Chapter Sixty-Five
Adrik
Sephie managed to eat a little bit, after Ivan showed me the pressure points to help give her relief. I was hopeful that she would be able to get some sleep without having to take another pill. I’ve been worried about her since the attack. She’s so strong, but she hasn’t been completely herself yet. I hated seeing her in pain in any way. Of course, she was still fun to be around and always looking after everyone else, but we could all tell that she was having to make an effort to be that way. Normally, it came so naturally. Now, she was having to force it.
At least now I had a way to get her some relief. I felt like I could do something finally. I’ve felt mostly useless throughout this whole situation, which drives me crazy. It only adds to my frustration with everything that’s going on with Salvadori and Anthony. Salvadori had tried his best to get the other bosses to turn against me. There were six bosses under me. Salvadori managed to take two to his side, but the other three came to me immediately when Salvadori approached them. This showed me they were loyal to me.
I was working on ways to get more information from Sicily on Anthony and Lorenzo. One of the bosses that was loyal to me, Armando, had extensive family in Italy. His family was powerful in Italy, as well as in the city. He was helping to set up an information network from Sicily. We had gotten bits and pieces of information so far. Nothing substantial, but information takes time to collect.
It looked like Salvadori wanted to start a war in the city. I was trying to avoid that, at all costs. The people of the city didn’t need to be involved in this petty dispute. I would take the fight to Sicily and strike first before I would let Salvadori unleash chaos on the city like he was planning.
I looked down at Sephie, sleeping soundly on my chest. I ran my hand through her hair lightly. She loved it anytime my hands were in her hair, even in her sleep. It would make her snuggle into me, sometimes making the cutest little cooing noises as she slept. It was one of my favorite things to do when she was sleeping. It made me smile every time.
She wrapped her body around mine tighter as my hand ran through her curls. I groaned quietly. I wanted her so badly, right now. She still had another week to go for her bed rest. I didn’t want to mess that up, so I was trying my best to refrain. With each day, it got more and more difficult to keep my hands off her. Especially on days when she was feeling well and showed glimpses of being her old self. Her sense of humor, the brightness she would bring to everything she did, was sexy as he ll. At this point, she could smile at me, and I’d be ready to rip her clothes off.
Her fingers lightly started to move on my chest. She was still sound asleep. This was something she would do occasionally. I’d decided she was playing the piano in her sleep. Her fingers always moved rhythmically when she would do it and she was always sleeping peacefully when it happened. I ran my hand down to her waist, holding her close. I drifted off to sleep as she played lightly on my chest.
The next morning, I woke up to Sephie’s hands running lightly over my back. Her body was pressed against mine, her arms wrapped around me. When she noticed me stirring, she reached up and kissed my lips lightly. “Good morning,” she said as I opened my eyes. Her sweet smile the first thing I saw.
“Mmm. Good morning, my love. How do you feel this morning?”
“Better. Ivan is magic, apparently.” I heard her stomach growl as she talked. “My stomach agrees,” she said, as she smiled bigger.
“This is very good news. I will have someone come today for acupuncture. You’ll feel normal again in no time.” |
pushed her onto her back, folling half on top of her. “Which means I can wake you up the way I really want to once again,” I said kissing her deeply.
She moaned into my mo uth, making me want her that much more. I kissed her neck, biting softly. I heard her gasp. “Fu ck this week can’t go by fast enough,” she groaned.
I laughed as I kissed her chest. “You and me both, solnishko. You and me both. I want nothing more than to be deep inside you right now.”
Her breath caught. “You are not making this any easier.”
“I’m sorry…that’s a lie. I’m not sorry,” I said, grinning at her.
She pushed me off her, getting out of bed. “I don’t want another headache. You stay away from me!” she said, laughing.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. For real. I’ll behave. I promise.”
Ivan knew of an acupuncturist, and she was able to come to the penthouse that afternoon. I gave them privacy in one of the spare rooms, but I was close by. I heard a few painful cries from Sephie and wanted to go in the room, but Ivan stopped me. “She’s okay. The pain is short-lived.”
I refrained from barging into the room. Sephie was quiet the rest of the time. Well over an hour later, the acupuncturist came out of the room, closing the door behind her. “She will be out in a minute. She’s a strong woman. Her body has been through a lot, but she’s healing.” She looked at me. “You’re her boyfriend?” I nodded. “You’re helping her more than you know. Her qi would spike when she talked of you. You make her even stronger than she already is.”
I ran my hand through my hair, not knowing what to say. I looked to Ivan and back to the acupuncturist. “What do I do? How do I help her more?”
She smiled. “Keep loving her.” She grabbed my hand and pressed on roughly the same spot as Ivan had used on Sephie yesterday. She closed her eyes while she pressed, then said, “she’s doing the same for you. You two make each other stronger. You each have what the other needs. You are the yin; she is the yang. Together you find balance.” She let go of my hand, still smiling at me.
I stood, speechless. Ivan looked at her, “how often does she need acupuncture to help with her concussion? The pain pills they gave her at the hospital make her sleep for days and make her nauseous so that she can’t eat. We don’t want her to take them, but she had a crushing headache the other day after going out,” he said.
“She’s got blockages, some from the attack, some from her past. I can come everyday for this week, but as she clears, she won’t need it as often. She’ll start to feel better right away, and she should have an appetite again.”
I extended my hand to her. “Thank you for making her feel better. Whatever she needs she will have.”
The door to the spare room opened and Sephie walked out, looking more relaxed and yet more alert than I’d seen her since the attack. Her light was coming back. She walked to me, tucking herself in my side where she fit perfectly. Ivan looked at me, he had clearly noticed it too. He walked the acupuncturist out, after Sephie had thariked her once again.
I looked down at Sephie. “How was it?”
“Painful at first. But then it was so much better. I don’t know, I feel lighter if that makes sense?”
I smiled at her. “I can see it. You look more like your old self. It makes me happy. She will come tomorrow again.” I kissed the top of her head. “She says you’re very strong.” She hid her face in my shoulder. “You’re cute when you’re shy, my love.”