King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Four

Sephie

“I was trying to catch Mike talking to Anthony again so I could confirm it, but I haven’t seen him around for a few days. I know Armando was gone over the weekend, so | figured he was with them, but I haven’t seen Mike since they got back. I’m worried he went back to Anthony. And if I’m being honest, you guys always seem like you want to ki ll me anytime I give you Information,” Andy said, running his hand through his hair.

“And yet, you’re still alive. It’s like magic, really.” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. “Don’t be a pu ssy, Andy. You’ve been in this world long enough, for fu ck’s sake. They saved your a ss, gave you a safe place to live, and everything you need. If they wanted to ki ll you, you would’ve been dead a long time ago. Cut the bu llshit.”

Adrik cleared his throat quietly beside me and I knew it was because he was trying not to laugh. I felt his hand slip under my shirt, his thumb tracing circles on the bare skin of my back.

Andy looked to me, surprised at my words. He thought for a moment. Ivan was losing patience and said, “you realize if she’s losing patience with you that mine was gone before I even walked into the office. It’s in your best interest that you start talking.”

Andy started to say something, then stopped himself. He took a deep breath, then said. “I was trying to work it into a job here. Either with your security or Armando’s. I knew if I could catch Mike working for Anthony, it would look good for me and you’d be more willing to trust me, so I waited to try and get hard proof, But then I haven’t seen him for a few days, so I got worried.”

I looked at Viktor to gauge his reaction. The look on his face said he was not the least bit interested in hiring Andy at this moment. He said, in Russian, “he’s not working for us. I can talk to Armando and see if he wants him.”

“Only after all this is over. Not before,” Adrik said. Viktor nodded his head in agreement. Adrik glanced down at me, like he was asking my opinion on it as well.

“I don’t trust him. It was shaky at best before this, but this would’ve been good information to have weeks ago,” I said.

Adrik looked at Andy. In English, he said, “next time you have information that directly affects us, you tell us right away. We’ll consider the job after all this is over. Until then, nothing changes,” I could feel Adrik’s anger, but I could also feel that he was trying to contain it. It was almost like I could feel him struggling against it. Each time it happened, I could feel more than the time before. It felt almost like I could feel what he was feeling in his body and it was mirrored in mine.

Andy nodded and took his leave quickly. As we watched him walk out of the office, I turned toward Adrik, putting my hands on his chest. I could feel his anger fade away as he looked at me. I felt the calm return as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I smiled up at him. “That was different,” I said.

He leaned down and kissed me quickly. “We’ll talk about it later,” he said, winking at me. He pulled me with him to his chair. Viktor had followed Andy to the door, closing it behind him as he left. Andy had his own guards assigned to make sure he didn’t leave the building without permission, so there was no need to follow him any farther. Everyone moved to find a place to sit. Adrik pulled me into his lap as he sat back at his desk.

around this new bit of information. I was frustrated with how difficult it was becoming to know who

that Keith and Chris

worth having a very serious conversation with both of them to find out,”

he had a moment of calm, I could feel his anger rising again. I could also feel that he wasn’t fighting it this time. He

Adrik, it was that anger was a very useful emotion once you learned to control it. Especially if you needed to intimidate someone into telling you the truth. I smiled to myself. While I usually tried to keep him calm, I found myself enjoying being able

heard a knock on Adrik’s office door. Viktor opened the door, letting Keith into the office. He walked in, somewhat curious as to what was going on, but he seemed quite calm. “What’s going on?” he asked as he sat

said. He was still clearly

ask why? Seems kind of like a moot point now,”

opinion?” Ivan asked, a

quickly to Stephen. It was obvious that he was confused by what was happening. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but I kind

was being honest and was trying to figure out how to appease them. “Let’s start with when he left the police force in the small town you guys grew up in. Did he leave before or after you left the town?” I asked.

lost touch until we both showed up for this job. I didn’t really like him when we worked together before, so I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to catch up with

I asked. Keith turned back to me, his

“They know, Keith.”

He was not

given him

been doing in the couple years

police force in the city, but he failed the psych test,” Keith said. “He never really went into details, but I also never really asked. I almost didn’t take this job. because of

did you leave then?”

that there was no room for advancement. I’d pretty much topped out early on in my career. There, uh, also wasn’t much of a dating scene in town. I

said.