*Sephie*
Three days after we met with Battista, we were all on our way to break into Sal’s house in the middle of the night. He did have security on his house, but it was minimal. Our guys watching the house said the night shift would usually fall asleep, if they showed up at all, so it should be an easy endeavor to slip into the house undetected. We were only interested in his files and his office happened to be all the way at the end of the house, which made it easy for us.
We decided everyone should go, to make it easier to look through all the files in a shorter amount of time. We weren’t exactly sure how many files we were going to be looking at. Because Adrik had promised me that he was never sending me away from him again, it meant I was going to break the law with the rest of them.
I couldn’t say I was disappointed about being included in this little adventure. Any chance I could get to stick it to Sal would make me very happy.
I had strict orders to stay with Adrik or Ivan at all times. Like I would argue with that.
We left the vehicles down the block from his house and went the rest of the way on foot. The team that had scouted the house ahead of time told us where the security was supposed to be. We found them inside the house, watching TV. They clearly took their jobs very seriously.
Adrik was the one that snuck in the house, silently walking right by the security team on the couch, and unlocked the window to the office for the rest of us to come in. The security team never suspected a thing. We ran to the end of the house, two at a time, until we were all in the office. Stephen kept an eye on the hallway, Viktor kept an eye on the window, the rest of us quickly looked through files for anything we could find that would tie Dr. Moretti to the creation of brawn and/or Sal.
As I was looking through files, I felt Stephen get tense. Before he could say anything, I told Ivan and Adrik silently, *“Stephen noticed something in the hallway.”* Ivan was next to him immediately. Stephen signaled what he’d heard, then the two of them disappeared. We heard the faintest sounds of a quick commotion, then nothing. Then Stephen and Ivan appeared in the office once more.
*“We need to hurry. They’ll eventually wonder where their buddy is and come looking for him. There’s a bedroom down the hall. We put him in the bed, hoping to buy us some time. He’s going to be sleeping for a while anyway,”* Ivan said to me and Adrik. I looked at Andrei, tapping my temple. I relayed the message to him, so he could relay the message to Misha. We all continued looking without a word spoken.
*“Got it,”* Adrik said. He kept flipping through the file in his hands. *“Battista was right. Sal kept detailed records. This is everything on Dr. Moretti. This should be enough to put him away.”*
I caught Andrei’s eye, telling him we found what we needed. We quickly exited out the window, two at a time, and left Adrik to close and lock the window behind us and once again walk right past the security team on the couch. We waited for Adrik to join us and we were back at the vehicles. The entire process took just over an hour.
On the way back to the penthouse, Adrik said silently, *“having you as the go-between for Andrei, Misha, and Stephen was very helpful. We’ve never not had to talk to each other before.”* He put his arm around me, pulling me to him. *“And you caught on that Stephen knew something right away. That could’ve been much uglier.” He looked at me, his sexy smirk on his face. “You’re quite handy to have around. I think I’ll keep you.”*
Viktor let Chen know that we had new information for the mayor once we were back at the penthouse. He knew to stop by in the morning to get it before going to the mayor’s house to get his crew started for the day.
“I think we should find a way to meet with the DA. Or at least get Andrei and Ivan to watch him and see if they can see anything on him,” Stephen said.
“I agree. I was thinking about that on the way back,” Viktor said. “I don’t know how easy it would be to meet with the DA though.”
“Maybe he needs his house renovated too,” I said, grinning.
“I think it would be a good idea to meet with the mayor in person, as well, before we give him everything. What we have so far is promising, but I would feel better seeing him in person and having Sephie be able to see him speak,” Adrik said.
“We just need to be careful on who sees that happening. We don’t want Henry to catch on that we’re working with the mayor,” Ivan said.
“Well, apparently he’s not that quick since he didn’t notice that two of his police chiefs were meeting with the mayor in the same place where they met with him not two days prior,” I said. “We could meet with the mayor at the hotel and apparently no one but Mr. Turner would notice.”
Adrik chuckled. “You’re not wrong, solnishko. I’ll see if Neal can come up with a reason that we should meet with the mayor.”
“There’s that giant fundraiser for the hospital coming up in a few weeks. You usually don’t go, but maybe you should go this time. The mayor will be there, as will the DA. As will Henry,” Viktor said.
Adrik could feel my moment of panic as I thought about going to another black-tie affair. I managed to get it mostly under control before he made it across the room to me. I sighed. “If any one of you so much as walks too far away from me while we’re there, I swear on all things holy, I will kill you,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.
The guys stayed silent. They could feel my turmoil. They still struggled with guilt from the last time. I felt Adrik’s arms around me as he pulled me gently to him. He ran his hand through my hair, saying, “we don’t have to go, love. I hate those functions anyway. We can find another way to meet with the mayor. I don’t want to put you through that.”
I took a deep breath. “It’s really the easiest option. It might also be the fastest option. No one will think twice about you having a conversation with the mayor if you’re there,” I said, chewing on my lip. “Aren’t you the biggest donor to the hospital anyway? They’ll be happy you’re there. The mayor should thank you for being there, which is all the more reason for you to have a conversation with him.” I looked up at him. “I’ll be okay. You and Ivan need contacts though.”
Misha and Stephen both scoffed. “Why do you always have to ruin all the fun, gazelle?” Misha asked.