435
Sephie
“Yeah, dude. Go over there. She’ll show you,” Misha said.
Ilya looked at him like he was sure it was a trap. He looked at Viktor, who laughed his deep belly laugh. “He’s not trying to trap you. Her eyes change colors depending on the emotion she’s feeling. Go look. It’s pretty fascinating, he said.
Ilya still looked uncertain, but he got up and walked closer to me. Adrik was 11 behind me, but I could see Ivan. His eyes were still black, which meant mine were too. I closed my eyes, thinking of how much I loved Adrik. lyhen I opened my eyes, lla was standing in front of me. I looked at him with my blue eyes. He looked relieved that they weren’t black again.
“Blue means she’s thinking about how much she loves me,” Adrik said.
“You didn’t even look at her. How do you know her eyes are blue right now?” Ika asked.
“I can feel everything she feels,” Adrik said
“That’s why he was so quick to react when I first touched you. He felt what it did to me right away. He doesn’t usually try to make people’s lives flash before their eyes so quickly,” I said.
“Green ‘means she’s being a sarcastic s hit,” Adrik said, lovingly. I grinned at Ilya’s surprised expression.
1
“You don’t have to show him the other ones, gazelle,” Misha said. He looked flya, saying, “they turn amber when she’s sad and white when she’s scared. All of us feel what she feels and those two are very strong and I’d just either not right now.”
“They turn white?” Ilya asked.
“Yeah, if you think her demon eyes are scary, then you’re not ready to see that. Stephen said.
Ilya looked between Adrik and Ivan. “Can your eyes also do the same, then?”
“Yeah, that reminds me, How can yours turn black but not change like bets di Viktor asked.
“Are you ready for this, Viktor? Because I’m not sure you’re ready for this. But at least you’re already sitting down,” Stephen said. He looked very seriously at Viktor. “They control their demons.”
Viktor’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what Stephen had just told him. “Your black eyes are your demons?” he asked.
I nodded. “I told Ivan not very long after I met you all that the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them. They have no power over you that way. At the time, I was just trying to help him cope. I didn’t know I was being serious. I would’ve told you the same thing if you hadn’t spent so much time avoiding me,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. I could feel Viktor flinch from the blow. It came out a little harsher than I was intending, but I was still very irritated with him.
“I know, sestrichka. I knew you were going to make me deal with everything and I didn’t think I was ready,” Viktor said.
“If it makes you feel any better, me and Sasha have been trying to get him to deal with it for years as well. He wouldn’t listen to us either,” Ilya said.
“He wasn’t actively avoiding you, though. He’s been actively avoiding me for weeks, if not months,” I said,
Viktor stood up, walking to me. “I was actively avoiding you and I am very sony, Sephie,” he said, opening his arms to me. I glared at him for a moment, not moving, but finally gave in and went to him. He wrapped his arms around me, picking me up off the floor. He whispered so only I could heat, “I know you’re not mad. I know you’re hurt. I can feel you’re hurt. It will never happen again.” He held me for a few minutes. I could feel his turmoil. I knew he was sorry.
1 finally sighed. “I know why you did it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but understand.”
1/3
435
He laughed softly as he put me down again. I felt Adrik’s arm around my waist, pulling me back against him. I could tell he was looking at Viktor over the top of my head. “Have you decided, Viktor? In or out?” he asked.
“All in, Boss. Sephie was right. I needed to fix myself first. I couldn’t have handled everything otherwise. They told me what happened with Armando last night. The guards that are on him said he just sits there, completely zoned out. If they make him move, he can move on his own, but only if they guide him. I think we should find somewhere to send him. Then none of us ever have to see him again,” he said,
“Give him a fake identity. No one will ever find him or know what happened to him,” I said to Adrik,
I felt him squeeze me just a little tighter. “Work on getting him set up with a new identity. I want his name, all of his names, erased from history.”
Adrik said.
“Can I pretend to be his brother when we take him? Not gonna lie, that would give me so much satisfaction to drop his a ss off at a nursing home, knowing he’ll never leave,” Stephen said.
Adrik and I both laughed. “I think that should definitely happen,” I said.
Does anyone know if there’s anything he particularly hates?” Ivan asked.
“Women who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. He was not a fan of that,” I said, cringing at the memory. Adrik wrapped both arms around me, leaning down to press his cheek to mine.
Stephen’s face lit up. “YES! We’ll have him put in a room with the chattiest woman there.”
“Do we still have his safes?” I asked Ivan.
“We do still have his safes. We should open those before we send him away,” an said.
“You should do that now because I suddenly really want to know what’s in them,” I said. “I’ll start dinner. You guys go find that answer.”
Adrik chose to come upstairs with me instead of finding the answer to what was in Armando’s safes. Once we were alone; he pulled me in front of him, looking thoughtfully at me. “Some better now?” he asked.
“Better. I’m still slightly irritated, but better,” I said.
He chuckled. “You’re extra cute when you’re irritated.” His sex y smirk on his face, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine..
“I shouldn’t be irritated still. There’s a very big discrepancy in how connected am with the other guys versus Viktor now. It’s like a constant reminder that I can’t get away from,” I said.
“I can order him to spend time with you,” Adrik said, playing with the curls amund my face.
“I don’t know if that will make it better though. It should fix itself, but in the meantime, I’m going to be irritated about it,” I said, pursing my lips. together.
Adrik laughed. “Extra cute.”
Vitaliy walked in the penthouse, without Aleksei. He was just as surprised that it was only me and Adrik as we were that it was only him.
“Where’s Alyosha?” I asked.
He had a sly grin on his face. “At his favorite restaurant. Turns out his favorite waitress still works there,” he said.
“That dog,” I said, laughing.
“Where are your men?” he asked Adrik.
“We have two safes from Armando’s house that require his retinal scan and fingerprint to get into. They’ve gone to open them before we send him a home,” he said.
1
“Where is Armando’s house?” Vitaliy asked. I could already see the wheels thing in his head. I was fairly certain I could see what he was going to ask next. Adrik told him where the house was. Vitaliy asked, “and it’s just empty now? No one is there?”
“It’s completely empty. Martin cleaned him out. Why? Do you want it?” Adrik isked
Vitaliy nodded. “You two need your house back. You’ve been very gracious to let me stay here this long. I’ve decided to stay in the city a little longer 1
don’t want to be a trouble.”
“You’re no trouble, old man,” I said. “You’re only allowed to take Armando’s house if you promise that you and Alyosha will come for dinner regularly.”
He smiled widely at me. “I could never refuse such an offer.”