Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Two

Sephie

While Adrik's schedule had mostly been clear, the morning filled up quickly with a few meetings. Ivan and Viktor also needed time to get the doctor's picture out to their people. Will had sent over the aged version of the doctor the previous evening, as promised. They gave both versions to their people, hoping that someone would recognize him.

Misha and Andrei were with me. We stopped by Adrik's office on our way back from the gym, just because I had a feeling his schedule had changed yet again. Not long after we walked into his office, Andy walked in. He nodded to Andrei and Misha, then walked to Adrik, his hand extended. As he went to sit down across from Adrik's desk, he noticed the picture of the doctor that Ivan had left on the coffee table. Instead of sitting, he walked to it, picking it up. He looked at it, then looked to Adrik, confused.

"Why do you have Dr. Moretti's picture?" he asked.

We all stood at the same time. "What did you just say?" Adrik asked. He was trying to remain calm, but only barely keeping it together. I glanced to Andrei, who quickly pulled his phone out. He called a number, let it ring, then hung up. Within seconds, Viktor, Stephen, and Ivan were in the office as well. Andy didn't even have time to respond to Adrik's question before they were there.

"Dr. Moretti's picture. Why do you have it?" Andy asked again.

Ivan, who wasn't even trying to control his anger, walked up to Andy. He towered over him. "How do you know him?" Ivan asked, his voice heavy with anger.

Andy, who was now completely terrified, sat down. He didn't respond right away, like he was trying to figure out how best to proceed. I looked at the guys, who all looked ready to kill something, then looked at Andy, who was pretty sure he was the thing about to be killed. I walked quietly to the door of the office, closed it, then walked toward Andy. The guys were aware of my movements, but hadn't taken their eyes off Andy. Andy, however, was watching me. I put my hand on Ivan's arm, which caused him to look at me. I pushed him to the side gently, so I could stand in front of Andy. Once Ivan moved, I leaned against Adrik's desk, trying to be less threatening toward Andy.

"Andy, this man took something from me. Something important. Something I'll never be able to get back. How do you know who he is?" I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, even though I could feel my anger just below the surface. I could also feel Adrik's anger getting stronger, the longer it took Andy to answer his question.

Andy looked at me, still wide-eyed. I could see him struggling, trying to find the right thing to say. He finally took a deep breath. "Fuck it. I'm already a dead man if Sal ever finds me. Not like he can kill me twice." I glanced up at all the guys, who were still standing, ready to pummel something. I gave them all a tight smile and made a motion for them to sit. They begrudgingly took a step back and sat down.

I looked to Andy again, trying to smile as genuinely as possible at him. "What does that mean, Andy?"

"This is the guy that originally created brawn. He works for Sal." I didn't need to see him. I knew Adrik was about to explode behind me. I put my hand up, trying to at least buy me another minute to find out more. I heard him exhale, but his fist still made contact with his desk. Andy flinched.

"How much do you know about this doctor?" I asked. "In case you couldn't tell, this is very important, so it's worth your while to tell us everything."

Andy took another deep breath, glancing around the room. He had the look of a cornered animal. One that knows it's caught and is about to give in. He continued, "I'm not sure how Sal found this guy, but he's been paying him for years. He does backroom abortions for Sal's prostitutes mostly, but since Anthony got into human trafficking, he's branched out into, um, other stuff." He glanced at me, still nervous.

"Organ harvesting," I said flatly.

Andy's eyes went wide. He nodded. "It's huge on the black market, especially overseas."

"And you said he's the one that created brawn? How do you know that?" I asked.

"Years ago, Sal's dealers weren't making him the kind of money he wanted. Sales had dropped off in his area and he didn't like it. He was on the phone with Lorenzo when Dr. Moretti walked into his office. Sal kept talking, telling Lorenzo about the dip in sales. Dr. Moretti suggested they formulate a new drug. A designer drug, I think he called it. He said, ‘People like new things, right? Give them something new and sales go back up.' Sal liked the idea and paid Dr. Moretti to formulate it. He experimented for a few weeks and came up with brawn. The first edition was really popular. While aggression was a definite side effect, it got the users high as fuck, basically."

"They didn't realize the dangers until later, did they?" I asked.

He shook his head no. "No, it took almost a year before they realized that continued use was killing people. The dealers are the ones that first noticed it. Other areas of the city had already stopped selling it. The dealers are the ones that stopped it, not the bosses. They said they weren't going to kill their customer base. Sal's dealers were the only ones selling it at the last, but they eventually stopped too."

"Is this doctor the same one that came up with this new formulation of it as well?" I glanced at the guys again, who were still visibly tense. Adrik had started pacing back and forth behind me, trying to remain calm. I wanted to go to him, but I also didn't think Andy would keep talking if I wasn't close to him. He knew I was standing in the way of the guys.

"I think so, although I can't be sure. I know Sal still pays him," he said, watching Adrik pace behind me.

"Do you know how to find him?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "Yeah, unless he's moved. Sal lets him use one of his houses just outside the city. He used to be a doctor at one of the hospitals in the city, but he had his license revoked after too many medical misconduct cases. When he was still working at the hospital, Sal would pay him under the table only when he needed him. Once he had his license revoked, Sal put him on the payroll and he started roving clinics around the city. People would come to him for various things, pay cash, and he'd do whatever, no questions asked, as long as the cash was flowing. When he created brawn, he initially made Sal a lot of money, so Sal let him have that house as thanks."

"We're gonna need to know where that house is," I said.

"Yeah, of course. I don't know if things have changed now or not, but he never has security with him. Sal always offered, but he said he didn't need it because no one could remember his face that he worked on. He said he would see people all the time that he worked on. He would purposely go and talk to them because there was always the faintest hint of recognition there, but they could never place him. He liked to mess with their heads," Andy said.

I felt like I almost had the wind knocked out of me listening to Andy speak. "What the actual fuck," I said, louder than I meant to. Adrik stopped his pacing as well. We all just stared at Andy for a moment, completely dumbfounded at how evil this man really was.

I suddenly had a thought. I looked at the guys and turned to look at Adrik, saying in Russian, "We need to make sure the police don't release his picture. He's going to run if it gets out that we know what he looks like. Sal will get him out of the city."

Ivan nodded. He got up and walked out of the office, his fingers dialing a number on his phone as he walked out. Andy had a renewed sense of worry on his face, since he couldn't understand what just happened. "Don't worry, Andy. Your life is safe," I said. I couldn't muster a smile, but I tried to say it softly enough that he wouldn't hear my anger.

We were silent for a moment as we waited for Ivan to come back into the office. If the police had already released his picture, we would have to move quickly. If they hadn't, we had a little more time. If Dr. Moretti believed he was still anonymous, he would be easier to catch.

Ivan walked back into the office, somewhat relieved. He said, still in Russian, "We're good. They haven't released it. They're not going to now either. Jason asked if he and Ryan could come with us when we go get him, though." He had a small smile on his face.

We all audibly exhaled. I looked at the guys. "Guess we're not going to the house today after all." They all chuckled while Andy still looked like he was barely keeping control over his bladder. I looked at him, curious. "What did you need before this revelation, Andy?" I asked him in English.

He looked at me, a deer in the headlights look. "It's not important. It can wait."

Normally, I would have gotten that information out of him, but right now, I didn't care. I nodded, standing up. I walked around Adrik's desk. He was still standing in one spot. I could see he was fighting to keep control. His jaw was clenched, his hand in a tight fist at his side, his shoulders tense, every muscle in his body flexed. I found myself oddly turned on as I walked to him. I chewed on my bottom lip, without realizing what I was doing. He glanced at me, clearly recognizing the look on my face. It was what he needed to calm down. He smirked at me as he pulled me to him quickly. Viktor had called Andy to him, finding out the location of the house and any other details he knew about, so they weren't necessarily paying attention to me and Adrik. I saw Adrik glance in their direction briefly, then one arm pulled me to him by my waist, the other hand on the back of my neck as his lips crashed into mine. He kissed me so passionately that I just about couldn't breathe. He stopped, pressing his forehead to mine. His breath was heavy as well. "I needed that. I need you, solnishko," he said, still trying to catch his breath. "To keep me from destroying everyone."

Andy told the guys everything he knew, then hurriedly left the office. He looked like he didn't want to be in the office any longer than he needed to be, given the reaction we all had when he identified Dr. Moretti. The guys were in deep discussion about a plan for what to do about Dr. Moretti.

Viktor's phone rang. He answered it, a puzzled look on his face. He looked at me, now on the couch in Adrik's lap to try to help him remain calm. He ended the call, saying, "Someone is here to see you, sestrichka. They're in the lobby."

I looked at him, completely confused. "Who is it? Nobody comes to see me." I felt Adrik's arms tighten around me.

"He said it was a guy. Tall, blonde hair. He said he knows you." Viktor said.

"It has to be Max. He's the only guy outside of this room that would know me and know where to find me. Although I don't know why he would be here, unless he broke up with Tori," I said.

Misha and Andrei stood up. "We'll take you down to see him," Andrei said. This wasn't going to end well. Neither of them had any love for Max.

Adrik, who was already struggling to keep his cool, let his hatred for Max finally come out as he said, "I don't want him up here, but I won't keep you from seeing what he wants." I tried not to laugh. I turned to look at him. He saw the amused look on my face, which caused him to soften just a bit. "What? That guy is a fucking moron. There. I said it."

I couldn't keep it in. I laughed. "I mean, you're not entirely wrong," I said, kissing his lips.

On the elevator down to the lobby, I pulled my hands inside my sleeves again. I sighed. "As if this week couldn't get any weirder." I leaned back against the wall of the elevator. I felt Andrei's hand pulling me off the wall, so he could wrap his sizeable arm around me. I leaned against his shoulder, thankful for the comfort as I watched the numbers on the elevator descend. Right before we got to the lobby, I looked at them both. "Just promise me you won't kill him in front of everyone because I can almost guarantee there's going to be some dumb shit that comes out of his mouth."

They both smirked at me. "We're not savages, spider monkey. He won't see it coming when it happens," Andrei said, his mischievous grin across his face.

As we walked off the elevator, I could see Max surrounded by three guards. He looked horrible. He also looked pissed, which surprised me. "Huh," I said as we walked closer. Misha picked up on it as well and stepped closer to me.

"Hi, Max," I said as we walked up. Andrei nodded to the guards that were standing with Max, indicating that they were free to go.

"Was that really necessary? Like I can't just come see you? Don't they know we're friends?" he asked, a clear edge to his voice that I didn't appreciate. Misha and Andrei both tensed next to me.

"Are we though, Max?" I said, my anger from earlier still right at the surface. "How many times have you fallen off the face of the earth because the latest girl you're fucking was jealous of me, even though she had no reason to be? Is that why you're here now? You finally broke it off with Tori and you remembered that I exist again?" Andrei and Misha both glanced down on me, surprised at my response, but both trying to hold in smiles.

Max was slightly stunned at my response. I crossed my arms across my chest, waiting for him to answer. He glanced at Andrei and Misha, then looked to me. "Do they have to be here?" he asked.

"YES," we all said at once.

He took a small step back. "What do you want, Max?" I asked, now losing patience.

"I saw Chen the other day. He said you came to him asking questions. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said.

I laughed. "That's not why you're here, Max. Don't play the protective friend card when you haven't bothered to reach out since you started dating Tori, not even after I warned you about her. Now, what do you want?"

Misha glanced down at me, recognizing the look on my face. "You better get on with it, dude. She's losing patience, which means I'm gonna lose my patience, which means Andrei's gonna lose his patience, and the rest of the people in the lobby aren't ready to see that happen today. Help them out by getting the fuck on with it."

Max looked at him, wide-eyed, then looked at the floor. "You were right," he said quietly.

My anger wouldn't let me feel sorry for him. "I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked.

He took a deep breath in, exhaling loudly. "You were right. About Tori. She's almost destroyed me. I'm going broke because of her. I can't pay my rent. She doesn't seem to understand that I need to flirt with the women at the bar to get tips and that's all it is. I might be an asshole when it comes to women, but I don't cheat."

"Have you broken up with her?" I asked.

He shook his head no. "I'm scared to. I don't know what she's going to do. She's gone completely unhinged a few times at the restaurant. Like the rest of the kitchen staff ran away because they were scared of her."

"Has the owner seen this?" I asked, trying to get him to see the solution himself.

"No. You know he rarely comes in," he said.

"He's noticed your sales have dropped at the bar, though," I said. He nodded his head. "Talk to him. Tell him what's going on. He's going to side with you in this situation. You bring in more money than Tori. You're the asset, not her. Get him to come to the restaurant and then goad her into exploding. He'll see it and fire her on the spot. He's a reasonable man. Use that to your advantage."

I could see the pieces click into place in his head. He looked at me. "Sephie, you're a genius. I knew you would know how to fix this." He moved like he was going to hug me, but Andrei and Misha both stepped further in front of me, preventing him from getting closer.

Andrei looked at Max, crossing his arms across his chest. "She warned you months ago this was going to happen and you didn't listen. You chose a crazy woman over your friend. You've always chosen other women over Sephie. You're going to live with those consequences from this point forward. The next time you come here, you'll be escorted out of the building."

Max looked to me, a hurt expression on his face. "Sephie…" he said, his mouth open in shock. He was expecting me to argue with Andrei. When I didn't, he was shocked.

I sighed. "Max, you can't keep treating me like this. I'm not going to continue to give you solutions to all your problems when I get nothing in return from you. I can't. I have too much else going on right now. If you want to be a real friend to me, one who doesn't ditch me for the latest fuck, then we can talk. Until then, I can't keep doing this. I won't keep doing this. Andrei is right. You need to live with the consequences of your choices or you're never going to learn."

Max went from shocked to angry in a split second. It surprised me how quickly he changed. "You think you can ditch me now that you're giving it up to some rich guy? Like you're somehow better than me now?"

"You mean the same fucking way you've ditched me over and over again? Now that the tables have turned, you don't like it so much, do you? You're not going to just wait until I come back around the same way I've waited for you how many fucking times?" I said. My anger was now fully present. "You think you can come here, interrupt my day, get the answers you need to fix the problem that I warned you about only to have you ignore it until it became a major problem, and just continue to treat me like shit and have me take it?" I had stepped between Misha and Andrei as I was talking. Max was surprised at my outburst. He'd never once seen me angry. As soon as he took a step back, it fueled my anger. I knew I had him on the run and my anger wouldn't stop. I kept walking toward him as I was talking, knowing he was scared. "You seem to forget who the fuck I'm giving it up to, Max. You will leave this building and you will never return if you want to remain alive. You'll be lucky if I can convince him not to have you killed after he finds out about this and he will find out about this. You did this to yourself. You will live with it." I stopped, knowing Andrei and Misha were right behind me. They were both prepared to pull me off him, if necessary. Max was lucky that my hands still hurt. I wanted to punch him.

Without taking my eyes off Max, I said to Andrei and Misha in Russian, "Can you please get him out of my sight?"

"Gladly," they both said as they stepped around me, grabbing Max and pushing him roughly toward the doors to the building. I watched as they shoved him out of the building. I was trying to breathe deeply to help myself calm down, but I knew I was about to lose it. Everything from this week was about to catch up to me all at once.

Andrei and Misha walked back in, both smiling. I knew they were happy they finally got to throw him out of the building. I couldn't help but smile at their expressions. Misha wrapped his arm around my shoulders as I turned to walk back to the elevators. I managed to keep it together until the elevator doors closed. I felt the angry tears start to fall on the ride back to the office. Both Andrei and Misha noticed, looking at me concerned.

"Don't cry, gazelle. It'll be okay," Misha said, as he squeezed my shoulders.

I tried to laugh, but it came out more like a cough as I was trying to hold back the tears. "I'm not upset. I'm fucking pissed. I wanted to punch him, but my hands still hurt," I said, pulling my hands out of my sleeves, reminding them of my bruised knuckles.

They tried to hold in their laughter, but they couldn't. I looked at the relief on their faces and couldn't help but laugh with them. I sighed. "You guys helped me finally see him for who he really is. I don't want to put up with that anymore," I said, pulling my hands back in my sleeves.

Andrei pulled me to him, wrapping his giant arms around me, holding me tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Sephie." I stayed quiet for a moment, trying to relax, trying to keep the shaking that had started from getting worse.

"You're my favorite, Bubba. Don't tell the others," I said. He chuckled. I noticed that Misha didn't argue as the doors to the elevator opened. That's new. I slid my arm through Misha's as we walked back into the office, knowing there was something bothering him.