Chapter Seventy-Six

Chapter Seventy-Six

Sephie

Adrik stepped out of the bedroom while I finished getting dressed to make a few phone calls. He was trying to get Dr. Williams to come to his office, so Ivan and I wouldn't have to go back to the hospital. We wanted to make sure that the hospitals could be prepared if we weren't able to stop Sal from switching the supply. We were trying to put in place as many fail safes as we could to make sure his plan didn't work like he wanted it to.

When I walked out of the bedroom, Ivan was in the penthouse. He and Adrik were having what looked like a serious conversation, although I couldn't hear what was being said until I got closer. They both looked at me as I walked down the hallway. Ivan smiled at me, opening both of his arms to me. I walked quickly to him. "Super Squish, I didn't know how much I really missed your regular hugs. No more one-armed hugs," I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist. He held me tightly, kissing the top of my head.

"You only have yourself to blame for that one. I kept telling you I could've given you a normal hug that whole time, but you wouldn't let me. So, really, it's entirely your fault." I heard Adrik laugh behind us.

I poked him in the ribs as I laughed too. "Where's everyone else?" I asked.

Adrik said, "I wanted a few minutes with Ivan. I told him about our conversation last night, solnishko. I also told him about your pinky swear this morning." He looked at me seriously, but I could see the concern on his face. "I'm serious about this, Sephie. I want to make sure you're always okay. Selfishly, I need you at your best. I need your light to always be this bright. I need to make sure you're always good. So, we're holding you to your pinky swear." Ivan's giant arm slid across my shoulders. He gave me a stern look, in the way that only he could. I couldn't help but laugh at him. We'd come a long way from me being convinced he wanted to murder me in my sleep.

I looked at both Ivan and Adrik. They were both so concerned about me that I couldn't help but feel loved by them both. It was still a new feeling for me. I remembered feeling loved when my mom was alive, for sure, but when I went to live with my uncle, it went to the other extreme. There was no love in that house. It was so dark in that house that it made me question whether love really did exist. Then I met Adrik and the guys. They've shown me that it does exist, that there is light in the darkness, all while telling me I've been doing the same for them. I knew both of these men would do everything in their power to make sure I was always protected, always safe, and always loved.

"I pinky swear to both of you that I will come to you more. And I love you both. That is all." I said, smiling sweetly at them. Ivan kissed the top of my head, squeezing my shoulders once more, before pushing me gently toward Adrik. He opened his arms for me, a small smile on his face.

"You do look better, solnishko. I can see when things get too heavy for you. You're obviously lighter this morning," he said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I can see it too, princess. It's obvious when you're trying to hold things in too long. At least to us," Ivan said.

"You can both tell me when I zone out then. Because I didn't know I was doing that. I really didn't know I needed to talk about anything until we started talking about it last night. I'm very accustomed to holding everything in and not telling anyone anything. So, please feel free to tell me when you notice these things," I said.

"Deal," they both said.

"I know you're used to taking care of everyone else, princess. Like you were made for that role, honestly. Just let us do the same for you. Because apparently, we were made for that role," Ivan said, winking at me. I felt Adrik pull me closer.

"Super Squish, you're really getting good at these mic drop moments where I can't think of any sort of comeback, either serious or snarky. I've got nothing here," I said, grinning at him.

We heard the door to the penthouse open as the other four guys came into the penthouse. They looked slightly wary, like they weren't sure what they would be walking into. I could see their faces immediately relax when they saw me smiling at Ivan.

"I'm sorry for putting you all through that last night. I didn't mean for any of you to have to hear that," I said.

"Don't apologize, spider monkey. We just don't know how to help. It's frustrating," Andrei said.

"Aww, Bubba. Don't get frustrated." I walked to him as he opened his arms for me. "You guys just have to keep loving me the way you always do. That's a bigger help than you could ever imagine." I hugged him tightly, resting my head on his chest. His giant arms held me just as tightly as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

"We're always here for you, gazelle," Misha said.

"We plan on keeping you around for a very long time, Seph. Life is really boring without you," Stephen said, grinning at me. It made me so happy to see him start to really come out of his shell. I couldn't help but laugh, but I didn't want to let go of Andrei just yet. I think he figured out what I was doing because I felt him squeeze me just a little tighter as I was laughing.

Andrei sighed, then I felt his arms relax around me. He leaned down, whispering so only I could hear, "I needed that, spider monkey. You're my favorite." He kissed my cheek, his handsome smile stretching across his face.

Viktor's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID, then he looked to me. "It's Chen," he said, as he handed me the phone.

I answered it, putting it on speaker so they could all hear. "Hey, Chen, what's up?"

"Sephie, my girl. I hope I'm not calling too early?" he said.

"Not at all, Chen. Did you find more info?"

"I did. I think you're going to want to hear this," he said. I glanced up at the worried faces around me. "The dealers are organizing against Sal. Word got out that they were planning on replacing the supply with brawn and, well, they're pissed."

"Organizing how?" I asked.

"They're planning on trying to stop Sal's plan, by any means necessary. They're scouring the city now, trying to find where they're making the brawn."

"How many dealers are we talking about here, Chen?"

"All of them, Sephie. Every single dealer that has found out about this is refusing to go along with the plan. They're all still mad about the last time brawn was around. It killed a lot of people. There was a lot of tension between the dealers and the bosses during that. The bosses kept pushing it, especially Sal from what I've heard, but the dealers eventually refused to sell it anymore," he said.

Ivan said quietly in Russian, "We can use this to our advantage." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"How organized are the dealers? Are there clear leaders we can work with?" I asked.

"Yeah, they organized quick. There's a few guys that are taking the lead. They belong to different bosses, so there's no clear loyalty to any one boss," he said.

Adrik's phone rang in his pocket. He looked at it, mouthing "Trino" as he stepped away to take the call. I looked at Ivan and Viktor, knowing what they were already thinking.

"Chen, do you think we can set up a meeting with these guys? We can work together to stop this. We've got the information they're looking for already, but we need more manpower."

"I think that's possible. One of Trino's guys, the one that I had to drop your name to, is one of the guys in charge. After he called Trino and he vouched for me, that guy has welcomed me into the inner circle, if you will. He's the one that the other dealers defer to, so I'll ask him if he's willing to work with you guys," he said.

"Ask him, please. I can already tell you the answer will be yes, but ask him. We need to set up a meeting. This could be beneficial for both parties," I said. I glanced at Misha, waiting for confirmation. He nodded his head, which made me smile.

"Okay, I'll see him tonight and I'll get back to you."

"Chen, you're the best," I said.

"Public servant, my girl," he said, laughing. "I'll call you again tonight or in the morning."

We ended the call and I handed Viktor his phone back. We waited for Adrik to come back from his call with Trino. I was assuming that Trino would've told Adrik the same information that we just got from Chen.

While we waited, I took the opportunity to check on Misha. He put his arm around my shoulders as I slid my arm around his waist. I looked up at him, as sternly as I could. "Better, my adorable Russian guardian?"

He smiled his million-dollar smile as he nodded his head. "I mean, I still feel bad about it, but less bad." I reached over and pinched his ribs hard with my free hand. He jumped. "Okay, okay! No bad. I feel no bad, I swear."

"Good," I said, leaning my head against his shoulder. He laughed as he hugged me tightly while we waited on Adrik. We could hear him laughing with Trino, so we knew it couldn't be all bad news.

He walked back to us soon after. "Did Trino tell you what Chen just told us?" Viktor asked, slightly amused.

"He did. He thought he was going to tell me something I didn't know yet. You should've heard the cursing when he found out I already knew. Then I told him it was through Sephie that we found out and he went on like a five-minute rant about how he couldn't find a woman like her in Colombia. He's considering coming up here to see if he can find one. He said he's getting desperate," Adrik said, laughing.

"Just as long as he didn't bring up his kidnapping plan again," I said, walking to Adrik.

Ivan clearly bristled. "His what now?"

Adrik couldn't help but laugh more. "Don't worry, Ivan. He won't really go through with it, but he did say he was going to actively try and steal Sephie. He's tried to convince her to come down there in front of me too. I think he's lonely." Adrik put his hands on my hips and pulled me back against him, so I could still look at everyone while we talked.

Ivan cursed under his breath, which made me laugh. "Don't worry, Super Squish. It worried me too. The list of people who'd like to kidnap me seems to be growing, rather than shrinking. I just wish I knew how to be less awesome," I said dramatically. I ended up making myself laugh with that one, which made everyone laugh.

"So, Trino knows the dealers are organizing and want to stop this plan as much as we do?" Viktor asked.

Adrik nodded his head. "He said one of his guys is one of the ones in charge. He's going to tell him to meet with us. We have a much better chance of stopping this if we all work together."

I couldn't help but smile at the grins on the guys' faces as they knew I had said the same thing to Chen. "It'll help the dealers feel loyal to you as well. Once this is all over, you want them to want to work for you," I said. Adrik wrapped his arms around me, holding me closer.

Misha caught my eye and grinned at me. "Made for this shit, gazelle."

We were in Adrik's office that afternoon, waiting for Dr. Williams. Viktor's phone beeped, alerting him that the good doctor was in the lobby. He stood up. "Be right back," he said as he left the office.

He walked back in a few minutes later with Dr. Williams behind him. Adrik stood to greet him, extending his hand to him. "Dr. Williams, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"No problem, sir. It sounded serious." He glanced around nervously. His eyes landed on mine and a slight smile crept across his face. Adrik motioned for him to sit as he sat at his desk. I got up from beside Andrei and moved to the cabinet behind Adrik's desk. I smiled at the confused expression on Dr. Williams's face when I moved. I'm not entirely sure if he had figured out which guy I technically belonged to yet. I was enjoying keeping him confused.

His confusion was short-lived as his curiosity got the better of him. "Did you talk to the police and give them a description of the doctor yet, Sephie?" He sounded hopeful when he asked, but his face fell when he saw the serious expression on my face at his question.

"Not only that but we've got his name and where he's at. He's being watched around the clock for now," Viktor said. I gave Viktor a small nod for answering for me.

"Really? You know who he is? Are they going to arrest him?" he asked, his hope returning once more.

"He'll get what he deserves, Doc," Stephen said. I could see the anger on his face, which surprised me. Stephen was always so quiet, but this one seemed to really get under his skin for some reason.

Dr. Williams ran his hand through his blonde hair. "I can't believe you found him so quickly. We've been looking for him for at least ten years now."

"He does have a specific cocktail that he uses that wipes people's memories. He tests it regularly. He likes to go up to his victims to see if they remember him. It's why no one has been able to remember what he looks like until Sephie," Ivan said.

"What an evil son of a bitch," Dr. Williams said.

"That's not even the half of it, Doc. He's responsible for so much more," I said.

"That's why we had you come down here today. I'm assuming that you know all about brawn?" Adrik asked.

The disgust was clear on his face. "Unfortunately, yes," Dr. Williams said.

"We've uncovered a plot to replace the entire city's supply of drugs with brawn, except in two areas of the city. In one of those areas, they're planning on putting a massive amount of brawn into the water supply. In the other area, they're planning on withholding all drugs for the weekend they're planning this." Adrik paused to let Dr. Williams comprehend what he'd just told him. The shock was evident on his face. "We've got the dealers of the city working with us, so even if they're successful in replacing the supply, the dealers won't sell it. However, this brings up another problem."

"Withdrawals," Dr. Williams said.

Adrik nodded. "How possible is it for the hospitals to deal with widespread withdrawals throughout the city?"

"Do you know when this is happening?" he asked.

"Not yet, but worst case, we'll have a few days' notice before it happens. We're working to stop their plan altogether. We're just putting backup plans in place just in case," Adrik said. "There's the potential for a lot of people to be affected. We want to make sure they're covered in the event we're not able to stop it from happening."

Dr. Williams exhaled loudly as he considered the possibilities before him. "Advance notice will make it easier for hospitals to prepare, but I'm not sure we can handle the entire addict population of the city going through withdrawals at once. Nor could we handle that same population having their drug of choice replaced by brawn either. That's a nasty drug," he said.

Armando and Giana walked into the office as Dr. Williams was talking. They quietly sat on one of the couches.

"Oh, they've changed it too. This formulation amps up the aggression, but it's shorter-lived. You know how the original brawn could make someone aggressive for a few hours before their body started to shut down on them?" I asked. Dr. Williams nodded his head. "This new formula cuts that time down considerably, but it amps up the aggression in that shorter window." I looked to Misha, asking, "It was, what, like, twenty minutes before they started to struggle to remain conscious?"

"It might've been longer. We don't know how long in between them taking it and when they actually attacked us. But I'd say around twenty minutes is a good estimate," Misha said. I happened to glance at Giana, who had a slight look of disgust on her face at this conversation. That's odd.

"You were attacked?" Dr. Williams asked, looking between me and Misha.

We both nodded. "It was a test run of this formulation. They gave a couple of homeless guys the drug and then sent them to attack me and Sephie when we were out for a run," Misha said.

Dr. Williams looked back to me. "But you've had experience with the old formula too?"

I nodded, looking to the floor. Adrik turned his chair toward me, opening his arm for me. I sighed, getting up and moving to his lap. "My uncle," I said as I sat down.

Dr. Williams held up his hand. "That's all I need to hear because that is clearly not a fond memory. It's valuable information, in the event that people get a hold of this new formula. I still remember when the original formula hit the streets. We were scrambling for quite a while until we figured out how to care for the people on it."

"What kind of support do the hospitals need? In either scenario. If they get their hands on the new formula or if they have to suffer withdrawals," Ivan asked.

Dr. Williams thought for a moment. "Honestly, neither situation is going to be easy. Not if we're talking about the entire city's addict population. And I can only answer for my hospital. Other hospitals might not be as well-staffed as mine. I can, however, go back and try to come up with a plan of action for both scenarios. I'm afraid it's going to take all hands on deck to deal with either scenario."

"What about their plan to put it in the water supply? What's going to happen to children who drink water that's been laced with brawn?" Armando asked. He was clearly worried about the people in his area of the city. I glanced at Giana again, who caught me looking at her. She immediately looked down when she caught my eye. I decided to stop looking at her for the rest of this little meeting.

"I don't know for sure, but I can tell you that it won't be good. It's so easy to overdose on the old formula, and from what Sephie has said about the new formula, it will likely be even easier to overdose on this formula. That's really bad news for children," Dr. Williams said.

We sat in silence for a moment. Adrik wrapped his arms around me tighter. I knew he could feel the faint shaking in my legs. Dr. Williams looked at Adrik again, his curiosity piqued again. "Does the doctor factor into this as well?"

I felt Adrik nod his head as I nodded mine. "He's the one that created brawn originally. He's also believed to be the one that made this new formula," Adrik said.

Dr. Williams slumped down in his chair, like the wind had been knocked out of him. He was silent for a moment before he looked up at me, a serious look in his eye. "I feel like I should thank you once more for what you did in the emergency room that day. You had every reason to hate me and my nurses, but you're the reason nobody got seriously hurt that day."

"Oh, she's the reason you're not dead, Doc. Ivan would've killed you," Stephen said, completely straight-faced. His delivery was always so serious that it almost made me laugh. I think, like Ivan, he enjoyed the shock value. I caught his eye, winking at him, trying not to laugh. He waited until the doctor was no longer looking at him, then he grinned at me, winking back.

Dr. Williams looked back to me. "I still have no idea what kind of special powers you have over that man, but I remain in awe of them. And I'm forever grateful for what you did that day, especially knowing the evil you've had to endure with that doctor," he said sincerely. I simply smiled at him, nodding once. I glanced at Ivan, who grinned at me.

"How long do you need to figure out some sort of plan and have an idea of what you'll need to handle the fallout if we can't stop the plan?" Viktor asked.

"I should know within a day or two. I'm going to need to have some serious discussions with the doctors, nurses, and administration of the hospital. We can get an idea of what we'll be able to handle and can apply that to the other hospitals in the city," Dr. Williams said.

"It's best if this is kept as quiet as possible, Doc," Ivan said.

"Understood," Dr. Williams said. "I'll be vague with details. I might be able to pass it off as a training exercise."

Viktor stood up, signaling to the doctor that it was time to go. He stood up as well, walking the few steps toward Adrik's desk to shake his hand once more. I stood up, so Adrik could also stand. Dr. Williams shook Adrik's hand, then extended his hand to me. "Thank you again, Sephie," he said, a very sincere look in his eye.

I kept a hold of his hand for a moment, saying, "Thank you for giving us both a good experience with doctors." He smiled at me, squeezing my hand before letting go.

While Viktor escorted him out, Adrik pulled me toward one of the couches. Armando and Giana were talking quietly. She got up quickly and left the office. We all looked at Armando, curious as to what just happened. He looked somewhat flustered, but tried to cover for her. "She said she's feeling ill, so she wanted to go back downstairs."

Ivan said, "Embarrassment will do that."

Everyone looked to Ivan, expecting an explanation as Viktor returned to the office. Ivan had a smirk on his face. "Giana left here last night convinced Sephie knew about withdrawals because she was a user. She found out today that wasn't the case and now she's embarrassed about it, but she's not mature enough to own up to her mistake yet, so she ran instead."

Armando looked at Ivan. "You've been hanging around Sephie, haven't you? How did you know that?"

Ivan just shrugged his shoulders. Adrik pulled me closer as I smiled at Ivan. "Ivan has a very special set of skills," I said.

Armando said, "Sephie, I want to apologize on behalf of Giana. We argued for several hours last night. She was convinced that you'd been on drugs because you have so much knowledge about them."

"And if she was? What then? Does that mean Giana gets a license to be a bitch to her? It changes nothing about who Sephie is today if she was or wasn't," Misha said. He was clearly angry.

"I said the same thing to her, Misha. I don't know where any of it was coming from," Armando said.

Ivan caught my eye. I could tell he was making sure I was okay before he spoke. I nodded once. He said, "I do. She's still so insecure with herself that this is her way to tear Sephie down to make herself feel better. You need to be careful with her, Mando. She'll eventually do the same to you, if you don't stop it. She wouldn't have lasted five minutes in Sephie's life over the last few years. She doesn't know what happened, but on some level, she knows Sephie is stronger than she could ever be and instead of letting it inspire her to be better herself, she lets it make her more insecure about herself. She'll drag you down to her level if you don't demand she rise to yours or get lost."

Armando looked between me and Ivan, thoughtfully. "How did you two get to be so wise?" he asked.

"Trauma is a hell of a teacher, Mando," I said. "Ivan is right though. You're either going to pull her up or she's going to pull you down."

We heard Misha curse in Russian under his breath, still angry at Giana. Armando couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't have a clue what you just said, Misha, but I can guarantee I likely said the same thing last night. Repeatedly."

Adrik kissed my cheek, brushing his cheek against mine lightly. I squeezed his arms around me tighter.

"With all due respect, Mando, you need to handle this before we do," Stephen said. I looked back at him, surprised to see him just as angry as Misha. It was that moment that I realized just how much they all loved me in their own ways. They were so angry because a girl was bitchy to me that they were ready to kick her out for good. I smiled to myself at how cute they all were in this moment.

I took a deep breath. "She's probably grown up privileged and somewhat sheltered. Now that she's been thrown into the real world, she has no real coping mechanisms. She can only come from her place of understanding, which is made from her life experiences."

Armando nodded his head. "She's from a prominent family in Naples. She's never wanted for a thing in her life."

"When you live a life of extreme comfort, your understanding of good and bad gets skewed. When there really isn't any bad, the good replaces the bad. People need both. There can be no good when there is no bad. Her bad consists of slightly less good, so the really good doesn't feel right. Her soul knows that, which is why she's wanting for something more. But she's looking in the wrong places for that something. It has to come from within her. She's the only one that can decide to be happy. Nobody else will ever be able to make her happy if she can't make herself happy. That's what you need to try to get her to see, Mando. She's choosing to be miserable and insecure. No one else is making her feel that way. No one is going to be able to make her stop feeling that way. It's all on her," I said.

Armando raised his eyebrow looking at me. He asked in Italian, "Do I want to know how much trauma you've had to endure to become this wise?"

I chuckled. "No, you do not," I responded in English.

"I think I'll take her to my house for the rest of the week and weekend. Maybe a change of scenery will do her good. It'll also keep her away from you guys, so I won't need to worry about you guys handling this before I can fix it," Armando said. He had a smile on his face when he said it, but he was legitimately worried as well. Knowing that even Stephen was angry meant that he had good reason to be worried.