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“I’ll see them all on Sunday. I get my supply from them, so I pay them on Sunday when I’m sold out. I’ll ask them both if they know anything. How can I get in touch with you?” His question actually stumped me. I hadn’t had a cell phone for months. I never needed it. I had six of them at my disposal, so I just never bothered carrying mine. Since Max had started dating Tori, he’d fallen off the face of the earth and he was the only one I ever talked to outside the building.
Viktor handed Chen a card. “Call this number.” Chen looked skeptical as he took the card from Viktor.
“Don’t worry, they’re always with me. Just think of him like my very giant secretary if that makes it easier,” I said grinning at him.
“I promise I’ll call on Sunday. I want to know what’s going on. I’m not selling brawn, that shit is fucked up. I won’t touch it. And if someone is trying to fuck with my side hustle, I want to know about it. I bet the other dealers will be pissed too. I don’t think I know any of them that will sell that shit. It’s too risky. That’s bad business,” he said. He was clearly angry at the thought of being given brawn instead of his normal supply.
“We’re trying to stop it, Chen, but it’s good to know that the other dealers that you know won’t be happy to know what they’re trying to pull. That gives us an advantage,” I said.
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can find out and I’ll call your giant secretary,” he said, looking over my shoulder as another car pulled into the parking lot.
“We’ll get out of here, so we don’t scare your customers. Thank you for your help, Chen. I’m glad you’re still doing well. And thank you for the card. I’ll pass along your info to anyone that needs it,” I said, raising my hand first for him to grab. He grabbed it, pulling me in once again for a hug.
“Sephie, you look great, as always. I’m glad you stopped by, my girl. Whatever you’re doing looks good on you,” he said, smiling. We heard the car door open on the car that had pulled into the parking lot, so we made a quick exit. I’m sure Viktor and Misha weren’t exactly the type of marketing Chen was looking for with his clientele.
As we drove back to the penthouse, my mind was racing about what Chen had said about Max. Instead of thinking about him, I tried to distract myself by asking Misha and Ivan questions.
“Doesn’t it sound like they’re going to replace the supply without telling the dealers anything?” I asked from the backseat. They both nodded.
Misha said, “I didn’t know that the dealers were so against it. Either new dealers or there weren’t as many selling it before as we thought. Or that whole story is incorrect.”
“When does Andy come to the building? Maybe he knows more?” I asked.
“We were talking about getting him tonight after we get back. Team America can go fetch him and bring him back,” Ivan said.
“You trust them to get him by themselves?” I asked, somewhat surprised.
He laughed. “No. No, I do not. I meant Team America could go with Viktor, Misha, and Stephen again.”
I exhaled loudly. “Oh, thank God. That was totally going to mess up the white board bet pool. We have the integrity of the data to consider now, boys.”
They were still both laughing as we pulled into the parking garage beneath the building.
As we all walked to the elevator, Andrei slid his arm around my shoulders. He looked down at me, a smile across his face. “If I haven’t thanked you lately for both introducing me to Tori and also for being the catalyst that got her out of my life, thank you.”
I laughed. “Mostly for being the catalyst to get her out, though. Jesus. I had no idea she was that crazy.”
Misha looked at me, seriously. “You shouldn’t feel bad about Max though, gazelle. You warned him and he didn’t listen. Now he has to live with the consequences of that.”
I sighed, holding Andrei’s arm that was still around my shoulders, leaning against him as we rode the elevator up to Adrik’s office. “I know. I know. I can’t help but feel bad about it, even though I know he’s doing it to himself. It’s just so much worse than I thought it would be. Chen wasn’t joking when he said Max uses his face to get tips. He practically had a fan club he was so good at it. I mean, I saw him clear a couple grand in a weekend just in tips a few times. If she’s preventing that from happening, no wonder he’s thinking about dealing. He has a nice apartment to pay for.”
“Well, he could break up with her. Problem solved,” Ivan said, raising an eyebrow at me.
I looked at him, wide-eyed. “She might stab him. You didn’t see what she did to broccoli.”
Andrei squeezed my shoulders. He leaned his head down and rested it against mine. “We’re gonna add this to the white board,” he said wistfully, making everyone laugh as we got off the elevator.
Armando and Team America were in Adrik’s office when we walked in. Andrei still had his arm around my shoulders and I was still holding on to his arm. I noticed the look from Mike as we walked in, but he said nothing. Adrik was standing, looking for a file on one of his bookshelves. He turned as we walked in, a clear look of relief on his face. I couldn’t help but smile as soon as I saw him. Andrei squeezed me once, then lifted his giant arm off my shoulders, so I could go to Adrik.
“How did it go?” he asked as he slid his arm around my waist, pulling me to him. He gave me a quick kiss, his blue eyes softening as he looked at me.
“Chen is still there, but he said he doesn’t know anything. He’s going to talk to two of the other dealers he knows. The third is one of Trino’s guys, so I told him not to bother. He’s mad though. He said he won’t touch brawn and he’s damn sure not selling it if he knows about it. He also said he doesn’t know any other dealer that would sell it either. They have to be replacing the supply without the dealers knowing. It all seems really weird.” I glanced at Andrei and Ivan, across the office, then added quickly, “and Max is miserable and going broke most likely. The end.”
Adrik raised his eyebrow at the last revelation. He thought for a moment, then looked to Viktor. “When are you bringing Andy here?”
Ivan chuckled. “Princess already asked that on the way back.” He then said, in Russian, “Fucking adorable.” Adrik glanced down at me, his eyes laughing.
Viktor laughed, then said, “I think we can get him tonight. Mike and his guys can go fetch him. Misha, Stephen, and I will assist but stay out of sight again, just in case.”
