King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Six

Andrei

A couple of hours had passed and Sephie still hadn’t come back down from the penthouse. Viktor called Adrik to check on her. He told us to come up to the penthouse. We weren’t sure what to expect when we walked in, but she was curled up, half on Adrik, half beside him on the couch, sound asleep.

He put his finger up to his lips, indicating we should be quiet, but he motioned us to come and sit. “She didn’t sleep well last night and after we showered, she said she was really tired. I think her adrenaline wore off. We came in here and it didn’t take long at all before she passed out. I don’t want to move and risk waking her up right now.”

“She’s not having nightmares, is she?” I asked, suddenly concerned.

He shook his head no. “Not so far.” He pointed to her fingers, which were lightly moving on his chest. “She only does this when she’s dreaming happy dreams. I think she’s playing the piano, it’s always thythmic when she does it,” he said. He couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face as he watched her sleeping against him.

“That’s quite possibly the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen,” Misha said.

“How was she when you guys came upstairs?” Viktor asked.

Before he could answer, Ivan said, “I told them about her uncle. They know.”

Adrik nodded. “She said she feels much the same now as she did with her uncle. Completely void, I think were her exact words.”

We all looked at Ivan, who gave us all a smirk. Viktor spoke first, “what does she need from us? We want to make sure that she’s okay with what happened today. I don’t want it to set her back at all, either in her training or otherwise.”

Adrik looked to Ivan and said, “what Ivan said to her seemed to do the trick. I think we might need to remind her of that a few times, but I also think she knows this was the only outcome today.” He looked back to Viktor. “Did you tell them what she said right after?”

nodded. “I think she knows, too. I just want to make sure she believes it. We want to make sure

gardens at the house when we got her flowers the other day. Maybe she needs a day or two at the house. She seems like she can relax there. I think being able to

schedule is empty the rest of

laughed, but looked at the

love it when she cooked for us. Even

Armando?” Viktor asked. “I don’t want this to cause problems between you and him.

it if I have to in this case, Adrik said. “I’m more

they weren’t at the same level as Sephle. Both said to please start them

caught up in their training. We can have that discussion with Armando and find

and snuggled into him closer. He looked down at her. “She’s probably going to be

smile at their relationship. My mind drifted off, wondering if I would ever find that kind of love in my lifetime. I’d never seen anything like it

Sephie

of blood

I know I broke his ribs. I heard the crack when I kicked him. He used all his breath to spit blood at me. “Fuc k you, wh ore.” I knew it was Mike that said those words. I was looking right at him when he said them. But my brain heard my uncle’s voice. He

remember moving to kick him, but I know I did because now I was standing over his motionless body. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. I just stared at him, completely numb. I glanced at my knuckles. They were sore. There was blood on them.

the club now. I felt Adrik next to me, but I couldn’t see much except what was directly in front of me. I felt like I did the day that Misha and

done here. If he wakes up, make sure he understands he won’t next time

moved. It still looked like he wasn’t breathing, but nobody was checking to see if he was still alive. I looked at Adrik. I saw the surprise in his eyes when his eyes met mine, but it quickly turned to…lust? He held my gaze for a moment before he forced himself to look away. I looked to Viktor, then back to Mike’s motionless body. “He’s

every bit the proud older brother. A slight smile crept across his face, like he wanted to beam at

He seemed to be the only one concerned with