366
“Adrik
Once Viktor and Ivan returned, I brought up the subject of my father’s men with Aleksei. Sephie had Vitaliy’s attention, along with most of the guys” attention, in her usual entertaining way.
“The two new guys. What kind of training do they have?” I asked Aleksei.
“Not quite the same as what I’d like, but it’s difficult to find someone with that kind of training these days. People are getting soft,” he said, half- disgusted. “I’ve been trying to work on their training to get them up to speed, but they complain. Never in front of Vitaliy, though. They’re at least
that smart.”
I thought for a few minutes. It might be a good idea to have Misha and Andrei put them in their places, after all. I explained the situation to Aleksei. “They’re disrespectful of my men. I would like to remind them of their place. If Sephie were completely healed, I would consider letting her loose on them. She’s arguably more pi ssed about this than I am,” I said.
Aleksei laughed. “She’s just as protective of your men as they are of her, then?”
I nodded. “You should see her go from zero to rage in a split second if someone takes the wrong tone with one of us.”
“I would actually like to see that, now that you mention it,” he said, thoughtfully. “What do you propose for the little flowers?”
“I’d like for Misha and Andrei to teach them a lesson, since they seem to want to target those two. They’re both lethal, Andrei even more so since he started training Sephie. It’s seemed to sharpen him up considerably,” I said.
“Teaching is always a good tool. It forces you to stay ahead of the student. I saw her at your father’s house. He’s working hard to stay ahead of her.”
“That was nothing. She’s still at maybe 60% of what she was before she was taken. Armando really did a number on her. The only reason I didn’t ki ll him right then was because her lung collapsed and she couldn’t breathe,” I said.
“They were able to pull you off him?” he asked, surprised.
“They didn’t have to. She did. She put her hand on my back and told me she needed me. The bloodlust stopped instantly and I was only concerned
with her.”
Aleksei cursed under his breath. “I’ve never seen you stop. That’s impressive.”
“It’s her. I don’t know how she does it, but I can’t live without it now,” I said.
He was quiet for a moment. “Are you training in the morning?” he asked. I nodded my head. “We will train with you. It’s good to spar with new partners. We haven’t had anyone new in a while. I’m guessing your guys haven’t either. Misha and Andrei will get their chance then.”
Sephie had noticed me deep in discussion with Aleksei. She found a moment to step away from everyone else and walked to us. Aleksei’s face softened when she smiled at him as she tucked herself into my side. “You two are scheming without me, aren’t you?” she said, grinning at both of us.
“The Wonder Twins will get their chance for a much-needed attitude adjustment in the morning,” I said.
“I’ll be grateful if they get their a sses beat. Serves them right for not wanting to further their training.” Aleksei said.
Sephie smiled at both of us, but I could feel her mood shift quickly. She smiled through it, but said, “let’s hope it turns out better than the last time.” She said it quietly enough that Aleksei didn’t hear her, but I did. I pulled her in front of me, wrapping both my arms around her shoulders as she hid her face in my chest. I knew she was okay with what happened with Mike, for the most part, but she still had days where she struggled with it. Even though she did the right thing, even though we knew he was working for Anthony, she still struggled to accept it some days…
I caught Ivan’s eye as he felt her mood shift as well. Surprisingly, both Misha and Andrei also turned to check on her at almost the same time that Ivan did. That’s new. She held onto me tightly for a few moments, then sighed. She lifted her head from my chest, asking, “do they know this yet?”
“Not yet. Vitaliy isn’t completely aware of what’s going on with his men.” I looked at Aleksei. “Do you want to keep him in the dark or let him know?”
“He’ll enjoy knowing. He’s not fond of those two. They have big shoes to fill, granted,” he said, then didn’t finish his thought.
I looked down at Sephie. “Then we can tell them now,” I said, smiling at her.
“Good. The Wonder Twins are worried that something is wrong already. Ivan, too,” she said. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me since she lifted her head. from my chest. She hadn’t seen them checking on her.
“How did you know that, solnishko?”
“I don’t know. I just did,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
I squinted my eyes at her. “New level unlocked,” I said, as she laughed and hugged me tighter.
Andrei and Misha were standing next to Ivan in the kitchen as we walked back to everyone. Sephie walked between Andrei and Misha, hooking her arms through one of theirs. “When were you two planning on telling me that you could feel me now?” she asked quietly.
Ivan looked surprised as he looked at both of them, then looked to me. Everyone else got quiet, as Viktor and Stephen had heard her as well. Andrei looked nervous again. Poor kid was overwhelmed with everything going on. I was surprised with how well Misha was handling everything. I think he’d had more practice at it than Andrei. Everything was so new for Andrei and he wasn’t sure what to do with any of it.
I couldn’t help but laugh at Andrei’s expression. “We know you weren’t snooping, Andrei.”
His cheeks flushed slightly. “It started for me when we were in Panama. I felt her anger when you were gone with Vitaliy and I saw Ivan move to check on her. That helped me figure out what it was. Then when she disappeared for a while, I felt her get startled, but then it was like she was all over the place, then nothing. That’s when Misha noticed it, too. That’s when he came to check on you.”
“And since then? Has it happened again?” I asked.
Misha nodded his head. “She doesn’t like walking around the office by herself right now. It makes her really nervous. We could both feel it earlier when she walked from your office to come get us to come up here.”
“You guys felt that? That’s why you asked me about it?” she asked.
“Yeah, we knew you were on your way to us before we saw you. That’s why Misha picked you up before you realized what he was doing. We were trying to get you out of there quickly. My computer was slow or we would’ve got you faster,” Andrei said.
This was new for me. I knew she was shy about people looking at her, especially after being taken, but she never felt nervous in the office to me. I looked at her. “This is true? I haven’t felt this.”
“That’s because it doesn’t usually happen when I’m with you. I think people are scared to look at you. They’re more curious when I’m with the guys and it’s especially bad when I’m by myself,” she said as she walked to me.
Misha looked at me. “She said it feels like when Sal and Armando were looking at her. Even though she knows it’s not the same, that’s what it feels like.”
I pulled her to me. I knew she was still dealing with everything that had happened. “It’s okay. I can handle it. I just don’t like it right now,” she said.
“Can you feel them as well like you feel Adrik and Ivan?” Vitaliy asked, clearly curious how everything worked.
“Not as strongly yet,” she said, looking at both Andrei and Misha.
She seems to know what they’re doing though. She knew it was Misha at the door when he came to check on her,” Ivan said.
“She knew they both felt her mood just shift, along with Ivan just a few minutes ago,” I said.
In his quiet, serious way, Stephen said, “Vlad is going to be ecstatic when he hears about this development.” We all erupted into laughter.
Vitaliy and Aleksei both looked confused. “Who’s Vlad?” they asked.
“He’s an old friend. Don’t worry, you’ll love him. Looks a little grumpy on the outside, but has a great sense of humor. Just don’t bring up his strange eating habits. He’s very sensitive about it,” Stephen said, which caused even more laughter from all of us.
