King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Forty-Five

Adrik

My business associates began leaving the conference room, leaving just a few, along with Armando. Sephie noticed Armando having an impassioned conversation with another associate, in Italian. I glanced at her and she immediately made herself look busy to get closer to them. I watched her get closer so she could hear, but she stayed out of sight of even Armando. The man he was talking to was more of an associate of Armando’s than mine. This was the first project I’d worked with him on, so I didn’t know him as well as the other men in the meeting. Armando trusted him though, so I allowed him to be brought on as an investor. He was a very wealthy man. Armando said his family had done business with him here as well as Italy.

It sounded like they were arguing, but Italians were a passionate lot, so what sounded like arguing might’ve just been normal, everyday conversation. It was the same for Russians. What sounded like us threatening your life was most likely completely benign. Sephie continued to listen to their conversation until they were finished. She had gathered up some papers and walked away from them, so as not to arouse suspicion when Armando and the other man left the conference room.

She walked back to me. She looked slightly tense. I went to ask her what was said and she simply shook her head. “Not here,” she said in Russian. It must’ve been a serious conversation, then. That didn’t make me happy. She must’ve felt my anger, because she placed her hand on my chest. “Not yet, either. It might be nothing.” She smiled sweetly at me, then turned to walk toward Viktor, motioning for me to follow her.

“Viktor, can you make sure the guys come to the office once everyone is gone? And can you also make sure Armando stays away for a bit?” she asked him sweetly, still speaking Russian. I always had the impression that she thought of Viktor like a father. figure. He was the oldest of our little family, as he was a few years older than I was. She would tell the other guys what to do. She would even tell me what to do sometimes, but she always asked Viktor like she would a parental figure. It was always sweet to witness. He never denied her. None of us did. But you could see his heart melt every single time she went to him with a request.

“Of course, sestrichka. I’ll have Chris and Keith distract him,” Viktor responded.

favorite, Papa Bear,” she said, grinning at him.

It took longer for them to leave the building, which meant Sephie and I had a few minutes alone in my office. While I had my own thoughts about how we could spend that time, I somehow

his associate. She knew I

Armando, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He doesn’t like any kind of confrontation, so it’s possible he was pretending to consider it just to be done with the conversation,” she said. As she was talking, she had taken her heels off and stood to place them on the floor by my desk. When she stood up from bending over, I grabbed her and kissed her passionately. I felt her knees go weak, so I pulled her tighter against me, holding her up. I was almost desperate for her. My tongue forcing its way into

my forehead against hers. “I need help controlling the chaos,” I said.

saying more. They all had serious looks on their faces. Sephie rarely asked for all of them at once, so they knew this was important. They walked in and all took a seat. She kissed me gently once more, then walked to the door and

not good,” Misha said.

We don’t know yet,” she said as

meeting. They were speaking Italian, thinking that no one could overhear them, but Sephie

missing piece of whether this is potentially very bad or

she said.