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Armando interjected, “Sephie’s observation skills are next level. I’m going…”
She cut him off, “He knows, Mando. He’s observant in his own right. He’s just confused as to why I have so much input when I’m just the girlfriend.” She crossed her arms across her chest, almost daring him to argue with her.
He stammered for a moment, trying to find the words to say. She saw that she essentially had him on the ropes, so she went in for the kill, taking a few steps toward him. “You thought when I said to let me know when you have problems with Giana at the airport that I meant she was going to be the problem, didn’t you?” She chuckled. “It’s because you have a hard time with women in any kind of an authority position. We can discuss what happened to make you this way at a later time, but I told you to let me know when you had problems with her so I could tell her how to handle it, not you. You see, Mike, I can read people like a book, so yes, as a matter of fact, I am the deciding factor on whether Andy is trustworthy or not. Any more questions?”
We were all trying to hold in our laughter, as we watched Mike’s face turn even more red than Sephie’s hair. He wasn’t going to live this one down for a while. I glanced at Giana, who was completely shocked at this revelation. Given Mike’s reaction, we all knew that she was right. She had called him out and he wasn’t sure how to handle it.
Adrik walked behind Sephie and put his hand on her waist. He looked at Mike with every ounce of intimidation he had in him. “That’s the first and last time you will question either my decisions or Sephie. Understood?”
Mike nodded his head, “Yes, sir.”
Ivan laughed and said to us, in Russian, “Make that two for our team, zero for their team.” We couldn’t help but laugh as Armando and his guys looked at us, confused.
We were definitely getting that white board set up. Sephie might have to learn how to read Russian before this was all over with.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Sephie
While I felt slightly bad for calling Mike out in front of everyone, it was also needed. The longer he went without being checked, the more he would question anything related to me and, in turn, anything related to Giana. While I could stick up for myself, she would struggle with that. I saw her shocked expression, along with Armando’s, after I called him out.
Once we were all done laughing at Ivan’s comment, I said to Giana, in broken Italian, “Don’t worry, he’ll likely do an even better job now, just to prove me wrong.” I smiled at her. Armando winked at me, telling Giana in Italian that I could understand it, but I didn’t speak it very well. It didn’t help her shocked expression.
We continued to talk about options for dealing with Brian from the water department for a while longer. Mike was noticeably quieter during that conversation. Eventually, we decided to call it a night. Adrik was expecting to hear from Trino the following morning after he had time to get in touch with most of his dealers in the city to find out what, if anything, they knew about Sal’s plan.
Team America, Armando, and Giana left while all the guys stayed for a few more minutes in the penthouse. As soon as the door closed and they had enough time to get on the elevator, the guys all died laughing like little kids that had been forced to hold it in during some serious event.
“I didn’t think a man’s cheeks could turn that red,” Andrei said, wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.
Adrik, gaining control of himself, turned me to face him. “Is he going to continue to be a problem? Should I have Armando get rid of him?”
“I don’t think so. That’s what I told Giana. I said he would likely do an even better job and be nicer to her now, just to prove me wrong. Most guys like that push until someone pushes back. That’s what I get from him. He’s not a dick, I don’t think. He’s just a tester. He needs to know his limits. Now that he knows, we’ll likely never have to have that conversation again,” I said, smiling at the genuine concern on his face at the thought of Mike becoming a problem. I had to admit that I adored the side of Adrik that wanted to destroy anything he deemed to be a threat to me.
Ivan looked at Adrik, a serious expression on his face. “We’ll keep an eye on him. If he needs to be checked a little more forcefully next time, I’m happy to do so.”
I turned to look at Ivan, grinning. “Add it to the white board!” I said, causing another round of laughter from everyone.
Viktor said, “We’re going to need a bigger white board. I’ll have someone get a giant one. We’re going to have to teach you how to read Russian now too, sestrichka.”
“Challenge accepted,” I said, smiling at him.
Once the guys all went back to their apartments for the evening, Adrik pulled me closer to him, his hands finding their way underneath my shirt. He ran his hands lightly over my bare skin. He had a slight smirk on his face, but just looked at me for a moment, without saying a word. I raised an eyebrow, looking at him questioningly. He started playing with the curls around my face as he continued to look at me thoughtfully. “You know you’re not just the girlfriend, right?” he finally asked.
I smiled at him, unable to contain my laughter. “Of course, I know. I said that to illustrate my point, not because I think that.”
He continued to play with the curls around my face as he looked like he was lost in thought. Instead of telling me what he was thinking, he simply leaned down and kissed me.
I woke up sometime during the night, under the covers, which meant that Adrik had gotten out of bed. He rarely got up at night, so I knew something wasn’t right. I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen and living room and saw him standing at the windows, looking over the city. He hadn’t seen me come down the hallway, so I knew he was lost in thought.
“Is it time for triple strength tea?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around him from behind, resting my head between his shoulder blades.
“I’m sorry I woke you, solnishko,” he said as his arms covered mine.
“Technically, it was your absence that woke me. Having trouble getting your brain to shut off?”
He sighed, but didn’t respond right away. He’s struggling with whatever it is. I walked in front of him, putting his arms around my waist and placing my hands on his bare chest. He looked down at me, his blue eyes looked troubled. For a moment, I searched his eyes, trying to find what it was that was bothering him. Since he’d figured out my trick, he was more open with me whenever I would try to “read” him. I think he enjoyed it, honestly.
“You’re worried you’re going to turn into your father, aren’t you?” I asked.
