King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

371

Sephie

“Battista arrived last night. He wants to meet tomorrow. He made reservations at his favorite spot,” Vitaliy said during a lull in the conversation at

dinner.

“Please tell me his favorite spot is someplace fun, like the zoo,” I said.

Vitaliy laughed. “Net, but you might be able to talk him into it next time.”

“Da mmit. Missed opportunity,” I said, “Where’s his favorite spot? Although I can tell you right now, I’m not going to enjoy it as much as I would the

700.”

“He loves one restaurant at his hotel downtown. He always has important meetings there. But since he owns the place, he’s usually the only one in the restaurant for those meetings. It’s very convenient,” Vitaliy said.

“What hotel?”

“Same one Mr. Turner works at,” Ivan said.

to wear heels. Yet another point for the zoo over this boring a ss hotel,” I said. “But my consolation prize is I’ll get to say hi to Mr. Turner.” I hadn’t

to the side. “No one is leaving your side this time, princess. Especially not me. Especially not your go ddamn

Squish. Even when they’re

the same fear as you do. There’s no way I’m letting what happened last time ever happen again. You won’t

him. “You’re my favorite, Squish.

hotel the following day, Between the seven of us, plus Vitaliy and all of his security, you

to open the door as we walked up

Turner a hug. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Turner. How are things today? Good?

me go, he whispered in my ear, “come see me when you can.” I nodded as discreetly as 1 could. Mr. Turner very rarely asked me to come see him, so I had a feeling he knew something he thought I should know. He winked at me as I stepped back to Adrik. “I’m glad to see you fine gentlemen taking care of her as usual,” he said, nodding to Adrik and

“He used to be my neighbor. I’m nowhere near that friendly to just anybody.”

restaurant was empty, except us. Battista was around the same age as Vitaliy, maybe slightly younger. His alive skin and black hair gave him the appearance of a much younger man, bowever. Vitally greeted him as warmly as

L

to Vitaliy. I watched as Vitaliy shook his hand, his cold smile on his face, like normal. The second person had gotten a phone call as were walking up, so she had stepped away just before we got to them. She had finished the call and was walking back to us. I noticed Ivan, who was standing partially in front of me suddenly stiffened. No sooner had 1 felt his unease and I felt his protective bubble go up around me. Since no one was

to look at me. He looked shocked, but I could also see a flash of fear across his face before he got it under control. “Something’s happening. It’s different. I’m okay, but I might need you,” he said. I nodded my head, keeping my hand

Vitaliy. When Vitaliy shook her hand, I noticed the very quick look of shock flash across his face before it went back to cold and hard.

he would be okay without me for a moment. He nodded his head and let go of my hand. Adrik saw the exchange between us before I walked to his side. After I greeted everyone, he quickly searched my eyes to find out what had happened with Ivan. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he gently pushed me back toward Ivan and the other guys. I grabbed Ivan’s hand as soon as I was partially behind him and Andrei once more. I felt him relax slightly, but he was definitely on high alert. There was something about the woman that he definitely didn’t like. I had a feeling that Vitaliy didn’t like it either, but I couldn’t

hand on his knee under the table the entire time. I’d only ever seen

and boisterous, his associate was quieter and almost shy. The woman was a little bit of a different story. She wasn’t quite as old as Vitaliy and Battista, but she was older than Adrik by at least a decade, if not more. It did not stop her from gazing longingly at him every chance she got. After his initial introduction, Adrik hadn’t even glanced at her, but she was almost fixated on him. She didn’t talk much, but when she did, she was fake. Very fake. I did not get a good feeling from her, but she wasn’t talking enough for me to figure out why I didn’t like

subjects, I leaned over to Adrik. “I need to get Ivan out of here for at least a few minutes. He’s going to escort me to the bathroom. I could use Andrei too,

to Andrei and jerked his head slightly toward me as I stood