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“I see what you were talking about before,” I said to her, speaking Russian. She sighed. I pulled her closer. We were almost at the island, where she could get a little time to herself, hopefully.
Armando and Giana were still talking to each other quietly. Giana was speaking Italian. I’m not sure Armando had told her that Sephie could understand Italian. Sephie was clearly listening to their conversation as she mumbled “shit” under her breath. I looked at her, raising my eyebrow. She smiled at me, whispering, “It’s fine. I’m mostly just an asshole.”
We landed soon after. Trino had arrived shortly before us and was there to greet us when we arrived. He surrounded himself with just as many trusted guards as I did. He’d also had the same ones for years, so they were all familiar faces. There was a mutual respect between his men and mine, as well between Trino and me.
“Jefe, it’s good to see you again,” Trino said, walking up to me with his hand extended.
I grasped his hand firmly. “Trino. It’s been a while, my friend.” Sephie was standing next to me. Trino’s attention quickly shifted to her.
“And who is this beautiful senora, mi amigo?” he asked. She smiled at him, offering him her hand.
“Sephie,” she said as he took her hand and kissed the back of it.
“Sephie? That’s an unusual name,” he said.
“It’s short for Persephone,” I said.
His eyes widened in understanding. “Dios mio.”
She grinned at him. “Clearly, you understand the reference.”
He looked to me, still somewhat surprised, but smiling. “You two were clearly meant to meet, Jefe.”
“You have no idea, Trino,” I said. Armando and Giana stepped off the plane behind us. Trino greeted Armando and Giana as warmly as he greeted me and Sephie.
We made small talk while the guys got everyone’s bags loaded onto the vehicles that Trino had brought to take us the short distance to his villa. It was a short drive from the runway to the house. The island was much smaller than the cities we were used to, but it still had everything we needed. And Trino’s villa had its own private beach, which made it secluded and perfect for us to meet without anyone ever finding out.
I knew we were here on serious business, but I was also looking forward to a few days of not having to worry so much about Sephie’s safety. It only helped that the setting was so beautiful.
Trino showed us to our rooms and left us to freshen up. Sephie collapsed on the bed. “Do you want to tell me why you think you’re an asshole, solnishko?” I asked, lying next to her. I propped myself up on my elbow, so I could look at her.
She smiled at me. “Giana was talking about how nervous she was to be with us. Armando was trying to calm her down. That’s probably why she was so talkative on the plane. She was just overly nervous and trying to calm herself down.”
I chuckled. “It still doesn’t mean you’re in charge of calming her down, Sephie.” I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. “And you’re not the only one that was contemplating jumping out of the plane for some peace,” I smiled against her lips.
She giggled. “You guys heard that?” I nodded, which made her laugh more. She rolled into me, hiding her face in my shoulder. “I’m such a horrible person.”
I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her on top of me as I rolled onto my back. “You’re not a horrible person, solnishko. You’re just a little bit evil. But I happen to love that about you, as I’m a lot evil,” I said, grinning at her as I pulled her to me to kiss her.
Sephie was somewhat refreshed after a little time away from her new Italian shadow. We ventured out to find Trino. I needed her to spend as much time around him as she could, to get a feel for whether I could trust him or not. We found Ivan almost immediately when we left our room. He had been sleeping better, with the recording of Sephie playing, so he was looking much more like himself, aside from still having his entire arm bandaged and in a sling. Andrei was almost back to normal. He could use his arm lightly and only had a small bandage over the wound the bullet left when it hit him.
“Super Squish the savior,” Sephie said with a grin on her face as we met Ivan.
“I didn’t know I needed to tell you to keep all hands and feet inside the plane until the ride had come to a complete stop,” he said as he cut his eyes down at her, a small grin on his face. I was still surprised at how much funnier he was after being around Sephie for a relatively short amount of time. He had always been so quiet before she came into our lives. We all were. But now, because of her, we saw the lighter side of everything.
I found myself thinking about watching her at her piano a few days ago. She really had brought out the best in all of us. I’d never cared about making anyone happy before her. We all saw how much effort she put into making everyone around her happy. It was contagious. She did such an amazing job of it that we wanted to do the same for her. We were so excited for her to get her piano back. Every single one of us, men who had killed without a second thought, were wiping tears from our eyes watching her get her piano back. She was so happy and, in turn, we were all happy. She was incredible.
Trino’s island house was spacious, with just as much outdoor space as indoor, given the perfect climate most of the year. We found him outside, with his second-in-command, Martin. Good. Sephie will be able to meet him as well.
“Jefe, come and sit,” Trino said, motioning for us to sit on the couches next to him. “I have to say I’m not sad about you bringing Sephie with you. She’s much nicer to look at than your men.” Sephie didn’t say anything, but she made sure she sat in between me and Ivan. I put my arm across her lap, my hand on her thigh.
I nodded toward Martin. “Good to see you again, Martin.”
He returned the nod. Martin was generally a very quiet man, which I appreciated. I looked to Trino, asking, “Have you met with Dario and Massimo yet?”
Both Trino and Martin laughed. “No, man. It’s too much fun to make them wait. I would’ve thought they would have caught on by now, but they’re still down there waiting for me to see them. They call Martin every day to see if I can see them that day. Every day he says something came up. I’m a very busy man as you can clearly see,” Trino said, opening his arms and gesturing around him to the empty island house. We all couldn’t help but laugh at his games with the other bosses. “Honestly, I wouldn’t mind not meeting with Massimo at all. That cabron ...” He trailed off, but didn’t finish his thought. He looked to Martin as Martin cursed under his breath.
“What has Massimo done to you to make you hate him so much?” Sephie asked.
