Chapter 262


    Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Two


    Sephie


    I walked through the bedroom into Adrik’s office to find him at his desk. He was engrossed in the


    papers in front of him, so he didn’t notice me. I stopped at the doorway. We’d been able to feel each


    other enoughtely that I wanted to experiment with it, just to see what would happen.


    He had a hatred of shirts when we were at the house that I happened to love. I stood in the doorway,


    watching him contemte whatever he was thinking about, my own thoughts turning to just how much I


    loved him. I felt the warmth start to spread through my body that was present anytime I thought about


    him and I pushed it to him, seeing if he would notice,


    He inhaled sharply, then immediately looked up to find me. He noticed. I was still leaning against the


    doorway, a small smile on my lips while I experimented. As soon as he looked at me, the warmth grew


    to an intense desire for him, which I also pushed toward him. His sexy smirk told me he could feel it,


    loud and clear.


    He stood up, closing the distance between us quickly. “Why do you pick right now to do this to me?” he


    asked. One arm went around my waist, as he pulled me with him. He closed his office door behind him


    as he walked us quickly to the bathroom. I couldn’t help but giggle. “I don’t like time constraints with


    you,” he said, his voice husky. “But I do like any chance I have to see


    you na ked.”


    N?velDrama.Org owns all content.


    “We’ve already established that I’m terrible at denying you,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head.


    He cursed under his breath as I continued to shed my clothes. He walked to the shower, turning it on


    for me. “How was your run, love?” he asked as he jumped onto the bathroom counter to watch me.


    “Good. We both needed it, I think,” I said, stepping into the shower.


    “Yeah? How so?”


    “Misha’s still mad at Giana and I’m mad at Armando. We needed the stress relief,” I said.


    “It surprises me how angry Misha got with Giana. He’s normally such a happy guy, but he’s clearly still


    angry with her. He’s very protective of you, solnishko,” a sly smile creeping across his face. “Are you


    still angry with Armando because of what we talked aboutst night or is there something more?”


    I sighed, but didn’t answer right away. Instead, I put my face under the water. When I finally turned to


    look at him, he said, “there’s more, isn’t there? Did Misha tell you about his inappropriatements in


    Italy?” I nodded my head. “How bad was it?” he asked. I could tell he was trying not to get too upset.


    “It doesn’t make me like him any more at the moment. I’m sure there have been worse things said


    Hit me before, but it does make the theory that he was thinking he had a chance with me seem more


    usible,” I said. I turned the water off and was met by Adrik who had a towel for me once I stepped


    out of the shower. He wrapped the towel around me, saying, “new technique to keep my anger in


    check. All bad news must be delivered while you’re na ked from now on.”


    “That’s going to make it awkward in a meeting, but okay. If you insist,” Iughed.


    The guys were waiting in his office when we walked in. Ivan looked at me curiously, wondering if I’d told


    him exactly what Armando said. I shook my head no. “Co ward,” he said,ughing at me. I readily


    agreed with him.


    Adrik had a hold of my hand and pulled me toward one of the couches. He sat down and then pulled


    me into hisp, so I could leon back against him. It seemed to be one of his favorite ways to have me


    near him. I wasn’t going to argue as he kept me


    WASTIL.


    “I think it’s time we stop all this nonsense for good. We have good intel on the brawn operations, so we


    know how to hit them. I want to do away with all the bosses, as well. Armando included. I haven’t


    decided how exactly I’m going to run the entire city by myself, but I’ll figure that outter. But I’m done


    dealing with these children,” Adrik said. As he said it out loud, I felt the goosebumps rise over my entire


    body once again. I nced at Misha quickly, curious how he would react as well. I saw his upper body


    shudder slightly. I squeezed Adrik’s arms around me, knowing this was what needed to happen.


    “I love a good nning session in the morning,” Ivan said.


    We spent the next few hours nning and talking about every possible scenario we could think of. We


    talked through Armando still being loyal, Armando not being loyal, and everything in between. I spent


    most of the rest of the morning and into the afternoon listening to the guys talk about how they were


    going to hit the brawn operations. I was curious how everything was going to work, but I was also


    worried where I fit into those ns. I’d gotten so used to never being alone. At least one of the guys


    was always with me. Now, I was fa ced with the very real possibility of having to be alone while they


    took care of the brawn operations. My mind was so focused on that and the sudden fear of being alone


    that I didn’t notice my legs start to shake until Adrik pulled me closer to him. “Solnishko, what’s wrong?


    I can feel your fear, my love. What’s going on?” he whispered in my ear. I was so lost in my thoughts


    that it jarred me back to reality. I heard himugh quietly as I nced around the room. The guys were


    talking amongst themselves and not paying attention to us. “Talk to me,” Adrik said as he leaned down


    and kissed my neck gently.


    I shifted in hisp so I could more easily see him. As soon as I looked at him, I saw the concern grow


    on his face. He searched my eyes for a moment, then a small smile spread across his face. “You won’t


    be alone, love. I haven’t figured out the details yet, but I know for sure you won’t be alone,” he said as


    he kissed me gently.


    “You’re getting better at that,” I said quietly. My fingers moved to the cor of his shirt, then to his neck.


    He closed his eyes briefly, enjoying my touch. When he opened them again, his deep blue eyes were


    sincere. “This one was easy. I have the same fear. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m afraid to leave you


    alone,” he said. I felt the pull in my chest that he feels as I smiled at him. I rested my forehead against


    his as the relief washed over my body.


    “Sestrichka, can you trante this for me?” Viktor asked, handing me hisputer. The conversation


    had shifted from nning to gathering more information on Armando and his associate that I’d


    overheard him arguing with. Viktor was trying to find as much information on his associate as possible,


    but that meant much of the information was in Italian.


    “Of course, Papa Bear,” I said as I moved next to him on the couch. I scanned over yet another article,


    trying to find the valid information in it. We’d spent much of the afternoon looking for information on


    Armando. Viktor was now also looking to see if he’d made deals with any of the other bosses. “This


    one is about a housing project outside Naples. Um, looks like possible vacation rentals, as well as


    residential. Mando seems to keep the same investors around him. Giana’s father is on this one.” I kept


    reading and came across a new name. “Oh, well, that’s interesting,” I said. I looked up from the


    computer to find everyone waiting for me to finish. “It seems Salvadori is branching out into Italian real


    estate.”


    There was a collective groan, along with quiet cursing as they all tried to contain their anger at finding


    out Armando had made at least one deal with Salvadori.


    “If they’ve made one deal, there’s a good chance there’s more,” Viktor said. I handed hisputer


    back to him.


    “If anyone can find more deals, it’s you, Papa Bear.”


    Stephen’s phone beeped, then beeped again, then beeped again. He looked at the iing


    messages. “It’s Keith. He’s sent over what he was able to get today at Armando’s house,” he said. He


    got up to hand me his phone, along with a pair of earphones. *Here, these might help you hear the


    conversation better,” he said. “You know, since your human hearing is Inferior to mine.”


    “This is why you’re my favorite senior citizen,” I said as I moved to the table so I could write more


    easily.,


    I went through all the recordings, listening to each one multiple times to make sure I was hearing


    everything correctly. I listed all the projects that Armando spoke about on the recordings and gave the


    highlights about what was said to Adrik. He knew


    about all the projects. None of the conversation that was recorded raised any red gs. There were two


    meetings that Keith wasn’t able to record, because Armando shu t the door, but Chris was able to get a


    picture of the men he met with. One of them was the man we now knew as Ricardo, the man that I’d


    overheard Armando arguing with.


    “Viktor, what if Ricardo is the missing link?” I asked. Viktor looked at me, somewhat puzzled. “What if


    he’s the go-between. Can you find any deals he’s made with the other bosses? Like what if he’s the


    silent partner in all this? It might not look like he has a hand in the illegal side of things, but he invests


    so much in the legitimate side that he has a say in the illegal side.” Viktor just raised his eyebrow as he


    thought about the question, then returned to hisputer and started yet another search.