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He shook his head. “None at the table with us. There was a woman at the bar in the restaurant.”
She looked to Viktor. “Could you see inside the restaurant?”
“No, not at all. I was listening, but I was down the street so no one would see me,” he said.
“Vanessa was there. Or else she’s with either Dario or Massimo. Did you hug either one of them, Mando?”
He shook his head no. “No, I shook their hands, but that’s it.”
“How close were you to the woman at the bar? Do you remember her perfume?” she asked.
“It was very strong, yes. I ordered a drink, but I wasn’t that close to her. As close as you are to me now. She reminded me of the ex-girlfriend that had issues with fidelity. She was not someone I wished to speak to,” he said.
I looked to Ivan. “Have you spoken to the tail you put on her today?” He pulled his phone from his pocket and left the room.
“Who’s Vanessa?” Armando asked, puzzled.
I stood up, moving to pull Sephie back to me. I sat down and pulled her back in my lap, hoping to clear her nose of that smell. “She’s an ex-girlfriend of mine. I broke it off with her years ago, but she showed up recently. It doesn’t make sense. We’re trying to figure out why.” Sephie leaned her head against my shoulder, inhaling deeply like she was trying to replace the perfume smell with my scent.
“You think she’s working for Dario and Massimo?” he asked.
“We don’t think, we know,” Ivan said, walking back into my office. “She was at the restaurant and she left with them. I told the tail to cautiously follow her, so if he ever felt like anyone she was with was trying to evade him, he was to lose them on purpose. He doesn’t know where they went after the restaurant, but she got into the vehicle with them after the meeting.”
I sighed, thinking about how this web of conspirators just kept growing.
“I knew I should’ve punched her in the nose when I had the chance,” Sephie sighed.
Right on time. Everyone laughed.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Ivan
Sephie came to me the next morning in the gym. Everyone else was preoccupied with other things, so she snuck over to me, a look of worry on her face.
“I kind of fucked it up with Massimo and Dario, didn’t I?” she said. I could see the look of genuine concern in her eyes.
I tried not to laugh at her, as I knew she was really worried. “No, princess. We just need to take extra precautions when it comes to you. Salvadori’s people are still actively looking for you and now I’m sure that Massimo’s people will be too. We just need to be more careful. You’re not to leave with any less than three of us, okay?” I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort, but also to make sure that she wasn’t going to argue with me. She nodded her head, chewing on her bottom lip like she did when she would worry. “I think we also need to have a conversation about exactly what you know about all the other bosses too. Especially Massimo. There have been a lot of people after that man for a lot of years. If any one of them find out you know what you know, they could come for you too.”
“Awesome. Let’s just set the whole city onto me. I mean, go big or go home, right?”
I laughed, shaking my head at her. “You know we won’t let anything happen to you, princess. There’s a reason we work for your goddamn prince and why no one ever gets close to him,” I said, a sly smile on my face.
She grinned at me. “I’ve heard stories, yes.” Andrei called for her from across the gym. She smiled at me, turning to go. “My giant trainer beckons me to lift heavy shit!” she said, as she jogged across the gym.
Her hip must be getting much better if she can handle more than a walk.
After we were done in the gym and ready for the day, I caught Boss alone in his office. “I’d like to go have a conversation with Max about keeping his mouth shut about Sephie. And not just because of Tori either. This new situation with Massimo has me a little worried.”
He looked at me with an intensity that I instantly recognized. He was just as worried about Massimo, but there was something else there. “That kid makes me so angry, but she still feels loyal to him, so I can’t tell you to have as serious of a conversation with him as I’d like to,” he said.
Ah, there it is. This might be the first time I’ve seen him jealous.
I chuckled. “Listen, I’ve wanted to punch that kid since that night in the restaurant when he shook her too hard and then basically abandoned her for some mediocre woman at the bar.”
Adrik’s eyes went wide. “It’s not just me, then? I keep telling her that he’s an idiot. To the point that I’m actually starting to feel bad about it. He’s like her one friend her own age.”
“She’ll see him for how he really is in her own time, Boss. He was the only friend she had after a difficult time in her life. That kind of life experience can make you ignore things you shouldn’t just to keep from being completely alone. I understand her connection to him, but I don’t think it will last that much longer, unless he starts to realize what he’s doing to her every time he chooses another temporary woman over her.”
