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“Come on, let’s get you to bed. I didn’t want to hurt you by moving you in your sleep,” I said. “I still don’t understand how the three of you could fit on that couch.”
Her gorgeous smile made my heart threaten to stop. “It’s simple, really. Magic,” she said as she started to try and unwrap herself from the blanket. Andrei helped her and then kept a hold of her as he sat up slowly while I moved her legs so she was sitting. She was able to stand up almost on her own, with only a little bit of help from me this time. “How long have you been gone? What time is it?” she asked. Ivan answered her, telling her we’d only been gone a little under two hours. “I can take more superprofen before I go back to bed, then,” she said, walking slowly toward the kitchen. I caught her, steering her toward the bedroom instead.
“I’ll get it, love. It’ll be faster this way,” I said, grinning at her.
“Solid logic,” she said, walking toward the bedroom.
Chapter Ninety-Seven
Sephie
I managed to sleep through the entire night. I’m not even sure I moved at all once I went back to bed. I was so happy to be in our bed, with Adrik next to me. I was warm, I was comfortable, it was Heaven. Instead of trying to position me to lay on his chest, I slept on my good side, my back pressed against him, and under the covers. It helped me stay warm, which helped me sleep the whole night.
I felt him start to stir and felt his grip on me tighten slightly as he tried to wake me up, but he made sure I wouldn’t move too suddenly. I opened my eyes, but was disappointed that I couldn’t see him right away. “I like it much better when I can see you first thing when I open my eyes,” I said, still feeling very sleepy. I felt the vibration in his chest as he laughed quietly at me. He moved so his cheek was against my neck, brushing his facial hair against my neck softly. I felt his lips on my neck, kissing me softly. “I also like it much better when I can respond without completely killing the pleasure,” I said.
He laughed again, but pulled his arm from under my head. He got up and moved, so he was lying in front of me, his boyish grin on his face. “Better?” he asked as he lay down in front of me, his hand on my cheek.
“Much,” I said, feeling the warmth that I always felt when I thought about just how much I loved him.
“You slept the whole night. I’m surprised,” he said.
“I was happy to be back in this bed, apparently. With you,” I said, loving the feel of his hand running lightly over my face and neck. “You weren’t gone very long last night. I expected it to be later when you got back.” I closed my eyes again, concentrating on the feeling of his touch.
“We got unexpected information from Armando that made it clear he needed to have to sit with it overnight,” he said. I opened my eyes, curious as to what information they could’ve found out that would’ve prolonged things. Adrik laughed. “As Stephen put it, he has mommy issues,” he said.
“Does he now? What kind of mommy issues?” I asked.
“Stephen nailed it. That guy will use psychology as a weapon when he wants to. He’s just as good as you about figuring people out, he just doesn’t want to until he wants to destroy the person,” he said.
I smiled. “Stephen is much like Ivan, but instead of not wanting anyone to know how wise he is to protect his peace, Stephen doesn’t want anyone to know how wise he is because he’s insecure about his knowledge. I’m guessing his parents were hard on him or he had a sibling that told him he was stupid a lot as a kid. He’s still not over it, which is hilarious because he’s seriously one of the smartest people I know.”
Adrik just grinned at me. “You two should start working together. No secret is safe.”
I laughed weakly, trying to not cause pain in my ribs. “What did he say about Armando?”
“I’m still not sure if he was guessing or if he knew for sure, but he said Armando’s mom was probably an addict and hooked to get money for drugs. He said she likely neglected him because she was always either whoring or so high she forgot she even had a son.”
It suddenly all made sense. My eyes went wide as I said, “That’s why he chooses the women he does and why he gets them addicted. He’s trying to be their savior, but then he’s disgusted that they become addicts like his mom so he disposes of them.”
Adrik just laughed at me. “I’m going to have to start paying Vinny more. You and Stephen both are going to need more sandwiches. That’s exactly what he said too.”
I suddenly remembered my extra sandwich from the day before that I hadn’t eaten yet. My stomach also remembered. Adrik just laughed. “I had to bring up Vinny’s,” he said, shaking his head as he got up to help me out of bed.
“What else did you find out last night?” I asked as I stood up slowly to walk to the bathroom.
“Not much,” Adrik said as he walked to the closet. He could talk loud enough that he kept talking to me while I was in the bathroom and he was grabbing me clothes in the closet. “He said he thinks that he and I are a lot alike, which I found amusing. And I think he’s still under the impression that he thinks Ricardo and Lorenzo are coming to save him.”
I felt momentary panic at his last sentence. When I didn’t respond right away, Adrik poked his head in the bathroom. His face softened as he walked to me, frozen in place in front of the sink. “They’re not coming to save him, love. He’s outlived his usefulness to them now. They don’t care about him. Besides, Lorenzo is dead. So is Anthony. I still don’t know that much about Ricardo, but he’s at least smarter than Armando. He knows he can’t do anything against me. Especially not without Lorenzo.”
“They’re dead? When did that happen?” I asked. He started to help me with the shirt of his I’d worn to bed last night. He walked to the shower, turning the water on, then back to me to help me finish getting completely undressed. I held my braid up, asking, “Can you tie this up for me? Then I don’t have to wash it. Viktor can redo it later. I don’t want to be in the shower that long this time.”
“Of course, solnishko,” he said as he tried to figure out how to do it. He’d watched me put my hair up a million times, but it’s one thing to watch and another to do. He answered my first question as he worked on my hair. “Trino took care of Tony and Enzo the same time we came to get you and Ivan. We still weren’t completely sure who else took you, but we were hoping Sal was involved and would be at the building, so we could take care of him at the same time.”
“But what’s Sal going to do when he finds out?” I asked.
“He doesn’t know yet. I called Trino from the hospital and asked him to keep it quiet until you were out of the hospital. I need to call him later today. Once he’s had time to wake up,” he said. He had managed to take the braid out and put my hair up in a very messy bun. It was out of my way and it meant I could be in the shower for a shorter time, so I was very happy with the results.
“Trino knows I was taken?” I asked as he started to take my arm out of my sling. I held onto it with my right arm as much as I could. It didn’t hurt quite as much today, but it was still extremely painful.
