Chapter 205

Chapter Two Hundred Five Adrik Sephie walked back into the office with Andrei and Misha, the rest of us looking at them expectantly.

She walked straight to me, taking her place in my lap once again. I could tell by the look on her face that it did not go well. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly, wanting to protect her from anything that could make her anything but happy. Instead of asking her for the details, I looked to Andrei and Misha for the recap of what happened.

They were both trying to hold in their laughter. Andrei spoke first. “I would just like to take a moment to state once again how happy I am that Tori is not a part of my life any longer. But the good news of this week is that Max won’t be coming here ever again.”

Viktor, Ivan, and Stephen all looked to Sephie, surprised. My expression matched theirs. Misha looked to me, a sly smile on his face. “It was impressive. Max was mad that he was made to wait in the lobby, so it didn’t start well. It went downhill from there, basically.”

“What did he want?” Ivan asked, watching Sephie’s face. I could almost watch his anger envelope him as he looked at her. She was clearly upset, which meant Ivan was ready to end whatever or whomever was the cause of her being upset.

“He wanted Sephie to fix his life like always. He said Tori is destroying his life, but he wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to get rid of her on his own,” Andrei said. He looked to Sephie, complètely flustered, adding, “I mean, the solution was so fu cking obvious and he had no clue until you gift-

wrapped it for him.”

“Solution for what? Getting rid of Tori?” Viktor asked.

for asked Misha nodded his head. “She asked him if he’d broken up with Tori yet, after he told her that he can’t afford to pay his rent right now. He said no because he was afraid of her. Apparently, she’d scared the kitchen staff a few times after she’d lost it.”

Ivan laughed. “I knew she had it in her.”

“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 fu cking 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 bu tt-h urt. 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 walt 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.

glanced toward Ivan, Viktor, and Stephen. All three of their faces were red. They were just as 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 shi t, 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.”