Chapter Two Hundred Forty-Three 

Sephie 

“Like no one else has ever been able to,” Adrik answered. 

She inhaled, thinking more before she responded. “Sephie, you’re meant to help him control his anger, but not take it on as your own. The increased cold is a sign from your body that you’re taking too much of his fire, if you will. Your body is trying to rebalance itself.” She then looked to Adrik. “You’re meant to be her fire, but to also let her soothe the flames when needed. The more you fight against your fire, the bigger the inferno will get. She’s trying to help you control it, but subconsciously, she knows you’re fighting against it so she’s taking more of it than she needs to. True power lies in surrender. You are who you are and she loves you for that, just as you love her for who she is. The more you fight against accepting that for a universal truth, the bigger this problem you’re facing will get. By surrendering to who you are, who you’ve always been, but consciously choosing good, you’ll realize your true power.” 

Adrik was somewhat stunned, as was 1. She smiled at both of us, moving to get her bag that was sitting close to the window. As she stepped into the sunlight streaming through the window, I could clearly see the outline of a pair of wings behind her. My breath caught, but the vision was gone just as quickly as it appeared. I looked to Adrik to see if he had seen it, but he was curious about my surprise. I decided to keep my mo uth sh ut for the time being about what I’d just seen. 

She turned back to us. “It would help if I worked on both of you next time, if you’re up for it?” she asked, looking at Adrik. He glanced down at me, a flash of nervousness on his face, but agreed to it. 

“It doesn’t hurt,” I said, smiling sweetly at him. He looked like he wanted to believe me, but he was still very unsure about it. I extended my hand to her. “Thank you, once again, for helping me feel better. You’re an angel.” She took my hand and winked at 

We walked out to find all the guys in the penthouse, waiting for us. Ivan got up to take the acupuncturist back downstairs. He smiled at me when he saw me. “Lighter,” he said, following the acupuncturist to the door. 

“Sestrichka, you look much better. I didn’t know it would be such an obvious difference,” Viktor said. He looked at Andrei. “You should try it, Andrei. It might make you prettier too. You could use the help.” 

“Shots fired, Viktor,” I said laughing. “Don’t listen to him, Bubba. You’re very pretty. You’re a pretty, pretty princess.” I grinned at him as he laughed at us both. 

“Sh ut your mo uth, Viktor. She said I was a pretty, pretty princess,” Andrei said, pouting like a kid. 

Adrik pulled me closer, his broad smile across his face as he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. “I fu cking love you,” he said, smiling against my lips. 

“And I fu cking love you. Are you done for the day now?” I asked. He nodded his head, kissing my forehead. “Who wants to help me with dinner?” I asked everyone. They all stood at once and started filing toward the kitchen. I looked at Adrik. “They’re all so eager,” I said laughing. 

“You had them wrapped around your finger even before you started feeding them, but now that you’re feeding them, you’ll never get rid of them.” 

As we fell into the routine of cooking dinner and talking about the day’s events, Viktor told me that my presence had been missed during one of Adrik’s afternoon meetings. 

“Oh yeah? Did you meet with Mando?” I asked, curious. 

Adrik laughed. “No, it was one of the businessmen that’s in on the project I have with Mando, Neal is his name. He’s still laughing about your wet dream comment. We’re all meeting with a few restaurants on Monday to gauge interest and to see if we can secure occupancy even before the project begins. He requested your presence on Monday,” he said, smirking at me. 

“Sh ut up.” 

Viktor laughed. “It’s true. He was disappointed you weren’t around today. He said he hasn’t laughed that hard in a business meeting in a very long time.” 

“What did you say, gazelle?” Misha asked. 

“They were worried that restaurants wouldn’t want to lease space in their building. I told them it was basically a restaurant’s wet dream because they didn’t even have to do outside marketing. Their customer base was the building.” I said. 

“But then she said, ‘oh shi t I just said that out loud didn’t l’ as she covered her mo uth,” Adrik said, laughing. He stepped closer to me, but I pushed him back, playfully. 

“In my defense, I wasn’t supposed to be in that meeting,” I said, laughing. 

“Your inability to control your mo uth is one of the best things about you, sestrichka. You did warn us about it that first day. I don’t know why you’re surprised by it,” Viktor said. His deep laugh filling the penthouse. I got caught up in the pure joy that was laughing and joking with the guys. I knew our strange family dynamic was misunderstood by just about everyone else, but I loved it. 

We spent the weekend at the penthouse so that I could keep getting acupuncture. She felt it would be helpful for a few days in a row. She also worked on Adrik while she was there. He was somewhat terrified at the thought of it the first time, so he watched while she worked on me first. 

“This isn’t helping me feel better about this process, solnishko,” he said as he watched her putting the needles where they needed to go. She asked for him to put his hand out in front of hini. He reluctantly did so. She flipped his hand over and placed one needle in his wrist, then she did the same on his other wrist. Without a word, she continued placing needles on me where they needed to go. I could feel the anxiety disappear from Adrik as it happened. I picked my head up and looked at him, to see his reaction. His eyes were wide. “What kind of black magic is this, he said laughing. She laughed, but continued working. 

Adrik protested a few times as she worked on him, just as I did. Once he got past the initial pain, it started to feel better and he relaxed. The first time was the worst for both of us. Each time she worked on us got better. He was more relaxed than he’d been in a long time by the time Monday rolled around. 1, however, was slightly nervous about being included in this meeting for his building project with Armando. 

“At least it gives me a reason to wear the clothes Ms. Jackson talked me into buying,” I said as I got out of the shower. 

Adrik raised his eyebrow at me. “What did you have in mind, malishka?” he asked as he watched me wrap a towel around my na ked body. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” 

“Cr uel and unusual punishment is what that is,” he said, smacking my a ss as he walked out of the bathroom. 

I decided on a grey pencil skirt and a wh ite blouse. The best part of the outfit, in my opinion, were the red heels. I usually avoided wearing heels. I was tall enough on my own, but being surrounded by literal giants meant that I was always the short one, even with heels. I didn’t have to worry about towering over anyone. 

Adrik had gone to the kitchen to return a phone call as I finished getting dressed. I braided my hair, putting on minimal 

makeup. I heard him end the call as I walked down the hallway to the kitchen. He turned to look at me, his mo uth open slightly. He groaned. “I’m not going to be able to take my eyes off you during the meeting,” he said, his sexy smirk slowly appearing on his face. 

“Is it too much? I don’t want a repeat of the scummy lawyer in Italy,” I asked. 

He pulled me to him, holding me tightly. “I’m not giving anyone a moment of hesitation that you’re mine this time,” he said. He grabbed my a ss for emphasis, making me squeal. He took my hands and put them around his neck, wrapping his arms. around my waist. “You look beautiful, Sephie. You always look beautiful, even when you just wake up and have hair that screams I’ve just been properly fu cked.’ That might be my favorite, if I’m being honest,” he said, smiling down at me. 

“So, every morning, then?” I asked, laughing at his faraway look that broadcasted his di rty thoughts.