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“I want to see how painful it is if I leave the sling off for a bit today. I think my shoulder is more sore from not moving than it is because of being dislocated now,” she said.
“That’s a good sign. If you feel like you want to start moving it, then it’s healing from being torn when it was dislocated. I just don’t know about the extra weight from your cast.”
“Yeah, remind me to have a conversation with the doctor about rationing his cast materials next time. I don’t know much about setting broken bones, but using all the cast supplies seems excessive. This thing weighs as much as I do.”
I laughed. “It might weigh more than you do since you haven’t been eating much.” I poked her hip bone, which was more prominent than it had been since she got hurt before and after the ball. “You’re all sharp again. I don’t even get to enjoy throwing you around more easily.”
“0/10. Do not recommend,” she said, trying to be serious, which made me laugh more. I rolled over, so I was above her. Before I could say anything, she reached up and pressed her palm against my cheek. “I love you, Adrik. More than I ever thought possible.”
Trino stopped by the building two days later. He was leaving for Colombia and wanted to say goodbye. His guys stayed in the lobby once again, which put everyone slightly on edge.
“Miha, you look better each time I see you,” he said, walking to give her a hug.
“Maybe I’ll have the use of both arms the next time I see you,” she said.
“You and Jefe must come to Colombia once this is all over with. Have you ever been to Colombia?” She shook her head no. “Well, then, you must come. I’ll be your tour guide. It’s a beautiful country, Miha. You’ll love it there.”
“I’m not moving there, Trino,” she said flatly. He laughed, shaking his head.
“How’s Martin?” I asked.
“He’s fine. He got a little roughed up when he escaped, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. He has no one to blame but himself for it anyway, so I’m somewhat glad he didn’t escape unharmed. We’re going to have a very long talk when I get back,” he said thoughtfully.
“Good. He was likely coming from a good place, but he also clearly doesn’t have the experience you do when it comes to dealing with certain people,” I said. I somewhat expected Sephie to chime in, but she stayed quiet. I glanced quickly at Andrei, to see his eyes somewhat glazed over. While Sephie could pick up on things about people without anyone noticing, Andrei was still obvious about it. I knew there was more to be revealed about this situation, but if Sephie didn’t say anything before Trino left, I wasn’t going to either and Andrei decided to keep his mouth shut as well.
We talked for a few more minutes. Trino promised to send video of Massimo when he finally threw him off a cliff. I wanted him to keep me informed of what was going on with the Mexicans. It still worried me that they were working with Ricardo. More so for Trino’s safety than anything. They wanted Trino gone and they were bold with Ricardo behind them. It was a volatile situation. Even more than the situation with the other bosses and me.
Once Trino left the penthouse, I looked at Andrei, then to Sephie. “What do you two know?” I asked.
Andrei looked at me, surprised. “How do you know we know something?” he asked.
“Much like Misha, you get a certain look on your face when you’re getting something. I can’t see it with Sephie, but given that she stayed quiet, it likely means there was something she didn’t want to say,” I said.
Andrei laughed. “I’m going to have to work on that,” he said.
“Not me. I don’t care,” Misha said, grinning.
Sephie looked at Andrei. “I want to know what you got first, Bubba.”
“When Boss said that Martin was likely coming from a good place. That’s not right. There’s something deeper to why Martin went to the Mexicans,” Andrei said.
“Something deeper like there’s going to be a split between those two in the future?” I asked.
Andrei thought for a moment, then looked to Sephie like he was asking for help. “You don’t need my help, Bubba. You’re doing just fine on your own. You can ask for clarity. I do all the time. When something comes in, ask a silent question, and wait for the answer. It’ll come,” she said.
He inhaled deeply, thinking more on the situation. He started to say something, then stopped himself and thought for a moment longer. Finally, he said, “It depends on how Trino handles this when he gets back. Martin isn’t happy with him, but I can’t figure out why. That’s why he went to the Mexicans. It has the potential to be bad, but it’s going to be bad for Martin, I think.”
I looked to Sephie, who was smiling at Andrei. “See, you’re getting more details. It’ll get easier each time,” she said. She then looked at me, saying, “It’s not dissimilar to what’s going on here. Martin is drunk on thoughts of grandeur, if you will. He’s getting it in his head that he can run things better than Trino can. The situation with the Mexicans probably scared him, but depending on how Trino handles this, he’ll either remember his place on his own or he’ll be so angry with Trino that he’ll go back to the Mexicans out of spite. Or he’ll try to split from Trino and create his own empire. Only one of those options is going to result in him living much longer.”
I sighed. I appreciated her keeping her mouth shut on this one. I didn’t necessarily want to get in the middle of this. I would support Trino, whatever happened, but he needed to handle this or it would never really be resolved.
“It’s always the people who seek power the most fervently who can’t handle it,” Stephen said.
“Because they’re the ones looking for fulfillment outside of themselves. Something is missing from their soul and instead of seeking the answer to what’s missing and why, they seek a band-aid to cover up their pain. People will commit unspeakable horrors trying to escape having to face their own shadow,” Sephie said. I walked to her, pulling her to me. I could feel her body starting to shake slightly as she leaned against me. Instead of continuing on with this conversation, she changed the subject by asking me to help her take her arm out of her sling. “I’m tired of my arm being strapped down all day long,” she said.
“Your shoulder doesn’t hurt you as much now?” Andrei asked.
She shook her head no. “It’s still sore, but I think it’s sore from not moving at this point.”
