Chapter Ninety-Seven

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Sephie

I managed to sleep through the entire night. I'm not even sure I moved at all once I went back to bed. I was so happy to be in our bed, with Adrik next to me. I was warm, I was comfortable, it was Heaven. Instead of trying to position me to lay on his chest, I slept on my good side, my back pressed against him, and under the covers. It helped me stay warm, which helped me sleep the whole night.

I felt him start to stir and felt his grip on me tighten slightly as he tried to wake me up, but he made sure I wouldn't move too suddenly. I opened my eyes, but was disappointed that I couldn't see him right away. "I like it much better when I can see you first thing when I open my eyes," I said, still feeling very sleepy. I felt the vibration in his chest as he laughed quietly at me. He moved so his cheek was against my neck, brushing his facial hair against my neck softly. I felt his lips on my neck, kissing me softly. "I also like it much better when I can respond without completely killing the pleasure," I said.

He laughed again, but pulled his arm from under my head. He got up and moved, so he was lying in front of me, his boyish grin on his face. "Better?" he asked as he lay down in front of me, his hand on my cheek.

"Much," I said, feeling the warmth that I always felt when I thought about just how much I loved him.

"You slept the whole night. I'm surprised," he said.

"I was happy to be back in this bed, apparently. With you," I said, loving the feel of his hand running lightly over my face and neck. "You weren't gone very long last night. I expected it to be later when you got back." I closed my eyes again, concentrating on the feeling of his touch.

"We got unexpected information from Armando that made it clear he needed to have to sit with it overnight," he said. I opened my eyes, curious as to what information they could've found out that would've prolonged things. Adrik laughed. "As Stephen put it, he has mommy issues," he said.

"Does he now? What kind of mommy issues?" I asked.

"Stephen nailed it. That guy will use psychology as a weapon when he wants to. He's just as good as you about figuring people out, he just doesn't want to until he wants to destroy the person," he said.

I smiled. "Stephen is much like Ivan, but instead of not wanting anyone to know how wise he is to protect his peace, Stephen doesn't want anyone to know how wise he is because he's insecure about his knowledge. I'm guessing his parents were hard on him or he had a sibling that told him he was stupid a lot as a kid. He's still not over it, which is hilarious because he's seriously one of the smartest people I know."

Adrik just grinned at me. "You two should start working together. No secret is safe."

I laughed weakly, trying to not cause pain in my ribs. "What did he say about Armando?"

"I'm still not sure if he was guessing or if he knew for sure, but he said Armando's mom was probably an addict and hooked to get money for drugs. He said she likely neglected him because she was always either whoring or so high she forgot she even had a son."

It suddenly all made sense. My eyes went wide as I said, "That's why he chooses the women he does and why he gets them addicted. He's trying to be their savior, but then he's disgusted that they become addicts like his mom so he disposes of them."

Adrik just laughed at me. "I'm going to have to start paying Vinny more. You and Stephen both are going to need more sandwiches. That's exactly what he said too."

I suddenly remembered my extra sandwich from the day before that I hadn't eaten yet. My stomach also remembered. Adrik just laughed. "I had to bring up Vinny's," he said, shaking his head as he got up to help me out of bed.

"What else did you find out last night?" I asked as I stood up slowly to walk to the bathroom.

"Not much," Adrik said as he walked to the closet. He could talk loud enough that he kept talking to me while I was in the bathroom and he was grabbing me clothes in the closet. "He said he thinks that he and I are a lot alike, which I found amusing. And I think he's still under the impression that he thinks Ricardo and Lorenzo are coming to save him."

I felt momentary panic at his last sentence. When I didn't respond right away, Adrik poked his head in the bathroom. His face softened as he walked to me, frozen in place in front of the sink. "They're not coming to save him, love. He's outlived his usefulness to them now. They don't care about him. Besides, Lorenzo is dead. So is Anthony. I still don't know that much about Ricardo, but he's at least smarter than Armando. He knows he can't do anything against me. Especially not without Lorenzo."

"They're dead? When did that happen?" I asked. He started to help me with the shirt of his I'd worn to bed last night. He walked to the shower, turning the water on, then back to me to help me finish getting completely undressed. I held my braid up, asking, "Can you tie this up for me? Then I don't have to wash it. Viktor can redo it later. I don't want to be in the shower that long this time."

"Of course, solnishko," he said as he tried to figure out how to do it. He'd watched me put my hair up a million times, but it's one thing to watch and another to do. He answered my first question as he worked on my hair. "Trino took care of Tony and Enzo the same time we came to get you and Ivan. We still weren't completely sure who else took you, but we were hoping Sal was involved and would be at the building, so we could take care of him at the same time."

"But what's Sal going to do when he finds out?" I asked.

"He doesn't know yet. I called Trino from the hospital and asked him to keep it quiet until you were out of the hospital. I need to call him later today. Once he's had time to wake up," he said. He had managed to take the braid out and put my hair up in a very messy bun. It was out of my way and it meant I could be in the shower for a shorter time, so I was very happy with the results.

"Trino knows I was taken?" I asked as he started to take my arm out of my sling. I held onto it with my right arm as much as I could. It didn't hurt quite as much today, but it was still extremely painful.

"Trino knew you were taken a few hours after it happened. Gus and Oscar called him to tell him about the warehouses. They told him then." He helped me into the shower. The warm water did help me relax, but only slightly. My shoulder was still more painful than I would've liked. "I'll hurry," he said. I knew he felt my pain, so I didn't even bother to try and hide it from him.

"How is Trino going to tell Sal?" I asked, trying to focus more on Adrik's hands on me instead of the pain in my side and shoulder.

"I'm not sure. I just asked him to wait. I didn't ask for details. I called him right after I got into bed with you in the hospital. I was more worried about you than anything else, so I didn't really even think to ask for details." He stood in front of me, his sexy smirk on his face. I felt the pull in my chest that I knew was from him as he leaned down to kiss me. Suddenly, the pain in my side and shoulder were now in the background. His desire for me was the strongest feeling I could feel. I moaned quietly in his mouth as I relished the break from pain that he offered. He kissed me harder, his desire for me growing. I wanted him to be able to pull me close, but I also knew it would likely cause me extreme pain. I couldn't even use my one good hand to touch him right now without risking extreme pain when I let go of my cast. He pulled back slightly, so he could see me, both of his hands still on either side of my face. I saw the familiar look in his eyes that said mine were dark. He was both incredibly aroused, but also perplexed.

"I'm frustrated. I can't touch you without pain right now and you can't hold me like I want you to without pain right now. It's very frustrating," I said. He leaned down and kissed me once more, gently, then turned the water off.

"Let's get your arm strapped down again. At least that will take care of one thing on your list," he said as he grabbed a towel for me.

"What do you wanna bet Trino comes up with some amazing scheme to announce to Sal that Tony and Enzo are dead? Like he has their heads delivered to Sal. First-class, of course," I said, trying not to laugh too hard as Adrik helped me get dressed.

"I'll make sure to ask him when I call him today. I'm sure he'll want to talk to you too. He was worried about you. Everyone was worried about you," he said, helping me get my arm strapped back down. I took in as deep of a breath as I could manage once my arm was secured and mostly weightless on my shoulder again.

"They don't know I'm hard to kill," I said, grinning at him.

"I think we should keep it that way," he said.

The guys were already in the penthouse when we walked out. "What time do you psychos wake up every morning? You're always faster than us," I said, walking up to Ivan, who I knew for a fact woke up at stupid hours of the morning, putting my good arm around his shoulders. I loved that he was so tall; I didn't have to lean down to reach him even when he was sitting at the kitchen island.

He looked up at me, his face softening. "You look better this morning, princess. You must've slept better last night," he said.

"She slept the entire night. We both needed it," Adrik said. He immediately looked at me, with a stern look. He knew I was going to feel guilty for that. I just stuck my tongue out at him, holding my ribs so I could laugh. Stephen was next to Ivan, so I moved to him. "I heard you left Armando vulnerably diagnosed last night. What else did you learn while you were reading his thoughts, my favorite vampire?" I asked as I slid my arm around his shoulders.

He grabbed my wrist and held onto it gently as he laughed. "I hope he didn't get any sleep last night. He has no one to blame but himself," he said.

"The guys that are on him said he didn't sleep. He was quiet for long enough that they tried to take the gag out. He started yelling again almost immediately, so they put it back in," Viktor said, laughing his deep belly laugh.

"You guys had to gag him? I didn't know that part," I said, somewhat surprised.

"He might've started yelling in Italian at some point. I can't stand yelling. So, I shut him up," Viktor said, still laughing.

"Do you have a camera on him? Do you want to know what he said?" I asked, walking back toward Adrik.

Adrik walked the rest of the way to me, pulling me against him gently. "I don't want you to ever have to see him again, love. It's not important," he said, kissing my cheek, then rubbing his cheek gently against mine.

"But how do you know it's not important if you don't know what he said?" I said, leaning into him.

"He started yelling after I vulnerably diagnosed him, as you say," Stephen said. "I would think he was likely telling me off and trying to disprove my theory. You saw him once the polished exterior began to crack. He lost control of his anger quickly. I would bet good money that's what happened last night. It happened again when Boss told him he'd been chosen specifically for that reason."

"Wait, what reason?" I asked.

"Boss told him that Ricardo and Lorenzo had picked Armando because he was easy to control and likely because they knew he had issues," Viktor said.

"Mommy issues," Ivan said, giving me his most mischievous grin.

"Definite mommy issues," I agreed. "What happened after that?" I asked.

"That's when we left him. I want to break him before he dies," Adrik said very matter-of-factly. Instead of being shocked at his admission, like some part of me knew I should be, I found myself agreeing with him. I fully supported him breaking Armando before he killed him. For me, there was no question that I wanted that to happen. I don't know how I feel about this.

Adrik had cleared his schedule, except for Armando, until I got more mobile. He still wasn't comfortable with having any conversations in his office for the time being. It wasn't that it wasn't secure, but there were plenty of people in the office during the day. It was too much of a risk, regardless of whether we were speaking Russian or not. He would deal with Armando at night, once everyone in the office went home. Since Armando was loud, he wouldn't risk anyone in the office hearing him. They kept him gagged during the day, just in case.

I also knew that he simply didn't want to be apart from me. We hadn't discussed it yet, but I could feel his unease at the thought of having to leave me just for the short time last night. I knew he would struggle to come to terms with this incident, much like he struggled after the ball.

That's the funny thing about life. You find something that you think you can't live without and life has a way of showing you that you can. It might seem cruel to some, but the universe, God, whatever you want to believe in just wants you to know how powerful you are. Nothing more. It's not out to get you. It's just out to show you what you can handle.

The day passed much like the day before, with me translating in between naps. The acupuncturist came back again in the early afternoon, which helped my pain levels. My appetite was beginning to normalize as well. Misha ended up eating my extra sandwich that Andrei made sure to get for me, despite Andrei's protests.

After the acupuncturist left, Adrik called Trino to fill him in. He put the call on speaker, so we could all hear.

"Jefe, how's your sweet angel?" Trino asked when he answered the call.

"She's home now, Trino. She's still in a lot of pain, but she's going to be okay," Adrik said. We could hear Trino cursing in Spanish on the other end.

"And Armando? Have you killed him for it yet?"

"No, he's currently suffering for what he did to me," I said.

"Miha. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear your voice. I've been worried about you. I'm relieved to hear that you're going to be okay," he said. Trino was rarely 100 percent serious when he talked, usually only when he was angry, but he was incredibly genuine when he spoke to me.

"Don't go all soft on me now, Trino," I said, trying not to laugh too loudly. "There's still the matter of how dramatically you're going to end Massimo."

Trino laughed. "He thinks I'm going to let him live. He doesn't know about Anthony and Lorenzo yet, but he will soon enough. Everyone will soon enough, as soon as Jefe gives me the okay."

As Trino was talking, I heard background noise that wasn't the usual background noise from Colombia. I heard someone yelling in English and cars honking like he was in the city. I looked at Adrik, who hadn't heard it, and mouthed, ‘Keep him talking for a minute.' Then I motioned for Misha to come to me. We stepped away slightly from Adrik, so Trino couldn't hear us.

"I want to try something. I think Trino is in the city, can you see him?" I asked Misha as I took his hand. He got his faraway look in his eye and suddenly we could both see Trino. In the city. He was with Gus and Oscar. We could also see Trino's normal security guys with him. We could see him talking to Adrik on the phone, then it was like someone hit the fast forward button. We could see him outside a house, but hidden, watching as packages were delivered. He was like a kid, excited to play a prank on someone. Misha squeezed my hand and said quietly, "That's Sal's house."

"Oh, dear God, I know what he's doing," I said. I felt Misha squeeze my hand and knew that he had also seen what Trino's plan was. Once I let go of Misha's hand, the vision stopped for both of us. I walked back over to Adrik and whispered in his ear, "Ask him if he wants to meet while he's in the city." Adrik looked surprised, but glanced to Misha who confirmed it.

As the conversation was wrapping up, Adrik said, "And we should meet while you're here. It's not often you make it to the city."

"Dios mio, how did you know? No one knows I'm here yet," Trino said, completely surprised.

"Have you met Sephie?" Adrik said, laughing. "Literally nothing gets by her."

"How did she know?"

"If I told you that, I'd have to kill you, Trino. And I'll be incredibly offended if you're here and don't at least stop by to say hi," I said as Adrik put one arm around my hips to gingerly pull me closer to him.

"Miha, it's because of you that I didn't tell Jefe. I didn't want it to be too much for you. You need time to heal," he said.

"I appreciate your concern, Trino. But I'm fine. It would be good to see you again," I said.

"Miha, how could I say no? I should come before I let Sal know about Anthony and Lorenzo. It's going to get crazy after that, I'm sure."

I put my hand over my mouth, so I wouldn't say anything and give away that I knew what his plan was. Adrik looked at me curiously. Misha was also trying to hold in his laughter. Adrik finished the conversation, then looked to both me and Misha for explanation. I started giggling and couldn't stop myself, so Misha had to answer. "He's going to deliver their heads to Sal's front door."

Adrik's eyes went wide, looking straight at me. "How do you do that?" he asked.

"We saw it while you were on the phone," Misha said.

"No, she knew that was happening this morning, before I talked to Trino. She said that's what he was going to do after our shower," Adrik said. The guys all looked at me now, still giggling but now holding my ribs.

"Apparently, Trino's flair for the dramatic is something I'm clearly tapped into," I said.

"We should tell him to record it, so we can show it to Armando. He's still holding out hope that they're going to come save him," Ivan said.

Trino stopped by the building a few hours later, with Gus and Oscar. I was surprised to see Chen with them as well. Instead of bringing all those people to the penthouse, I assured Adrik I'd be okay in his office for a while.

"Chen, I'm surprised you're here too," I said as they walked into the office. I hadn't sat down yet, as I didn't want to be rude when everyone walked in. Chen clearly looked relieved to see me and walked toward me. Of course, Adrik was by my side, with Ivan and the rest of the guys close by as well. Chen glanced at Adrik, who tried to put him at ease right away. "It's good to see you again, Chen," he said, extending his hand to him. Trino walked in soon after Chen, so Adrik kissed my temple gently and walked to him. Chen took the opportunity to hug me, but not before Adrik warned him. "Gently," he said sternly, as he walked away.

"How are you, my girl?" Chen asked quietly.

"I mean, I've been better, but I'm here, so that counts," I said, smiling at him. "I see you've met Trino finally."

"Yeah, you were right. Good dude. They told me they were coming to see you, so I wanted to tag along. I almost called your giant secretary to check on you, but I didn't want to be a bother," he said.

Viktor was close enough that he heard Chen. "It wouldn't be a bother, Chen. You can call anytime," Viktor said. He winked at me when I turned to smile at him, which caused Chen to relax a little more.

Adrik walked back to me, with Trino beside him. Chen took a few steps away to give them room. The look on Trino's face was one of slight horror. Here I thought I was starting to look better. I grabbed my ribs, so I could laugh slightly. "You're not good for my self-esteem when you look at me like that, Trino. I thought I was starting to look better," I said, smiling at him. Once he saw me smile, his face softened and he relaxed.

"Miha, forgive me. I was not expecting…"

"The colors? I know. They're impressive when you first see them. You should see my stomach. It's like a unicorn beat me up, really," I said. Adrik clicked his tongue at me, but he was smirking at me nonetheless.

Trino looked to Ivan. Pointing at him, he said, "He doesn't look much better, but you're more colorful."

"She likes to live life in technicolor, Trino," Ivan said, grinning at me. I grabbed my ribs to laugh again. It was getting the slightest bit easier to do normal things like laugh, but there was still tremendous pain involved. I wasn't sure if it was actually getting better or if I was just getting used to the pain.

"Trino, please sit. You can tell me why you decided to come to the city and tried to avoid seeing us," I said, smiling at him. Misha and Andrei moved to help me as Adrik sat on one of the couches first, so they could put me in his lap. I leaned back against him, crossing my legs in between his.

Trino laughed again, once again asking for my forgiveness. "Miha, I meant no disrespect. I just knew that if they had managed to put you in the hospital, it likely wasn't good. I didn't want to cause you more pain by having to see me. I came to the city to personally deliver Anthony and Lorenzo to Sal, so he couldn't mistake the message. I want to see the look on his face," he said.

"When he opens the boxes and sees their heads?" I asked. Trino's expression quickly went to one of complete shock.

"How, Miha? I haven't…"

"It's the most dramatic way I could think of. Turns out I was right," I said. All the guys, including Adrik, laughed since they knew the real truth. Misha caught my eye and smiled his handsome, wide smile at me. "I enjoy your flair for the dramatic. It's one of my favorite things about you, Trino."

Trino laughed. Oscar, who had been quiet to this point, said, "Mine's better." Gus smacked his shoulder, but laughed at him.

"Yours is quite good as well, Oscar. I never got a chance to thank you for helping them get me and Ivan out. I know it was you and Andrei that created the distraction, so they could ask nicely for us back," I said. "And thank you, Gus and Chen, for helping to find us. You're all the best."

"Word has gotten out about what happened, Sephie. The people in the city aren't happy with Sal, or the other bosses for that matter. It might've been Sal and Armando that took you, but people know the other bosses were involved somehow. Or at least complicit. They're thankful to Ghost for stopping the plan for the brawn, but they heard about you being taken and they're pissed. The people love you," Gus said.

It was my turn to be shocked. "The people don't know me. How can they love me?"

"They know enough. They've seen you around town. You're always smiling and nice to everyone. You're like the fairytale princess for them," Gus said.

Ivan snapped his fingers and pointed to me, "Called it." I laughed before I could grab my ribs, so I ended up cursing while still laughing.

"You have to like give me warning before you make me laugh now," I said.

We talked for a while, before Gus brought up Armando. "Is he still alive?" he asked.

I felt Adrik nod his head, tightening his hold around me just slightly. "We got some unexpected information about him last night. I might be enjoying breaking his mind completely before he dies," he said.

Trino laughed. "This is why I like you so much, Jefe."

Trino stayed until well after the sun went down, making it the perfect time to deliver his surprise to Sal. He really was like a kid that was waiting to pull a prank on someone. It was just how Misha and I saw it earlier. The excitement on his face was unmistakable.

As everyone left, I looked at the guys saying, "I think we should come up with possible theories on what Sal's going to do when he opens his early Christmas gifts. I think there's a good chance he'll get scared and run, but I also think I underestimated his psychosis. He might go full monster and go after Trino, then us."

"I say run," Ivan said. "I think a lot of his bravado was backed by Lorenzo. I think it's pretty clear he's the smarter of those two."

"I think Ricardo is the wild card in this situation too. I'm wondering if he's going to step into Lorenzo's role and start pulling the strings for Sal now that his brother is dead," Stephen said.

"It does make me wonder how he's stayed out of the spotlight for so many years, but had so much control over Armando," Viktor said.

"Was he connected to the boss that Armando replaced?" I asked. We hadn't given much thought to that boss. I saw a lightbulb moment for Viktor and Stephen when I asked my question. I smiled at them, motioning for Andrei to help me up. "We clearly need to go back upstairs," I said.

It didn't take Viktor long to find a link between Ricardo and Giovanni, the boss before Armando took over. "That explains why Armando picked the surname he's been using all these years too. It's what connects Ricardo and Giovanni. That's why it looked like Ricardo and Armando were distantly related. It looks like he's distantly related to Giovanni too, if you believe his fake last name," Viktor said.

"Ricardo had to have told him to use that name then. Probably before he ever became an underboss for Giovanni," I said. "It was just distant enough that nobody would really think it was a lie, but just believable enough that no one would question it."

It was only a short time later that Adrik's phone beeped. He looked at a video of Sal finding the boxes with Anthony's and Lorenzo's heads in them. Trino was thoughtful enough to show us what was in the boxes before they were left on Sal's doorstep, just for Armando. When Adrik showed me the video, he covered my eyes for that part. "You don't need to see that, solnishko," he said. It was only a few seconds and he pulled his hand from my eyes. I wasn't going to argue. It wasn't something I was desperate to see.

It wasn't something that Sal wanted to see either. He was clearly distraught. Trino timed it so that Sal found the boxes as he was coming home. He'd apparently been having him watched, so he knew when to time it just right so that it was indeed Sal to open the boxes and not one of his men. Sal was shocked, angry, distraught, and inconsolable in the span of a few minutes. He immediately got on his phone, but the audio wasn't close enough that we could understand what he was saying. Whoever he was calling didn't pick up. He tried another call. Once again, no answer.

It suddenly hit me. "He just called them," I said. "He just called Anthony and Lorenzo. He doesn't believe it's them in the boxes."

Stephen said out loud what I was thinking. "If it wasn't Sal, this would be heartbreaking."

"I'm going to enjoy watching Armando see this," Ivan said. "He might be so crushed that we don't even need to kill him. He'll suffer the rest of his life as a poor man."

"You might be on to something, Super Squish. If I had two functioning arms, I'd be able to hug you. But alas, here I lie. Completely useless," I said, grinning at him.

"Not completely useless, sestrichka. Your brain still works," Viktor said, laughing his deep belly laugh that always made everyone around him happier for hearing it.

Adrik left me with Andrei and Misha once again, so he could go back downstairs to deal with Armando. He wanted Armando to see the video and to know that Lorenzo was dead. After they left, Andrei had questions about Misha's ability to see things. "Does it work on just anybody? Like, could you pick a random person and just spy on them?" he asked.

"I don't know. I've never tried that," Misha said.

"How have you never tried that? That would've been the first thing I tried," Andrei said, laughing.

"Who do you want to know about, Bubba?" I asked.

Before Andrei could answer, Misha answered for him. "Tori." I looked to Andrei, shocked that he would be curious about her still, even after everything. But I had to admit, I was curious about Max as well, so I couldn't give him too much shit.

"Okay, I can't say much here. I'm curious about Max too," I said when Andrei looked somewhat worried about what we'd think of him. Misha got the faraway look in his eye that meant he was trying to see what he could about either one of them. He tried for a few minutes, but got nothing. I unwrapped my hand from the blanket, stretching it out to him. "What if I help?" I asked. He moved closer to me, as I was leaning against Andrei for maximum warmth.

He grabbed my hand, then said, "Tori first." I nodded my head, trying to think about Tori. It took longer than normal, but we eventually saw her. She was in a house, sitting in a leather chair, having a conversation with an older man that I didn't recognize immediately. She looked comfortable, like she knew the man. They were clearly having a pleasant conversation. She was intently listening to what he was saying, he appeared to be captivated by her response. Misha squeezed my hand, which usually meant he knew something I didn't. "That's one of Sal's underbosses," he said.

"Well, that's an interesting twist I wasn't expecting," I said. The vision stopped when we started talking. I looked to Andrei, curious. "What made you want to know about Tori, Bubba? Did something happen?"

He shook his head no. "I haven't heard anything from her since the day Boss fired her. But I've always been worried she was going to try and retaliate after he fired her. I thought Max was it, but then when you cut ties with Max completely, she likely figured out that plan wasn't going to work. Her level of crazy was much higher than I think anyone else realizes."

"She did get fired twice because of me," I said.

"It's more than that, spider monkey. She hated you before there was a reason to hate you. Getting fired just added fuel to the fire. If she's talking to one of Sal's underbosses, that can't be good. She knows where the house is," Andrei said.

"Would she be that stupid though?" I asked.

"Hate makes people do a lot of crazy things, gazelle. I don't put anything past her. I do want to know how she knows Sal's guy though," Misha said.

"Do you know his name? Viktor can find out, I'm sure. He can find out anything, apparently," I said.

"I don't remember his name, but I know what he looks like. We keep records. I can find his name tomorrow," Misha said.

"How do we get sound next time?" I asked. "I wanted to hear what she was saying, but couldn't."

Misha laughed. "You're seriously asking me? You know more than I know, Sephie."

"Well, that's not helpful. I don't know anything," I said, holding my ribs so I could laugh.

"I think all you have to do is assume it's going to happen and let it," Andrei said. "The weird stuff seems to be happening faster now. It'll happen soon. Much like your training, spider monkey, sometimes the power is in the surrender."

"Bubba, how did you get to be so smart and so pretty at the same time?" I asked, grinning at him.

"I don't know, spider monkey. I just woke up like this," Andrei said, trying to keep a straight face.

I almost didn't grab my ribs in time for the laughter to hit. "Dammit, warning!" I said, still laughing.

"Okay, now I'm curious about whether we can see Max," Misha said.

Andrei laughed at him. "I can't believe you've never thought to try this before now."

I put my hand out for Misha and thought about Max this time. This time wasn't any faster, but we did eventually see him. He was at work, flirting with the women at the bar like normal. Unlike the scene with Tori, the fast-forward button was hit and we were watching another scene unfold. The same man that Tori had been talking to was following Max as he was leaving the restaurant. Max, as usual, was texting and not paying attention to his surroundings, so he had no idea the man was behind him. Misha and I watched as the man walked up behind Max, pulled a gun, and shot him. I thought I screamed in my head, but Andrei was holding onto me once the vision stopped, trying to console me.

"What did you see, spider monkey? What happened?" he asked. He was clearly concerned, his arm tight around me.

"We just watched Max die," Misha said.

"Oh fuck," Andrei said.