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“How much do you know about the relationship between Anthony and Jennifer when they were dating?” Sephie asked. I could still hear an edge to her voice, as could the guys, but she was trying to control it. Ivan looked at her, still concerned. I assumed she smiled at him, as I saw his expression soften slightly and he winked at her.
“Anthony is much like Massimo. I would more readily believe that Massimo was Anthony’s father than Sal, to be honest. Anthony is a psycho. Like it didn’t surprise any of us one bit what he did to you at the restaurant, Sephie. That was just the first time he’d gotten caught and suffered the consequences of it. Jennifer would show up with fresh bruises regularly. She would have choke marks on her too. One of Sal’s underbosses was concerned for her. He thought maybe her father was beating her. It never occurred to him that it could be Anthony. He’s the one who started a relationship with her while she was still with Anthony,” Andy said. I could see the fear flash across his face again.
“Did Anthony kill him or did Sal?” I asked.
“Sal did. Once they found out she was seeing him, Sal called him into his office and shot him point-blank. Anthony had convinced Sal that he was trying to steal his woman and child from him. But after the underboss was dead, Anthony abandoned Jennifer and his kid. Completely cut her off. She had nothing.”
“Sick fucks,” Sephie mumbled under her breath behind me. I was the only one that heard her.
“I couldn’t agree more,” I said quietly in Russian, so that only she could understand me.
“What do you know about Anthony’s plans once he gets back to the city?” Ivan asked. “What’s the end goal here?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I know he can’t stand Ghost since that night at the restaurant when he got his ass handed to him multiple times in one night. Anthony is a petulant child in a grown man’s body. He doesn’t take reprimands well. Even worse that they were public. I’ve seen the look on his face when Ghost yelled at him for slapping Sephie in front of everyone. He won’t stop until he destroys her to get to Ghost,” Andy said.
“What’s Sal’s relationship like with Anthony? I got the impression he’s scared of his own son,” Viktor asked.
Andy nodded. “He’s definitely scared of him. He always has been. Even when Anthony was young. He learned as a small child that he could throw a fit and he’d get anything he wanted. It’s only gotten worse as he’s gotten older. I’ve seen him choke Sal before. Sal basically does whatever he wants. Even Anthony going to Sicily was Anthony’s idea. He just didn’t expect you to banish him there. He was expecting to go there, take care of business with Lorenzo, and then be able to come back. In his mind, he’s untouchable.”
That was good. When you get cocky, you get sloppy. He’d be an easier target that way.
“What do you know about their talks with the Colombians?” Ivan asked.
“I don’t know much about it, but if the Colombians don’t play ball with Anthony and Lorenzo, they’ve been making their own plans to completely bypass the Colombian supply. They’ve been talking to the Mexican cartels in secret,” Andy said.
Sephie laughed behind me, causing everyone to look at her. I knew where she was going before she said anything. “Do those dumb fucks not know the Colombians are the ones that supply the Mexican cartels with product? They can try and bypass the Colombians all they want. They’ll just cut off the supply completely. No nothing. You can’t even make brawn that way. Jesus, these people are stupid.”
I felt the smile creeping across my face as I watched the rest of the room, outside of our group, realize what she had just said. Clearly, no one else had thought about that except the Russians in the room and Sephie. I couldn’t help but feel proud that she was mine.
“How do you know that, Sephie? I didn’t even know that,” Armando asked, clearly surprised.
“I thought everyone knew that it takes the specific climate of Colombia to grow the plants. You can grow it further south as well, but the yields aren’t as high and the quality isn’t as good. Colombia is the prime location for growing the plant that makes the drugs,” she said, somewhat flippantly.
Ivan grinned at her, saying in Russian, “They were today years old when they learned that you could run the organization better than they can.”
She laughed, hopping down from the bookshelves and going to him. She sat down in between him and Misha, so she’d be on Ivan’s good side. He put his arm around her shoulders, letting her curl up beside him. He kissed the top of her head. I glanced in Mike’s direction, who had a strange expression on his face. I couldn’t tell if he was shocked or angry or both. I glanced back toward Sephie and caught Misha’s eye, who had also seen Mike’s expression change. Without a word, he reached over and grabbed one of Sephie’s legs and stretched it across his lap, keeping his hand protectively on her leg. “This is definitely going on the white board,” she said in Russian. “This might replace the creative ways to die as my favorite white board addition, even.”
Of course, we all laughed, forgetting for a moment about the severity of the situation.
We continued to talk with Andy, but it was starting to get late. Armando wanted to leave to go check on Giana, who had been alone most of the day, as she still felt intimidated by being in the same room with so many men. We set Andy up in a spare apartment, close to Armando’s guys. Viktor gave strict orders to all the security that Andy was not to leave the building unless he was with one of us, under any circumstances. They had orders to shoot him if he tried.
I was somewhat relieved for it to be just us once again, so we could relax somewhat. Sephie got up from between Ivan and Misha, declaring, “I need a change of scenery. Everyone come upstairs. We’re ordering food.” She had a grin on her face. I think she enjoyed giving us orders once in a while.
Stephen pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Chinese or Thai?”
We all looked at each other, then looked at Stephen as we all said “Thai” at once.
“Done and done,” he said as he walked out of the room to make the order.
Once upstairs, we continued the conversation about what to do. “I’m going to call Trino in the morning, but I want to keep Armando in the dark for now. I don’t think Trino knows Anthony has been talking to the Mexicans. They have a very strained relationship at best. I don’t like dealing with them at all. This could start a war between the Colombians and the Mexicans if we’re not careful,” I said.
“I think Trino is on your side completely. I think Armando is too, but I don’t trust Mike at the moment, until we figure out what his issue is,” Sephie said. She thought for a moment. “What does asking nicely entail exactly?”
Andrei chuckled. “We need more details about the building, so we know where to place the charges. And if we can gain access inside or if we have to do it from the outside.”
“What’s the difference?” she asked.
“Inside is a cleaner demolition. Outside makes a bigger boom, basically,” Andrei said.
