The Underworld Series, page 38
Misha’s eyes got even wider. His mouth fell open slightly. “How did you know that?”
“Because I heard it too. That’s why we called you over here. I wanted to see if you had the same feeling.”
Now, my eyes were wide in shock. Sephie thought for a moment, a small smile appearing as she seemed lost in thought. I ran my hand down her back, not really wanting to interrupt, but curious as to what she was thinking. Just as she looked toward me, a bird swooped down in between the couch we were on and the chair where Misha was sitting. It flew above us, turned, and swooped in between us from the opposite direction.
She giggled. “You were right. It is magnificent,” she said quietly to herself.
When she turned to look at me again, she had tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. She inhaled deeply, “You might think I’m crazy for this, but that’s my dad. When I was asleep when we were up north, I was stuck in that loop at the ball until you pulled me out of it. Once I was free of that scene playing over and over, I was allowed me to see my dad again. He’s been watching over me my entire life. He told me that what happened was necessary for everyone, especially when it came to believing Misha’s gut instincts.” She leaned into me as I wrapped an arm around her. “He’s the one that told me you’d been laying underneath me for twelve hours so I wouldn’t get sucked back into my nightmare. He’s who warned me about this.” Just then, the bird flew down and landed on Sephie’s knee. He looked right at Sephie for a few moments before flying off again.
I had never seen anything like it before in my life. I glanced to Misha, who was speechless. I looked down at Sephie, who was still lost in a memory, her sweet smile on her face. She turned to look at me after a moment, her eyes questioning as she searched mine. I didn’t give her much time to question. I leaned down and kissed her. “You never cease to amaze me.”
As we were finishing breakfast the next morning, Armando’s assistant walked in, looking completely panicked. He went to her immediately. “Giana, are you okay? What happened? You look terrified.”
“Sir, I went to the office this morning before coming here. I had forgotten the charger to my laptop yesterday and I don’t have a backup. I was late.” She looked at him sheepishly, clearing her throat. “As usual, sir. It was 8:15 when I turned onto the street in front of the building. Sir, the building. It … it exploded.”
Armando cursed loudly. “Are you okay? How close were you? Did you get hurt?” he asked, checking her over.
“No, no, sir. I’m fine. I was still far enough away. I got out of there as fast as I could and came straight here.”
I asked, “Are you sure none of your people went to the office this morning, Mando?”
He looked at me, a look of horror on his face. He immediately turned to Giana, “We must call everyone to make sure everyone stayed home.” They left quickly, to make the necessary calls.
I leaned over to Sephie, whispering in her ear, “Tell your father that we owe him one.” I kissed her cheek.
“No shit,” she said, shocked.
I looked to Misha, who was equally shocked, nodding a silent thank you. Were it not for those two, we might’ve been at the office this morning. The relief I felt that we were all safe was quickly replaced by anger. This was a direct attack on Armando, but I had a feeling it was also an attack on me. Giana hadn’t told us what she had found out yet, but I could almost guarantee that the lawyer was working for Lorenzo and Anthony.
Sephie looked to me, like she was reading my mind. “They know you’re still alive. They have to know.” I looked in her eyes, expecting to see her fear. Instead, her anger level was matching mine. “They tried to kill you. AGAIN.”
Armando walked back in with Giana, who was still visibly still shaken. She had her laptop in her hands. “Did she tell you she connected the lawyer to Lorenzo or Anthony or both?” I asked.
He nodded his head. “Just as we suspected. The lawyer must have told them that you were alive. And that Sephie is here. They must have known that my people connected them. All my people are loyal, but they had to have a tap on someone’s phone. I just ditched mine and Giana’s. All my people are safe. They know how to get in touch with me without the use of phones. Giana is going to stay here, in case they followed her,” he said as he looked at her. Given her expression, he clearly did not discuss that with her beforehand, but she didn’t protest.
Viktor looked at Armando. “Your people have been watching Lorenzo and Anthony. What’s their plan now? Clearly, they wanted to take us out this morning, but then what? What’s their next play?”
Ivan, stroking his goatee, said, “If it were me, I would use this as a distraction to leave. They know we’ll be looking for them here or in Sicily. But communication will be slower because you’ve been compromised. Until you find out where that leak or tap is, information is going to be coming slower to us. They’re probably already on a plane to the city. That would be my move.”
I couldn’t say I disagreed with him. Getting back to the city has always been their goal. They might not have even waited to see if the explosion was successful before leaving. Either way, we would be dead or so distracted that they get a few days’ head start.
Armando said, “I’ll get in touch with Dario and Massimo. They’re still in the city, watching Salvadori. They can watch for Lorenzo and Anthony in the city.”
Sephie looked to me. Leaning in, she quietly asked, “Dario and Massimo are the other two bosses that are loyal to you? Or those are the guys that took me?”
“Bosses. You know something?” I raised an eyebrow at her. I was beginning to rely on her random bits of information that always seemed invaluable later.
“You’re sure they’re loyal to you?” she asked.
“I believe so. They, like Armando, came to me immediately when Salvadori came to them.”
Armando added, “Dario would never side with Salvadori. They have bad blood between them. They can barely stand to be in the same room as each other. And Massimo is Dario’s childhood friend. He would never go against Dario.”
Sephie thought for a moment. “Dario is salt and pepper hair, but clean shaven?” she asked. I nodded. “He repeats things you say when he’s lying. He’ll repeat the question back to you, like he’s surprised you even asked him. He’s buying his brain time to come up with an answer. You’ll be able to tell if he’s lying to you over the phone that way. Massimo will be harder. He forgets to blink when he’s lying. He thinks if he maintains eye contact like a psycho that you’ll somehow be more apt to believe him. Massimo is one of the smoothest liars I’ve seen. It took me longer to pick up on his lack of blinking than the rest of them, which makes him more dangerous than the others, if you ask me. I wouldn’t trust that man.”
Armando looked at his watch. “It’s still early there. I’ll give them a call now,” he said, walking out of the room.
We sat in silence for a moment, all of us contemplating our next move. I agreed with Ivan. I think we should get back to the city as quickly as possible. I would feel better with Sephie at the penthouse where I knew she would be safe. I felt too exposed here. Armando was a gracious host, but he was a little too relaxed on his security. I secretly hoped this incident would fix that. I was also worried about them carrying out their original plan of unleashing chaos on the people of the city.
“Misha. What’s your opinion? Stay here or go back to the city as quickly as possible?” I asked, somewhat amused at the surprise on the kid’s face. After this morning, there was no way I wasn’t getting his opinion on our next move from here on out.
He thought for a minute while we all waited for his answer. “City. I agree with Ivan. I think this morning was a distraction to give them cover to leave. If we get in touch with Armando’s people that have been watching them, I’d bet they lost them this morning.”
I nodded to him, agreeing with him. I looked to Viktor, Andrei, and Stephen. They all agreed that returning home was the best plan. Finally, I looked to Sephie, making sure she was also okay with the plan. She nodded slightly, but then turned to all the guys. “Will you guys make me a promise?” she asked, looking at Stephen first. “If you don’t pick them off from a rooftop somewhere, can you keep them alive long enough for me to have a go at Anthony? That motherfucker is starting to piss me off.”
Everyone laughed but Giana, who just looked mortified.
Plans were quickly made to leave early the next morning. I caught Viktor alone and asked him to have the bikes sent back as well. Once we were done with all of this, I was going to enjoy a long ride with Sephie.
Chapter Forty-Two
Adrik
I woke to Sephie’s fingers playing on my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair, causing her to snuggle closer to me. I held her close for a moment. Unfortunately, we didn’t have ample time this morning. I ran my fingers over the naked skin of her back, feeling every scar that marked her. I was lost in my own thoughts about what she’d been through when I felt her head lift off my chest. She rested her chin on my chest, looking at me with still sleepy eyes. I smiled at her. She was adorable in the mornings, especially when she didn’t want to wake up just yet. I felt a pang of guilt as I might have kept her awake too long last night, but I couldn’t help myself. I was addicted.
“Good morning. Mostly,” she said as she moved to hide her face in my chest.
I laughed, feeling her pain. I think we would both be sleeping on the plane. My hands still roaming on her back, trying to coax her awake.
“We have to get up, so we can go back and get you all the sandwiches you can eat, solnishko,” I whispered to her, kissing the top of her head.
She sat up immediately, climbing over me to get off the bed. She grabbed my pants from the night before and threw them at my head. As I pulled them off my head, she was pulling up her panties. She walked back to the bed, climbing back on top of me, her smile wide across her face. I grabbed her and rolled over, so I was on top of her, loving her playful side.
“I think I might be jealous of Vinny,” I said, my fingers lightly running over her neck down to her breasts.
“You should be. You definitely should be. I would offer to marry him too, but I feel like Andrei might try to hurt him. Vinny makes phenomenal sandwiches, but he’s no fighter.”
“I’ll have to make sure I marry you first, then.” I leaned down and kissed her lips, enjoying the surprise in her eyes. “For the sake of keeping the peace,” I added, winking at her. She looked at me for a moment, surprised, but there was a flash of something darker that I caught before she could hide it. She closed her eyes briefly, but when she opened them, it was gone and she was smiling, the colors in her unique eyes dancing in the early morning light.
She pulled me to her, kissing me passionately. As much as I wanted to rip those panties off her, we were on a time schedule this morning. I groaned into her mouth. “Sephie, we must go. It’s a long flight back. We should get there as early as possible,” I said as I kissed her one more time. “Or you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow for your sandwich.”
I felt her hands on my chest, pushing me off her as she giggled. “I can be ready in ten minutes. Fucking hurry up already!” She jumped off the bed again, grabbing clothes on her way to the bathroom.
I shook my head, laughing at her as I got up. I heard the shower come on. I waited until I heard the shower door open and I walked in the bathroom, enjoying the view. I had meant to let her shower by herself, but as soon as I saw her, I couldn’t help myself. I joined her.
She turned toward me when she felt my hands on her hips. “You’re wasting a lot of time ogling me,” she said, handing me the soap with an impish grin.
“That is not my fault, my love. That is entirely your fault for being so beautiful and worthy of being ogled.”
She laughed, standing on her toes to kiss me. “I love you.”
I grabbed her hips, pulling her to me, stepping back under the water. She gasped, trying to get free. “I can’t get my bandage super wet or we’ll have to change it!” I kept my grip on her, turning her so her bad hip was out of the water. She laughed, putting her hands on either side of my face, kissing me once more before she jumped out of the shower.
There might be something to Ivan’s honey trick. Or else I really should be jealous of Vinny.
Armando had decided to not come back with us just yet. He wanted to find out as much information about his office building as he could before he left Italy. He would come to the city in a day or two after he had handled things. I was secretly relieved to have a break from him. I enjoyed Armando, but he didn’t appreciate silence as much as the rest of us. It was exhausting after a while.
On the plane, we discussed possibilities of what Anthony and Lorenzo were planning. The question remained why Salvadori had gone along with their plan. He was a wealthy man now. Wealthier than he had ever been when my father was running the organization. Why would he want to go back to that? It didn’t make sense.
“Before the night we met, how involved were you in the organization?” Sephie asked me. “I mean, they had been coming every month for over a couple of years before I ever saw you, or even heard you existed. I thought the other six bosses were the only ones in the city and I have to say I was privy to more knowledge about your organization than most people.”
Viktor chuckled. “That was mostly my fault, sestrichka. He was in Turkey trying to get me out of a Syrian prison for much of that time.”
“I’m sorry, what? You were in a Syrian prison? What did you do to land yourself in a Syrian prison?” she asked, completely surprised.
“Vengeance is not always as worth it as you think it will be. You end up making mistakes that can get you thrown into Syrian prisons,” he said, almost embarrassed.
“What kind of mistakes? Like oops, I burnt the darn muffins? Or more like oh fuck, I didn’t mean to kill that guy?”
He laughed, hanging his head. “Eh, more like I did mean to kill that guy. I just didn’t mean to get caught.”
“Viktor. How many times have I told you, we don’t murder people in broad daylight? We wait for the darkness to conceal us.”
Ivan laughed. “I think that’s a lesson he has for sure learned now.”
“How did you guys get him out of the Syrian prison? I’m guessing you don’t just ask nicely for him to be released,” she asked, now even more curious.
Misha said, “That depends on your definition of ‘nice,’ gazelle. I think we asked very nicely.”
She looked to each of them as they laughed, then turned to me, hoping I would fill in the details. I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm for this story. “We might’ve blown a hole in the wall of the prison to get him out. You’d be surprised at how fast he can run when he needs to,” I said, nodding to Viktor. Viktor’s deep laugh echoed in the plane.
“I think I would pay to see that,” Sephie said, laughing along with all of us. I watched each of the guys enjoying her interest in our “adventures” as well as the visible relief on their faces that she wasn’t disturbed by our actions. None of us were used to being able to be so open about these things with anyone, really, much less a love interest. She was the first to know many things about us, which meant we all trusted her completely.
“So, you blew up a Syrian prison and Viktor set the new land speed record, then what did you do? Go to Disney World? Euro Disney?”
Andrei pointed to me, exclaiming, “I TOLD YOU IT WAS A GOOD IDEA!”
That caused another round of laughter from all of us. We ended up laughing so hard we were crying.
Finally, Ivan got control of himself enough to answer Sephie’s question. “We laid low for a few months. Viktor was in a bad spot from his months in that fine institution. He needed time to recover. We spent time in Eastern Europe in various places. We had just returned to the city a few days before we came to the meeting at the restaurant and met you.”
She laughed. “You recover well, Viktor. I still remember being shocked when you and Andrei walked in the front door of the restaurant.”
“We remember too. You made it very difficult to not laugh,” Andrei said, grinning at her.
“I have that effect on people,” she said, flipping her braid over her shoulder. She leaned back against me, pulling her knees up on the couch, leaning them against my legs. I put my arm around her, pulling her close. “I’m glad you guys know how to ask nicely and got him out,” she said, smiling thoughtfully.
“We’re a family, solnishko. We don’t leave family behind,” I said, kissing her temple.
Andrei, looking serious, asked, “You don’t think we’re monsters after hearing these things?” The other guys looked at her, curious as to her answer as well. I knew what they were thinking. It was tough to share this part of our lives with anyone.
She smiled at him, in her perfect way. “Bubba. You think because you can freely walk in the dark that it makes you a monster?” He shrugged his shoulders. “No, Bubba. You’re the opposite of a monster, simply because you don’t give in to the darkness. It makes you dangerous, sure. Because you’ve conquered your darkness. Tamed it, even. You each have such a strong light in you, despite the darkness coming for you more times than you can remember, most likely. Never forget that the darkness can be a place where greatness is created too.”
I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I didn’t have to look at the rest of them to know they were in the same state as me. I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my other arm around her. I rested my head on hers because I couldn’t believe how much I loved her in that moment, and I didn’t want the guys to see the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. My breath caught as I inhaled, thinking about everything that had happened and how lucky I was to have her in my arms right now.
