*Adrik*
As soon as we got to the penthouse, we all met in my office. Armando’s men were there, along with all of us. Giana chose to stay behind in the apartment that she now shared with Armando, but Sephie came with us. I think she was curious to meet Armando’s new guys, which I was thankful for. I always appreciated her opinion of new people.
Sephie was sitting on the arm of the couch, next to Ivan. I saw her lean down to ask him a question, but she said it quiet enough that no one else could hear. As she asked him the question, I could see the coy smile creep across his face. He caught my eye. In Russian, he said “Sephie brings up a great point that we can use the new guys to get Andy out. Nobody knows them yet. They won’t be recognized and it’ll also give us a chance to really test them in a real situation.”
I found myself feeling proud once again that she was mine. Sephie looked to Misha, a questioning look on her face. He thought for a moment, then nodded.
Mike looked to Armando, somewhat confused, “why do I feel like they just decided on the plan and we’re just waiting to hear what it is?”
Sephie looked to Armando, saying something in Italian, which surprised us all. Armando chuckled. She looked at me, saying in Russian, “I told him Viktor makes good choices. That’s why he’s my giant Russian security master.” Viktor winked at her from across the room.
“Gentlemen, we do have a situation where we need to get Andy safely away from Sal’s reach. He’s got very valuable information that we can use to our advantage. Unfortunately, Sal also knows this, so his people are watching Andy. My guys are all well-known, so it would be obvious if they were to be seen with Andy that he’s coming to me. You’re all new faces that no one knows yet, so it’ll be less obvious that he’s coming to us,” I said, talking to Mike and the other two guys that Armando had hired, Chris and Keith.
Mike nodded in agreement. “Where is he now? And how many people are watching him? How difficult is this going to be?”
Ivan spoke up, “we’re gathering that information now. We’ve had people watching Andy’s last known location since we got the call from Andy earlier today.”
“He knows we’re watching his watchers, so he’s trying to be a little more active than he would normally be in this situation, to help us out,” Viktor said. “Communication with him is almost impossible now. He took a big risk contacting us earlier.”
“Do you know his location?” Mike asked.
“He has several spots he can move between that are easy for him to defend by himself. I know where each one is. We’ve sent people to all of them to find out exactly where he is. I expect news soon,” Ivan said.
“How is he going to take three strangers coming in after him, though? I agree that nobody knows us, which is a good thing, but this guy doesn’t know us either. Depending on how well armed he is, that could be very bad for us,” Chris asked.
“That won’t be a problem. We’ve got a code to give you. He’ll know you’re with us,” I said.
“Please tell me it’s something ridiculous like ‘mayonnaise,’” Sephie said, laughing.
Andrei laughed. “It’s not, but I’m going to keep that one in mind for the future.”
“Right? How awesome would it be to break down the door and just yell the name of a random condiment? Mayonnaise! Oh, thank God, they’re here to save me,” she said, laughing more now.
Right on time. Everyone in the room started to laugh and we all forgot for a few minutes that we were planning a dangerous operation with the potential of not everyone making it back. Armando’s men looked surprised at Sephie’s random thoughts, but they appreciated the laugh as much as the rest of us. I caught her eye, her wide smile making my heart jump in my chest. I was just about to motion for her to come to me, when she got up and walked toward me. I pushed my chair back and opened my arms for her. She settled in on my lap and held her arms across my arms that were wrapped around her.
Ivan’s phone rang. He left the office to take the call, leaving us to wait for news. When he walked back in, I could tell by the look on his face that he did not have good news.
*Sephie*
“Oh, that’s a bad look,” I said, as Ivan walked back into the office. I knew Adrik knew what that look meant too, as I felt him tense when he saw Ivan’s face.
“We’ve got a bigger problem, Boss,” Ivan said, walking back to the couch. “That was one of the guys in Vito’s part of the city. He said they’re trying to start a riot, but it’s not a normal mob. He said he’s seen people on brawn before and he’s sure everyone that’s out is on it, from what he can tell. The police are responding, but he said they keep getting pushed back.”
Adrik started to run his hand up and down my back, like he always did when he was trying to keep himself calm. Armando looked to Adrik, asking, “why Vito’s part of the city, though? I thought Vito was with Sal?”
“It doesn’t make sense. Maybe something happened, or maybe this is just part of his larger plan. It means we need to get Andy as quickly as possible to figure out what they’re planning. Trino said Anthony and Lorenzo were starting to get restless in Colombia, maybe they’re planning on returning and this is the distraction they need to come back,” Adrik said.
“Well, unless they’ve changed this formula again and we don’t know about it, the mob will pass out in under an hour. They just need to wait them out,” I said.
This time, Viktor’s cell phone rang. He walked out of the office to take the call. I looked to Misha, who was clearly running through scenarios in his head. He would get a faraway look in his eyes anytime he was thinking about possible outcomes. I waited to see if he would finish or if Viktor would walk back into the office first.
Viktor won that round. He walked in, saying, “we have Andy’s location. He’s got at least 7 guys watching him at various points. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s doable.” He looked to Mike. “We can provide backup, as long as we stay out of sight. I know for sure there are at least three guys that Stephen can take out without them seeing anything.”
The mood turned very serious, as they planned out Andy’s extraction. They decided to take him to a safe house well outside the city first, in the event they were followed. They would get all of the information from him there.
Because Ivan still only had the use of one arm, he was going to stay behind. Andrei was mostly functional again, but still not 100%, which meant he also had to stay behind. Misha, Viktor, and Stephen would go with Mike, Chris, and Keith to get Andy.
I caught Misha as they had finished their planning session. “You’re sure this is still a good idea?” I asked, trying not to worry.
His wide smile crept across his boyishly handsome face. He just pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head. “It’s still a good idea, gazelle. We’ll be fine. As it stands now. The faster we get to Andy, the better, I think.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, sighing. “I don’t disagree. I just want you guys to be careful.”
“Always,” he said, squeezing me to him. He picked me up, spun me around once, then set me back down. “Otherwise, who would be here to constantly annoy you the way I do?” He didn’t even give me a chance to answer. He quickly added, “nobody, that’s who.”
“Boring,” I said, dramatically.