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Ivan and Misha returned with Ms. Jackson as we were all still discussing possibilities for who Giana really was. Ms. Jackson smiled at me when she walked in, but she immediately squinted her eyes, looking me up and down. “Something happened, child. You’re too skinny.”
“It’s a long story, Ms. Jackson,” I said, walking to her to give her a hug. I walked with her back toward the kitchen, where everyone else was and pulled out a chair for her to sit at the kitchen island. I walked back to Adrik, who opened his arm for me. “I am very curious what information you have for us about Giana,” I said, leaning into Adrik. I was starting to feel nervous again and I didn’t like it. I was also now worried about my eyes changing in front of everyone. He felt my slight shift in mood and kissed my temple. His hand found its way under my shirt, his thumb rubbing my skin gently in an effort to keep me calm.
“I knew something had happened when I didn’t see her for a few weeks. She told me they were supposed to go to Italy at the end of last month, but I saw guards outside her door. Even an idiot would know that you don’t need guards outside your door if you’re gone to another country. I didn’t ask questions and I didn’t contact her. Then she showed up at my door a few weeks after that, almost like nothing had changed. She looked better. She’d clearly been forced to sober up while she was being kept to her apartment, but she acted like nothing was wrong the first few times she stopped by to see me. Only difference were the guards that never left her. I didn’t ask about them either. For all I knew, Armando had finally gotten serious about his security. Well, last week, she finally came up with an excuse to step away from her guards for a few minutes. She brought clothes with her, saying she needed my opinion on what she should wear to some function she clearly made up. She called me back to the bedroom to ask for my help to zip up a dress. One of the guards came with me, but I told him in Russian that there was no way to get out of my apartment except through the front door and that she would be fine in there. Should’ve seen the look of surprise on his face,” she said, laughing. She composed herself and continued. “Once we were alone, she came clean on a lot of stuff. She told me she had been planning to rob Armando, but since she was basically being held prisoner, she didn’t know if that was still going on or not. She’d had her phone taken away from her, so there was no way she could get information out to anyone. Robbing Armando was her ticket out. She’d met a guy, somehow, that was going to take her to South America and keep her safe. She said she took the job with Armando to try and get away from her family. The plan to rob Armando was to try and get away from him.”
“Do you know who this other guy is?” I asked.
“No, she said his name was Martin, but that’s all she said about him,” Ms. Jackson said. We all looked at each other, mostly shocked at this revelation.
“What’s her plan now? Did she tell you?” Ivan asked. He was a mixture of amused and angry. It was quite the sight to behold.
“She’s somewhat terrified that her entire plan is going to fall through. She’s got no way to contact anyone. She asked to borrow my phone, but I didn’t bring it to the bedroom with me. You know, young people are practically attached to those things. Half the time, I forget where I left it,” she said flippantly. “She just said the next time she comes I’m supposed to leave my phone in the bathroom for her, so she can use it before she leaves.”
“We’ll give you a phone for her to use. Don’t let her use your phone,” Viktor said.
“I don’t know what she thinks she’s going to plan. She’s got no way to get out of this building without someone openly declaring war on you. I don’t know who this other guy is, but he’s gotta be a complete moron if he thinks that’s a good idea,” Ms. Jackson said.
“We’ll take care of it, Ms. Jackson. Thank you for coming to us with this,” Adrik said. I could feel that he was also a good mixture of angry and amused as well.
Ms. Jackson looked at Adrik seriously. “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for her. If they come after you, they come after her and she’s had enough of that in her life.”
I looked at Adrik, slightly worried her words would make his anger take over, but he smiled at her. “I could not agree more, Ms. Jackson.”
Ms. Jackson stayed in the penthouse a little while longer while Viktor and Ivan got a cell phone set up for Giana to use. It would work like a normal cell phone, but it would also send all the information of who she was talking to along with a copy of her texts to Viktor, so he could see what she was planning. We also wanted to make sure it was the same Martin before we brought Trino in on this newest bit of information.
“When is she planning on coming back to see you?” I asked Ms. Jackson.
“She said she’d be back tomorrow. They only allow her to come once or twice a week right now,” she said.
Viktor handed her the cell phone for Giana. “Let her use this one when she’s there,” he said.
“Hide your cell phone when she’s around, so she doesn’t happen upon it. You also want to keep your phone away from this one, as it’ll copy your cell phone information and send it to us,” Ivan said, trying not to laugh at the thought.
“I might need to borrow that phone and leave it with Edith the next time I see her. I know she’s talking shit about me in between Bingo nights,” she said, laughing.
“Let us know when you want to give her something to actually talk shit about,” Ivan said, smiling sweetly at her.
Once we were back at the house, we discussed this latest development while I made dinner. “Martin thinking he’s saving Giana from Armando would explain why he was dumb enough to go to the Mexicans,” Stephen said.
“Agreed. I do wonder what she’s told him, if it’s the same Martin. I don’t know how else she would’ve met anyone from South America, who’s also willing to steal from a mafia boss and thinks he can protect her from the same mafia boss he’s willing to steal from,” Ivan said.
“It has to be Trino’s Martin,” I said. “They had to have started this while we were at Trino’s island house. That’s the only explanation. He’s never been up here and Armando hasn’t gone to Colombia. It had to be there that either he caught her eye or she caught his.”
“I would not have expected this from Martin. Trino has always spoken highly of him,” Adrik said.
“Boobies,” I said. They all looked to me for more clarification, which made me laugh. “Boobies make men do dumb shit all the time.”
Stephen cleared his throat. “Some men.”
“Valid point, Yoden the Enabler. Boobies make some men do dumb shit all the time,” I said, laughing.
“But still. Like Ivan said, this still doesn’t quite make sense. Giana is a pretty woman, don’t get me wrong, but this dude is literally willing to risk his life for a woman he’s probably never slept with and likely hasn’t even made it to first base with?” Andrei said.
I cleared my throat this time. “You mean how you’ve all risked your lives for me at one point?”
“You’re different, spider monkey,” Andrei said.
“I fail to see how.”
