Chapter 307


    Chapter Three Hundred Seven


    Adrik


    “Did Max know it was you guys that saved his life?” I asked.


    “Nope. He never saw us. He heard the guy drop behind him and turned around to see him dead on the


    ground, gun in hand. That’s when he almost p*ssed himself. I have to say, I don’t have a lot of hope


    that he’s going to make it to his golden years though. His survival instincts are sh*t. He just stood there


    in the parking lot for like 5 minutes before he finally ran to his car and left,” Stephen said. “We thought


    he was never going to leave.”


    “Sounds about right,” I said. Sephie grinned at me. She knew I thought he was an idiot before tonight.


    This only proved my point even further.


    “He might put it together one day, but I doubt it,” she said. “What about Sal? Now he’s lost another


    guy.”


    “It’s going to take him much longer to figure out we were behind this one. We might’ve made it look like


    a murder suicide. They’ll find both of them together at his house,” Viktor said.


    “Anyone who knows Tori isn’t going to question that story,” Ivan said, unable to contain hisughter.


    “I checked the kitchen. There was no broli. I was going to leave some between them,” Misha said,


    causing everyone tough. Poor Sephie had a tight hold of her ribs to try to help ease the pain, but she


    couldn’t notugh at that.


    I stood up to get her next dose of superprofen. Thankfully it was time, so it would help ease the pain


    fromughing. She had walked from Andrei to Stephen, sliding her arm around his waist. “Thank you


    for saving him, even though I know you hate him just as much as everyone else,” she said.


    He put his arm around her and hugged her gently. “Boss was right. Just because we don’t like him


    doesn’t mean he deserved that kind of ending.” She rested her head on his shoulder while he held onto


    her for a few moments. I watched her take as deep of a breath as she could before she turned around


    looking at all of us, tears once again in her eyes.


    “I don’t ever want to hear any of you even considering that you might be evil or in any way not good.


    You just saved a man’s life that you all clearly hate tonight, for no other reason than he used to mean


    something to me. And


    you did it without a second’s hesitation. Evil men would’ve let him die and not felt bad about it,” she


    said. She walked slowly to the kitchen where I was standing, wiping away the stray tear that had


    managed to fall down her cheek.


    She was right. I didn’t hesitate to save Max. Regardless of whether it was simply to end her panic, he


    was still alive tonight because of us. We jumped to action to save the life of an innocent, mostly


    innocent, he was still an idiot, person. Sephie tucked herself into my side as best she could, leaning her


    head on my shoulder. She was still looking at all the guys, who were quietly contemting what she’d


    just said. “I love you all. More than anything,” she said.


    The guys were all waiting on us when we walked out of the bedroom the next morning. It wasn’t that


    they woke up that much earlier than we did, they were just faster in the shower than I would ever be


    when Sephie


    was involved. A fact that I wasn’t nning on changing anytime soon.


    “Who wants to be my other arm for breakfast this morning?” Sephie asked as she walked into the


    kitchen. She was feeling slightly better this morning. She’d managed to do a few things on her own,


    laughing about it the whole time. “I feel like a child learning to do this for the first time again,” she’d told


    me as she managed to put her pants on by herself.


    “Spider monkey, you don’t have to cook breakfast. You still need time to heal. It won’t take very long to


    send someone to get food,” Andrei said.


    “I know I don’t have to. I want to. I practically dressed myself this morning. I’m on a roll here. Don’t kill


    my vibe, Bubba,” she said, smiling broadly at him.


    Misha literally jumped out of his chair to stand next to her. “If you’re cooking, I’m helping. I’ll do


    everything, even. You just have to tell me how you do it,” he said. We allughed at his enthusiasm, but


    nobody protested her cooking further.


    As she instructed Misha on how to cook, she worked on tranting a few more things that Viktor and


    Stephen had found on Ricardo. Viktor had heard back from the journalist that supposedly had so much


    information on Ricardo and Lorenzo while Sephie and Misha were still cooking. Viktor got up and took


    hisputer to her. “The journalist finally replied from yourst email, sestrichka.”


    Sephie gave instructions to Misha, then turned to read the journalist’s response. As she read, her smile


    got wider. She nced at Ivan, “your method really p*ssed him off. He spent the first half of this email


    b*tching about how we don’t believe him. He says, ‘I put my entire life in danger to expose these men


    and now you use me of not knowing anything of significance.’ Well yed, Squish,” she said.


    “Told you. Journalists have delicate egos,” Ivan said.


    “Oh, this is interesting. Now he wants to meet to show you everything. He says it’s not safe to send to


    you,” she said, looking up at Viktor.


    Viktor thought for a minute, then looked to Ivan. “What do you think? Have hime here or meet him


    elsewhere?”


    “Elsewhere. We really don’t know who this guy is. It could be some kind of trap,” Ivan said.


    “He has toe to the city though. There’s no way we’re leaving right now, for any reason,” I said.


    “He might be too scared to do that,” Sephie said. “He seems nervous about someone finding out he’s


    still


    alive.”


    “Then we don’t meet with him. Simple as that. I’m not taking you anywhere else until you’re healed


    completely, solnishko,” I said, looking at her sternly enough that she wouldn’t try to argue. She grinned


    at me, then nced to see where the guys were looking. When she was satisfied they were all looking


    away, she closed her eyes briefly, making them go dark, then looked to me once more. When she


    looked at me, I could feel her push her warmth to me as she was looking at me with her dark eyes, a


    smile on her face. It was so unexpected that I cursed quietly under my breath. She blinked again,


    making her eyes return to normal and


    acted like nothing had happened, continuing on with the conversation, while I was left trying to control


    myself. I’m in so much trouble.


    “Once we’re done eating, I’ll take an hour out of my day to respond to him and tell him he has toeN?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.


    here if he wants to meet with you,” she said, grinning at Viktor.


    We were all surprised that the journalist responded quickly to the demand that hee to the city to


    meet. He basically told Viktor to name the time and ce and he’d be there.


    “I expected some push back on that one,” Ivan said.


    “I did too. I wonder if he’s already here then?” Sephie said, thinking aloud. She was sitting at the


    kitchen ind with Misha while the rest of us cleaned up the kitchen.


    “Do we know what he looks like?” Misha asked. Sephie nodded, then pulled a picture up from an article


    on his supposed death that Viktor had found previously.


    Misha extended his hand to her, saying, “let’s see if we can find him.” She grinned at him, taking his


    hand. The rest of us stopped what we were doing to watch them, waiting to see what they would be


    able to see.


    The process took longer than normal. Usually, Misha would see something right away, but he also


    usually checked in on people he already knew. It would make sense that it would take longer to find this


    guy given that neither Sephie nor Misha knew him.


    “Got him,” Misha said quietly.


    “I know that area. It’s close to where my uncle used to live,” Sephie said as she squeezed Misha’s


    hand tighter. They watched the movie that only they could see for a few moments longer, before they


    looked at each other, then to the rest of us.


    “He’s already in the city. I can’t tell how long he’s lived here, but he’s living here now. I can show you on


    the map the area of the city he’s in,” Misha said.


    “From what we saw, he keeps to himself mostly. He only goes out for necessities, doesn’t talk to many


    people, tries to not be seen,” Sephie said.


    “He’ll be easy to watch for a few days before we meet with him, then,” Stephen said. “I love a recluse.


    They’re the easiest ones to watch. They almost always keep to the exact same routine.”


    “I’ll go grab a map,” Viktor said.


    “Should he meet with one of you, though? He might put it together who you are and who you work for,”


    Sephie said. “He also appears to prefer to speak Italian, which is going to be problematic.”


    “Ask him if he speaks English when you respond. Tell him you’ve been using trantor software to


    respond to him,” Ivan said.


    “Even still, your Russian ents are going to give you away,” Sephie said.


    Misha turned to look at her. “You’re not meeting with him either, gazelle,” he said, sternly. “If the people


    of the city heard about you being kidnapped, he’ll just as easily put it together who you are as he will


    one of us.”


    “D*mmit, I got scolded twice in one morning,” she said, mostly under her breath.