Chapter 265
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Five
Sephie
Viktor walked in first, with Dario behind him, and Ivan and Stephen behind Dario. “Any problems?”
Adrik asked Viktor.
“None. Everything was quiet. Only your people at the airport. They put a different flight path on the
paperwork, so no one will know that ne came from Colombia,” Viktor said. He walked past Adrik to
sit down with Andrei, Misha, and I. I stood up quietly to hug him. They were only gone for a short time,
but I was always relieved when they came back safe. The smile on Viktor’s face when I went to hug
him told me that he felt the same relief. He hugged me tightly, kissing the top of my head, before sitting
down.
Ivan and Stephen had walked around Dario, who was talking to Adrik. Each of them hugged me before
finding a seat as well. Stephen whispered, “it’s bad,” in my ear as he hugged me. I looked at him,
surprised, but said nothing. I took my usual spot behind Adrik’s desk so I could see Dario as he talked.
He looked like he’d ag ed at least ten years since thest time I saw him. His once salt and pepper hair
was now much more salt than it was pepper. Dario had always been clean-shaven before. He was an
older man, probably in his 60s, but I never thought he looked bad for his age. Now, however, he looked
much older than 60, especially with his wh ite facial hair growing in. He had a nervous look to him, like
he was legitimately afraid for his life.
Dario had been a quiet man in the meetings. He rarely argued with the other bosses, but they rarely
argued with him. I was never sure if it was because they were scared of him or Massimo. He exuded a
quiet confidence in the meetings. The man sitting before us now was in no way confident. His eyes
darted around the room like he was waiting for something to happen.N?velDrama.Org owns all content.
Adrik noticed the change in him and caught my eye as I walked past his desk. My eyes went wide as I
walked past him, knowing no one else could see me. He gave me a knowing look as he looked back
toward Dario. Adrik usually liked to make people nervous by staying quiet, but he chose to speak first
this time, trying to put Dario’s nerves at case. “Dario, Trino tells me you’d like to get out,” he said
quietly,
Dario looked to Adrik, then nced around the room again. His eyes never stayed on one thing for very
long. He looked to me, then back to Adrik, then the door, the couches, each one of the guys, back to
me. He nodded his head, his eyes still darting around the room. “I just want to be left alone. I won’t
bother anyone. I can disappear. I’ve been nning it for years. No one will find me,” he said.
“You’ve been nning it for years?” Adrik asked. “How do you know no one else knows about it if
you’ve been nning it that long?” Adrik’s tone of voice was simr to one he’d have with a young
child.
“I haven’t told anybody where I’m going. They can try to look for me, but they won’t find me,” he said.
“But you’ve told people you’re going to disappear?” Adrik asked.
Dario nodded his head. “I told Sal. My kids don’t want any part of the business. They’ve been
estranged from me for years. After they found out what Massimo did to my parents and that I stayed
with him after I found out, they left. I haven’t spoken to them in years. I don’t even know where they are
now,” he paused, like the weight of what he’d just said was hitting him. He started to speak, but
stopped himself. Instead, he just sighed. “I was going to turn my part of the city over to Sal and
disappear.
“Why didn’t youe to me or my father about what Massimo did to you?” Adrik asked.
Darlo’s eyes darted to Adrik. He looked scared. “Massimo would’ve found out. Sal told me that you
wouldn’t do anything anyway. He was very adamant that I shouldn’te to you. He told me you would
punish me.” He looked to the floor quickly. He stared at the floor for a few moments.
“Apparently Massimo isn’t the only one that’s been fu cking with his mind,” I said in Russian.
“Dario, I wouldn’t have punished you. You did nothing wrong. Massimo is the one that killed your
parents. Why would you get punished for that?” Adrik said.
“Sal was very adamant,” Darlo said quietly.
“Did Sal threaten you againsting to me, Dario?”
Dario’s eyes darted up to Adrik. He didn’t need to answer. The look on his face told us everything we
needed to know. I heard Adrik curse quietly under his breath. I knew exactly how he felt in that
moment.
“Dario, do you know anything about what Sal has been nning in the city?” Ivan asked. While Ivan
usually sounded like he was low-key threatening you with his words, his voice was soft when he spoke
to Dario, He sounded like he did when he would talk to me, especially when I was upset.
Dario was quiet for a moment. He looked like he was having an internal struggle. His leg started
bouncing up and down. He chewed on his nails. I knew he was anxious, but I honestly didn’t know how
to give him anyfort right now. I stood up and moved closer to him. I thought maybe the fact that I
was the only woman in the room, it might help him to feel at ease. I moved to the front of Adrik’s desk,
in front of Dario, but still so Adrik could see him. “We can protect you, Dario. We can give you a safe
ce. No one knows you’re here. Not even Sal. We know that Massimo hurt you. He’s a very bad man.
Sal, too. They’re both bad men. We want to protect you from them,” I said. I felt like I was talking to a
child, but by the looks of him, he couldn’t handle much more.
His bouncing leg slowed. His gaze was fixed on a spot on the floor beside me, but I considered it
progress that his eyes weren’t darting around the room. He slowly lifted his gaze to me, like he was
seeing me for the first time since he came into the office. “I remember you. You were always at the
restaurant. Sal and Armando were fighting over you when Ghost came back,” he said.
I tried to keep my own anger from rising to the surface at the thought of Sal and Armando thinking they
had any kind of right or ess to me. “The delusions of Sal and Armandu thinking they ever had any
kind of chance with me aren’t important right now, Dario. Do you know anything about Sal’s ns?
What he’s nning with Anthony and Lorenzo?” I asked. I nced behind Dario at the guys. They were
all tense at this new revtion.
Dario nodded his head. “Yeah, I know. Sal brags a lot. Almost as much as Massimo,” he said.
“Will you tell me what his ns are?” I asked, still trying to be as soft and quiet as I could. Dario looked
at me once more. This time, he actually looked at me. He studied my face, my hair. For a few minutes,
he just looked at me. I felt Adrik getting tense behind me. He was not a fan of other men looking at me,
but I didn’t get the feeling that Dario was having any kind of Inappropriate thoughts. It felt like he was
stuck in a memory as he looked at me. I discreetly motioned to Adrik to stay calm and to let it happen.
“You remind me of my daughter. She doesn’t have red hair, but she’s about your age. She’s beautiful
like you though. At least she was thest time I saw her. You know, I’m d she got away. I’m d
she’s not in this life. Sal was starting to look at her, too. You know he traffics girls, right? He med it
on Anthony, but it was his idea. Lorenzo got him into it. Sal is a di rty old man. Anthony is just like him.
Sal puts on a show In front of people, but he’s just as bad as Massimo. That’s how he knew about
Massimo all these years. They recognize the evil in each other. Sal wants to take over the city. The
only good thing about his n is that he wants to get rid of Massimo. All the other bosses are helping
him. You know that, right?” Dario asked. He was looking at me the whole time he was talking. I wanted
to keep him talking as much as I could,
“Even Armando? He’s helping Sal?” I asked.