*Sephie*
I managed to sleep through the entire night. I’m not even sure I moved at all once I went back to bed. I was so happy to be in our bed, with Adrik next to me. I was warm, I was comfortable, it was Heaven. Instead of trying to position me to lay on his chest, I slept on my good side, my back pressed against him, and under the covers. It helped me stay warm, which helped me sleep the whole night.
I felt him start to stir and felt his grip on me tighten slightly as he tried to wake me up, but made sure I wouldn’t move too suddenly. I opened my eyes, but was disappointed that I couldn’t see him right away. “I like it much better when I can see you first thing when I open my eyes,” I said, still feeling very sleepy. I felt the vibration in his chest as he laughed quietly at me. He moved so his cheek was against my neck, brushing his facial hair against my neck softly. I felt his lips on my neck, kissing me softly. “I also like it much better when I can respond without completely killing the pleasure,” I said.
He laughed again, but pulled his arm from under my head. He got up and moved so he was lying in front of me, his boyish grin on his face. “Better?” he asked as he lied down in front of me, his hand on my cheek.
“Much,” I said, feeling the warmth that I always felt when I thought about just how much I loved him.
“You slept the whole night. I’m surprised,” he said.
“I was happy to be back in this bed, apparently. With you,” I said, loving the feel of his hand running lightly over my face and neck. “You weren’t gone very long last night. I expected it to be later when you got back.” I closed my eyes again, concentrating on the feeling of his touch.
“We got unexpected information from Armando that made it clear he needed to have to sit with it overnight,” he said. I opened my eyes, curious as to what information they could’ve found out that would’ve prolonged things. Adrik laughed. “As Stephen put it, he has mommy issues,” he said.
“Does he now? What kind of mommy issues?” I asked.
“Stephen nailed it. That guy will use psychology as a weapon when he wants to. He’s just as good as you about figuring people out, he just doesn’t want to until he wants to destroy the person,” he said.
I smiled. “Stephen is much like Ivan, but instead of not wanting anyone to know how wise he is to protect his peace, Stephen doesn’t want anyone to know how wise he is because he’s insecure about his knowledge. I’m guessing his parents were hard on him or he had a sibling that told him he was stupid a lot as a kid. He’s still not over it, which is hilarious because he’s seriously one of the smartest people I know.”
Adrik just grinned at me. “You two should start working together. No secret is safe.”
I laughed weakly, trying to not cause pain in my ribs. “What did he say about Armando?”
“I’m still not sure if he was guessing or if he knew for sure, but he said Armando’s mom was probably an addict and hooked to get money for drugs. He said she likely neglected him because she was always either whoring or so high she forgot she even had a son.”
It suddenly all made sense. My eyes went wide as I said, “that’s why he chooses the women he does and why he gets them addicted. He’s trying to be their savior, but then he’s disgusted that they become addicts like his mom so he disposes of them.”
Adrik just laughed at me. “I’m going to have to start paying Vinny more. You and Stephen both are going to need more sandwiches. That’s exactly what he said, too.”
I suddenly remembered my extra sandwich from the day before that I hadn’t eaten yet. My stomach also remembered. Adrik just laughed. “I had to bring up Vinny’s,” he said, shaking his head as he got up to help me out of bed.
“What else did you find out last night?” I asked as I stood up slowly to walk to the bathroom.
“Not much,” Adrik said as he walked to the closet. He could talk loud enough that he kept talking to me while I was in the bathroom and he was grabbing me clothes in the closet. “He said he thinks that he and I are a lot alike, which I found amusing. And I think he’s still under the impression that he thinks Ricardo and Lorenzo are coming to save him.”
I felt momentary panic at his last sentence. When I didn’t respond right away, Adrik poked his head in the bathroom. His face softened as he walked to me, frozen in place in front of the sink. “They’re not coming to save him, love. He’s outlived his usefulness to them now. They don’t care about him. Besides, Lorenzo is dead. So is Anthony. I still don’t know that much about Ricardo, but he’s at least smarter than Armando. He knows he can’t do anything against me. Especially not without Lorenzo.”
“They’re dead? When did that happen?” I asked. He started to help me with the shirt of his I’d worn to bed last night. He walked to the shower, turning the water on, then back to me to help me finish getting completely undressed. I held my braid up, asking, “can you tie this up for me? Then I don’t have to wash it. Viktor can redo it later. I don’t want to be in the shower that long this time.”
“Of course, solnishko,” he said as he tried to figure out how to do it. He’d watched me put my hair up a million times, but it’s one thing to watch and another to do. He answered my first question as he worked on my hair. “Trino took care of Tony and Enzo the same time we came to get you and Ivan. We still weren’t completely sure who else took you, but we were hoping Sal was involved and would be at the building so we could take care of him at the same time.”
“But what’s Sal going to do when he finds out?” I asked.
“He doesn’t know, yet. I called Trino from the hospital and asked him to keep it quiet until you were out of the hospital. I need to call him later today. Once he’s had time to wake up,” he said. He had managed to take the braid out and put my hair up in a very messy bun. It was out of my way and it meant I could be in the shower for a shorter time, so I was very happy with the results.
“Trino knows I was taken?” I asked as he started to take my arm out of my sling. I held onto it with my right arm as much as I could. It didn’t hurt quite as much today, but it was still extremely painful.
“Trino knew you were taken a few hours after it happened. Gus and Oscar called him to tell him about the warehouses. They told him then.” He helped me into the shower. The warm water did help me relax, but only slightly. My shoulder was still more painful than I would’ve liked. “I’ll hurry,” he said. I knew he felt my pain, so I didn’t even bother to try and hide it from him.
“How is Trino going to tell Sal?” I asked, trying to focus more on Adrik’s hands on me instead of the pain in my side and shoulder.
“I’m not sure. I just asked him to wait. I didn’t ask for details. I called him right after I got into bed with you in the hospital. I was more worried about you than anything else so I didn’t really even think to ask for details.” He stood in front of me, his sexy smirk on his face. I felt the pull in my chest that I knew was from him as he leaned down to kiss me. Suddenly the pain in my side and shoulder were now in the background. His desire for me was the strongest feeling I could feel. I moaned quietly in his mouth as I relished the break from pain that he offered. He kissed me harder, his desire for me growing. I wanted him to be able to pull me close, but I also knew it would likely cause me extreme pain. I couldn’t even use my one good hand to touch him right now without risking extreme pain when I let go of my cast. He pulled back slightly, so he could see me, both of his hands on either side of my face still. I saw the familiar look in his eyes that said mine were dark. He was both incredibly aroused, but also perplexed.
“I’m frustrated. I can’t touch you without pain right now and you can’t hold me like I want you to without pain right now. It’s very frustrating,” I said. He leaned down and kissed me once more, gently, then turned the water off.
“Let’s get your arm strapped down again. At least that will take care of one thing on your list,” he said as he grabbed a towel for me.
“What do you wanna bet Trino comes up with some amazing scheme to announce to Sal that Tony and Enzo are dead? Like he has their heads delivered to Sal. First class, of course,” I said, trying not to laugh too hard as Adrik helped me get dressed.
“I’ll make sure to ask him when I call him today. I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you, too. He was worried about you. Everyone was worried about you,” he said, helping me get my arm strapped back down. I took in as deep of a breath as I could manage once my arm was secured and mostly weightless on my shoulder again.
“They don’t know I’m hard to kill,” I said, grinning at him.
“I think we should keep it that way,” he said.