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After the dealers left the apartment, Ivan brought the subject up once more. We needed to make a decision. “The biggest question now is what to do with the princess during this,” he said.
She glanced nervously at him, then to me. “What are the options?” she asked. She was definitely still worried about it. We could all see it written all over her face.
“So far, we’ve only come up with two options. I stay at the penthouse with you or you come with us. I can’t say I’m happy about either option,” Ivan said.
“But they need you. You can’t stay behind,” she said immediately. It was no surprise that she was thinking of the guys before she was thinking of herself. She started to chew on her lip as she tried to come up with a solution. “What if you took me to the house and left me there? No one will know where I am. There are plenty of guards. I’ll be safe there.”
“Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you alone,” I said.
“Then that only leaves one option,” she said.
Stephen, in his quiet way, said, “This might be a big help to us. She’s a hell of a shot. She’s fast and she can easily defend herself. It’s not like she’s going to be deadweight if she comes with us.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Andrei said. “I would be more worried about her if she wasn’t with us. With us, we all know she’s going to do just as much damage as we could do and we know where she is at all times.”
Viktor also agreed with Stephen and Andrei. “You know I don’t like anyone to be distracted. We would all be distracted if she wasn’t with us,” he said. “She’s been training with us for long enough now. She can handle herself and we’ll be able to keep an eye on her, the same as we keep an eye on each other.”
I inhaled deeply. They were right. I just didn’t want to put her in danger because I couldn’t leave her alone. I ran my hand through my hair, looking at the floor. I was still struggling with the decision. I felt her hand in mine. “Misha, what do you think?” she asked.
I watched as he ran through possibilities in his mind. He clearly looked nauseous. “What was that one? That was a definite no whichever one it was,” she said.
“That was you and Ivan staying at the penthouse. I think you’re coming with us, gazelle,” he said. Just to make sure, he ran through that possibility in his head, that faraway look in his eye once more. He ran his hands quickly over his arms, his upper body shuddering with the goosebumps he was obviously feeling. That settles that.
I looked down at Sephie. She looked unsure, but she wasn’t arguing with the decision either. She had the same look when the guys were trying to talk her into going up against Mike. She easily dominated in that situation. I had faith in her abilities. They were right; it would be better to know she was safe with us rather than worrying about her while we were away from her. I smiled to myself, thinking about how protective they’d all come to be of her. She meant so much to all of us. We would do everything in our power to ensure she was always safe.
Chapter Ninety
Stephen
We were in the penthouse going over the plan one last time before we left the building. Our nerves were on edge, but Sephie’s more so than the rest of us. We were trying to reassure her as much as we could, but I knew that adrenaline was going to prove useful once the chaos started. She could shoot better than a majority of the guards we had on staff. She was hell in the ring. She also had six attack dogs ready to rip anyone apart that dared to look at her the wrong way.
I found myself thinking about just how much she’d come to mean to me lately. I’d never been close to anyone my entire life. I didn’t have many friends growing up. I was always the quiet kid. That carried over into my adult life. When I figured out I was gay, I retreated even further into my shell. It took me years to tell my parents. There were members of my family that still didn’t know. It was much more accepted now, but my family was very traditional. It was just easier to come up with reasons why I wasn’t married with kids than it was to have the conversation with them about the truth.
I had resigned myself to keeping that secret from the other guys forever. They were all alpha males. I expected them to have a huge problem with it. I was worried they would see me as weak. My perspective changed when Sephie came along. She was always unapologetically herself and the other guys loved her more because of it. It took me a long time to warm up to her, simply because I was worried she would figure out my secret and tell the others. But the more I tried to put distance between me and Sephie, the more she found ways to show me that being myself was the best way to be. In her own special way, she coaxed me out of my own darkness that I’d put myself in.
As it turns out, she did figure out my secret before the other guys, but she didn’t tell anyone. She even swore Adrik to secrecy when she told him. She let me tell them in my own time. And they accepted me even more than they already did once I told them. Secrets kept in the dark can destroy you, but secrets brought to the light have no power over you anymore.
We were gearing up, almost ready to leave. I saw Viktor catch Sephie alone. It looked like he was giving her a pep talk. He’d been worried about bringing her with us, as he ultimately felt responsible for all of us, all the time. But he didn’t like the idea of leaving her behind either. I was sure she was going to be an asset, so I was happy she was coming along. Andrei was right, we’d all be worried about her if she wasn’t with us.
We knew our individual roles. Sephie was to stick with Ivan or Adrik if something was to happen to Ivan. The rest of us would step in, when and if needed. Misha was certain that it was going to work out for the best. Our plan was solid. Oscar had provided valuable information on how to make the original plan even better, so we were expecting things to go smoothly.
We walked off the elevator toward the vehicles. We were taking a combination of SUVs and bikes, just in case we needed options. It would also be more difficult to separate us if we had more vehicles. The dealers that were helping us were going to meet us at Sephie’s old apartment. Chen had come to the building with instructions on how to get to the parking garage underneath the building without anyone seeing him. He was taking another SUV, just to add more vehicles to the party. He was waiting on us when we exited the elevator.
“Who’s ready to have New Year’s celebrations early?” he asked as we got closer to him. He had a good sense of humor, and like Sephie, tended to make jokes when he was nervous. We were all in mission mode, however. His face fell when nobody laughed. “Right. Jokes later,” he said, clearing his throat.
Viktor had brought a few guys from the building security team on as well. They were all guys that had been working for us for years. We’d used them before for various things. They knew how to handle themselves and we could trust them. We knew that the two smaller warehouses should be easy to get to, but the warehouse at the docks was covered with armed guards. Even with all the extra people, we were going to be outnumbered.
I had scouted the warehouse at the docks and found a suitable nest where I could even the playing field as much as possible. They wouldn’t see us coming, hopefully.
The dealers were waiting at Sephie’s old apartment when we got there. The security detail guys had already gone ahead to the two smaller warehouses to get eyes on them. We grabbed the dealers and went to the first warehouse. Conversation was minimal. Our guys had earpieces, like usual, but the dealers didn’t.
We pulled up a few blocks from the first warehouse. This was the smallest of the warehouses. They were running the operation 24/7, but there weren’t that many people in the warehouse. Only enough to make the brawn along with a handful of guards and that was it. Our plan was to get the explosives attached to the building in strategic spots and get out without being seen. Because this one was an easier job, only a few guys were needed to get everything in place. Andrei and Oscar went with two other guys. The rest of us waited as backup if needed.
Before they left, Sephie had to hug Andrei. She was trying to be tough, but she couldn’t help herself. If anything, it was motivation for him to make it back. While the rest of us didn’t have a romantic relationship with her like Adrik, there was still a special relationship between her and the five of us. If ever there was unconditional love, Sephie was it. She was something special in our lives and not a single one of us wanted to give that up.
Andrei, Oscar, and the other two guys jogged toward the warehouse. It was approaching midnight, so we had the cover of darkness to help conceal our movements. We could hear everything through the earpieces, but there wasn’t much to listen to. Communication was kept to an absolute minimum.
It took maybe twenty minutes and the four guys were jogging back to us. We all chuckled when Sephie exhaled loudly as soon as she saw Andrei come into view. Ivan put his arm around her shoulders, smiling down at her. It was nice to have someone worried for your safety.
