King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Eleven

Sephie

“You were talking in your sleep, solnishko. You don’t remember?” he asked, now clearly worried.

I thought for a moment. “I don’t remember anything. What did I say?”

“You were pleading with the doctor, trying to convince him not to do the procedure,” he said. His face looked almost haunted.

“Shi t. I’m sorry,” I said, glancing around the room. Chris and Keith were gone, but the guys were still there.

“Why would you ever apologize for that, princess?” Ivan asked.

“Because I saw what hearing me on the plane did to all of you. You guys don’t need to carry the burden of all my trauma.” I glanced at Misha, who was clearly struggling. It suddenly hit me why he was struggling. “Especially Misha, who’s still beating himself up for teasing me about being pregnant, even though he had no idea when he said it.” His face turned red as he tried to control his emotions. He was staring at the floor, his elbows on his knees, trying to maintain control. I quietly got off the couch and leaned over his back. “Don’t make me bring back the emotional support sloth,” I said, as I draped myself over his upper body, I whispered to him, so only he could hear, “I still love you, my adorable Russian guardian. You didn’t know. I can’t be mad at you. I couldn’t be mad at that face anyway. Like it’s physically impossible you’re so adorable.”

He reached up and held onto my arms that were around his neck as he laughed. I kissed his cheek. “Promise you’ll stop beating yourself up?” He nodded. “Good. Because my hands still hurt, so I don’t want to beat you up for real over this.”

he was trying to mask it. I walked back to

Once we were on the elevator, I looked up at him. “Is everything

He looked hurt. “It’s not okay, Sephie. How long have you

happened? What

me, but shu t me out when you’re hurting. I love you, Sephie. All of you. The best parts of you, the worst parts of you, the parts of you that like to be bratty just to get a reaction. I love all of

which meant I didn’t know how to react. I just stood there, for once,

His voice was softer, but there was still a look of concern In his

what?” I asked,

was your mind just then?” he

do, then you were standing in front of me,” I said. I was starting to feel anxious. I could feel myself getting more upset by the

cursed under his breath. “Sephie, it’s been five minutes. You completely zoned out. I had

suddenly felt like he was mad at me, like he thought I was doing this on purpose. I took a step back from him. “I didn’t know!” I said, the tears started to fall. “I’m not doing it on purpose.” I crossed my arms across my chest, shutting my eyes to try and keep the tears from

night in the basement with your uncle?” His voice was much softer now. His hands running lightly over my back, trying to comfort me. I nodded my head

things got really bad at my uncle’s house. I don’t remember a ton of

as he pulled me further