King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Nine

Adrik

We wrapped up the meeting with Gus, Smith, DJ, and Chen. They gave us all the information we had on the brawn operations they’d found, as well as the surveillance they’d already put in place. Gus and DJ were smart men. They would prove to be useful. Chen, too.

Smith left the meeting first, which was advantageous. Stephen had a team grab him a couple blocks from the apartment building and take him to a safe house. He would stay there, under constant guard until this was all over. I agreed with Sephie that we wouldn’t be able to trust him. Before Sephie, I would’ve just killed him and called it a day. She was right though, it likely wasn’t his fault he was caught up in everything if he’d been forced to deal. Now, he would sit this one out and get a second chance once it was over. Or he would get shot if he was du mb enough to try and escape.

Before we left the apartment, I informed the other three what we had decided on Smith. I needed them to trust me, so I made extra effort to be honest with them. It’s what had made my relationship so strong with Trino in the beginning. I was as transparent as possible with him and he’d stayed loyal to me, even through the other bosses’ attempts to undermine me.

“Smith will no longer be a part of this,” I said. Chen’s jaw dropped. He looked to Sephie immediately, shocked.

“Please tell me you knew him before too and he wasn’t to be trusted either,” Chen said.

She laughed quietly. “No, Chen. He’s being held until this is over. I don’t trust him, but if he’s being forced to deal by Massimo, it’s not necessarily his fault. He’ll go free once this is all over with.

Chen audibly exhaled. Gus laughed at Chen, shaking his head. “You would never last in Colombia, man.”

“Which is exactly why I do not live in Colombia,” Chen said.

Gus looked to me, a serious look on his face. “I appreciate your discretion, sir. I’ve had a hard time trusting him since this started. He commands a certain respect from a small group of dealers, but I think it’s because they’re afraid of him. The rest of us want to be here. I never got the same feeling from him. I think it’s better if he’s not running anything through this.”

said. “He’s well-known in his area of the city, too. He’s got a good rep with the

nothing less from one of Trino’s guys,” I said. Gus simply nodded to me. “I’ll be frank with you all. This is likely going to get messy. Very messy. But once the other bosses are taken care of, I’m going to need people I can trust throughout the city. I’m very generous to people who are loyal to me.” They all nodded in understanding. “We’re going to check on everything you’ve

we were alone in the apartment, I looked at Sephie to

Good guys, trying to make good come from not so good activities. It would not

bosses that stopped the first wave of brawn years ago, but it was really the dealers?” Andrei asked as we were walking to the elevators in the parking garage.

to keep me from finding

been that the dealers were the ones making it

it was to protect the doctor that made it, so Sal

the garage as we waited for the elevator, so we all stored waiting for him to catch up to us outside the elevator. As he walked toward us, Sephie met him hathway. I knew she was still struggling with what had happened earlier that night. Once again something from her past resurfaced, forcing her

bag down on the concrete, opening his arms to her as the got closer to him. She ran the last few steps to him, her arms

conversation.

Stephen. You’re my favorite vampire,” she said

of that. You survived it once completely on your own,

I’m positive she was fighting back tears. Finally, she sighed, saying, “squishiest vampire ever.” We heard him laugh as he picked her up and hugged

doubts in the beginning of whether Stephen would ever warm up to her, but it was evident that he

the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She had taken my shirt almost immediately when we got to the bestroom. I had to admit to loving it when she demanded 1 hand over my shirt when we were finally alone. As much as I hated putting

said. She looked at me curiously as she jumped down to rinse her mo uth out. “I could feel your anger tonight when Smith got a little too short with me. I knew you were seething before you

“Was it like a living thing that