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“No joke, man. Sephie told him to get the restaurant owner to fire her and even laid out exactly how to do that. The owner has to know something is off because Max isn’t pulling the numbers he normally does. He’ll likely happily fire Tori once he knows what’s happening,” Andrei said.
“Max got all happy once she spelled it out for him like he was a fucking child and wanted to hug her, but we stepped in front of her. I fully expected her to stop us, but she didn’t. So, Andrei told him to leave and never come back. He made it clear that he’d chosen crazy over Sephie for the last time. Of course, he was butt-hurt. He looked to her like she was going to argue with Andrei. She didn’t. She tried to be nice though, but she told him he couldn’t keep treating her like this,” Misha said. She pulled my arms around her tighter, folding her legs up inside mine. “He switched to angry real quick.”
Sephie interrupted him. “That even surprised me. I’ve never seen him that angry before.” Her voice was flat.
“Right? I was actually worried he was going to make a scene,” Andrei said.
Misha looked to me. “You’re about to get mad again, but wait until you hear how she handled it,” he said. He even put his hands up like he was trying to keep me from flying off the handle already. “Max said, and I quote, ‘You think you can ditch me now that you’re giving it up to some rich guy?’”
Misha was right. I was livid. Sephie felt it, leaning her head back against my shoulder, so she could somewhat see me. She stretched up and kissed my cheek. “It’s okay. I owned him. Right before I threatened his life,” she said quietly.
I glanced toward Ivan, Viktor, and Stephen. All three of their faces were red. They were just as angry as I was.
Misha continued, “This part was beautiful to watch, Boss. You would’ve been so proud of her. Andrei and I were still standing in front of her, partially blocking her from him. She stepped in between us and got right in his face. She turned it back on him and asked him if he meant she was ditching him how he’s always ditched her. He took a step back. That was a big mistake,” Misha said, starting to laugh.
“I glanced at Misha when it happened. We both knew what was coming. She started pushing him backward, still just verbally slaughtering him. We were worried we’d have to pull her off him. She told him to leave and never come back. Then she said he’d clearly forgotten just exactly who she was giving it up to and that he’d be lucky if she could convince Boss not to have him killed after he finds out,” Andrei said.
“And he will find out, she added,” Misha was still laughing, unable to hold it back any longer. “You should’ve seen his face,” he said. He could barely get the words out he was laughing so hard.
“She told him he did this to himself and that he was going to live with it. Then she asked me and Misha to get him out of her sight,” Andrei said, now also laughing along with Misha. “I’ve never been so happy to throw someone out of this building.”
I found myself feeling incredibly proud of her. Not just for owning Max and not taking his shit, but for finally starting to see her worth. It meant she was starting to see in herself what I’d always seen in her. I felt my heart swell as I knew that her confidence was growing.
Ivan got control of himself after laughing with Andrei and Misha, saying, “Yep. We woke the beast, but she’s in complete control of the beast now.” He looked at Sephie, clearly proud of her.
“It’s because of you guys. You’ve all shown me what love and loyalty really are. What I had with Max doesn’t come close. I don’t want people around me that are only going to take from me,” she said, quietly, her hands fidgeting with mine. She took a deep breath, then added, “He’s just lucky my hands still hurt. I wanted to punch him.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with him, especially this week, solnishko. But I can’t say I’m sad he won’t be around anymore,” I said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Not like he was around that much to begin with, really. But he won’t be around again. Not unless he has a death wish.”
Sephie and I were alone in the penthouse that afternoon. She had her hands soaking in a bowl of very hot Epsom salt water to try and help the bruising calm down. She was staring at her hands as they soaked. Her expression was somewhat blank, but I knew she likely had more going on in her head than what I could see on the surface. I found myself just watching her, my own thoughts drifting in and out.
I had set a timer for her soak. I was jerked back to reality as it went off. I grabbed ice from the freezer and filled another bowl with ice water, switching it out with the hot water in front of her. She looked worried about sticking her hands in the ice water. She hated it the first time we did this too.
“Trust me, it won’t feel as cold as you think. You don’t have to leave them in very long either,” I said, smiling at her.
She shut her eyes tightly and held her breath as she shoved her hands into the ice water. “Nope, hate it,” she said as she pulled them out quickly. She wouldn’t leave them in the ice water for longer than a few seconds the first time we soaked her hands. I think I got her to last ten seconds that time.
“You didn’t even give it a chance, love.” I couldn’t help laughing at her, but I knew she really did hate to be cold.
“Don’t need to. Hate it.”
I grabbed a towel and walked to her side. I soaked the towel in the ice water, then took her hands and wrapped them in the towel. She sighed. “Slightly better, but still hate it,” she said as she tried to pull her hands away.
“Only for a little bit. It will help, I promise,” I said.
She scoffed. “Fine,” she said.
I took the towel off after a minute and inspected her hands. They were still swollen and her poor knuckles were not the color that knuckles should be. I looked at her, concerned. “Maybe we should’ve x-rayed your hands when you went to the hospital with Ivan. Maybe you broke something.”
“Nope. Hate that too,” she said. She grinned at me when I looked at her sternly. She pulled her hands from mine, making a fist with each one. “I can still make a fist. I can still move all my fingers the way I’m supposed to. It just hurts when I do,” she said, showing me she could still use her hands normally.
“We’ll do this again later then,” I said, kissing her forehead.
She looked at me, complete surprise on her face. “You’re not going to argue? Or threaten to call the doctor?”
I know she saw the pain flash across my face when I thought about everything she’d been through with doctors, now that I knew the whole story. I wasn’t about to make her go to a doctor unless it was life or death ever again. “You’ve had enough of doctors this week, solnishko,” I said, grabbing the bowl of ice water to empty it in the sink.
