The Underworld Series, page 61
“Super Squish the savior,” Sephie said with a grin on her face as we met Ivan.
“I didn’t know I needed to tell you to keep all hands and feet inside the plane until the ride had come to a complete stop,” he said as he cut his eyes down at her, a small grin on his face. I was still surprised at how much funnier he was after being around Sephie for a relatively short amount of time. He had always been so quiet before she came into our lives. We all were. But now, because of her, we saw the lighter side of everything.
I found myself thinking about watching her at her piano a few days ago. She really had brought out the best in all of us. I’d never cared about making anyone happy before her. We all saw how much effort she put into making everyone around her happy. It was contagious. She did such an amazing job of it that we wanted to do the same for her. We were so excited for her to get her piano back. Every single one of us, men who had killed without a second thought, were wiping tears from our eyes watching her get her piano back. She was so happy and, in turn, we were all happy. She was incredible.
Trino’s island house was spacious, with just as much outdoor space as indoor, given the perfect climate most of the year. We found him outside, with his second-in-command, Martin. Good. Sephie will be able to meet him as well.
“Jefe, come and sit,” Trino said, motioning for us to sit on the couches next to him. “I have to say I’m not sad about you bringing Sephie with you. She’s much nicer to look at than your men.” Sephie didn’t say anything, but she made sure she sat in between me and Ivan. I put my arm across her lap, my hand on her thigh.
I nodded toward Martin. “Good to see you again, Martin.”
He returned the nod. Martin was generally a very quiet man, which I appreciated. I looked to Trino, asking, “Have you met with Dario and Massimo yet?”
Both Trino and Martin laughed. “No, man. It’s too much fun to make them wait. I would’ve thought they would have caught on by now, but they’re still down there waiting for me to see them. They call Martin every day to see if I can see them that day. Every day he says something came up. I’m a very busy man as you can clearly see,” Trino said, opening his arms and gesturing around him to the empty island house. We all couldn’t help but laugh at his games with the other bosses. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind not meeting with Massimo at all. That cabron ...” He trailed off, but didn’t finish his thought. He looked to Martin as Martin cursed under his breath.
“What has Massimo done to you to make you hate him so much?” Sephie asked.
Trino looked at her, clear disgust on his face as he said, “We could never prove it, but we’re certain that Massimo killed my nephew. Or had him killed. I sent him to the city to keep an eye on Dario and Massimo. There were…discrepancies in their profits versus the product I was sending them. I knew they were stealing from me but needed someone closer to keep an eye on their operation. I sent my nephew. He got close. He let me know he was going to get the proof we needed the next day. I never heard from him again. No one knows what happened to him. Or more like no one will say what happened to him.”
“What’s your nephew’s name?” Sephie asked. It was an innocent enough question, but I knew she was only asking because she might be able to give him a definitive answer.
“Mateo.” I felt her squeeze my hand, still resting on her thigh, but she said nothing further about his nephew. I knew she would tell me later. I didn’t want to tell him too much until Sephie had a chance to “approve” Trino. I would wait to tell Trino about the information Sephie had on the other bosses until after she gave him the okay, not before. Trino continued, “It’s only out of respect for you, Jefe, that I don’t put a bullet in his head when I eventually see him.”
I scoffed. I caught Ivan shift his position as well. We’d gotten confirmation that it was Massimo’s men that had tried to get to Sephie when they left the piano gallery that day. “You’re free to put a bullet in his head, Trino. If you don’t, I will,” I said. I felt Sephie squeeze my hand again. She mumbled, “Amen to that,” causing Ivan to chuckle.
Trino looked at me, surprised at my reaction and curious as to what Sephie had said as well. She looked at him, frankly saying, “Massimo is the reason that Ivan almost died and Andrei got shot a few days ago trying to keep me safe. Massimo can choke on a bag of dicks for all I care.”
Trino looked to me again, trying to contain his laughter. He was clearly not expecting that to come out of her mouth. Ivan and I both laughed at her. She never ceased to surprise us with her comical creativity. Even Martin, who was normally quiet was trying to hold in his laughter.
She looked at both Trino and Martin. “It’s okay to laugh. You know you’re thinking about the image of him choking. You can admit it.”
That was all it took. They both erupted into laughter. We all did. Trino, still chuckling, said, “I can see why she’s so special, Jefe. You better keep her or I’ll convince her to move to Colombia.”
Before I could answer, Ivan said, “Good luck getting her to do anything she doesn’t want to. The day that Massimo’s men tried to grab her? She killed more men on her own than the rest of us did that day.”
“Dios mio. Really?” Trino asked Sephie. She just shrugged her shoulders, leaning closer into me. I put my arm around her and pulled her closer. Trino, now curious, asked, “Why did Massimo try to grab her? To get to you, Jefe?”
“Possibly, yes. Right now, we just know that it was his men,” I said.
We continued to talk about business, the other bosses, and what had been going on recently. Trino wasn’t happy with any of the bosses, except Armando and I. Considering Trino controlled the pipeline that delivered all the product we needed to fund our illegal enterprises, it was important to keep him on your good side. I didn’t feel like this was a difficult task, but clearly the other bosses were struggling with it.
Armando and Giana joined us eventually. Armando seemed at ease with Trino. Giana seemed slightly terrified, but at least she was being quieter than on the plane. I watched Sephie watching Trino and Martin carefully, as well as how Armando and Trino interacted. Eventually, Trino’s men showed up, as well as Andrei, Misha, Viktor, and Stephen. Sephie stayed mostly quiet and watched everyone for most of the evening.
I would catch her eye occasionally, but each time she would smile sweetly at me, indicating that there was nothing to worry about at my end. After dinner, I pulled her aside and asked her what her thoughts were. I was almost positive I knew her answer but wanted to make sure before I went into any more details with Trino.
“I don’t see anything weird with Trino. Martin is a little harder to get a read on because, well, he never says anything, but I don’t feel like he’s got any hidden agendas. I get a good feeling from both. From what I’ve seen so far, you can trust him. It’s obvious he respects you and, to a lesser extent, Armando. He has zero respect for the other bosses, especially Massimo.”
“I’m seriously considering letting him put a bullet in his head for me,” I said, pushing a stray curl from her face.
She looked at me seriously, then quickly looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear. She stood on her toes, her mouth next to my ear, “I know what happened to Mateo. I heard them talking about him after one of the meetings when they stayed later than everyone else. I’d never heard Mateo’s name mentioned before, so it piqued my interest. Massimo had him killed. I also remember Dario yelling at him for it. He was scared. More scared than I’d ever seen him. I didn’t know about Trino at the time. I don’t know if he was scared of Trino or you. Or Massimo. Or all three.”
I looked at her as she stood in front of me. I could see the fear in her eyes. Knowing so much information about Massimo had already brought one kidnapping attempt on her, almost killing Ivan in the process. She was scared to tell anyone about what she knew. I inhaled deeply, trying to think of options. On one hand, Trino would be even more in debt to me for knowing what happened to his nephew. I could also get him to take care of Massimo for me. On the other, it put Sephie in danger for others to know just how much she knew about the organization.
I kissed her forehead. “We’ll sleep on it. We can discuss it with the guys in the morning. As far as I’m concerned, being able to trust Trino is the main concern right now.”
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She silently nodded her head, leaning into me, resting her head on my chest.
Trino and his men enjoyed partying just as much as they enjoyed business. Every time I met him on the island, he would go to a popular nightclub until the early morning hours. He usually had friends flown in to party with him, along with plenty of girls for his friends and his men. Before Sephie, I would go to the club with him. It was never a bad time. It also gave the guys a chance to relax slightly. Now that Sephie was with us, I wasn’t sure she would want to go. Giana was very excited about going. I found it amusing that Giana was a few years older than Sephie, but acted like she was the younger of the two.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” I told her as we were changing clothes.
She stopped and looked at me, half-serious, half-joking. “You know as well as I do that Trino will take it personally if we don’t go with him. At least for a little while. It’ll be fine. It’s not something I regularly look forward to, but I can manage for a bit. Hopefully.” She paused, then added, “I don’t know if I’m more curious about how much a drunk Giana is going to talk or if I’m dreading it.”
I cursed under my breath. “I didn’t think about that. At least the music will be loud,” I said, smirking at her. I walked behind her, sliding my hands around her hips. “At least it gave you a reason to wear a dress. I’m not complaining about that.” I slid my hands down her legs to the hem, pushing it up higher on her thighs as my hands roamed over her legs. The dress was short, but not so short that she needed to worry about bending over. It had long sleeves and a high neckline, covering all her scars. It fit her like a glove, though, which is what made it incredibly sexy. She leaned back against me, catching my hands and wrapping them around her waist.
“You’re going to distract me,” she said, smiling up at me, while she pulled the skirt of the dress back down on her legs. “Giana offered to help me tame my unruly hair and I’m trying to be nicer, so she feels more comfortable around so much testosterone. She’s supposed to be here in a minute.”
“But I love your unruly hair. It’s one of my favorite things,” I said as I turned her to face me, so I could push her rebellious curls from her face. It had become a game for me to see if I could get her curls to do what I wanted. I lost every single time, but I still loved the game.
We heard a soft knock on the door. Sephie reached up and kissed me quickly. “I just love you,” she said as she went to open the door for Giana.
Giana came with equipment. I wasn’t sure Sephie’s hair was going to win this round. Clearly, Giana was some kind of professional hair tamer. “I’ll leave you two to it,” I said, kissing Sephie on the cheek.
“Hopefully this won’t take long, but don’t hold your breath,” she said.
I heard Giana tell her, “Don’t worry, Sephie, I know what to do. My sister has curly hair. I’ve been doing her hair since we were kids,” as I left the bedroom. Definitely some kind of professional.
It didn’t take very long and both Sephie and Giana came out to find us. Giana had straightened Sephie’s hair and put it in a high ponytail. She almost looked like a different person without her loose curls around her face. My breath still caught when I saw her. She was gorgeous no matter what she did or wore. But straight hair made her look different.
She caught me staring as she walked to me, a small smirk on her face. “It’s weird, right?” she asked. She was smiling, but I think she really was uncertain about my opinion.
I clicked my tongue. “You’re beautiful no matter what, solnishko.” I ran my hand through her ponytail. It felt completely different than her normal hair. I couldn’t help but laugh, somewhat astonished at the difference. “It’s so different.” I looked down at her, grinning. “I don’t know how I feel about this. I feel like I’m cheating on you. With you.”
She laughed, planting a kiss on my lips. I reached up and ran my hand through her ponytail once more, then grabbed the whole ponytail and pulled gently. I leaned down, brushing her neck with my facial hair. “I could get used to this once in a while, though.” Her breath hitched, ever so slightly and her cheeks were definitely flushed when she turned to look at me, a knowing look in her eye.
She wrapped her arms around my waist, looking me in the eye for a few moments. I saw a flash of uncertainty in her eyes. She didn’t hide it like she normally did. Instead, she just asked, “You’re not going to leave me at any point tonight, are you?”
I felt a pain in my chest, knowing she was still struggling to process everything that had happened since the ball. I put both hands on either side of her face, pressing my lips to hers. “I pinky swear I will not leave you the entire time we’re there.”
The club was packed, as it was every time we had been here before. Before we left Trino’s villa, a few of the girls tried to get the attention of Misha and Andrei, but neither seemed very interested. I think the girls were scared of Viktor and Ivan. Stephen was making himself scarce as usual. He was not one for socializing. Even with us, he would disappear on his own regularly.
I wasn’t normally one to dance, but I found myself eagerly following Sephie to the dance floor. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. It didn’t seem to matter what she did with her hair or what she wore, she was the sexiest woman in the room to me. Now, with the difference in her straight hair, plus the new clothes, plus her willingness to get outside her comfort zone and even come to the club, it was like I was seeing a completely different side to her that I hadn’t seen yet. I was intrigued.
The music was so loud, you could feel the bass vibrating your body. There were people everywhere. Sephie was following Giana, who had Armando in tow. Giana managed to find a spot in the sea of people. Sephie pulled my arms around her, still facing away from me, as she started to move to the music. She was slightly tense and I could tell she was watching the people around us carefully. I turned her to face me, pulling her tight against me. “Just focus on me, solnishko,” I said to her, my mouth close to her ear. She leaned her head against mine and nodded slightly.
She eventually relaxed a little, as long as I kept my arms around her. She eventually pulled me off the dance floor, indicating she needed a drink. With so many people so close together, it was warm in the club. I glanced toward Armando and Giana, but they were completely wrapped up in each other and didn’t notice us leave.
I got water for Sephie. She drank half, then handed it to me to finish. She was still watching everyone around us carefully. I pulled her closer to me, tracing my finger down her face. “You’re not worried, are you?” She looked at me, puzzled. “You’re watching everyone around us like you’re expecting someone to do something.”
Her beautiful smile stretched across her face, making my heart jump in my chest. “No, it’s not out of worry now. It was when we first got here, but now I’m used to it. I’ve never been a fan of big crowds, but less so now,” she said, looking down. I felt that pull in my chest as I knew she had been fighting to remain calm. She looked back up, a mischievous grin on her face. “It’s out of curiosity now. I don’t go to clubs very often, but when I do, I always try to pick out the couples that are still going to be together by the end of the night and the ones that will get together by the end of the night. It’s like my own game that I play.”
I caught sight of one of Trino’s men talking to a girl at the bar. I nodded my head toward the couple. “What about those two?” I asked.
She watched them for a few minutes, then shook her no. “Not gonna happen. He’s way too intense for her. He hasn’t stopped talking about whatever it is he’s talking about since you pointed them out and she’s quickly losing interest. Ten bucks says she ditches him in the next fifteen minutes.”
“You’re on. I say it’ll be at least twenty-five,” I said, motioning for the bartender to refill our water. Ivan and Viktor walked up to the bar.
“You two look like you’re stirring up trouble,” Viktor said.
“Sephie just made a bet that the girl behind you will ditch Trino’s man in the next fifteen minutes,” I said. Both Viktor and Ivan looked at the couple discreetly.
“And you bet against her?” Ivan asked.
“Oh, no. I’m not that stupid. We’re betting on the time limit. She says fifteen. I say twenty-five,” I said, laughing.
Ivan looked back at the couple. “I give it ten.”
Sephie laughed at us. “Bet pool it is, gentlemen! Viktor, do you want to get in on this too?”
Viktor watched the couple for a moment. “Hell yeah. I’ll go twenty.”
We stood at the bar, watching the first couple as best we could without being too obvious. Sephie picked out three more couples to add to the bet pool while we were waiting on the first couple. At the ten-minute mark, they were still talking. “Sorry, Super Squish. You’re out,” Sephie said, grinning. At the fifteen-minute mark, he bought her another drink. Sephie laughed, then looked to me. “You might win this one. Now it’s down to how fast she finishes that drink.”
Andrei and Misha walked up to us as we were laughing about yet another couple that Sephie had added to the bet pool. Ivan had made a comment that he didn’t know he should’ve brought a white board with him to keep track of everyone. We explained our game to Andrei and Misha, who, of course, wanted in on the action as well, making Ivan’s comment about the whiteboard all the more relevant.
