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.

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 been back to that hotel since the night of the

everyone was busy talking, Ivan caught me off to the side. “No one is leaving your side this time, princess. Especially not

reading my emotions, Squish. Even when they’re not

no way I’m letting what happened last time ever happen again. You won’t be alone at any

him. “You’re my favorite, Squish.

Between the seven of us, plus Vitaliy and

open the door as we walked up the

away from Adrik to give Mr. Turner a hug. “It’s good to see you,

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

somewhat surprised. “He used to be my neighbor. I’m nowhere near

same age as Vitaliy, maybe slightly younger. His alive skin and black hair gave him the appearance of a much younger man, bowever. Vitally

L

the first one 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

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 in

went back to cold and hard.

toward me, motioning me to come and meet Battista. I looked at Ivan, silently asking if 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

the entire time. I’d only ever seen him like that when he was at the

It meant I could sit and observe everyone, which I was happy about. Adrik was happy about that as well. I could tell that Battista and Vitaliy had a good relationship. It was obvious that Vitaliy was at case with Battista. Adrik was too. The other man that was with Battista was quiet, but honest when he spoke. While Battista was loud 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

After they got the important business out of the way and the conversation turned to more meaningless subjects, I leaned over to Adrik.

Andrei and jerked his head slightly toward me as I stood up, excusing myself for a moment. Ivan was immediately by