*Adrik *
My father called his contacts in Italy that afternoon. He requested Sephie’s presence, so that he could introduce her. I knew his contacts and they knew me, but because of the language barrier, I never had much contact with them. I had never had a real need for them until now.
“I’m going to call Battista. He’s the most useful. If he can’t get anything for you, I’ll call one of the other ones,” Vitaliy said. He looked at Sephie with a mischievous glint in his eye and said something to her in Italian. She laughed, but she looked almost nervous when she glanced at me. As my father looked away to make the call, I searched her eyes, trying to find out what he’d just said to her.
She was still much better at reading my mind than I was at reading hers, but the more I tried it with her, the easier it got. I found my answer before Battista answered the call. Vitaliy had told her that Battista was a notorious womanizer and would openly flirt with her in front of me, especially since he knew I didn’t speak Italian. I never worried about Sephie around anyone else, but that didn’t mean I wanted to see anyone else flirting with her. She smiled sweetly at me, noticing my clenched jaw. She pulled my arms around her waist as Vitaliy told Battista the reason for his call.
Battista knew of Ricardo, but said that he never liked him. Apparently, Ricardo had a bit of a reputation in the business world in Italy. He’d screwed a few too many people over early on in his career, so there were quite a few very influential people that refused to work with him. Battista was one of those people.
Battista was so wealthy that most people didn’t know he existed. Much like me, much like Vitaliy, he worked hard to be as anonymous as possible. But Battista also had generational wealth behind him. That plus the success he’d had in business gave him the opportunity to be a very powerful, very influential person. Instead, he chose to remain behind the scenes, choosing a quieter life. He had extensive networks throughout Italy and he kept a finger on the pulse of literally everything that happened in the entire country, but he stayed in the shadows. Only stepping in when absolutely necessary.
Most of my father’s contacts throughout the world were much the same. They were all very influential people that no one knew about. Just the few people in my father’s network alone made up well over half the world’s total wealth. And the common citizen didn’t even know they existed.
Battista was happy to help us out, especially if it meant Ricardo was going down. Sephie laughed at one particularly impassioned rant from Battista. She quietly said, “he’s almost as imaginative as Giana is about the insults for Ricardo.”
Vitaliy and Battista talked for a few more minutes, then I heard Vitaliy say Massimo’s name, followed soon after by Sephie’s name. She looked to me, somewhat surprised, then looked back at Vitaliy. He looked proud as he kept talking to Battista. Battista asked a question, to which Sephie answered. It was difficult to tell, but I think Battista was shocked at her answer. He was laughing at the end of it, which made Sephie laugh as well.
Once the call ended, Vitaliy said, “he’s going to see what he can find out about Sal and Ricardo. He’ll be able to find information on Niko and Vito too, if they’re still there. Battista has the most connections in Italy. He’ll be able to find the most information, but he’ll likely want to deliver it in person. That means he needs to come to the city or you need to go to Italy.”
“I won’t go to Italy if Sal and Ricardo are still there. Not until Sephie is completely healed. I won’t put her in danger again,” I said, firmly.
Vitaliy put his hand up, like he was trying to calm me down. “You won’t need to. He’ll come to the city if I agree to meet him there. He still owes me a very large debt. He’ll come to the city if it means paying that back.”
I felt Sephie’s hand timidly in mine. “I can travel. I’ll be okay. We can go there if we have to,” she said, quietly.
Before I could answer, Vitaliy said emphatically, “no. He’s right. No one is putting you in danger. Sal clearly has it out for you. And that was before he lost his son and his brother. Even though it was Trino that killed them, he’ll likely find a way to blame it on you just to have another reason to come after you.”
“Dammit. Scolded,” she said, under her breath.
“No one is going anywhere right away anyway. It takes time to collect information. He’ll need a few days, at the very least,” Vitaliy said, taking a softer tone with her. He looked at me. “What are your plans with Trino? He’s going to stay in the city for now, no?”
“For now, yes. His entire security team is compromised. We need to get him a new team before he can go back to Colombia. The Mexicans are after him, as well. It’s just as big of a mess down there as it is in the city,” I said.
“His security is compromised because of sladkaya?”
“Totally accountable,” Sephie said, raising one hand.
Vitaliy scoffed. “They were never loyal to him in the first place, then.”
I laughed, which made him look at me. “She said the very same thing to Trino when we found out.”
“Smart girl,” he said, winking at her.
“I think it’s time we go back to the city. It’ll take time to get a new security team for Trino. He has very loyal dealers, but I’m not sure they’re adequate enough for the security he needs. Viktor can help him with it, but they need to be in the city for that to happen. I also feel safer with Sephie at my building,” I said. “You’re always welcome. We have room for you and your guys at the building, although it won’t be as warm as it is here right now.”
Vitaliy looked lost in thought for a few moments. “I haven’t been to the city in years. Maybe it’s time I paid a visit.”
“Aleksei will be happy. He can go to that restaurant he’s been missing,” Sephie said.
Vitaliy laughed. “It’s not the food he misses at that restaurant, sladkaya. It’s the waitress. She’s likely not working there any longer.”
“That dog,” Sephie said quietly, shaking her head and laughing quietly.