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“She felt like I can trust him. She knows what happened to his nephew though. She’s understandably worried about telling him that she knows,” I said, looking at him to gauge his reaction to that news.
He chuckled. “I was pretty sure she knew something when she asked him what his nephew’s name was. She only ever asks questions like that when she already knows the answer.”
We watched her push Misha back toward the water. She was smaller than him, but that also meant she could be faster than him. When she was on offense, she was relentless. She wouldn’t give you a second to think. She could read you as well and know what you were thinking, perfectly countering any strike you might be able to sneak in. Once she had you on the move backward, you were just about done for. Misha had more room here, so we were letting it go on longer than we would have in the gym. Once you hit the ropes, that usually meant you should give it up, especially if you’d made her angry. She wasn’t going to stop. I think Viktor and Andrei were curious to see how long Misha could last.
Misha tripped on a piece of driftwood that had washed ashore. He stumbled but didn’t go down completely. She didn’t take him down, like we were all thinking she was going to. Instead, she stopped, clearly out of breath. Misha was even more out of breath.
It had been cool when we got to the beach that morning, so everyone had long sleeve shirts on. Now, it was warming up. If you weren’t moving much, it was still pleasant, but those two had definitely worked up a sweat. Misha pulled his shirt off. He clearly made a smart-ass remark to her. They were far enough away that we couldn’t hear him, but we could see the smirk on his face. She surprised me by pulling her shirt off as well. She had a sports bra on. She’d taken her shirt off around us before, as we’d all seen her scars, but I was surprised she would do it here. Maybe that means she feels more comfortable in her own skin now.
They talked for a minute, but then picked up the fight where they left off. Only instead of pushing Misha toward the water, he turned so she was pushing him back toward us. Viktor and Andrei had joined me and Ivan to watch the free entertainment.
“I’m really surprised he’s still going. I don’t think I would’ve lasted this long,” Viktor said.
“He’s clearly having fun pissing her off,” Andrei said. “I mean, not gonna lie, that’s why I do it. And she’s also a hell of a challenge when you piss her off.”
As we stood and watched them coming slowly back toward us, we were joined by Trino and Martin, then Armando and Giana. Some of Trino’s men wandered out to join us as well. Everyone was speechless watching Misha and especially Sephie.
“Jefe,” Trino said, his eyes wide watching her. I looked over to him, expecting him to finish the thought, but he just stood there with his mouth open.
Viktor, like a proud older brother, said, “Everyone thinks that they’ll have to deal with us if they hurt her, which is true. But they don’t know they’ll also have to deal with her.”
Armando laughed. “She broke one of my guys’ faces. He’s still not completely over it.”
Ivan looked at Armando and said seriously, “She isn’t either. She’s still pissed at that guy.”
I could hear the slight edge to his voice. That night was still a sore spot for all of us. Armando chuckled, shaking his head, still amused at the thought of Sephie breaking his guy’s face.
Trino spoke up, “Remind me to never piss her off. Or you, for that matter, Jefe. I don’t want to have to deal with her bad side. Ever.”
Andrei laughed. “She’s finally living up to her namesake. I’m not sure how much longer she’s going to need us.”
We saw Misha and Sephie stop. They were still far enough away that no one could see her scars and Misha was doing what he does best. He made sure to keep his body between Sephie and the rest of us, so she would be shielded from view. He pulled her to him to hug her, so I knew the round was over. I walked to them, pulling my shirt off to give to her. I was happy she was comfortable enough around all of us to take her shirt off, but I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around everyone else. I also liked that she was as modest as she was. I found myself really enjoying that there were things she would only share with me.
“See, this is why I love you,” she said as she took my shirt and pulled it over her head. I couldn’t help it. Every time I saw her in one of my shirts, I struggled to control myself. “Are you ready for a shower yet, solnishko?” I asked in her ear, knowing she would know exactly what I was thinking about. I walked back to the rest of the group, as Giana walked up to talk to Sephie and Misha, looking forward to having her all to myself later.
They were telling Trino and Martin that Sephie had kicked all their asses at one point or another when I walked up. Trino was still astounded, but impressed. Martin’s phone rang as we were talking. He stepped away for a quick moment, but then came right back. He had a frustrated look on his face as he walked back to us, placing his phone back in his pocket.
“Que pasa, Martin?” Trino asked.
Martin said, not sure whether he should be mad or amused, “One of the guys at home said that Massimo’s girlfriend is stinking up the place. Like the entire house smells like her now.”
We all looked at each other, trying to hold in our laughter. Viktor said, “Add her to the list of people that have witnessed Sephie’s anger.” Trino looked at Viktor, wide-eyed, likely thinking that Sephie broke her face too. Viktor laughed. “Sephie verbally annihilated that girl when she showed up unannounced in Boss’s office, trying to start some shit.”
“Jefe, I’m starting to get jealous of you. I thought I was having all the fun with the other bosses, but it sounds like you take the fun with you wherever you go,” Trino said, laughing.
Misha and Sephie walked up to us, just as we were laughing at Trino. He looked at Sephie and Misha, now clearly friends again after what likely looked like an all-out fight to everyone else. She handed me my shirt back as Trino said, “Ah, I’m glad to see you two don’t really hate each other. It was difficult to tell earlier.”
Misha just laughed. “That’s not even possible.” We all exchanged knowing looks with each other.
Chapter Sixty
Sephie
I’d been working on trying to get control of my anger anytime I felt it take over. Viktor and Andrei had both told me that I could use my anger to my advantage, but I had to get control over it. Instead of seeing nothing but red, I was trying to focus on the person in front of me. Misha, in this case. Misha and Andrei both enjoyed making me angry when we sparred together. They said I was more of a challenge when I was angry. I didn’t mind, as it helped me practice getting control of it.
I was starting to see what Viktor and Andrei had been telling me. It felt like I had a clear advantage when they pushed me to the point of anger. I felt stronger somehow. I could read Misha easily, so I knew what his default counterattacks were. Like his paper, rock, scissors game, he was fairly predictable. I wasn’t going to tell him yet that he was so predictable. I needed the practice for now. But eventually, I was going to have to tell him he needed to switch his game up.
We both stopped when he tripped. I was completely out of breath and so was he. He pulled his shirt off, telling me that he hadn’t planned on working this hard this morning. I thought for a moment. I was sweating. It was hot in this long-sleeve shirt. I knew my cheeks were likely red at this point. Fuck it. I pulled my shirt off too and threw it beside his. They’d all seen me with my shirt off when we were at home. They’d all seen my scars. I kept them covered if there was a chance anyone else would be around, however.
