Chapter 308


    Chapter Three Hundred Eight


    Adrik


    Viktor returned with the map, to see usughing at the exchange. “I always miss the good stuff,” he


    said,ying out the map in front of Misha.


    “Sephie brought up a good point that if one of us meet with this guy, he’s going to piece together who


    we wo for. But then she said he might only speak Italian, which is going to be problematic, implying that


    she should be the one to meet with him. Misha shut her down,” Andrei said, stillughing.


    “That’s not happening, sestrichka. Not when you’re like this,” Viktor said, looking at her sternly.


    “D*mmit. Three times,” she said.


    “What about Chen? We give him an earpiece. We tell him exactly what to say to this guy. Sephie can


    still trante if needed. Everybody’s happy,” Stephen said.


    “Except Chen. He won’t be happy. He’ll be trying not to have a heart attack that whole time,” Sephie


    said.


    “We can coach him through it,” Andrei said. “He’ll be fine. He can totally do this.”


    “We’ll be watching him the whole time. He saw what I did to Smith. He’ll know if this guy makes one


    wrong move, I’ll take him out,” Stephen said.


    Sephie thought about it for a minute. She looked to me to see my opinion on it. It was a reasonable


    n. It would keep us anonymous. He would have a hard time tracing Chen back to me and it would


    still get us whatever information this guy supposedly had.


    Sephie sighed, then looked to Viktor. “Can I borrow your phone, Papa Bear? I’ll ask him and see what


    he says.”


    Viktor dialed Chen’s number, put it on speaker, then handed the phone to her. I walked to her so she


    wouldn’t have to get up. She leaned against me while she talked to Chen. He was understandably


    apprehensive when she firstid-out the situation.


    “You can say no, Chen. No harm. We’re just exploring our options,” I said. I might’ve known he would


    be less likely to say no to me. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.


    Chen thought for a few moments, then sighed. “As long as you guys are there to make sure nothing


    happens, I’ll do it. And as long as Sephie can trante whatever this guy says to me in another


    language. She can tell you. I’m from a French family and my French is h*rrendous. Foreignnguages


    are not my forte.”


    “We’ll all be there, Chen. You have my word,” I said.


    After the call ended, Viktor and Misha went over the map where they saw this guy. “We should ask to


    meet with him somewhere close to where he lives. I want to f**k with his head just a little,” Misha said,


    a mischievous grin on his face.


    They found a small café near the guy’s apartment. Stephen looked it over,ing up with a few


    possibilities on where he could be to cover Chen. “This has potential,” he said. “I need to check it out,


    but it could work.”


    “We can be here,” Viktor said, pointing down the street to another apartment building. “We can park on


    the street and not be obvious, but still close enough to hear and see everything.”


    “Go check it out,” I said. “Andrei stays, the rest can go.” I had a short conversation with Sephie the


    night before about how Andrei was handling the Tori situation. I knew she wanted a chance to talk to


    him without the other guys around to make sure he was okay. This would give her that chance. This


    would also give Ivan time to go to the jewelers to pick up her ring.


    Once the four guys left, I walked to Sephie. “I just have a couple phone calls to make downstairs, then


    I’ll be back up,” I said, leaning down to kiss her temple. “Are you warm enough for now?” I asked.


    She smiled sweetly at me. “I’m okay for now,” she said. It took her at least three times as long as


    normal to stand up on her own, but she managed to do it. Her face beamed when she stood in front of


    me.


    Andrei said, “that was so painful to watch, but I’m so proud of you, spider monkey.”


    “This is a big day for me,” she said, her gorgeous smile across her face. I leaned down and kissed her


    quickly, but passionately, not trusting myself to be able to stop.


    “I’ll be back soon,” I said, winking at her. I knew she waspletely aware that I’d asked Andrei to stay


    just so she could have a chance to talk to him. I was also looking forward to her thanking meter for it.


    I’ll take anything I can get until she’s healed fully again.


    Sephie


    Once Adrik left the penthouse, I looked at Andrei who was quite happy to have been the one that had


    to stay behind this time. He couldn’t keep his boyish grin off his face. “You know, I stillugh when I


    think about how I used to think I was torturing you guys when you had to stay with me. You’re still


    fighting over who gets to do it most of the time,” I said.


    “You’re way more fun than pretty much anything else we have to do,” he said, still grinning at me. I


    grabbed his arm, pulling him toward one of the couches.


    “I still need help sitting down on the couch. And I might’ve lied. I’m totally cold again,” I said as we


    walked slowly to the couch.


    “I knew it! You’re always coldtely. Even more so when you’re hurt,” he said, helping me down onto


    the couch.


    “See, you should trust your observation skills more, Bubba. You know more than you think you do.


    You’re the one that saw what was happening when I leveled Misha up when we saw Trino. You need to


    trust what your eyes are telling you,” I said as he sat down next to me, putting his massive arm around


    my shoulders so I could lean back against him. “And even though he’s likely never going to know it was


    because of you, Max has you to thank for his life today.”


    He scoffed. “Yeah, I still can’t get over how close I was to not saying anythingst night.”


    “Wanna know what the acupuncturist told me the first time she saw me and Ivan after we were taken?”


    “When she told you that you took the worst of it to save Ivan this time?” he asked.


    “Yeah. I argued with her. I know you’re shocked. But I told her I didn’t do anything except run my mouth


    when they had us. She told me that even though I might not have been aware of what I was doing, my


    soul knew. She said, ‘you listened.” I grabbed his wrist with my good hand, holding onto it while I


    talked. “You listenedst night. You might not have been aware of what was going to happen, but your


    soul knew,” I said. He squeezed me gently.


    “So, that’s where you get all your sage advice from,” he said. I could hear the smile in his voice when


    he said it.


    “Not all of it, but she does say some incredibly wise things. Like all of you, I think she was meant to be


    in my life.” Andrei was quiet for a moment, so I asked, “how did you sleepst night, Bubba?”


    He sighed. “Mostly okay. I usually don’t sleep for a couple of days after I kill someone. I did sleep some


    last night, though. That’s a new one for me. I feel better about this time than I ever have before, which


    is weird if you think about it. The few people I’ve killed before I didn’t really know. I knew Tori in the


    biblical sense and I’m most okay with this one. Kinda doesn’t make sense,” he said.


    “Or it kinda does,” I said.


    “How so?”


    “You knew she deserved what she got. You knew what she was nning on having done. You knew


    she was capable of nning it again, should this time not work out. You knew her dark side. I think


    you’re beginning to see the difference between people like Ivan and Adrik, who’ve made peace with


    their dark sides, but who still choose to operate in the light whenever possible, and those who give in to


    their dark sides, like Tori clearly did. No one made her revenge f**k Max. No one made her make ns


    to have him killed because she got fired again for being a crazy b*tch. That was all her. And she had to


    pay the consequences of those actions,” I said. He remained quiet, but kept a tight hold on me, so I


    continued. “Just like I told Ivan, sometimes Karma uses you to deliver justice. You just handed down


    her sentence, Bubba.”


    “You really do know exactly what to say, exactly when we need to hear it. I have no idea how you do


    that, but please don’t ever stop.”


    I held up my pinky to him. “Pinky swear,” I said.


    “What’s that?”


    “Oh, for f**k’s sake, how do I keep forgetting you people don’t do this in Russia? Okay, so the pinky


    swear is like the holiest of holy swears. Like it’s so holy that I’m now bound to always tell you what you


    need to hear in every lifetime, in every realm, in all timelines for all eternity. That’s how holy it is.”


    He chuckled, grabbing my pinky with his. “I’ll do the same for you, spider monkey. I’m just not as good


    at it as


    you are.”


    “Yet. You’re not as good as I am, yet. This is why you should practice, Bubba.”


    “I thought I was the trainer in this rtionship,” he said,ughing at me.


    “You are. Mostly.”