*Sephie*
Adrik left me with Andrei and Misha once again so he could go back downstairs to deal with Armando. He wanted Armando to see the video and to know that Lorenzo was dead. After they left, Andrei had questions about Misha’s ability to see things. “Does it work on just anybody? Like could you pick a random person and just spy on them?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried that,” Misha said.
“How have you never tried that? That would’ve been the first thing I tried,” Andrei said, laughing.
“Who do you want to know about, Bubba?” I asked.
Before Andrei could answer, Misha answered for him. “Tori.” I looked to Andrei, shocked that he would be curious about her still, even after everything. But I had to admit, I was curious about Max as well, so I couldn’t give him too much shit.
“Okay, I can’t say much here. I’m curious about Max too,” I said when Andrei looked somewhat worried about what we’d think of him. Misha got the faraway look in his eye that meant he was trying to see what he could about either one of them. He tried for a few minutes, but got nothing. I unwrapped my hand from the blanket, stretching it out to him. “What if I help?” I asked. He moved closer to me, as I was leaning against Andrei for maximum warmth.
He grabbed my hand, then said, “Tori first.” I nodded my head, trying to think about Tori. It took longer than normal, but we eventually saw her. She was in a house, sitting in a leather chair, having a conversation with an older man that I didn’t recognize immediately. She looked comfortable, like she knew the man. They were clearly having a pleasant conversation. She was intently listening to what he was saying, he appeared to be captivated by her response. Misha squeezed my hand, which usually meant he knew something I didn’t. “That’s one of Sal’s underbosses,” he said.
“Well, that’s an interesting twist I wasn’t expecting,” I said. The vision stopped when we started talking. I looked to Andrei, curious. “What made you want to know about Tori, Bubba? Did something happen?”
He shook his head no. “I haven’t heard anything from her since the day Boss fired her. But I’ve always been worried she was going to try and retaliate after he fired her. I thought Max was it, but then when you cut ties with Max completely, she likely figured out that plan wasn’t going to work. Her level of crazy was much higher than I think anyone else realizes.”
“She did get fired twice because of me,” I said.
“It’s more than that, spider monkey. She hated you before there was a reason to hate you. Getting fired just added fuel to the fire. If she’s talking to one of Sal’s underbosses, that can’t be good. She knows where the house is,” Andrei said.
“Would she be that stupid though?” I asked.
“Hate makes people do a lot of crazy things, gazelle. I don’t put anything past her. I do want to know how she knows Sal’s guy, though,” Misha said.
“Do you know his name? Viktor can find out, I’m sure. He can find out anything, apparently,” I said.
“I don’t remember his name, but I know what he looks like. We keep records. I can find his name tomorrow,” Misha said.
“How do we get sound next time?” I asked. “I wanted to hear what she was saying, but couldn’t.”
Misha laughed. “You’re seriously asking me? You know more than I know, Sephie.”
“Well, that’s not helpful. I don’t know anything,” I said, holding my ribs so I could laugh.
“I think all you have to do is assume it’s going to happen and let it,” Andrei said. “The weird stuff seems to be happening faster now. It’ll happen soon. Much like your training, spider monkey, sometimes the power is in the surrender.”
“Bubba, how did you get to be so smart and so pretty at the same time?” I asked, grinning at him.
“I don’t know, spider monkey. I just woke up like this,” Andrei said, trying to keep a straight face.
I almost didn’t grab my ribs in time for the laughter to hit. “Dammit, warning!” I said, still laughing.
“Okay, now I’m curious about whether we can see Max,” Misha said.
Andrei laughed at him. “I can’t believe you’ve never thought to try this before now.”
I put my hand out for Misha and thought about Max this time. This time wasn’t any faster, but we did eventually see him. He was at work, flirting with the women at the bar like normal. Unlike the scene with Tori, the fast forward button was hit and we were watching another scene unfold. The same man that Tori had been talking to was following Max as he was leaving the restaurant. Max, as usual, was texting and not paying attention to his surroundings, so he had no idea the man was behind him. Misha and I watched as the man walked up behind Max, pulled a gun, and shot him. I thought I screamed in my head, but Andrei was holding onto me once the vision stopped, trying to console me.
“What did you see, spider monkey? What happened?” he asked. He was clearly concerned, his arm tight around me.
“We just watched Max die,” Misha said.
“Oh fuck,” Andrei said.
*Adrik*
Armando’s eye was slightly less swollen tonight than it had been last night, so he could open it farther than he’d been able to previously. Good. He’ll be able to see the video more clearly. I walked into the room with Viktor, Ivan, and Stephen. Armando stayed quiet, partly because the gag was still in his mouth, partly because he was waiting to see what I said first this time. He had decidedly less bravado tonight than last night.
“I have something you need to see,” I said. Armando looked at me, trying to remain calm and not let on that he was nervous. I took my phone out of my pocket and held it for Armando to watch the video. You could clearly hear Trino’s voice in the video, warning anyone that tried to betray him in the future. What happened to Anthony and Lorenzo was a message to anyone who considered going against him in the future. The message was loud and clear when the video panned down to show their heads in the boxes.
Armando was stunned when he saw the video. We could see his brain trying to come up with alternatives. He really was still convinced that Lorenzo was coming to save him. His brain was struggling to process the information that he might not be getting out of here now.
I let him try to think his way out of his situation for quite a while. It was probably close to 20 minutes that I let him stew before saying anything. I couldn’t deny that I got extreme satisfaction from watching him try to think of a way to save himself now. The guys were also enjoying watching him. It was obvious what was happening. Finally, I got up and stood in front of him. “I bet you’re really wishing you’d taken Sephie’s advice and jumped off the roof when she told you to, aren’t you?”
He looked at me, with the look of a man that knows he’s going to die. I’d seen the look plenty of times in my life. He was slowly giving up. He was slowly accepting his fate and coming to the realization that he was going to have to pay for what he did to Sephie.
I was standing in front of him, enjoying the silence as it was tormenting him more than I thought it would. I suddenly got hit with panic. I knew it wasn’t mine. I knew it had to be Sephie. I waited to see if it passed, as I didn’t want to run upstairs if she’d fallen asleep and forgotten she couldn’t move, but it was growing stronger. I felt the pull in my chest so strongly that it was hard to ignore. I needed to go to her. I looked at Armando, then to the guys. I nodded my head toward the door, indicating we were going to leave. We walked out without another word.
Once outside, Ivan asked, “something happened upstairs didn’t it?”
“She’s panicked, but I don’t know why. It’s getting stronger, which is why I wanted to leave,” I said as I walked quickly to the elevator.
“Armando will torture himself if we leave him in silence. This actually works out perfectly,” Stephen said.
“How did you know something happened with Sephie?” I asked Ivan once we were on the elevator.
“Apparently I can feel her panic now too. It came on suddenly, but strong. I saw you glance away from Armando right after I felt it, then to the door, like you were deciding if you wanted to leave. The feeling didn’t go away, which is why I assume we’re on our way upstairs,” Ivan said as the doors to the elevator opened.
We rushed into the penthouse to find Andrei and Misha with her on the couch. They all looked panicked, quite frankly.
“What happened?” I said, rushing to Sephie. “Are you okay? Why are you panicked?”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pull you from downstairs,” Sephie said as I knelt down in front of her. Andrei still had his arm around her, trying to keep her calm, but he looked just as nervous as she felt.
“We both felt it this time,” Ivan said. “What’s going on? What happened?”
“I asked Misha if he could see just anybody in his visions. I haven’t been able to get Tori off my mind the last day or two. Like something doesn’t feel right, but I don’t know what. They were able to see her talking to one of Sal’s underbosses, but we don’t know which one. Then Sephie was curious about Max, so they tried it with him. He was at work, like usual, then they said it fast forwarded and he was leaving work, not paying attention to his surroundings, like usual, and the underboss that Tori was talking to walked up behind him and shot him in the head,” Andrei said. “That’s when she panicked.”
I looked to Misha. “Do you know when this is happening? Has it already happened?”