*Adrik*
After Neal left, I turned to Sephie, who was still mostly in shock. I just pulled her in my lap. I knew I’d made the right decision. She would figure it out eventually, once she got over her surprise. It was also a guarantee that she’d come to more of my meetings. I wasn’t mad at that.
“Did you see Mr. Turner?” I asked, brushing a stray curl from her face.
She nodded, still chewing on her bottom lip. She glanced at Ivan and Andrei, then looked back at me. “You know he knows just about every influential person in the city, because they all eventually come to the hotel for business. He overhears everything, too. He’s also said it never fails to surprise him how freely people will talk in front of him, like he’s not even there. We used to joke about it when I was still working at the restaurant,” she said.
“Who did he overhear this time?” I asked, my hand rubbing her back lightly.
“He said the mayor was at the hotel a week or two ago. He was talking about replacing the police commissioner, Henry, as he left the hotel. If he gets re-elected, of course. Then, he said that Henry was at the hotel with a few other police chiefs a few days after the mayor and they were talking about how to prove the mayor is in Sal’s pocket. He said a few of the police chiefs were sure they had enough evidence to prove the mayor was dirty. But then he said two of those police chiefs were back at the hotel, with the mayor, like three days after that. He didn’t hear anything that time, but he said it looked very suspicious, given what everyone was talking about the first time around,” she said.
I looked to Ivan. “Does he know the police chiefs?”
He nodded his head. “He said he can’t remember one of their names, but he recognized him. He gave me the name of the other one.”
Andrei added, “he’s also nervous. I’ve never seen him nervous before, so I might’ve snooped. One of the police chiefs that met with the mayor saw him walking into the building one afternoon. He was walking down the street. Mr. Turner was sure he recognized him and he watched him walk in. He thinks he’s been followed a few times since.”
“You still have guys on him, correct?” I asked Ivan.
He nodded his head. “He still doesn’t know. I was going to talk to Viktor and add more in the morning. It’s possible he’s noticing our guys following him now because he’s nervous. Once we see what the extra guys can find, we’ll know if he’s really being followed or if he just now noticed our guys on him.”
“You’ve had him followed this whole time?” Sephie asked.
I chuckled. “I assigned guys to him when he moved here, just in case. We had him watched after you left your apartment, but I assigned a regular team to him once he moved here.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you were fond of him and that he’d always watched over you when you lived at your apartment,” I said, smiling at her confusion.
“You did that? Really?”
“Of course, solnishko. It would make you very unhappy if something were to happen to him. I’d like to prevent that.”
Her beautiful smile crept across her face. “I love you,” she sighed as she put her head on my shoulder.
“I think it’s worth calling Henry. I can take the files on the police chiefs back down to him so we know who the second one is that met with the mayor. If Henry is trying to build a case against the mayor, he’s not going to get very far if those two know everything,” Ivan said.
“Find out who the second one is. I want to know what areas they’re in, too, along with any other information we have on them. Then I’ll call Henry,” I said.
Ivan nodded. Both he and Andrei stood up, walking out of the office to gather the information. Sephie was fidgeting with my collar, her fingers lightly running up and down my neck. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back, enjoying a moment with her.
“Long day?” she asked.
“Not bad. Just stressed. The information we got from Battista so far doesn’t make me happy. I’m still irritated about that whole meeting, but most importantly, I’m worried about you.”
“Why? I’m okay,” she said, lifting her head from my shoulder so she could look at me.
“Mostly. I know you’re fighting sleeping. It’s starting to show.”
Her brow furrowed. “Did I do something? Did I zone out again?”
I chuckled. “No, love. You’re just darker. Your light dims when you’re exhausted. It’s becoming visible. At least to me.”
She leaned her head back on my shoulder. “Maybe I am a little tired,” she said, her fingers returning to my neck.
“Which is why you should stop fighting sleeping in,” I said, holding her tighter.
“You’re not the boss of me,” she said, as she snuggled in closer to me. I heard her giggle softly.
--
The guys came back to the office a short time later. Sephie was still in my lap, lazily talking about random things. When they walked in, she realized what time it was and went to get up. “I should go upstairs. I’m hungry. I’m sure you’re all hungry, too.”
Viktor smiled his sweet smile that was reserved only for her. “Sephie, I already ordered food. You’re tired. You need a break from taking care of us.”
“Told you,” I said, pulling her back to me.
“I don’t know how I feel about you all having such excellent observation skills now,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder once more.
“It’s your fault. You only have yourself to blame, gazelle. You brought it out of us,” Misha said, trying to be serious, but failing miserably.
“Accountable,” she said, giggling at him without even looking at him.