Chapter 378


    Adrik


    This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    When I woke the following morning, Sephie was curled up next to me under the covers. I pulled her


    back against me, but she didn’t move. Finally. Instead of trying to wake her up, I kissed the back of her


    shoulder and got out of bed as quietly as I could. I was worried that she would start to shake once I left,


    so I stayed close. Luckily, she was wearing pants for once as she was coldst night when we went to


    bed, so I could move her to one of the guys if needed.


    I took the quickest shower possible and got dressed. I didn’t hear her talking, but when I walked back to


    the bed, I could see her shaking. It wasn’t bad yet, but she was just starting to mumble as well. A quick


    text to Andrei and I scooped her up, carrying her to the couch.


    It didn’t take long for Andrei toe upstairs. He stretched out on the couch, happy he could sleep a


    little longer too. “I’m so happy she finally did this. I’m so f**king tired,” he said.


    I raised my eyebrow at him as 1id her next to him. “More so than usual?” Lasked.


    He nodded his head. “Feels like I got run over by a bus. It started after we were at the hotel. I haven’t


    recovered yet.”


    That made sense. “New level for you. It always makes her extra tired. Same thing happened to Misha.


    The only one I haven’t seen it affect yet is Ivan,” I said. As soon as Sephie was lying next to Andrei, her


    body started to rx and she curled up next to him. She hugged his arm as he tucked the nket in


    around her. It was, in short, adorable. Even if I was jealous that he got to stay with her and not me.


    “She’s likely going to sleep until noon, so take advantage of it. I’ll keep everyone as quiet as possible,” I


    said. Andrei just nodded his head, looking grateful.


    I motioned for the other guys to be quiet when they walked in. Aleksei and Vitaliy walked out of their


    rooms at the same time. No one had seen Andrei on the couch with Sephie yet.


    “Sephie finally lost her battle with sleeping in. She’s on the couch with Andrei. I tried to leave her in


    bed, but she was shaking and starting to mumble by the time I got ready. He’s experiencing new level


    fatigue anyway. It works out for both of them,” I said.


    Vitally looked curious. “You let her sleep with them?” he asked.


    “Gross, dude. She’s like our little sister,” Misha said, a look of reproach on his face..


    “It’s also very obvious that she looks at Boss very differently than she looks at the rest of us. She loves


    us, but she belongs with him,” Ivan said.


    I couldn’t help butugh. “I trust them. And I trust her even more. Since she and Ivan were taken, she


    hasn’t been able to sleep without someone next to her. It brings her nightmares back if she’s alone. Her


    body reacts sometimes violently. We noticed it early on that I could stop it, but they’re able to keep it


    from starting if she’s next to them. And Andrei has the warmest body temperature out of all of them.


    She’s incredibly sensitive to cold.”


    “That girl has lived through just as much trauma as I have, Vitaliy. Some wounds stay fresh for a very


    long time,” Ivan said.


    “She’s also exhausted anytime something new happens to her. She’s had a few new things happen


    recently. We’re all surprised shested this long without sleeping in,” Stephen said.


    “What new things?” Vitaliy asked.


    Misha chuckled. “She gave me and Andrei an extra “f**k you” boost to drive the point home with your


    two guys. That’s never happened before. I also think she’s incredibly adorable when she’s feeling


    protective of us, for the record. She was ready to ki ll those two,”


    “How?”


    “You felt her anger when we were in Panama. That level was barely registering on her meter. She can


    deal with in sane levels of anger and outwardly. she lookspletely calm. She learned she can push


    her anger to them that day at the gym. She’s been doing it with me for months now, with other


    emotions too, but it’s much easier. She had to get it to a raging inferno to be able to push it to them,” I


    said.


    “When we were at the hotel, we figured out we could give it back to her. She panicked when that


    woman looked at her and she saw her for what she really is. She struggles with her fear, It’s the only


    emotion she can’t control. Like her anger, all her emotions are that strong, so when she feels fear. it’s


    to the same in sane, inhuman levels, but she can’t control it. Instead of having to deal with that, she


    was trying to keep her anger levels high enough it would override everything else. Andrei figured out


    what she was doing and learned he can push his anger back to her. When he did, it fed into mine as


    well.” Ivan said. “The few times I’ve felt her anger at high levels, I’ve never been that angry without


    someone dying. But she walks around like it’s a normal Tuesday.”


    “You can’t push yours to her, Vanya?“


    “No, I can. It seems to work slightly differently with me and Boss. It’s more connected, like hers is a part


    of us and ours is a part of her, just in different ways.” Ivan said.


    “How?”


    “She exined it the first time it happened. She said she can feel the difference between us. She


    called me her sword and Ivan her shield. She said my anger was beside her, moving through her,


    waiting for direction. Ivan’s is directed outward from her, away from her, more like a barrier. Like a


    shield,” I said.


    “That’s why you called him that,” Vitaliy said, making the connection.


    “She can feel the difference between me and Andrei as well,” Misha said. “She said Andrei’s is calm


    and controlled, but deadly. She said mine amps up the f**kery, which I’m totally here for.” He grinned


    mischievously at Vitaliy.


    Vitaliy thought for a few moments. “I keep thinking I can’t be more impressed by her and she just keeps


    proving me wrong.”


    Iughed. “I say that almost daily, Vitaliy.”


    1 checked on Andrei and Sephie before leaving to go downstairs to the office. They were both sound


    asleep on the couch. I caught myself wondering if she waited until today so Andrei could sleep too.


    He’d been busy thest few days. It wouldn’t surprise me if she knew he was also exhausted.


    Ivan and Viktor walked into my office a few hourster. “Mr. Turner does have a tail that isn’t one of


    ours. Just one guy. We had our guys watch him. to see who he reports to,” Viktor said.


    “I’m guessing it’s the police chief that saw Mr. Turner walk into the building. Our guys said this guy was


    terrible at his job. Our guys have been on Mr Turner for months and he still hasn’t caught on, but this


    guy was on him for a couple days and was made. The police always think they’re on top of their game,”


    Ivan said, shaking his head.


    “I need to have a conversation with Henry,” I said. “That information we got from the journalist about


    Ricardo ties him up into a very neat package. I’d like to not f**k that up. Have you heard anything more


    from the journalist about the mayor?” I asked Viktor.


    He shook his head no. “He seemed to think it would be quick work, but I think he overestimated his


    sleuthing skills. We’ve found a few things, but they’re circumstantial at best.”


    I nodded. “Keep looking. Maybe ask for an update from him. Might help him along. Chen seemed to


    really enjoy lying to that guy, so he’ll be ready to meet him again when we need him,” I said. “Set up a


    meeting with Henry, in the evening, I want Sephie there when I talk to him.”


    They both nodded and walked out of the office. I leaned back in my chair, exhaling. The hardest part of


    all of this was the waiting. Waiting to collect information, waiting for the next piece of the puzzle to


    reveal itself, waiting for the next betrayal. I was getting impatient. That didn’t bode well for everyone


    against me right now.