy, please. I need to meet him. It's likely okay if he belongs to Trino, but I want to make sure," she said.

"I think you'll be all right with him. He's like Gus's number two guy, but I'll make sure he's there too. See you and your gigantic security force tonight, my girl," he said.

"Thanks, Chen. You're the best," she said as she ended the call. She looked slightly apprehensive as she gave Viktor his phone back. "I'm nervous about new people now," she said, chewing her bottom lip.

"Don't be nervous, spider monkey. You still have one of the highest success rates I've ever seen when it comes to figuring people out. Armando is a special case. Don't dwell on that one," Andrei said as he stretched his massive arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. She sighed, looking up at him. She was upset with herself for being wrong about Armando. She looked tiny standing next to Andrei. "Thanks, Bubba. It wasn't just Armando though. Andy too. I was wrong on two of the most important players in this," she said.

Misha, who was on his third cup of coffee, was finally starting to act like a human again. He looked at her, almost like he was angry with her. "Now is not the time to start doubting yourself, gazelle. You've been right more times than you've been wrong. And, technically, you weren't completely wrong on Andy. You never gave him the okay all the way. There's a reason those two were in your blind spot. We just have to figure out what your blind spot is, so we can correct it going forward. But this doubting yourself shit stops right now."

We all turned and looked at him, surprised with the tone that he took with her. If it wasn't Misha, I might've been angry with him. However, I knew she needed to hear what he said. Andrei, always the protective older brother, pulled her closer to him, but he agreed with Misha. "He's right, Sephie. You can't start doubting yourself now. We need you."

"You two are no longer allowed to hang out with Ivan. I like to be able to argue with you and it irritates me when I can't," she said, grumpily.

Stephen left first with two other guys that night to set up before we arrived to meet with the dealers. Sephie's old apartment made it easy to cover all entrance and exit points. While I knew she didn't pick that apartment for that reason, I was still grateful she chose that apartment as it was making our lives easier right now.

Chen was in his apartment early once again, but Stephen said he was much less nervous this time. "He's only checked outside a couple times since we got in position. Last time, he was checking every fifteen seconds," he said, laughing quietly.

"I kind of feel bad for him. He didn't know what he was signing up for," Sephie said.

She took Ivan and Misha and picked Chen up on her way upstairs. He was much more relaxed this time. We could hear him joking and laughing with her on their way up to her old apartment.

"Chen, it's good to see you again," I said when he walked into the apartment. I extended my hand to him. He grasped it firmly, giving me a small smile. "You too, sir," he said.

"Tell me about this new guy," Sephie said.

"His name is Oscar. He's been working with Gus for a few years now. They knew each other in Colombia; Oscar just came up here a few months ago. Gus trusts him and he says that Trino trusts him as well, but since I don't know Trino, I can't vouch for that statement," he said.

"What about DJ? He gets along with Oscar okay?" Sephie asked.

"Yeah, DJ likes him, but DJ generally likes everyone. He's been mostly quiet around you guys, but that dude has never met a stranger in his life. It's no wonder he knows everything going on in the city. He talks to literally everyone."

Sephie smiled at Chen, but was quietly contemplating meeting the new guy. She was still worried about being wrong. Misha noticed her look. He simply clicked his tongue at her, which caused her to look at him. He gave her a stern look. He had his hands on his hips and was tapping his pinky against his hip. It was exactly what she needed to break that thought pattern. She smiled widely at him, relaxing her shoulders.

"First up, DJ," Stephen said in our earpieces. Andrei and Viktor walked outside to greet him and pat him down, while Misha moved to the door. Ivan and I stood in front of Sephie. As we were waiting on DJ to make it upstairs, Stephen announced the arrival of the other two. "Gus is here and I'm guessing that's Oscar with him."

Ivan and I instinctively moved closer to Sephie, given that we didn't know this new person. I would feel better once Viktor and Andrei checked him for weapons. We heard Viktor knock once. Misha opened the door for Gus and Oscar. Gus, as usual, found Sephie first, smiling at her before acknowledging anyone else in the room. I felt her hand find mine, timidly. She was still worried.

"Do I want to know what Trino has said about me this time?" she asked Gus after seeing his smile.

Gus laughed. "He sings your praises anytime he hears your name." He looked at me. "Yours too, sir. Trino doesn't like many people, but he likes both of you. It's very obvious to anyone who's known him for very long."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'm also very thankful that he made it out okay yesterday. That's one reason why we called you here. We need to move quickly. I'm worried that the Mexicans are going to start a war with Trino and I'd like to be able to offer my help if that happens. I need to take care of the other bosses here first though," I said. I glanced to Ivan who put his arm around Sephie's shoulders. I squeezed her hand once before walking toward Gus, DJ, and Oscar.

"I'm assuming you guys already have a plan for how to take out the warehouses?" Gus asked.

"Indeed. We'd like to hit them all at the same time, which makes it problematic for us. We need your help to make this simultaneous," I said.

"What are we talking about here? How are we ensuring the warehouses won't be a problem any longer? Fire? Raining bullets? Bombs? Flood of Biblical proportions? What's the catastrophe of choice?" Oscar asked.

I heard Sephie chuckle quietly behind me. I could feel her relaxing more now that she'd seen him speak. Andrei spoke up to answer his question. "Bombs. The two smaller warehouses are easily accessed. You guys will take care of those. The warehouse at the docks is crawling with Sal's people. It's going to be harder to get close enough to that one to plant explosives, so we'll take care of that one."

Oscar looked at Andrei. "You can make them all go boom at once. We can still plant the explosives on the smaller warehouses, but then be available to help at the docks. I've seen firsthand how many of Sal's guys are at the docks. That's a big job. You're going to need extra help there."

"Remote charges aren't as reliable as I'd like," Andrei said.

"You can confirm with Trino because you shouldn't take my word for it, but I figured out a reliable system in Colombia for remote charges. Worked like a charm every time. I'll show you how. That's why Trino sent me here," Oscar said. "Then, we can set the smaller warehouses to go boom at exactly the same time as the one at the docks. Maximum chaos. That strategy is what helped Trino rise to power in Colombia."

"Of course, Trino would send us his explosives expert," Sephie said in Russian. "If it turns out I was wrong about him, I'm going to kill him myself for making me like him so much."

We all laughed, which put the dealers at ease. "We'll check with Trino. No offense, of course," I said to Oscar.

"None taken, Jefe. He told me to tell Sephie that my flair for the dramatic was almost as good as his should you question whether I was telling the truth," he said.

"Point in your favor, Oscar," Sephie said in English.

I grabbed her hand, pulling her to the bedroom while I called Trino to confirm Oscar was telling us the truth. This time, he picked up on the first ring. "Jefe, que pasa?"

"Trino, did you send your explosives expert up here?" I asked.

"Si, Jefe. Oscar. He's been one of my trusted guys for years. He was instrumental in my rise to power too."

"Trino, if it turns out I was wrong about you and you're not this awesome in real life, I'm going to kill you myself for making me like you so fucking much," Sephie said. She sounded serious, but she had a wicked glint in her eye when she said it.

"Miha. I would never lie to you. I'm really this awesome. Maybe not as awesome as Jefe, but I need a goal to aspire to," he said, laughing. "I'm guessing you're moving forward on your plans to get rid of the brawn if you've met Oscar?"

"Yeah, I want to move quickly. I'm worried you're facing a war and want to be available to help. We should be able to move quickly. Brawn first, bosses next."

"Good. I could use Oscar when he's done there."

We ended the call soon after. Sephie looked more relaxed than she had when we first got to the apartment. "Your thoughts on Oscar so far?" I asked.

"I feel like he's telling the truth, but not just because Trino confirmed it for us. I think he can be trusted," she said. She was still feeling unsure, but I could also tell that she was trying to be confident. I pulled her to me, holding her tightly. "Misha and Andrei were right, love. You've been right more times than you've been wrong. I've come to rely on your unique set of skills and I still have complete confidence in them. When you can't feel confident in yourself, you can borrow mine," I said. I felt her inhale deeply and her body completely relaxed. She looked up at me, that spark that I love so much evident in her eyes. "Thank you," she said sweetly. She stood on her toes, pressing her lips to mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my neck. She stayed there for a few moments before finally relaxing her hold on me. "We should get back," she said reluctantly.

"One more minute," I said, pulling her back to me as she giggled at me. She didn't resist. She just rested her head against my chest as I held her close.

The guys had been working on revising the plan while Sephie and I were in the bedroom. They heard Trino's confirmation on the phone through their earpieces, so they knew Oscar could be trusted. He was giving Andrei a tutorial on how he set up remote detonation to work reliably when we walked back out to the living room.

Oscar looked to us, expectantly. Sephie smiled at him. "We appreciate you being here, Oscar. Especially given what Trino's facing at the moment. We promise to get you back to Colombia as quickly as possible. He's going to need you again," she said.

While Oscar had seemed relaxed the entire time he'd been in the apartment, he was visibly relieved that he got Sephie's approval. "Trino told me how important your opinion of me was. I'm glad I'm in," he said, smiling broadly at her.

"Knowing Trino, he also told you what will happen if you ever betray us. Whatever he told you, I can guarantee it was not an embellishment," she said. She crossed her arms across her chest, looking at him seriously.

Oscar laughed. "He did tell me. I'm not that stupid. You have nothing to worry about," he said as he went back to the conversation with Andrei about how to set up the detonators.

We eventually came to an agreement on a new plan for the three warehouses. The only variable we weren't entirely sure on yet was Sephie. Ivan and I had discussed it briefly before, but neither of us liked the options we came up with. We had discussed leaving Ivan with her at the penthouse, but that left them vulnerable and we needed him at the warehouse. He briefly discussed bringing her with us, but I wasn't happy about that plan either. I didn't like the idea of putting her in danger just to keep her close to me. She hadn't brought it up again, but I knew she was still worrying about it.

After the dealers left the apartment, Ivan brought the subject up once more. We needed to make a decision. "The biggest question now is what to do with the princess during this," he said.

She glanced nervously at him, then to me. "What are the options?" she asked. She was definitely still worried about it. We could all see it written all over her face.

"So far, we've only come up with two options. I stay at the penthouse with you or you come with us. I can't say I'm happy about either option," Ivan said.

"But they need you. You can't stay behind," she said immediately. It was no surprise that she was thinking of the guys before she was thinking of herself. She started to chew on her lip as she tried to come up with a solution. "What if you took me to the house and left me there? No one will know where I am. There are plenty of guards. I'll be safe there."

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you alone," I said.

"Then that only leaves one option," she said.

Stephen, in his quiet way, said, "This might be a big help to us. She's a hell of a shot. She's fast and she can easily defend herself. It's not like she's going to be deadweight if she comes with us."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Andrei said. "I would be more worried about her if she wasn't with us. With us, we all know she's going to do just as much damage as we could do and we know where she is at all times."

Viktor also agreed with Stephen and Andrei. "You know I don't like anyone to be distracted. We would all be distracted if she wasn't with us," he said. "She's been training with us for long enough now. She can handle herself and we'll be able to keep an eye on her, the same as we keep an eye on each other."

I inhaled deeply. They were right. I just didn't want to put her in danger because I couldn't leave her alone. I ran my hand through my hair, looking at the floor. I was still struggling with the decision. I felt her hand in mine. "Misha, what do you think?" she asked.

I watched as he ran through possibilities in his mind. He clearly looked nauseous. "What was that one? That was a definite no whichever one it was," she said.

"That was you and Ivan staying at the penthouse. I think you're coming with us, gazelle," he said. Just to make sure, he ran through that possibility in his head, that faraway look in his eye once more. He ran his hands quickly over his arms, his upper body shuddering with the goosebumps he was obviously feeling. That settles that.

I looked down at Sephie. She looked unsure, but she wasn't arguing with the decision either. She had the same look when the guys were trying to talk her into going up against Mike. She easily dominated in that situation. I had faith in her abilities. They were right; it would be better to know she was safe with us rather than worrying about her while we were away from her. I smiled to myself, thinking about how protective they'd all come to be of her. She meant so much to all of us. We would do everything in our power to ensure she was always safe.