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Adrik clicked his tongue, turning me so I would look at him again. “You bear none of the responsibility of that. I don’t care how angry he was about anything. He had no right to touch you,” he said. He was angry when he said it. I knew on some level he wasn’t angry with me, but it still surprised me enough that I felt a twinge of fear return and I tensed. He felt it, pulling me toward him. He whispered, “I’m sorry, Sephie. Keep your eyes closed again. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Viktor’s phone beeped again. Without raising my head or opening my eyes, I asked what was being said. “Martin is assuring her that he’s going to get her out, one way or another. He’s begging her not to try to escape on her own,” Viktor said.
“I can’t handle the back and forth between semi-smart Martin and dumb-as-fuck Martin. I’m getting whiplash,” I said. I felt Adrik laugh as he put his hand on my neck, pulling me up so I would look at him. He smiled, saying quietly so only I could hear, “Green does mean sarcasm, it appears.” He pulled me to him, kissing me gently. He left his hand on my neck as I rested my head on his shoulder, my face buried in his neck once more.
“She’s giving him a few days to get a plan together, but she said she’s tired of waiting. She says she can’t stay here any longer,” Viktor said.
“Jesus, she’s dramatic,” I said. “I mean, it’s not her fault, but seriously. Shut the fuck up already.”
They all laughed. “I’ll have the guys at the building try to find out who’s watching the building. I’ll also put a few guys on Armando’s house. He only has a few guys there normally. They might’ve given up since we’ve had him.”
“I want to know who’s working for Martin. It does not make me happy if he has guys in my city,” Adrik said. “I want to wait to see if Martin is dumb enough to make a move against my building before telling Trino about all this.” He pulled me up, so he could look at me again. “Do you think you can find the answer to that? Can Misha see if he’s planning on trying to use force to get Giana out?”
I thought for a second before answering. “I need to be around him or hear him to get something from him,” I said. I glanced at Misha. “Do you think we can find him and see what his plans are? We can use Bubba too. Maybe we’ll get sound again.”
“It’s worth a try,” he said.
“I think we need to give it a day or two though. I’m not sure we’ll get anything useful right now, because he doesn’t know what the hell to do yet,” I said. “And also, I’m scared of seeing him thinking about her graphic text from earlier. I don’t need that seared into my brain.”
“Ewww, gross! Why would you even think about that, gazelle? Now I’m going to be paranoid to try to find him,” Misha said, acting like he was going to vomit.
“You. Are. Welcome, my adorable Russian guardian,” I said, laughing.
“I hate you,” Misha said, trying not to laugh.
We waited three more days for Martin to come up with a plan for getting Giana out. She went silent on him while she waited for him to figure out how to be her savior. We had moved back to the penthouse, as Adrik had several meetings for a few days straight. We’d been able to spend almost the entire week at the house, which felt a little bit like Heaven for all of us.
The messages from Martin came in while Adrik was in a meeting and Viktor was in his normal master of the schedule duties. The rest of us were oblivious until that evening when they came upstairs after Adrik’s day was finished. I was working on dinner, with help from Misha and Andrei when everyone else walked in.
I put everything I had in my hands down, walking to Adrik. His wide smile stretched across his face as soon as he saw me walking toward him. He opened his arms, hugging me tightly to him. He lifted me off the floor, holding me against him as I giggled. I could feel the stress melt away the longer he held me.
Ever since I’d told him about my fear of being away from him as well as finally admitting that I was terrified when Ivan and I were kidnapped, he’d been even more affectionate with me, if that was even possible. It was like another intimacy level was unlocked for us. We both felt like we were even more in sync with each other.
My eyes continued to change, depending on my mood. So far, I’d been able to hide it from the guys, but it was starting to happen so frequently that I was getting worried I wouldn’t be able to keep it from them for much longer. Although, I had to admit that I loved having a secret that only Adrik and I shared. I loved every single one of the guys, but I was enjoying the extra intimacy that Adrik and I had lately. The secret of my ever-changing eyes was something for him alone. For now.
Once Adrik put me down, I turned to see Ivan’s devious grin. “She’s back?” I asked.
“She’s back,” he said.
“Come on, Papa Bear. Out with it,” I said, pulling Adrik back to the kitchen with me so I could finish dinner while listening to the latest development.
“Martin finally got back to her. She’s been completely silent. He’s sent a few texts to her, checking on her, but she hasn’t responded to any of them,” Viktor said.
“Rude, but not unexpected from her,” I said.
“She’s got serious Tori vibes sometimes,” Misha said.
Andrei laughed. “That’s why you hate her so much. You also hated Tori,” he said.
Misha looked at Andrei like he’d never put that together before this moment. “How did I not figure that out before now?” Misha said.
“Martin said he’s come up with a plan to get her out, but it’s going to take time. He says, and I quote, ‘The security at the building is next level,’” Viktor said proudly. “He said he’s planning on creating a diversion, so he can get her out without too many people seeing it.”
“Please tell me he’s going to walk in the lobby and yell “Fire,’” I said.
“He does not specify, but that’s really his only viable option,” Ivan said.
“What about Armando’s house? Did that happen?” I asked, setting the food out for them.
