King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

“Sephie

I grabbed Adrik’s hands and pulled him with me to the bathroom so I could put my contacts back in. “You were right. There is more to what your mother told me. I didn’t know how much you wanted Ivan to know right now,” I said.

He chuckled. “I thought you were holding back.”

“It’s nothing big, but I still think you should hear it before anyone else does,” I said. I had stopped in front of the mirror, pulling his arms around my waist as he stood behind me. He rested his chin on my shoulder as I went about putting the contacts in. “She said she wanted to thank me for bringing you and Vitaliy together.” I stopped and looked at Adrik in the mirror. “I know you’re about to be shocked, but 1 argued with her and told her I hadn’t done anything.” He laughed as he moved my hair out of the way so he could kiss my shoulder. “She said that much of Vitaliy’s light died with her and he was almost overtaken by his own darkness, but that I was the spark he needed to remember his own light. I told her that you were right and I was just really good at getting grumpy men to laugh.”

“You’re very good at that,” he said, smiling as he continued to kiss my neck.

“I did ask her if she was special like Vitaliy and you. She said she wasn’t. She said all your power comes from Vitaliy. Apparently all mine comes from my dad. But I think she’s special in her own right. She said she accepted Vitaliy for who he is completely right away. He said something similar to me the first day we were here. It takes a very special person to be able to do that, especially with someone as complicated as Vitaliy.”

I turned to face him, after finishing with the contacts. “She told me that Vitaliy has a giant heart for the people he cares about, much like you do. He just struggles to show it. Even more than you do. That’s when I called him a cheeseball again and she made me promise to tell him I called him that.”

Adrik laughed. “I would actually pay to see that as well. Did she say anything else?”

“She did.” I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his gently. “She said you worry about me the same way Vitaliy used to worry about her. Ivan is almost as bad. Then she said that you all were good men. She said you needed to know that the Universe knows that you’re good men.”

I could see Adrik struggling with what I’d just told him. I watched as several emotions flashed across his face. I could see the internal struggle as he fought whether to believe her words or not.

men. Anybody with half a brain knows you’re good men,” I said, my fingers lightly running over his cheek. His breath hitched as he looked at me, his arms wrapped completely around me, holding me tightly against him. He didn’t say a word, he just held me until our five minutes were likely up and we had

They’re going to come check on me again,”

I felt his head resting on top of mine as

city for a few days. Trino was staying at the building while Viktor and Ivan helped him get a new security team setup, Gus, Oscar, and Chen were helping Trino with whatever he needed as

label away from them, Oscar. They’re all pu ssies,” I said, when we were talking about his former security

expect

effect on people, but that would just be wrong,”

the truth. Don’t judge all Colombian men by

than?” Gus asked. He was both amused and surprised at

said, laughing as

still finishing up a few things. “I’m going to head upstairs to get started on dinner,” I said, my hand running over the back of his shoulders

smile on his face. I laughed at his use of new nickname for Andrei and Misha. I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. “I can wait on you, if you like,” I said against his lips. He reached and grabbed the back of my neck as he groaned quietly. He su cked my bottom lip into his mo uth, his tongue brushing lightly over it which made thighs clench in response. I heard him chuckle as he felt my response to

he said.

as I

I walked from Adrik’s office. Since Armando had taken me and Ivan, I’d garnered way more attention from

I got to their desks. Misha stood up immediately and stood between me and any lingering eyes. “Are you going to start din gazelle?” Misha asked,