*Adrik*
I couldn’t help but feel a huge relief once I knew Niko and Vito were in our custody and unable to escape the city once more. They had lost more underbosses in a few hours than the city had lost good people, so I was considering it a win. Boris was the help the people needed to defend their businesses and stand up to the bosses once and for all. Best of all, it looked like we weren’t involved.
Now our plan to return peace and order to the city would finally be set in motion.
After Sephie and the Wonder Twins restarted dinner, I made a call to the mayor, as well as Trino. I wanted both of them to know that our plans would be moving forward, likely at a quick pace. Doug was prepared to hold a press conference announcing the arrest of Dr. Moretti. After that, it would be revealed that he had ties to both Sal and Henry. Sal would quickly discover that coming back to the city was no longer an option for him.
Trino needed to be prepared for anything when it came to Martin. The Mexicans were still very much a wild card in all of this. They were unpredictable. They were savage. I detested working with them. Trino had sent a very strong message when he took over, but people like that only listen to violence. They’d grown bolder since they had Sal’s backing. We were hoping that boldness would die with Sal, but we were also prepared to send a message they would never forget.
“Jefe, are you going after Sal and Ricardo first?” Trino asked.
“That’s the plan so far. Unless you tell me there’s a better reason to go after Martin first,” I said.
“No, no. I think they need to fall first. I think without them, the Mexicans won’t be as big of an issue. I’ve got plenty of eyes within Martin’s circle that can get word to me of his plans. Same for the Mexicans. There’s talk, Jefe. You have time to meet before you leave?” he asked.
“Yeah, it won’t be for a few days. How urgent is this? Do you need to meet right away?”
“Tomorrow, Jefe. I think you’re going to be able to shed more light on the situation,” Trino said.
“Tomorrow night. Chen knows where. We’re being watched right now so I don’t want you at the building. We’re not there at the moment, but we’ve got a spot we can meet.”
Sephie noticed my clenched jaw when I walked back in the kitchen. She immediately freed up her hands and wrapped her arms around me. “That doesn’t look so good,” she said, resting her head against my chest.
I sighed. “I don’t know yet. I just know that now I feel better about it,” I said, running my hands over her back and through her hair.
She looked up at me, searching my eyes, looking for answers to questions she didn’t want to bother me with. She found what she was looking for and put her head back on my chest. We stood in silence for a few minutes when Misha said, “Boss, Trino knows about the Mexicans praying to the Saint of Death. He’s having trouble connecting that they know something about Martin and his deal.”
I put my hand on the back of Sephie’s neck, pulling her away from my chest. “You asked him to look?”
She smiled sweetly at me. “I would prefer you weren’t so stressed. Yes, I asked him to look. I know how much you hate surprises. I also know it’s not something Trino wanted to discuss over the phone.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to her. “I love you. More than I ever thought possible.” I could feel her smile against my lips.
“My adorable Russian guardian, do you think we can find out more details on the Mexicans? Like what they know about Martin that seems to have them so spooked?” she asked Misha.
“I can try, but I’m going to need your help to see if we can translate any of it. We’ve really got to hire a Spanish tutor,” he said, shaking his head.
Sephie giggled, but agreed. “After dinner, though. I’m starving.”
I surprised them both by suggesting they try something new. “Why don’t you both use your demons to see how detailed we can get?”
She grinned at me. “Maybe my demon knows Spanish. This could really work in our favor.”
After dinner, the other guys worked on cleaning up the kitchen so Misha and Sephie could try to find answers. We’d discussed what we needed to find out as we ate, so those two set about trying to find the answers to our questions.
When Misha first started looking, both their eyes switched to black, but both of them inhaled sharply, eyes wide. “Whoa,” they both said at the same time. I could feel Sephie’s surprise at whatever she was seeing, but she stayed mostly calm. I could almost feel her trying to understand what was being said.
They watched the movie only they could see for a few minutes. We saw them look at each other, clearly surprised at whatever new thing they’d just discovered. “Well, that was different,” Sephie said as she looked at Misha with wide eyes.
“What was different this time, solnishko?” I asked, curious to find out what had happened.
“It started with snapshots then went to a movie that we were watching, then a movie that we were standing inside of. This time, it was like we had the remote and could pause the scene and walk through it, looking at every detail we wanted to,” Misha said.
“I could look in people’s heads,” Sephie said, her eyes still wide.
“Really?” Andrei asked, now just as surprised as she was. “You’ve never done it from that far away before have you?”
“No. God, no. I threatened to try it once with Ivan, but I never actually did,” she said.
“What did you find?” I asked, walking to her side, finally unable to stay away from her any longer.
“They’re scared of Martin, which we already suspected. It’s hard to tell exactly how much they know. Language is still a very big barrier for us,” she said. I could feel her frustration.
“I think we should take a closer look at Martin, gazelle. Maybe we can figure out why they’re so scared of him that way,” Misha said.
I clicked my tongue, pulling her in front of me. “Is it going to zap either one of you? We can’t afford for anyone to get zapped right now.”
Her eyes flashed red as she grinned at me. “You, my King, have enough power to keep all of us going now. I think we’ll be okay.”
My breath caught looking at her red eyes. She felt the full effect it had on me as she pressed herself closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck for a moment. “Unexpectedly hot,” I told her as she stayed in front of me long enough for me to calm myself down. I heard her giggling in her head, but she never gave any indication of it outwardly.
Once she felt me mostly calm once again, she sighed, stepping away from me. She glanced at Misha, extending her hand to him. “Let’s see if we can find out what our dearest Martin has been up to,” she said.
They watched for several minutes once again. I could feel both Sephie and Misha’s demons getting angry while they watched Martin. Really angry. Everyone else could too. We were all somewhat nervous to see what they’d found.
Sephie immediately turned to look at me once the movie stopped. Her eyes were black, so were Misha’s. Everyone else’s eyes had turned black in response so she knew we were all very aware of her demon’s anger.
“You know this isn’t us, right?” she asked.
“Yeah. Your demons are pissed. Quite frankly, it’s making mine pissed as well,” I said, feeling the growing agitation inside.
“Same for mine,” Ivan said.
“Mine too,” Andrei said.
“Yeah, this is not going to end well for whoever you guys were watching. I know that much,” Stephen said. He took a step back from everyone, putting his hands in his pockets. It was his go-to move when he felt himself losing control. His reflexes were lightning fast when his bloodlust took over. He tried to contain it by keeping his hands out of the equation.
Sephie, of course, noticed. I felt her anger increase in response to him. “You good, Stephen?” she asked. Her tone had a slight edge to it. She wasn’t mad at him in the slightest. She was just ready to meet his anger with her own if necessary.
“Good, Seph. Just explain what’s happening. It’ll help,” he said, through clenched teeth.
“Martin is going after innocent people,” Misha said. “Women, children, no one is safe from him at the moment. Right now, it’s directed at the people of Colombia, but it looks like he has the people of Mexico next on his list.”
“It doesn’t make sense. Why would he go after the people?” Andrei asked. Even his demon was livid. He still looked completely calm, however. He might’ve been the only one out of us, besides Viktor that did look calm. The rest of us were very clearly angry.
“Insurance,” Sephie said. “He knows the people helped Trino in his rise to power. If he terrorizes them, they’ll be less likely to help Trino overthrow him again because they’ll be exhausted trying to survive him.”
I could feel her nausea coming through her anger. *“Come here,”* I told her. She walked quickly to me, not meeting my gaze. She just put her head on my chest and held onto me as tightly as she could for a few minutes.
“That doesn’t exactly explain why the Mexicans are scared of him, though. I would think that would piss them off and make them go after him,” Ivan said.