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He looked lost in thought for a moment, but then smiled at me. “Sephie was right. You are wise beyond your years.” He laughed, then added. “She also said you just don’t want anyone to know it because you value your peace too much.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “She hasn’t been wrong yet, Boss.”
“Let me know how it goes with Max. Do you need anyone to go with you?” he asked, still smiling.
I shook my head no. “Andrei told me that he called them ‘trained killers’ when they saw him yesterday. He’s plenty scared of us and I can be very convincing when needed.”
He nodded his head. “Be as convincing as you need to be without hurting him.”
We’d had Max followed since the night we first met Sephie, just to make sure he stayed safe and that no one would try to get to her through him. We saw him try to hide her behind him in the parking lot that first night when Boss went back to give her money, so we knew there was at the very least a friendship there. Going back to give her money was Adrik’s excuse anyway. He really just wanted to see her again. We all knew it, but we all played along. We’d never seen him act like that around a woman before, so we were all somewhat fascinated by it.
I knew his schedule, so I knew where to find him. He’d be at the gym, then he’d go home, shower, and change in time to get to work just before the happy hour crowd hit. I waited outside the gym until he came out. I hated smoking, but it was a reasonable excuse to be standing outside, so I smoked a couple of cigarettes while I waited.
All of us had smoked off and on for years, Boss included. We’d all stopped since Sephie came to us, but none of us actively decided to quit. We just did. She never said a word about the habit to any of us. Whatever benefit we were getting from smoking occasionally was no longer worth it.
Max walked out, his head down. Man, this kid is never aware of his surroundings. I followed him to his car, where he finally spotted me in the reflection of his car’s window as he went to open the door.
“Holy shit, what are you doing there?” he said, turning to face me. He pressed himself against his car, like he was trying to get away from me.
“We need to have a chat, kid,” I said. I put out my cigarette, looking at him seriously the entire time.
“A chat about what?” he asked, even more nervous now.
“Sephie.”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Is she okay? I just saw her yesterday.”
“She’s fine. I would like to keep it that way. I’m going to be very clear here, kid. You are no longer going to mention anything about her to anyone. That includes Tori. Especially Tori. No one is to know that your grandmother taught her to understand Italian. No one is to know any details about her from this point forward.” I cracked my knuckles, knowing it would make him even more nervous. “If I hear that she’s in danger because someone found out that bit of information, I’m coming for you first. Are we clear?”
“Ye … yes. We’re clear. Is she in danger?” he asked, his fear overtaken by concern.
I looked at him for a moment. “She’s been in danger since we first met her, but you’ve been too busy choosing other women over her to notice.” I walked away from him before he could respond. He was still leaning against his car, completely stunned, when I glanced back before walking out of sight. Good.
Two Weeks Later
We hadn’t been able to go to the house for a few weeks. Adrik wanted me to take Sephie to the piano gallery, so she could play. While we were there, he wanted me to arrange to have a piano sent to the penthouse, hopefully without her knowing.
I grabbed Misha and Andrei to go with us. Boss was disappointed that he couldn’t go. Listening to her play was becoming one of his favorite things, so Misha promised to video her so he could watch later. Fucking adorable.
Sephie wasn’t privy to where we were going. We just told her to come with us and that she’d be happy about it.
“I swear on all things holy, I’m punching you all in the nose if you’re forcing me to go shopping,” she said, trying not to laugh.
We laughed at her in the elevator on the way to the parking garage. “Princess, I can’t believe you would think we would do such a thing to you. It hurts me,” I said, putting my hand over my heart. “Which is saying a lot, since I can’t feel pain.”
“Oh, dear God, you’ve just come up with the ultimate comeback. The final comeback. Like, how do I top that one? It’s the comeback of all comebacks. Conversation-ending comeback. Mic drop. We’re done here.” She grinned at me.
We pulled up in front of the gallery and her eyes went wide. “This is where you guys are taking me?”
I nodded. “Adrik feels bad we haven’t gotten to the house yet. He knows you miss the piano, so he wanted you to have some time. Stay as long as you want, princess.”
She got out, with me while Andrei and Misha parked the vehicles. She turned to me and jumped into my arms, almost catching me off guard. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”
When we walked in, the salesmen knew her immediately. “Sephie! You’re back! We haven’t seen you in forever!”
“Hi, Craig. How are you?” she said, hugging him as he walked up.
“I’m good, Sephie. Please tell me you’re here to get some playing time in. We have a couple of potential customers coming in just about fifteen minutes and you’re going to sell pianos today for us if you play,” he smiled widely at her. Andrei and Misha walked in, standing next to me. Craig looked nervously at us, but tried to remain calm.
