Chapter One Hundred Sixty-Eight
Adrik
Trino and Martin came with us to the plane. Trino assured me he would keep me informed of Anthony and Lorenzo’s whereabouts, as well as the outcome of the Dario and Massimo situation.
“Jefe, you and Sephie must come to Colombia soon,” Trino said, offering me his hand. I shook it, nodding. He opened his arms. to Sephie. She hugged him as he said, “Miha, I am forever in your debt. I cannot thank you enough.” He kissed both of her
checks.
She smiled sweetly at him. “Be careful with Massimo. He’s an evil man.” She tucked herself back into my side, where she fit perfectly. I pulled her close, kissing her temple.
Trino looked at us thoughtfully. “I may have to take you up on your girlfriend vetting services. If you can find me a woman that’s as perfect for me as you are for Jefe…” He didn’t finish his sentence, once again lost in thought.
I chuckled. “It’s 100% worth it, my friend.” Sephie’s wide smile stretched across her face as she looked up at me, causing my heart to skip a beat once again.
Giana was nervously talking on the flight back, just like she was on the flight down. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous to fly or if she was nervous about being around all the guys. I eventually got my answer when I overheard her asking Sephie about her relationship with each of the
guys.
“Were you intimidated by them when you first met them? You seem so comfortable with them now and they all call you different nicknames, but you weren’t like intimidated by them when you first met them?” she asked, quietly, but still loud enough that we all heard her question.
Ivan ‘caught my eye, grinning. He said, “Sephie might not know what that word means.” Sephie grinned at him. She couldn’t help but laugh when Giana looked frightened that he had answered her question. Ivan continued, “Sephie put me in my place in her kitchen after knowing me for what, like 12 hours?” He looked at everyone for confirmation.
“If that,” Andrei said.
Giana, her curiosity overtaking her fear, asked, “what happened? How did she put you in your place?”
Ivan laughed. “She was trying to help me and I gave her sh it for it. She gave me more sh it in return and helped me anyway.” He looked to Sephie, a broad smile across his face. I had heard the story of how he tried to intimidate her before she stitched him up and how she didn’t back down. It was the first real glimpse we had of how truly amazing she is. Basically, everyone is scared shitless of Ivan when they meet him and he uses that to his advantage.
“That’s not completely accurate though. I did think you wanted to murder me in my sleep for a few days there,” she said, laughing
“And yet, you still gave us the emotional support sloth,” Misha said, laughing. We all laughed, remembering her antics. Sephie’s cheeks flushed slightly as Giana looked to her for an explanation. She just shrugged her shoulders.
Giana, still curious and trying to be bolder, asked, “how did you get all the nicknames they have for you?”
Misha laughed. “I call her gazelle because she tried to ki ll me the first time I went running with her.” He looked at Giana very seriously. “I almost died. It was very touch and go.”
Andrei spoke next. “I call her spider monkey because she jumps on my back to hitch a ride whenever she can.”
Viktor said, “I call her sestrichka. It’s a term of endearment for a little sister in Russian.”
Ivan said, “princess, because she is the go ddamn princess.” We all laughed.
I added, “solnishko. Because she’s the light to my dark and she lights the way for all of us.” Sephie turned to me, her eyes slightly wide. I could see the tears forming as she got up and came to me, curling up next to me. I pulled her close, kissing her lips.
Ivan and Misha both said, “fu cking adorable.”
S
Sephie just grinned at both of them, but then looked to Giana. “Armando is getting his own team of guys set up. You’ll have your own list of nicknames soon.” Giana just looked at her skeptically.
Once we landed, a few of the men that Armando had hired met us at the airport with vehicles. I hadn’t met any of the men Viktor had approved for Armando to hire, but I had complete faith in Viktor’s ability to pick solid men. They weren’t as physically intimidating as my guys, but not many people were. Viktor walked over with one of the men, introducing me and Sephie to him.
“Boss, this is Mike. He’s the head of Armando’s security,” Viktor said.
Mike extended his hand, “nice to meet you, sir. Viktor’s told me great things.”
Sephie elbowed Viktor in the ribs lightly. “He’s the American security master to your Russian security master. Shall we have a Cold War 2.0, gentlemen?”
Sephie always managed to get the loudest laughs out of Viktor. It was always nice to see. Mike looked to her, clearly surprised, but quickly extended his hand to her. “You must be Sephie. Viktor has also told me great things about you.”
She looked to Viktor, “da mmit, am I going to have to be on my best behavior now? Because that’s really going to put a damper on my plans.”
He laughed loudly again, wrapping his giant arm around her shoulders, dwarfing her. He said, in Russian, “don’t worry, sestrichka. He knows you’re a little bit evil, in the best way possible.” Her wide smile stretched across her face as she leaned in
closer to him.
She looked back to Mike, who was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. She glanced around quickly. “Let me know when you have issues with Giana. I’ll run interference.” He looked at her, puzzled.
I put my hand on his shoulder. “Just file it away. She’s never wrong,” giving him a half smile, as we walked to the vehicles.
“Yes, sir,” he said, following us.