*Sephie*
When we came downstairs, all the guys were in the kitchen, foraging for food. We hadn’t had a chance to hire a new chef yet, and honestly it had slipped everyone’s mind since we hadn’t been to the house in a few weeks. It was close enough to lunch time, though, so I said, “can we tell someone that I’m extra cranky when I’m hungry and I need Vinny’s for everyone as soon as possible?”
Misha walked to me quickly, hugging me tightly. “This. This right here is why I love you so much.”
Andrei was still in his room, but Ivan appeared shortly after we walked into the kitchen. I went to him, sliding my arm around his waist gently. “How you feeling? Do you feel like you can eat?” He nodded, as he slung his good arm over my shoulders. “Good. We’re getting Vinny’s. Has anybody checked on Andrei in a while?” They all looked somewhat guilty. I chuckled. “I’m taking those looks as a no. I’m going to check on him, since you all clearly hate him.”
I got all the way to his room, but then stopped myself from opening the door. I walked back into the kitchen. “He doesn’t sleep in the nude or anything does he?” They all laughed.
“You’re safe from seeing anything extra, sestrichka.” Viktor said in between his deep belly laughs.
I sighed in relief, then walked back to Andrei’s room. I knocked softly just in case he was awake. I heard nothing, so I quietly opened the door and peaked in. He was sprawled out on the bed, in his underwear. *Thank God he left those on*. I walked over to the bed, grabbing the blanket from the end of the bed and covering him up with it. He didn’t stir. I walked back to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water and took it back to his room, leaving it on his table for him. They’d given him pain pills at the hospital, so I was sure he was going to sleep for a while.
When I walked back in the kitchen this time, I walked to Adrik, tucking myself into his side, his arm pulling me closer.
“Food will be here shortly, gazelle.”
“I can take inventory of what’s in the fridge and come up with something to feed everyone tonight. Or maybe I can send someone to the store with a list?” I looked at Adrik, not sure if I could do that or not.
He smiled at me. “You’re the goddamn princess. You can do whatever you please, solnishko.”
I laughed, loudly. That one caught me completely by surprise. I leaned up and kissed him. “I fucking love you.”
We heard Ivan and Misha across the kitchen. “Fucking adorable.” He smiled against my lips, as he said quietly, “we are fucking adorable.”
Adrik needed to leave to go back to the penthouse for a few meetings that afternoon. He wanted to leave Stephen with me, but I insisted that he take both Viktor and Stephen with him.
“There’s like 40 guards around this property and at least as many dogs. And I’ll have my adorable Russian guardian and like half an Ivan and half an Andrei. That’s equal to at least 30 more guards. Clearly, I have the advantage here,” I said, grinning at my math.
Adrik smiled at me, leaning down to press his lips to mine. “I won’t be gone long, solnishko. Let Misha know if you want someone to go to the store for you. I’ll add finding a new chef to the top of the list.”
I wrapped my arms around him tightly. “Please be extra careful.”
He kissed my forehead. “We are, solnishko. The helicopter will be here soon. I’m not taking any chances.”
I sighed, feeling relief that they wouldn’t be driving anywhere. I was going to have to find something to occupy my time with to keep from worrying all day until he returned.
Misha, Ivan, and I were on the couches laughing about something absurd that had just come out of my mouth when Andrei appeared.
“Bubba! How do you feel?”
He gave me a half-smile. “Mostly like I got shot.”
“Your ability to paint a picture with words never ceases to amaze me, Bubba.” He sat on the couch next to me, pulling me to him in a rough hug with his good arm. “Are you hungry? How’s your stomach?”
He thought for a minute. “I could eat.”
I leaned back from him, looking offended. “Why am I the only one that has to starve when on pain meds?” I was mostly just making light of the situation, but Ivan answered me seriously.
“It’s because you’re a redhead, princess. You react differently to drugs and anesthesia than non-redheads.”
“I do?” I asked, now curious.
He nodded his head. He started to speak but stopped himself. He glanced nervously at Misha and Andrei. “I knew a couple redheads when I was younger. I felt worse for them than I did me, if you get my drift.”
My mouth fell open, my eyes wide. I was horrified at the thought that there were boys treated worse than he was. “Loud and clear.” I noticed Misha and Andrei looked at us curiously, but this was not my story to tell and I could tell Ivan did not want to get into it. I quickly stood up. “Bubba, I got you a sandwich, just on the off chance that your stomach was made of steel and you could eat when you woke up.” I walked to the kitchen to grab it for him, coming back with water for everyone too.
Once Andrei had finished eating and I was satisfied that he was not going to vomit it up, I asked, “now, who wants to go for a walk with me?”
They all three stood up. I was still sitting on the couch, looking at all of them above me. “Unexpected, but I’ll take it.”
Andrei smirked at me. “I got shot in my shoulder, not my entire body.”
Ivan laughed. “I can’t feel anything anyway, so it won’t matter what I do.”
I just shook my head, moving them around so I could grab each of their good arms as we set off on our adventure. I wasn’t planning on walking too far, as I didn’t want to tire them out too much, but they kept insisting they were fine. We walked all the way to the lake, all of them heading to my favorite spot and sitting down.
The reason it was my favorite spot is because it had several seating options available. There was a fallen tree to lean against, a rock to sit on or lean against, as well as a large log as a third option. It was perfect for the two invalids to find a mostly comfortable spot to sit.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I laughed, looking at Andrei and Misha. “The last time we were here was the day that the world found out I was the goddamn princess.”
They both laughed. Andrei wondered aloud, “I still wonder what she’s doing with your friend Max. Does she not know that you hardly see him anymore?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe he still talks about me a lot? I don’t know. We do have a ton of hilariously stupid stories, because, well, have you met me? I do stupid shit all the time. Maybe he talked about me enough that she thought we were still closer than we are.” I looked down, tracing my finger through the dirt at my feet, making random designs. I was lost in thought over Max. He was my best friend for a long time, but we barely spoke anymore. Most of that was my fault. I couldn’t tell him everything anymore, but he also didn’t push to see me very hard. I sighed, trying to push him from my mind.
“You met Max after a really difficult time in your life, Sephie. It’s easy to ignore things about people when you’re traumatized and trying to not be completely alone. He hasn’t been as good of a friend to you as you have to him,” Ivan said. He was looking at me thoughtfully, almost sympathetically.
I smiled at him. “You sound like Adrik.” I laughed. “I think he secretly hates Max.”
Ivan laughed as well. “It’s not that secret, princess.”