Chapter One Hundred Five - 2

He raised an eyebrow, but looked away. I knew he was struggling to control himself, especially since my eyes were dark. I put my fingers under his chin, forcing him to look at me again. "Sephie…" he said. I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. His hold on my waist was loosening, like he was fighting keeping me close and stepping away from me for fear of hurting me.

I smiled at him, trying to keep my eyes as dark as possible. He cursed under his breath. "I don't know if I can control myself, solnishko," he said.

"Then don't try," I said as I ran my hand up his chest to the back of his neck. I pulled him down to me, my lips crashing into his. I felt his hands slide under his shirt to my bare skin. His touch was leaving a trail of fire across my skin. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold back either. While I was still wary of being able to catch my breath, I couldn't wait any longer.

His lips moved down my neck, making me moan quietly. "I've missed this so much, Sephie," he said. He ran his hands down my back to my ass, picking me up. I wrapped my legs tight around him. My lips found his once more. I started to unbutton his shirt I was wearing as he held me up. I was desperate to feel his skin against mine. I let his shirt fall to the floor, my arms clinging to him once again.

He walked us toward the bed. He leaned his head back, so he could look at me. "Are you sure about this, love?" he asked. I could tell my eyes were definitely still dark by the look in his eyes. Seeing how much he wanted me made me want him even more.

"Positive," I said. I wasn't sure I would be able to hold myself back at this point.

"You have to tell me if you have trouble catching your breath. I don't want to scare you and I don't want to hurt you," he said, still uncertain.

"You won't," I said against his lips. That was all he needed to hear. He quickly climbed on the bed with me still wrapped around him, so he was on top of me. His lips left a trail of fire down my neck, his hands burning my body with desire. I saw the look of satisfaction as he ripped my panties off. I couldn't help but laugh. "You've been waiting for that, haven't you?" I asked.

He groaned. "For so long," he said, kissing my stomach. I ran my hands through his hair, enjoying the feeling of his facial hair tickling my stomach. He sat up on his knees, his hands on the zipper of his pants. "Okay, last chance. You're really sure you're okay?" he asked.

I sat up in front of him, smiling at him. I knew he was worried he was going to scare me if I couldn't catch my breath again. I moved his hands out of the way, so I could unzip his pants, pushing them down as far as I could. I pushed him onto his back, so I could pull his pants all the way off. He sat up, pulling me into his lap. "This will help me keep control of myself," he said as his fingers ran lightly over my face, down my neck. "And I can see your eyes," he said, groaning when I tried to make them go darker. Clearly that worked.

He grabbed me, pulling me against him as tight as possible. His breath caught as I pushed my hips into his. He was using every bit of self-control that he had to go slowly as he slid inside me. I moaned loudly, completely lost in feeling him fill me up. I looked at him as I started to move my hips against him. I saw a flash of surprise as he looked into my eyes. "Keep looking at me," he said, almost like it was an order. I found myself oddly turned on by it.

His hands roamed over my body, still igniting a fire beneath them. He couldn't take his eyes away from mine. He was completely mesmerized by what he was seeing. I had no idea how much my eyes being dark would captivate him. I could feel myself building, getting closer and closer to the edge. My breaths were fast and heavy, but I didn't feel like I couldn't catch my breath. I wanted more. I put my hands on his chest, pushing him down. Once he was flat on his back, I rolled him over so he was on top of me, my legs wrapped around him. He slammed into me hard one time, causing me to moan loudly. He waited to see how I reacted and whether I could catch my breath, then slammed into me again. I moaned again, grabbing his ass and pulling him into me. His thrusts became harder and faster as I felt myself inching closer to the edge.

He stayed above me, intent on watching my eyes the whole time. He was completely enchanted by whatever it was he was seeing. I felt my orgasm start and I leaned my head back, closing my eyes for a moment. "No, don't. Look at me. Please," he said, almost begging. I opened my eyes again, looking at him as I felt my body explode in extreme pleasure. All my pain was gone. There was only him.

In the way that only he could, he drew my orgasm out as long as possible, but his gaze never left my eyes. It was a new level of intensity for me, like he was seeing all of me for the first time. I felt myself begin to come down, but just when I thought it was over, he thrust hard into me again, causing another round of pleasure. This time, I could feel him getting closer as well. He had told me before I was taken that I was able to basically share my orgasm with him, letting him feel what I felt, which made it infinitely more intense for him. With him maintaining eye contact with me for so long, it was at a new level of intensity for me. I tried to be as open as I could, letting him feel everything I felt. No holding back. As soon as he felt another orgasm start for me, he let go as well, exploding into his own wave of pleasure.

I reached up, holding his face in my hands and pulled him to me, kissing him gently. He rolled off me, pulling me with him so I could lay across his chest as we both worked on catching our breath. I gladly snuggled into him. His hand ran lightly over my back. "You're amazing, Sephie," he said. I chuckled, hugging him tightly. "Did you know what you were doing with your eyes?" he asked.

I rested my chin on his chest, so I could look at him. "I'm going to say no, since I have no idea what you're talking about. They were just dark, weren't they?"

He laughed. "No. Well, yes. They were dark, but they were constantly changing colors. When your eyes go dark, it's like the brown takes over and gets almost black. But the other two colors did it too this time. I've never seen it before. I could see the black fade away again like I did the other morning and your normal eyes come back too."

"Now I know why you couldn't stop looking at my eyes the whole time," I said, smiling at the look of wonderment that was still on his face.

"I didn't want to miss anything," he said, smiling shyly. He brushed a curl from my face. "How's your lung? You didn't struggle to catch your breath?"

"It's fine. I didn't struggle at all, which bodes well for next time," I said, grinning at him.

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. "I've missed you so much, solnishko."

I woke Adrik up a few times during the night. I knew he'd been missing me, but I really didn't realize how much I'd been missing him. Once the morning arrived, neither of us was ready to wake up. I felt his hand rubbing my back lightly when I woke up once more to see daylight streaming through the windows. I lifted my head, resting my chin on his chest. He opened his eyes, smiling at me. "Good morning, love," he said sleepily. He reached up, brushing the curls from my face. "I've missed you sleeping on my chest. I think I slept better last night than I have in weeks."

"It couldn't possibly be due to me wearing you out every two hours," I said, grinning at him.

"That did not hurt," he said, his hands running down my body.

"Worth it," I said. "I feel like I'm finally warm again. I've been cold since they took me and Ivan."

"You have been freezing. I think that's partly why you haven't been able to sleep without someone next to you. It's hard to tell if the shaking was your normal reaction to trauma or because you were cold," he said.

"Probably both. I hate being cold."

"I noticed," he said, grinning at me. He pulled me completely on top of him, holding me tightly. I groaned when I moved, feeling sore from our nighttime activities. "Are you just sore or did I hurt you?" he asked.

"Sore. Gloriously sore," I said, burying my face in his neck. I felt his body vibrate as he laughed at my answer. He rolled over, so he was on top of me. "Would a hot shower help?" he asked. His boyish smile across his face. He was clearly happy that he was the reason for me being sore, which made him even more handsome than usual. I caught myself just thinking about how much I loved every detail of him. His breath caught. "Do that again," he said.

"Do what again?"

"You just made your eyes go completely blue."

"I did?" I asked, completely surprised.

He nodded his head. "What were you thinking about just now?"

I smiled shyly at him. "How much I love every detail of you."

I saw the look of surprise on his face. "They did it again. Instead of going dark, they're completely blue." He watched for a few more seconds, then said, "They just changed back to normal. The same way it happened when they're dark. That's what they were doing last night too."

"Who needs a mood ring when you have ever-changing eye colors?" I said, laughing. This was a new development for me. I was only just beginning to be able to tell when my eyes would go dark, much less that they completely changed colors now.

Adrik cursed under his breath, but he looked completely hypnotized by my eyes once again. He leaned down and kissed me gently. "You never cease to amaze me," he said. "Come, let's shower. You're not allowed around anyone else when you smell like sex."

"Bossy," I said as we walked toward the bathroom. He stopped and looked back at me, as seriously as he could. "I'll allow it," I said, laughing. I grabbed his hand as we continued into the bathroom. I put my chin on his shoulder, whispering in his ear, "I kind of like it." I laughed again when he cursed under his breath as he walked us into the shower, turning the water on, then turning to me and pulling me tight against him.

Once we tested the limits of the hot water supply with the excessively long shower, he was thoughtful as we were getting dressed. "I don't want to tell the guys about your eyes changing colors this time," he said very matter-of-factly.

I smiled at him as I was finally taming my hair on my own again. I walked over to him, placing my hands on his chest. I knew there was more to his request that he wasn't saying. I searched his eyes for just a moment before finding the answer to my silent question. Since he told me they'd changed colors when I was thinking about how much I loved him before, I tried to make it happen again. I knew he was fine with me being around the guys, but with me being hurt for so long, plus Misha and Andrei relying on me a little more than usual because of everything else going on, I think Adrik was starting to feel slightly jealous and protective of our relationship. It was easy to think about just how much I loved him as I looked up at him. I could see the smile stretch across his face and I knew my eyes had changed once again. "It'll be our little secret," I said. He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms tightly around me. I knew he loved not having my giant cast in the way just as much as I did now. "What color were they this time?" I asked as I rested my head against his chest.

"Blue again."

"Blue apparently means love for my mood ring eyes," I said. "Is it the normal blue that's always there? It just takes over the other two colors?"

"Basically. The blue that's always there isn't a normal blue eye color. It's a much deeper blue. Like deepest depth of the ocean blue. It's incredible. Not like my eyes that are normal blue," he said.

I laughed, looking up at him. "Your eyes are deeper blue sometimes. Mostly when you're having dirty thoughts about what you want to do to me."

He smirked down at me. "It's still not the same. It's not a complete color change. Yours is a complete color change."

I giggled. "It's my warning system." He laughed loudly. It was music to my ears. I grabbed his hand as we left the bedroom. "You have to tell me if my eyes are doing their own thing in front of other people. I'm only just now beginning to get a handle on when they go dark and they still surprise me with it sometimes. I had no clue they were coming up with even more tricks, but given that it seems to happen either when we're having sex or I'm thinking about how much I adore you, I think I can keep it under wraps."

He stopped and pulled me back to him, a small smile on his lips. "I like having parts of you that are just for me," he said.

"I know you do. I do too. I just need help making sure this one stays quiet. I can't tell when it's happening yet. I also need to figure out a way to keep Andrei from fishing around in my head and finding it," I said. I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought about his newfound abilities.

Adrik kissed my forehead before continuing down the stairs. "Have you talked to him about turning it off yet? Like when you're around Stephen?" he asked.

"No, I haven't. I need to. Maybe I can find time today to get him by himself and have that conversation with him," I said. "But I think on some level he likely already knows. He's more discreet than you think. He's known about Ivan's past longer than I have."

Adrik stopped on the stairs, turning toward me. He was clearly surprised to learn this bit of information. "How?" he asked quietly. Since he was on the step below me, I put my arms around his shoulders, running my hand through his still damp hair.

"He said he figured it out a few years ago. He heard Ivan talking in his sleep one time after he got hurt. It wasn't a time when he had to go to the hospital, but he said even just getting hurt used to bring Ivan's demons back. He said everybody else was asleep, but he couldn't sleep and he heard Ivan talking. He doesn't know everything, but he knows enough of the details that he knows he really doesn't want to know the rest," I said.

"He never told anyone," Adrik said, still surprised. His hands were holding my hips as he thought about what I'd just told him.

"Ivan doesn't even know. He told me he knew how private Ivan was, so he just never brought it up. But it helped Andrei be more understanding when you guys would have to fight him in the hospital. He saw how much it affects Viktor. Even still, Viktor struggles with it," I said.

"Viktor takes it personally. Those two have been with me the longest, therefore, they're the closest. I think he takes it as an insult that Ivan can't see him when he's in the hospital."

"He does. But much like Ivan couldn't understand the pain Viktor went through when he lost his wife and child, Viktor can't understand the pain that Ivan went through when he was at that facility. He should be glad for that fact, honestly. Ivan's seen evil to a level that not many people have. Or should." I thought for a moment, still running my fingers through Adrik's dark hair. "But from Viktor's point of view, Ivan is one of the people Viktor loves most in this world and Viktor shows his love through helping people, with whatever they need. Viktor feels rejected, even though it's got nothing to do with him and everything to do with Ivan's past. Because of Viktor's past with his wife, he clings to the people he loves. Maybe more than he should, but it's understandable. He might be a giant and look like he could kill you with his mind, but Viktor is incredibly sensitive underneath that menacing exterior. When he finds another woman that catches his eye, I will murder her if she takes advantage of that."

Adrik looked at me, smirking, when I said the last sentence. I recognized the look in his eye and knew my eyes had changed. I raised an eyebrow, silently asking what color they were this time. "Demon eyes for added emphasis," he said, laughing.

"These things are going to get me in so much trouble," I said as we continued down the stairs.

We could smell breakfast cooking as we walked to the kitchen. All the guys were already in the kitchen, working together to make breakfast for everyone. "You guys are making breakfast?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. They all looked to me and Adrik, obviously proud of themselves.

"We didn't want you to overdo it again, so we thought we'd take care of breakfast to keep you from feeling like you had to," Ivan said.

"You're still not completely healed, which means you're still at high risk of getting pneumonia again," Stephen said.

"And none of us want you to have to go back on antibiotics or start sleeping all the time again," Viktor said.

"Because it's sooooo boring without you around all the time," Misha said, in the overly dramatic way that only he could.

"This might make us regret our decision to not order out, but it's the thought that counts, right?" Andrei said, grinning at me.

I looked at Adrik, who was also amused at their decision as well as their explanation. I smiled at all of them. "I'm so impressed."

"Maybe reserve judgment until after you try it," Stephen said.

"Nah, Andrei was right. It's the thought that counts," Adrik said.

After breakfast, which was actually quite good, I went with the guys to the gym. I still wasn't allowed to do anything yet, but at least they let me tag along. I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to watch Adrik get sweaty from lifting heavy things.

Andrei took the opportunity to do some very light exercises with me to help my shoulder. We'd been doing small things, even before I got my cast off. Since it was the only thing I could do, I was happy to continue. It also gave me a few minutes mostly alone with him. We were far enough away from the other guys that I brought up the subject of turning his newly discovered gift on and off.

"So, I feel like you already know this, but I also feel like we should discuss turning your newfound ability off around certain people. Like Stephen, who is very clearly uncomfortable with our ability to see inside his head. You don't want to be rude about it," I said, as he helped me with my exercises.

"I know, spider monkey," he said, smiling at me. "This is about me figuring out you were scared, isn't it?"

"Kind of. Adrik appreciates you and Misha talking me into telling him about it," I said. I took a deep breath, looking at him. "He's always been fine with me being around you guys and I never want that to be an issue. With me being hurt for so long this time, he's feeling a little jealous at having to share me with everyone for the first time. But at the same time, he's also excited that you'll be able to catch the things I can still get past him. It's complicated."

Andrei glanced around, then put his hand up to stop me from saying more. "You don't need to explain it to me, spider monkey. I don't want to cause problems. Like you leveling up Misha, I think it works best with you right now, but that's just because I need more practice. I'll make sure Boss knows I won't be nosey," he said, smiling at me.

"I did tell him he shouldn't worry too much about you, since you've known about Ivan's past longer than I have." It was my turn to glance around to make sure we were still far enough away from everyone else that we wouldn't be overheard. "I am slightly worried about Stephen when it comes to both you and I. He's very nervous about us finding out anything he doesn't want us to know. I don't want to make that worse," I said.

"I did notice that. I've tried to assure him that I'm not going to drop in his head unannounced," he said.

"He's definitely one that needs to come around in his own time. I think he'll tell us whatever it is eventually, but I don't think it will go well if he's forced to have to tell us something he's not ready to," I said.

"You mean the way you've been forced to tell us everything you didn't want to before you were ready?" he asked, giving me a sly smile.

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it. I mean, it's effective, but it hasn't been ideal," I said, taking a deep breath. "Also? Can we talk about how frustrating it is for these simple exercises to make my shoulder hurt this much?" I noticed Adrik on his way to us and wanted to change the subject before he made it all the way to us.

"Your shoulder is still healing, spider monkey. It's a delicate balance of taking it easy and challenging it enough that it keeps getting stronger," he said, looking at me apologetically.

"Is she complaining she can't do much still?" Adrik asked Andrei as he walked toward us. He walked to me, still breathing heavier than normal from his last set, the beads of sweat prominent on his forehead. He caught me staring at him, my mouth slightly open, as he walked to me. His sexy smirk on his face, I felt the pull in my chest that meant he was thinking about how much he loved me. He slid his arm around my waist, pulling me to him so he could kiss my temple. My mind wandered to the night before and how I still felt like I couldn't get enough of him.

"She might be," Andrei said, laughing. "But I'm guilty of doing that anytime I've been hurt too. I think we all are."

"Don't give me shit for it. It's frustrating," I said defensively.

Adrik's wide smile stretched across his face. "What? I might like extra spicy Sephie the most too," he said, holding me tighter against him.

"You boys better be careful what you wish for," I said, letting my eyes go dark as I looked at both of them.

Adrik needed to go to his office the following day. I offered to go with him, but he said he only had a few meetings, then he would return. "I think we're all enjoying being here so much that I don't want you to have to leave just yet. This should be the only time I need to go back to the building for the rest of the week," he said that morning while we were getting ready after they'd all hit the gym and I had lifted my five-pound weight a few times under Andrei's watchful eye.

I felt my own nervousness at the thought of being that far away from him. He'd been away from me since I was taken, but only a few floors away. We were still in the same building. Now, I was facing having to be completely away from him for a few hours. My body was clearly not happy with that decision. I felt the shaking start almost immediately. He noticed I was quiet and walked from the closet to the bed where I had sat down, asking what was wrong.

"I don't like the idea of being away from you," I said before he made it all the way to me.

He chuckled, saying, "I don't like the idea of being away from you either, but it's just for a couple of hours." He sat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. As soon as he touched me, he felt my body shaking. His eyes went wide as he looked at me. "Oh, you really don't like the idea of being away from me," he said. He pulled me closer, rubbing my back to try and help the shaking calm down.

"I know it's not healthy and I know at some point I need to get over it, but the thought of not being in the same building as you terrifies me right now," I said quietly. The more I thought about him being gone, the harder my body started to shake.

"It's okay, Sephie. You'll come with me. We'll just come back here after I'm done. I don't want to be apart from you either. I just didn't want you to have to follow me around today," he said, his hand alternating between playing with my curls and rubbing my back.

"I tend to get seriously hurt when we're apart and I'm kind of tired of it," I said. I could feel the tears starting to well in my eyes as he tightened his hold on me. I heard him inhale deeply, then curse under his breath.

"Sephie, you're right. You're absolutely right. I never put it together until now," he said. He reached over and moved me into his lap in one motion. "You still need to eat more, for the record. That was way too easy," he said, giving me a small smile. I tried to return the smile, but my body was still not happy with the thought of him being gone for any amount of time. He held me tighter, saying quietly, "Don't worry, love. You can even come to my meetings today if you want to. You can always come to my meetings. Neal is one of them. He'll be excited you're there." I knew he was trying to make me laugh. They all knew that making me laugh helped me get a handle on my out-of-control emotions.

I wiped the tears that had managed to escape from my cheeks, looking at him. The look of surprise on his face when he looked at my eyes was enough to finally make me laugh. "What color are they now?"

He cursed in Russian. In fact, he said every curse word there was in Russian. I looked at him, confused. "Sephie, they're a completely new color," he said.

"Shut up."

"No, go look. They're kind of blue, but it's not your normal blue color. It's like ice blue now. Almost white, love. This is scarier than your demon eyes," he said.

I got up from his lap, walking quickly to the bathroom. I wasn't sure how quickly they changed, so I was trying to beat them. When I looked in the mirror, I saw exactly what he had described. The normal three rings of color were gone and my eyes were almost white, with just a hint of blue. Adrik had followed me into the bathroom to see my reaction. I just stood and stared at my reflection, almost like I didn't recognize myself. "I'm gonna need contacts. I don't know how long I'm going to be able to hide this if it keeps happening every time I have an emotional reaction." I turned to look at him, trying not to smile. "Have you met me? Do you know how insanely emotional I am?" I asked, trying to be overly dramatic for effect.

He just laughed at me, pointing to the mirror again. When I looked this time, my eyes had changed to green. But it was the normal green that was there all the time. The green had just overtaken the brown and blue rings. It was much easier for me to recognize myself this way.

"Apparently, white means fear and green means sarcasm," he said as he wrapped his arms around me. "I can also have contacts made for you, if that's what you want."

"I don't know how else to hide this. I don't know it's happening. I was only just starting to be able to tell when my eyes go dark and now they've just gone completely rogue and are out here freestyling. I said my stomach was untamed, but clearly it's my eyes that are untamed," I said.

Adrik pulled me to him, laughing. "We'll talk about it more later. I said I didn't want to tell the guys about it because I was feeling selfish when it comes to you. I never mind you around them. It's not that. I only just got you back completely though. I didn't want to share. We might not have a choice with that though." He took a deep breath, still thinking out loud, he said, "I don't mind the guys knowing about this eventually, but I don't know how I feel about anyone you talk to being able to see this. Contacts might be necessary in certain situations."

"You mean so I don't scare off all your business partners?" I asked, grinning at him. "What about Ghost? Didn't he used to be the wealthiest guy in the city? Well, yeah, until he fell in love with this stone-cold weirdo who couldn't control her emotions and scared everyone away. Now, everyone is afraid to do business with him."

"That won't happen, love," he said, shaking his head at me. He grabbed my hand, pulling me with him out of the bathroom. He stopped briefly to send a text to Viktor, then grabbed my hand once more. He walked to the closet and grabbed my coat. "You're going to need this," he said. "It's colder on the helicopter."

I grinned at him. "You already arranged for the helicopter, so you'd get home faster, huh?"

"Guilty," he said, holding my coat up for me so I could put it on. He adjusted the collar, moving my hair out of the way, then pressed his cheek gently to my neck. "I'm secretly very happy that you're coming with me today. I was not looking forward to being apart from you," he said as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly against him.

That afternoon, while Andrei, Misha, and I were in the penthouse waiting on Adrik's meetings to end, Ms. Jackson called Misha to ask if she could see me. He gave her an excuse of not being with me, but said he would find me and call her back. Ms. Jackson said, "Don't worry, son, I don't want her to come down here." Then she added very quietly, "It's about Giana." Misha promised to call her back in a few minutes after he found me and found out what my schedule was.

"Giana's been kept to her apartment since we got Armando, hasn't she?" I asked.

"She was, but they've recently let her go see Ms. Jackson. She's under heavy guard though. She can't go anywhere on her own right now. She apparently threw a tantrum and threatened to kill herself and all kinds of nonsense, so they finally let her go see Ms. Jackson a few times a week just to shut her up," Andrei said.

"Huh. Wouldn't have guessed that would ever happen," I said, as sarcastically as possible.

"It's up to you if you want to deal with this or not. I can call Ivan too. We'll go fetch her again if you want to see her. I can let Boss know too," Misha said.

"Ms. Jackson wouldn't call if she didn't have something important. Does she know about Armando and what he did to me?" I asked.

"I don't think so. Nobody's told her. She called a few times when you were still hurt, but I told her we were away. I didn't think you'd be up for any kind of company," Misha said. He looked worried that I would be mad at him gatekeeping my nonexistent social life.

"You were right to do so, my adorable Russian guardian. I couldn't have handled talking to her before," I said, smiling sweetly at him. I thought for a minute. "I don't want her to come up here without Adrik knowing. He's feeling extra private lately and I want to make sure I honor that."

Misha quickly sent a few texts. "I told Viktor to talk to Boss about it. If he's okay with it, he'll send Ivan up and we can go fetch her." Viktor quickly replied, meaning Misha must've caught Adrik between meetings. He read the message, looking somewhat perplexed. "He said it's okay if she comes up, but not before he's done for the day. He wants to be here when you talk to her."

I smiled, knowing exactly why he wanted to be present. "Then Ms. Jackson can wait a little bit until he's done for the day. He doesn't have much longer anyway, does he?"

Andrei looked at his watch. "I think his last meeting should be starting shortly. I don't think they're going to see Armando today either. I think he wanted to go back to the house as soon as he was done."

"Whatever Ms. Jackson has to tell us shouldn't take too long. Only a slight change in plans," I said. I got off the couch, walking to the kitchen. "It does, however, mean that I'm gonna need a snack."

"No talking, gazelle. I'm not supposed to be with you," Misha said as he dialed Ms. Jackson's number to tell her when I'd be available.

I stood quietly while he had the conversation, trying not to laugh as I thought about how much it felt like we were doing something wrong. Once he ended the call, I asked, "I feel like we're kids making plans to sneak out of the house later. Why do I feel like we're about to be in trouble for lying?"

They both laughed at me. "You clearly never snuck out of the house when you were younger," Andrei said. "This is nothing, comparatively speaking."

"Fair. Totally fair. I was a good kid. I only snuck out when my life was in danger. That's completely different. Just know that I'm going to blame everything on you two when we get caught. That's what little sisters are supposed to do, right?" I asked, laughing at the thought.

"That's what my little brother always did, so that seems accurate," Andrei said.

"Bubba, I can't imagine you being a bad kid," I said, rummaging through the refrigerator.

"You should talk to my mom then. She'll gladly tell you differently," he said.

I turned to look at him, then to Misha. "I would expect this development from Misha, but not you. You're so thoughtful now. I just always assumed you would've been the same as a kid."

"Thoughtfully defiant," Andrei said, laughing.