Chapter 172
Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Two
Sephie
He thought for a moment. “A guy named Brian Tucker, if I’m not mistaken. Why? What’s wrong?” he
asked.
Adrik looked at him seriously, saying, “Sal’s n. It’s worse than we originally thought. He got to your
water guy and he’s going to try to put the brawn into your water supply. He knew he wouldn’t be able to
get to your dealers without you finding out, but he got to Brian somehow.”
“He’s going to do what??” Armando asked, running his hand through his hair.
Ivan said, “this is the chaos they’re trying to create to give cover for Anthony and Lorenzo toe back
to the city. In every other area of the city, he’s going through the dealers, recing their normal supply
with his new formtion of brawn. He couldn’t do that in your area of the city, without you finding out,
so he went through Brian. How well do you know Brian?”
“Not that well, honestly. I hardly have reason to speak to him. I know I have a file on him at my house. I
keep a file on all the city’s employees in my area at the house. I’m not sure I have it with me, though.”
He looked to Giana like he was silently asking if she knew whether they had the information with them
or not. She looked at him, then at all of us, somewhat bewildered.
Ivan, noticing her fear, did what he does best, saying, “that information is important. We need it as soon
as possible.” He said it with an edge to his voice that was clearly meant to intimidate Giana.
This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.
She looked like she didn’t know what to say for a moment, but then she looked at Armando and
squared her shoulders. “I’ll go check myputer. If we have it, it’s there. I’ll be right back,” she said
as she quickly left the penthouse.
I caught Ivan’s eye, raising my eyebrow at him, knowing she had just passed that test. He just smirked
at me, winking. Mike, who I was discovering was quite observant of me, noticed our exchange. He
gave me a curious look, but said nothing.
“Did Andy have an idea of when they’re going to make this happen?” Armando asked. “If we don’t have
the info with us, we can go to the house tonight to get it.”
Viktor shook his head. “No, he’s been kept mostly in the dark on what’s happening because Sal was
already suspicious. He happened on the warehouse where they’re making the brawn somewhat by
ident. He started asking questions after, to try and get as much information as possible and that’s
when Sal really got suspicious of him. That’s when he called us. I’m not sure how much Sal thinks he
knows, but he knows Andy knows enough to sc rew up his ns.”
We were all silent for a moment. “What happens if we can’t find Brian?” I asked no one in particr.
They all thought about the question, but nobody coulde up with an answer. We sat in silence for a
few more minutes, which was impressive given that Armando was with us. “Why not expose Sal’s n
to the people of the city? Not just the people in Mando’s area, but the entire city. Let them know what’s
coming, so they can be prepared. Chaos isn’t as chaotic when it’s expected,” I said, thinking out loud.
“Like Trino said, the popr vote goes a long way. If you can expose Sal and the other bosses for what
they’re trying to unleash, then the people can help us. It’s not as much of an insurmountable situation
when we have the entire city against the few people that are with Sal.”
“Goddammit I love your brain,” Ivan said. “That could work. Hold a press conference outlining all of
Sal’s ns, asking themunity’s help in trying to find him. Same for Anthony and Lorenzo, if they’ve
come back. He ll, same for the other bosses too. Might as well round them all up at once and be done
with it.”
“I agree with rounding them all up at once, but I’m not sure I want the entire city to know I’m rounding
them up, because I’m going to put a bullet in each of their heads,” Adrik said. I could see the anger
oozing out of him at this point. He stood up, to take his te to the sink and remained standing. I got up
as well and walked to him, tucking myself in his side, knowing I could keep him calm. He immediately
started to run his hand lightly up and down my back.
“Okay, so don’t reveal who’s behind the n, but you can still reveal the n, right? Like warn
everyone?” I asked, looking up
at him.
He took a deep breath, pulling me into him. I rested my head on his shoulder, trying to at least help to
keep him calm so he could think clearly. “I think that’s a goodst resort n of action. I would still
prefer to take care of this while the public is still as blissfully unaware as possible. I’ve worked hard to
keep the dealings of my organization out of the public eye. I would like to keep it that way, if possible.”
Giana walked back into the kitchen. She still looked frightened, but she had a few printed pages with
her. She handed them to Armando, who immediately began reading them. “This is all I have on Brian
Tucker in myputer. I haven’t seen the file you have at your house, so I don’t know if that’s
everything you have on him or not.”
Armando flipped through the few pages quickly. He looked to Mike as he said, “this isn’t nearly
everything. It’s just the most basic information on him. I have much more on him at the house. We’re
going to need to go get it.”
Mike nodded, but then suggested that Armando stay at the penthouse and send them instead. “They’re
likely watching the building now, after we grabbed Andy. They might take advantage of you leaving
tonight.”
“I appreciate the thought, but no one else can get into my safe at my house. It requires my fingerprint
as well as my retinal scan,” Armando said.
“Holy Mission Impossible, Batman,” I said, which caused everyone to stop for a moment andugh. I
couldn’t help but enjoy the moment’s break as well. I felt Adrik pull me in front of him, holding me close
to him. “I fu cking love you,” he said quietly, as he pressed his lips to mine.
Once the moment was over, Adrik, looking serious again, said to Armando, “go get that file. I’m going to
call Trino. If they’ve been working on the dealers, he should’ve known. Many of those dealers belong to
him, so either they know which dealers are his, or they aren’t working on as big of a scale as we’re
thinking.”
Team America, Armando, and Giana promptly left the penthouse. The guys started to help me collect
the dishes from around the kitchen. “We should get an actual table at some point. Especially if Team
America is going toe over regrly,” I said, thinking out loud.
Misha, his wide smile across his face, said, “you’re bing very domestic, gazelle. Are you nesting?
Isn’t that what pregnant women do?”
I tried to give him my best smile, saying, “that is what pregnant women do, but I will never be a
pregnant woman, so there’s that.” I felt Adrik’s arms around me, pulling me to him. Misha knew
immediately that he had unknowingly said something he shouldn’t have. His smile faded quickly,
looking nothing but apologetic. I said to Adrik as he held me tightly, “it’s okay. I’m okay. They’re going to
find out eventually.”
Before I could tell them the story, Ivan said, “the reason Sephie ha tes doctors as much as me is that
we both had things done to us against our will by doctors.”
“Sephie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Misha said, trying to smooth things over.
1 genuinely smiled at him. “It’s okay, my adorable Russian guardian. I can’t be mad at you for
something you didn’t know. Mark it down as another reason I’m notpletely normal, I guess.”
Viktor looked at me. I could see the tears in his eyes, as he said, “I ha te to be relieved about this,
Sephie, but I am. My wife was pregnant when she was killed because of me. Ever since you came into
our lives, I’ve been terrified of letting that happen again.