*Sephie*
Adrik stepped out of the bedroom while I finished getting dressed to make a few phone calls. He was trying to get Dr. Williams to come to his office so Ivan and I wouldn’t have to go back to the hospital. We wanted to make sure that the hospitals could be prepared if we weren’t able to stop Sal from switching the supply. We were trying to put in place as many fail safes as we could to make sure his plan didn’t work like he wanted it to.
When I walked out of the bedroom, Ivan was in the penthouse. He and Adrik were having what looked like a serious conversation, although I couldn’t hear what was being said until I got closer. They both looked at me as I walked down the hallway. Ivan smiled at me, opening both of his arms to me. I walked quickly to him. “Super Squish. I didn’t know how much I really missed your regular hugs. No more one-armed hugs,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist. He held me tightly, kissing the top of my head.
“You only have yourself to blame for that one. I kept telling you I could’ve given you a normal hug that whole time, but you wouldn’t let me. So, really, it’s entirely your fault.” I heard Adrik laugh behind us.
I poked him in the ribs as I laughed too. “Where’s everyone else?” I asked.
Adrik said, “I wanted a few minutes with Ivan. I told him about our conversation last night, solnishko. I also told him about your pinky swear this morning.” He looked at me seriously, but I could see the concern on his face. “I’m serious about this, Sephie. I want to make sure you’re always okay. Selfishly, I need you at your best. I need your light to always be this bright. I need to make sure you’re always good. So, we’re holding you to your pinky swear.” Ivan’s giant arm slid across my shoulders. He gave me a stern look, in the way that only he could. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. We’d come a long way from me being convinced he wanted to murder me in my sleep.
I looked at both Ivan and Adrik. They were both so concerned about me that I couldn’t help but feel loved by them both. It was still a new feeling for me. I remembered feeling loved when my mom was alive, for sure, but when I went to live with my uncle, it went to the other extreme. There was no love in that house. It was so dark in that house that it made me question whether love really did exist. Then I met Adrik and the guys. They’ve shown me that it does exist, that there is light in the darkness, all while telling me I’ve been doing the same for them. I knew both of these men would do everything in their power to make sure I was always protected, always safe, and always loved.
“I pinky swear to both of you that I will come to you more. And I love you both. That is all.” I said, smiling sweetly at them. Ivan kissed the top of my head, squeezing my shoulders once more, before pushing me gently toward Adrik. He opened his arms for me, a small smile on his face.
“You do look better, solnishko. I can see when things get too heavy for you. You’re obviously lighter this morning,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me.
“I can see it too, princess. It’s obvious when you’re trying to hold things in too long. At least to us,” Ivan said.
“You can both tell me when I zone out, then. Because I didn’t know I was doing that. I really didn’t know I needed to talk about anything until we started talking about it last night. I’m very accustomed to holding everything in and not telling anyone anything. So, please feel free to tell me when you notice these things,” I said.
“Deal,” they both said.
“I know you’re used to taking care of everyone else, princess. Like you were made for that role, honestly. Just let us do the same for you. Because apparently, we were made for that role,” Ivan said, winking at me. I felt Adrik pull me closer.
“Super Squish, you’re really getting good at these mic drop moments where I can’t think of any sort of comeback, either serious or snarky. I’ve got nothing here,” I said, grinning at him.
We heard the door to the penthouse open as the other four guys came into the penthouse. They looked slightly wary, like they weren’t sure what they would be walking into. I could see their faces immediately relax when they saw me smiling at Ivan.
“I’m sorry for putting you all through that last night. I didn’t mean for any of you to have to hear that,” I said.
“Don’t apologize, spider monkey. We just don’t know how to help. It’s frustrating,” Andrei said.
“Aww, Bubba. Don’t get frustrated.” I walked to him, as he opened his arms for me. “You guys just have to keep loving me the way you always do. That’s a bigger help than you could ever imagine.” I hugged him tightly, resting my head on his chest. His giant arms held me just as tightly as he rested his chin on the top of my head.
“We’re always here for you, gazelle,” Misha said.
“We plan on keeping you around for a very long time, Seph. Life is really boring without you,” Stephen said, grinning at me. It made me so happy to see him start to really come out of his shell. I couldn’t help but laugh, but I didn’t want to let go of Andrei just yet. I think he figured out what I was doing, because I felt him squeeze me just a little tighter as I was laughing.
Andrei sighed, then I felt his arms relax around me. He leaned down, whispering so only I could hear, “I needed that, spider monkey. You’re my favorite.” He kissed my cheek, his handsome smile stretching across his face.
Viktor’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the caller ID, then he looked to me. “It’s Chen,” he said, as he handed me the phone.
I answered it, putting it on speaker so they could all hear. “Hey Chen, what’s up?”
“Sephie, my girl. I hope I’m not calling too early?” he said.
“Not at all, Chen. Did you find more info?”
“I did. I think you’re going to want to hear this,” he said. I glanced up at the worried faces around me. “The dealers are organizing against Sal. Word got out that they were planning on replacing the supply with brawn and, well, they’re pissed.”
“Organizing how?” I asked.
“They’re planning on trying to stop Sal’s plan, by any means necessary. They’re scouring the city now, trying to find where they’re making the brawn.”
“How many dealers are we talking about here, Chen?”
“All of them, Sephie. Every single dealer that has found out about this is refusing to go along with the plan. They’re all still mad about the last time brawn was around. It killed a lot of people. There was a lot of tension between the dealers and the bosses during that. The bosses kept pushing it, especially Sal from what I’ve heard, but the dealers eventually refused to sell it anymore,” he said.
Ivan said quietly, in Russian, “we can use this to our advantage.” Everyone nodded in agreement.
“How organized are the dealers? Are there clear leaders we can work with?” I asked.
“Yeah, they organized quick. There’s a few guys that are taking the lead. They belong to different bosses, so there’s no clear loyalty to any one boss,” he said.
Adrik’s phone rang in his pocket. He looked at it, mouthing “Trino” as he stepped away to take the call. I looked at Ivan and Viktor, knowing what they were already thinking.
“Chen, do you think we can set up a meeting with these guys? We can work together to stop this. We’ve got the information they’re looking for already, but we need more manpower.”
“I think that’s possible. One of Trino’s guys, the one that I had to drop your name to, is one of the guys in charge. After he called Trino and he vouched for me, that guy has welcomed me into the inner circle, if you will. He’s the one that the other dealers defer to, so I’ll ask him if he’s willing to work with you guys,” he said.
“Ask him, please. I can already tell you the answer will be yes, but ask him. We need to set up a meeting. This could be beneficial for both parties,” I said. I glanced at Misha, waiting for confirmation. He nodded his head, which made me smile.
“Okay, I’ll see him tonight and I’ll get back to you.”
“Chen, you’re the best,” I said.
“Public servant, my girl,” he said, laughing. “I’ll call you again tonight or in the morning.”
We ended the call and I handed Viktor his phone back. We waited for Adrik to come back from his call with Trino. I was assuming that Trino would’ve told Adrik the same information that we just got from Chen.
While we waited, I took the opportunity to check on Misha. He put his arm around my shoulders as I slid my arm around his waist. I looked up at him, as sternly as I could. “Better, my adorable Russian guardian?”
He smiled his million-dollar smile as he nodded his head. “I mean, I still feel bad about it, but less bad.” I reached over and pinched his ribs hard with my free hand. He jumped. “Okay, okay! No bad. I feel no bad, I swear.”