Chapter Seventy

Chapter Seventy

Sephie

Mike was on his knees in front of me. He could barely see. I think I broke his nose, based off the amount of blood gushing down his face. He still wouldn't give up. "Wanna reconsider your opinion of me yet?" I asked, giving him one more chance.

He took a shallow breath. I know I broke his ribs. I heard the crack when I kicked him. He used all his breath to spit blood at me. "Fuck you, whore." I knew it was Mike that said those words. I was looking right at him when he said them. But my brain heard my uncle's voice. He was coughing up his own blood, in between trying to take shallow breaths because of his broken ribs. He looked at me and said one last thing, so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "Sicario."

I don't even remember moving to kick him, but I know I did because now I was standing over his motionless body. It didn't even look like he was breathing. I just stared at him, completely numb. I glanced at my knuckles. They were sore. There was blood on them. Was it mine or his?

Viktor walked to me, handing me a towel to wipe Mike's blood off me. He also handed me my shirt. I only vaguely remembered taking it off. Guess Chris and Keith are in the club now. I felt Adrik next to me, but I couldn't see much except what was directly in front of me. I felt like I did the day that Misha and I were attacked, like I was waiting for the darkness to come. I knew Mike hadn't landed a square hit, so I didn't know why I felt like that.

I heard Adrik tell 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 stared at Mike's body. He still hadn't moved. It still looked like he wasn't breathing, but nobody was checking to see if he was still alive. I looked at Adrik. I saw the surprise in his eyes when his eyes met mine, but it quickly turned to … lust? He held my gaze for a moment before he forced himself to look away. I looked to Viktor, then back to Mike's motionless body. "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," I said in Russian since Chris and Keith were still around.

Viktor looked at me, every bit the proud older brother. A slight smile crept across his face, like he wanted to beam at me, but was trying to hide it. "You both are assuming he's going to wake up. Ten bucks says he's already dead."

I noticed Chris and Keith walk into the ring. Chris was the one that finally went to check Mike's vitals. He seemed to be the only one concerned with that, but he waited several minutes, so he clearly wasn't that concerned. Keith said something, but I honestly wasn't paying attention. I was watching Chris.

"I hated that guy," Chris said, looking up at me.

"Hated? As in past tense?" I asked.

He nodded his head. "No pulse. I think that final kick to the head did him in," he said.

Huh. So, I just killed a man and I felt strangely fine about it. Maybe it would hit me later, but right now, I felt very much the way I did when I killed my uncle. Completely void of everything. I feel nothing.

I looked to Viktor. "I guess I owe you ten bucks, Papa Bear."

I could see that the guys came into the ring, but I was still struggling to see correctly. I kept staring at Mike, like I was expecting him to get up and curse at me for kicking his ass. He's not getting up. He's never getting up again.

I heard Ivan's voice, but it took me a second to find him. "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 voice softened when he said that last sentence, like he was trying to coax me out of the fog he knew I was in. It worked. I could see more clearly. I walked quickly to him, just wanting to hide. I buried my face in his good shoulder as he held me tightly against him. He kissed the top of my head and whispered, "Do you believe us now that what's said in anger is the truth?" I nodded my head, but kept my face hidden. I felt the tears coming now. He squeezed me tighter, then whispered, "I'm just glad no broccoli was harmed today."

I couldn't help but laugh. I looked up at him, his handsome smile across his face, clearly relieved that I had laughed. They knew if they could make me laugh, it was generally going to be okay. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek, thankful he knew what to say to snap me back to reality. Then I remembered what Mike had said to me.

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

And just like that, we were standing over a dead body, laughing like it was the most normal thing ever, forgetting completely the severity of the situation. Normal is completely overrated, anyway.

Adrik took me upstairs, straight to the shower. My muscles were starting to feel sore already. My hands hurt too. I had blood on my hands, literally and figuratively, but I didn't know if it was mine or his at this point.

Adrik pulled me under the warm water, which helped my muscles relax. I looked at him, thinking about what had just happened and how confusing it was to not feel how I thought I was supposed to feel. "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."

I watched his eyes as I talked. No change. He looked at me the same as always. He ran his finger over my face, saying, "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 smiled up at him. I knew he hadn't heard Ivan tell me that in the gym, but I know I needed to hear it a second time. "He really didn't know when to shut up," I said, turning around so I could lean back against him. I looked at my hands under the water. Turns out some of the blood was mine, some was his. I had split my knuckles in a few places. They were starting to swell too and turn pretty colors that knuckles shouldn't display. Adrik ran his hands down my arms, grabbing each of my hands in his. He inspected both, then said, "I have a trick to help this."

I looked up at him, curious. "From all those punching bags you used to break?" I still found it amusing when I thought about what Tori had told me about Adrik that first weekend at the house.

He looked surprised. "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," I said, still remembering how surprised I was at Tori's revelation. I pulled his arms around my waist, loving the extra warmth that his body provided when it was against mine.

"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." He smiled at me when I looked up at him again, completely surprised. "I told you, solnishko. You made that side of me go to sleep."

I remembered feeling his anger when I was in the ring with Mike. I laughed. "Not entirely, though. I could feel your anger when Mike made the comment about my sexual charms."

It was almost a living thing that I could feel almost envelope me. He looked 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." I realized how crazy what I had just said out loud sounded. I turned to face him again, slightly worried. I searched his eyes, but he just smiled down at me.

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

I stood on my toes, pressing my lips to his. I wanted more, but my body felt like it had been hit by a truck. I felt like I just wanted to sleep the rest of the day. I turned around again, leaning back against him as it was both warmer and easier to remain standing when I was leaning against him.

"I'm really tired," I said.

"Come, let's get you dressed then," he said, turning the water off.

He talked me into resting on the couch for a bit with him before he had to go back downstairs for his meetings that afternoon. I laid down between him and the back of the couch, laying across his chest so I'd be plenty warm. I tried to stay awake as long as I could, but I think I lasted all of one minute once his fingers started playing with my still damp curls.

I woke up later, still lying across his chest. He was snoring softly, his arms wrapped around me. I lifted my head to look at him, which caused him to wake up. He looked down at me, smiling. "Feel better after your nap?" he asked.

I looked out the windows, noticing it was sometime in the afternoon. I nodded. "Why didn't you wake me up? What about your meetings this afternoon?" I asked.

"The guys came up to check on you after you fell asleep. I had Viktor push everything to tomorrow. I didn't want to leave you," he said, pushing a stray curl back from my eyes.

"They came up here and I didn't wake up?" I asked, surprised.

He chuckled. "They were here for like an hour or more and you didn't wake up."

"Oh," I said, completely surprised that I had slept through that.

"Adrenaline crashes are no joke, solnishko. We've all been there. They were concerned about you, then they were concerned you were going to have nightmares when they found out you were sleeping. I showed them how you play piano on my chest when you're happy sleeping." He had one of my curls and was twirling it around his finger as he talked.

"I do what?"

"You play piano on my chest. Your fingers move in a rhythmic pattern, like you're playing songs, when you're happy sleeping. You also make a cooing noise when I run my fingers through your hair. It makes you snuggle into me more every single time. Not gonna lie, I do it a lot," he said, running his fingers through my hair, making goosebumps rise over my entire body.

"It's probably because you give me goosebumps when you do it," I said, grinning at him.

"It's one of my favorite things," he said, kissing my forehead.

"You're my favorite thing," I said, wrapping my arms around him tighter, resting my head on his chest again. I heard him inhale deeply.

My stomach chose that moment to announce that she was feeling ignored. We both laughed at how obnoxiously loud my stomach was.

"You haven't eaten since this morning. It's also a side effect of the adrenaline crash. You feel like you could eat a house," he said as we got up from the couch.

I stretched, my stomach growling loudly again. "Or two, apparently," I said, laughing.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the kitchen. "Come, we got you Vinny's."

"This really is true love. It's official," I said, hugging him tightly as we walked toward the kitchen.

"Are you up for some company?" Adrik asked after I inhaled my sandwich.

"The guys are still worried?" I asked, smiling.

"All of them but Andrei. He's probably got a new training plan made out for you already, but he does want to make sure you're okay with everything before he starts it." He couldn't help but laugh.

"Bubba loves being my trainer. He's good at his job too." I smiled to myself thinking about Andrei being excited for starting new things in my training. "Tell them they can come over. I don't want to be responsible for any of them sleeping poorly tonight."

It wasn't five minutes later and they all walked into the penthouse.

"You guys have been waiting for me to wake up, haven't you?" I asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Maybe," Stephen said, wrapping his arms around my shoulders from behind. He squeezed my shoulders, surprising me by kissing my cheek. Stephen was the least affectionate of the guys, normally. He took a while to warm up to me, but it seems like since he was able to tell the guys what he's been holding back all this time, he's gotten more comfortable in his own skin. I was happy to see it.

"Did you eat yet, spider monkey?" Andrei asked.

"If by eat, you mean inhale, then yes. Yes, I did. My soul is now returning to my body," I said, laughing. "I can already tell I'm going to be hungry again in, like, an hour."

Adrik looked at me, smirking. "Told you you'd want to eat a house."

"It's a real thing," Ivan said. "We've all been there."

Viktor's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the number. He clearly didn't recognize the number, so he stepped away to answer the phone.

"Super Squish, we should do your bandage while I'm awake and not eating. It's a very small window today, we should take advantage," I said. He nodded, laughing. He walked to the door to go get the bandage supplies from downstairs.

Viktor walked back toward where I was sitting, handing me the phone. "It's Chen," he said.

"Oh!" I took his phone and put it on speaker so they could all hear. "Chen, what's going on, man?"

"Hey, my girl. Sorry I didn't call yesterday like I said I would. I didn't get done until super late and forgive me for not wanting to disturb your giant secretary at like 2:00 a.m."

"No worries, Chen. He appreciates that. What did you find out?" I asked.

He sighed. "It's interesting." He paused, which made me look up at all the guys. "You know I told you one of my dealers works for Vito, right? Well, he didn't know anything about it. He was also pissed off to find out they're planning on trying to replace the entire supply with that shit. He won't touch it either. That fool is hotheaded too. He was ready to shoot somebody when I talked to him last night. That's partly why I got done so late. I was calming him down."

"Thank you for not allowing him to shoot anyone last night. The public thanks you for your service, Chen," I said, trying not to laugh.

He laughed on the other end. "I'm a public servant, Sephie. We know this." More laughter. "So, then I go to my guy that works for Sal. I'm careful with both of them, like you can't just come out and ask them what they know like you did with me. I hint around, trying to find out if he knows anything about brawn and that motherfucker thinks I know about the plan and he proceeds to talk about how fucked up the entire deal is."

"So, the guy that works for Sal knows everything, but the guy that works for Vito doesn't?" I asked.

"Right. The guy that works for Sal not only knows everything but they're also getting a heads-up when it's going down, so they know not to sell in Sal's area of the city. He said they're supposed to lay low for the weekend when it happens. Sal is paying them all to stay off the streets when it happens."

"Does he know when it's going to happen?" I asked. I glanced up to see if any of the guys had anything to add, only to find a sea of clenched jaws.

"He didn't know. He just said they'll get the word and then the next weekend they're supposed to stay off the streets in Sal's part of town. No selling anything in that part of town that weekend."

"How good of a relationship do you have with this guy? Like, do you think he would tell you when he gets the word?"

"I mean, he already thinks I know about everything to begin with, so probably."

I was quiet for a minute. "What about the guy that works for Vito and your other guy that works for the Colombian? Do you know how connected they are to other dealers in the city?"

He was quiet for a minute, exhaling loudly. "The guy that works for the Colombian is pretty high up. He likely knows a lot of other dealers. The guy that works for Vito, I don't know. Like I said, he's really hotheaded, so I keep my time with that guy short, if you catch my meaning."

"You're good with the guy that works for the Colombian?" I asked. If he could get word to Trino's people, that was a large portion of the dealers in the city.

"Yeah, that dude is cool. Super laid-back as long as you play by his rules. Break one of his rules, he breaks you," he said.

I laughed. "That's not him, that's his boss." I looked at Adrik, who nodded in agreement.

"I still want to know how you know that, and yet, I don't want to know how you know that," Chen said.

"Chen, do you think there are enough dealers that are against selling brawn that would also be willing to help us try to stop this plan?" I asked.

"Hmm. I don't know. I can put feelers out. The guy that works for Vito is down to kill some people, but I don't know how helpful that will actually be to your cause. I'm not vouching for his aim, in other words. The other two, I don't know about. Hell, you seem to know more about the guy that works for the Colombian than I do," he said, laughing.

I was still looking at Adrik, who quietly said, "Trino's guys will help us."

"Yeah, that guy will help. What about Sal's guy? What were his thoughts on the plan?"

He sighed again. "I couldn't get a good read on him. It was like he was excited about it, but I think he was more excited for getting paid to do jack shit over one weekend. I don't know what his thoughts are on selling brawn in general."

"Chen, I hate to ask more of you, but can you find out how many more dealers would be against this? Any of the dealers that work for the Colombians will be against it and should be helpful to you. Tell them you know Trino, if they give you shit. If it goes any farther than that, drop my name and have them check with Trino. You'll be fine when it comes to them. If they're working for Armando, you'll be fine. If they're working for any of the other bosses, do not under any circumstances say my name. Got it?"

"My girl. What the fuck are you into now," Chen said seriously.

"Eh, we don't have that kind of time. I'll explain one day. Just remember, Colombians are fine, Armando is fine, anyone else means you don't know me. Call this number if you get in trouble. Okay?"

"Got it. I'll call you in a couple days once I have time to talk to more people."

"Be careful, Chen."

"Always, my girl." He ended the call. I got up, handing Viktor his phone. Ivan had come back in during my conversation with Chen. I grabbed the bandage supplies from him and pulled him toward a vacant spot on the kitchen counter. I took his sling off and started to cut his bandage off, thinking about everything that Chen had said.

"I can tell Trino to let his dealers know that Chen is a friendly. I'm more worried about him saying your name around one of the other dealers than any of Trino's guys," Adrik said.

"Chen is smart. He knows I wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't important. It also took Chen a solid year before he would even tell me his name. I told him about his cheating girlfriend before he had told me his name. I think that's why he eventually told me his name. He knows the importance of being anonymous," I said, inspecting Ivan's stitches.

I looked at Ivan. "Want to let them air for a bit? That bandage has to be getting old by now."

"You are not kidding," he said. He stretched his arm gingerly.

"We should make you an appointment for an x-ray this week to see how healed you are. The stitches look really good. Those might be able to come out at the same time," I said, watching him to make sure he didn't accidently use his arm too much.

"We thought you might want to go to the house this week, gazelle. You said you were missing the gardens the other day," Misha said.

"I did say that," I said, smiling at him. They surprised me sometimes with how much they could remember about what I said and did. "When were we planning on going to the house?"

"After tomorrow, we can go. Since I pushed everything from today to tomorrow, I have a long day. But we can go Wednesday and stay through the weekend, if you like," Adrik said.

I walked to him, feeling guilty for keeping him trapped underneath me on the couch for the afternoon, since it meant his day would be even longer tomorrow. "Totally my fault. I wasn't planning on trapping you on the couch," I said, as I tucked myself into his side.

He looked down at me, holding me close. "I could think of much worse ways to spend the afternoon, solnishko." He smiled at me, as I looked up at him.

I looked to Ivan, "We should get you x-rayed tomorrow then. Make it easy while we're still here. I hate to take advantage of the trauma that poor hospital is likely still experiencing, but I think we can convince them nicely to work you in tomorrow."

Adrik said, "That hospital gets very large donations from one of my companies. They'll do whatever you need, solnishko."

"I love it when a plan comes together," I said, smiling up at him.