Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Four 

Sephie 

“lefe, I’m still having too much fun fu cking with them. I did get Anthony to admit they were trying to make a deal with the Mexicans. Lorenzo wasn’t with him, so that theory tracks. You know how well I take betrayal. I’m looking forward to sending a message to anyone in the future that even considers betraying me like this. I’m still letting Massimo believe that I’m going to let him live. I’m really working up to crushing his soul completely right before I light him on fire.” Trino was silent for a moment. We all tried not to laugh too loudly. We were still more amused than we should’ve been at Trino’s choice of how to end Massimo. “Dario, though,” he said. He sighed. “I actually feel bad for that guy. It’s clear that he’s been me ntally broken by Massimo all these years. He’s losing his grip on reality some days. Other days, he’s still with it. Those days, he asks if he can get out. He says he’ll disappear and no one will ever see him again. He just wants to be left alone and to never see Massimo again.” 

“You can send him back here. Not that I doubt your assessment of him, Trino, but I trust Sephie’s more. She gets the final say on whether he can disappear or not,” Adrik said. 

Trino laughed. “I won’t argue with you on that one. Mostly, I won’t argue with her. On anything.” 

1 

I couldn’t help but laugh. “When all this is over, I promise to come to Colombia to help you find a suitable girlfriend, Trino. You don’t have to sweet talk me.” I said as I wrapped my legs loosely around Adrik’s waist. 

“Miha, you’re welcome here whenever you like,” Trino said. “I’ll send Dario back to you so you can see his me ntal state. It’s just like Sephie said it would be, Jefe. And I’ll be extra careful with Anthony and Lorenzo now. It’s possible their plans with the Mexicans are much worse than we originally thought. I have spies throughout Mexico, I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime, I’ll get extra security.” 

“Let me know what you find out. We’ll help with the Mexicans once we take care of the other bosses here,” Adrik said. 

“We’ll see if it comes to that,” Trino said. “Keep me informed on Armando, too. I’ve never had any problems with that guy, but, he’s always been too nice for me. I don’t trust anyone who’s too nice.” 

“I think you just implied that I’m a bi tch, Trino,” I said, trying to hold in my laughter. He was silent, as I’m sure he was trying to figure out a way to answer without offending me further. “That’s fair. Totally fair,” I said, laughing finally. 

I heard the sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “Miha…” he said, laughing. 

They ended the call after a few more minutes of discussion. Trino was going to send Dario back to the city within a few days. Massimo was never leaving Colombia again. Anthony and Lorenzo were free to leave, should they attempt it, but Trino had plans for taking care of both of them as well. 

Adrik inhaled deeply once the call was over. He turned to face me, his hands running up my thighs. He was stressed over this entire situation and legitimately worried about Trino’s safety. He caught me smiling at him. “What?” he asked, his smirk slowly appearing on his face. 

“You’re worried for Trino’s safety. That’s not very Lord King Boss of you, but I happen to like it. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” I said. 

He laughed quietly. “Trina has always been honest with me. He’s a good guy. He had a rough rise to power, but things have bees great since he took over. I don’t want to see him lose that.” He sighed. “And it seems like he might be the only one 1 can trust now.” I just wrapped my arms around him, not really knowing the right thing to say. At least I could give him some comfort in the moment. 

I hadn’t mentioned 

anyone yet, but I was starting to feel a sense of impending doom. I just didn’t know exactly what it 

was about yet. But I knew the storm was almost upon us. 

The weekend was over all too soon and we had to move back to the penthouse to face reality for another week. I was starting to enjoy our weekend getaways where no one really knew where we were and we could just relax, enjoying being together. Adrik. and I always managed more alone time at the house than the penthouse, which I was never going to complain about. I knew he was busy, but I was grateful for any chance I got to have him all to myself. 

Viktor, Stephen, and Ivan had left for the private airport, leaving Andrei and Misha with Adrik and I. Dario was set to arrive. from Colombia shortly this evening. Adrik wanted him brought to the penthouse right away, so no one would know he was back in the city without Massimo. He knew Salvadori had been trying to get Darin away from Massimo as well. 

We were waiting in Adrik’s office for them to bring Dario to the building. Of course, we were talking about everything we’d learned over the weekend while we waited. 

“We have to remember to add the end of the month to the whiteboard tomorrow. I think Giana is going to rob him and disappear at the end of the month,” Misha said. We’d talked about his anger toward Giana a few more times after we finished a run in the mornings at the house. He was starting to feel less angry toward her, but there was still no love for her with him. 

“I think that’s a safe bet, my adorable Russian guardian. The bigger question is whether Armando will disappear with her or not,” I said. 

“And what he’s going to do to her when he finds out she’s stolen from him,” Andrei said. 

I looked to Adrik, curious. “What was Armando like with his ex-wives?” I asked. 

Adrik thought for a minute. “I’m not really sure. Once he ended the relationship, I never really heard much about any of them. He moves on quickly to the next woman and his focus is on her.” I suddenly felt a sense of dread when he said those words. Something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t figure out what. Adrik and Misha both noticed. Misha also felt something was wrong, but wasn’t sure what yet, either. Adrik had been at his desk while I was on one of the couches. He moved to the couch with me as soon as he felt my mood change. “What is it, love? What’s wrong? I can feel something is wrong,” he said as he sat down 

next to me. 

“I’m not sure. I just got this weird feeling of dread when we were talking about Armando,” I said. I chewed on my bottom lip. trying to figure out what it was that made me feel this way. 

“I did too,” Misha said. “But I don’t know why.” 

We didn’t have time to analyze what had happened, as the doors to the elevator opened. Viktor was back with Dario. Adrik looked at me, concerned. I smiled at him, my palm resting on his cheek. “It’s okay. It can wait until later,” I said. He leaned in and quickly kissed me before standing to meet Dario as they walked into his office.