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“Misha, I can’t even begin to describe how much I love you in this moment,” I called after him. I just heard him laugh as he opened the door.
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Andrei asked, faking outrage.
“Bubba, you know I love you. Besides, I still have to make it up to you over the whole Tori situation. That did not go as I had planned.”
He shook his head no. “You didn’t know she would ultimately turn out to be like that. You were just doing what you always do—trying to make everyone else happy. There’s nothing to make up for. You’re still my favorite spider monkey.”
We ate lunch and decided to pass the time in the gym. I still wasn’t 100 percent but was getting stronger with each day. I’d worked out a few times since getting hurt, with Andrei’s guidance, and didn’t make anything worse. So far, so good. Besides, working out harder meant I could eat more. It was a win-win for me.
Andrei still wouldn’t let me work out like normal and he insisted that I keep it short. Today was no different, but at least it was something. It also helped me pass the time until Adrik was out of his meeting.
After I was done in the gym, we went back to the penthouse so I could shower and change. It was the middle of the afternoon by the time I was done with all that, so I decided to check on the status of the meeting, thinking it would be done. When we got to Adrik’s office, Ivan was sitting in the office.
“Boss is still in the meeting, princess, but I’m sure he will be happy for you to interrupt,” he said when we walked in. He had a knowing grin on his face, like he knew Adrik would be missing me as much as I was missing him.
“How are they still going? Hasn’t it been a couple hours already? Is this meeting that serious?” I asked, surprised they weren’t done yet.
Ivan shook his head. “It’s not serious. Just complicated. Go interrupt. He’ll be grateful you did. Trust me,” he winked at me.
“Are you trying to get me in trouble, Grumplestiltskin?”
“Not at all. I promise you can punch me in the nose again if he’s mad that you interrupted the meeting.” He sounded sincere. I squinted my eyes at him, but decided to test it. I walked to the meeting room, cracking the door open quietly. I stuck my head in, seeing Viktor standing by the door. He grinned at me and motioned me inside the room. As I stepped around the door, he cleared his throat. Adrik immediately looked to Viktor, his eyes finding mine. He smirked, motioning me to come to him. No one else in the meeting had noticed me step inside the room. I initially resisted, but he raised his eyebrow at me, looking at me sternly. I felt a gentle push from Viktor as I walked sheepishly toward him. As I got closer, I noticed an empty chair on the opposite side of him. He pulled it closer to him, making it obvious that it was there for me, in case I decided to disrupt the meeting. I sat down quickly, glancing at the other men in the meeting. Most of them were so engrossed in what was being said that they still hadn’t noticed me. Adrik put his arm across my lap, his hand on my thigh. I held onto his arm, smiling at him shyly, happy to be able to see him and touch him again. This was the longest we’d been apart in a few weeks and as silly as it sounds, I missed him.
He squeezed my thigh, like he was reading my mind. Armando noticed me and nodded his head at me. I smiled at him, listening to what was being said and looking at the other men more closely. They all looked comfortable in the meeting and they were all very occupied with whomever was speaking. A few of them nodded along to things being said. A few would make a face at something that was said, but would add their two cents, and the conversation would continue. I looked at Adrik to find him watching me watch everyone else. He raised an eyebrow at me, silently asking if I caught anything out of the ordinary. I smiled at him and shook my head no. I heard him exhale quietly. I smiled to myself at how much he was starting to rely on my assessment of people. I squeezed his arm. He squeezed my thigh in response.
The meeting kept going, the subject changing several times. They were very thorough in their planning. The project was a similar one to Armando’s project in Naples, but to a larger scale. The building would be a multi-purpose building, with restaurants, office space, as well as apartments. There were a few men who expressed concern over getting restaurants on board with leasing space in the building.
Before I realized I said it out loud, I said, “Why would you be worried about that? They have a built-in customer base if they lease space in this building. They don’t even need to do outside advertising. They can sustain their business strictly on the people in the building. That’s a restaurant’s wet dream.” Everyone stopped and looked at me, most of them shocked to see me, as they still hadn’t realized I was in the room. “Oh, shit. I said that out loud, didn’t I?” I put my hand over my mouth, my eyes wide. I looked to Adrik, who was simply smiling at me. He squeezed my thigh, his thumb rubbing circles.
“She makes a great point, gentleman. If we present it like that, I don’t see how any restaurant would be wary of leasing space in this building,” he said.
Armando winked at me. “I agree. I think we should present it as a restaurant’s wet dream, even,” he said laughing.
The whole room started laughing, helping me to feel somewhat relieved I opened my big mouth. I chewed on my bottom lip, still embarrassed. I looked to Adrik again, his eyes darkened as he looked at my bottom lip, his grip on my thigh tightening.
Soon after, the rest of the room collectively decided that they had gotten through all the points they wanted to. Everyone stood to indicate the end of the meeting. They were talking amongst themselves, shaking hands, getting updates on various other projects, and continuing smaller points about the meeting that just concluded. Adrik stood and pulled me up. My hip was sore from sitting for so long, but I was able to stand without flinching.
Armando walked to me, opening his arms for a hug. “Sephie, I’m so glad you joined us.” I hugged him as he asked quietly, “Anything off?” I stepped back, smiling at him. I shook my head no.
“All good, Mando. How’s Giana? Is she still mostly terrified?”
He chuckled. “Mostly, yes, but she’s getting better. It’s been a crazy few days for her, admittedly.” He had a faraway look in his eye as he thought about her. A small smile crept across his lips as he was lost in thought.
“She seems like a sweet girl,” I said.
He nodded, still clearly thinking of something else. Or someone else. A few of the other men walked up to Adrik, then spoke to me, still laughing at my comment. “You should consider a job in marketing,” a few of them said, still amused.
They started filing out of the meeting room. The guys were escorting them down to the lobby as they left the meeting. I felt Adrik’s arm around me, his lips on my temple. “I’m very happy you decided to join me.”
I turned to look at him. “I almost didn’t, but Ivan said I could punch him in the nose again if you were mad that I interrupted the meeting. I decided to test that.”
I grinned at him as he laughed at me.
“I’m sorry you won’t get to punch him in the nose, but I’m still happy you joined me. I missed you,” he said quietly.
I looked around the room to see who was left and if any of them were paying to attention to us. There were only a few men left in the room, along with Armando, and nobody was looking at us. I kissed Adrik quickly. “I missed you too. That’s really why I interrupted. I mean, punching Ivan would’ve just been an empty perk for not being able to see you.”
He pulled me closer to him, kissing me again, this time more passionately. “You should come to all my meetings, solnishko. You offer valuable insight,” he said.
