King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Sephte

Adrik and I took over one of the couches on the plane. We hadn’t slept very much the night before, but neither one of us could fully take the blame. I think I woke him up just as many times as he woke me up. I laid down in between him and the back of the couch once we were in the air while he used his coat as a blanket for me. It was also cover so he could slide his hands under my shirt and down my pants, wanting no barrier between his hands and my body. We really couldn’t get enough of each other.

Fortunately, the flight was long enough that we both got a nap in so we were both feeling better once we landed. Only now we were both nervous for me to meet Adrik’s father. He was nervous because his father could be a very gruff man and he was worried he would say something that would offend me. I was worried that his father would find some reason to not like me. We were both acting like children worrying over nothing, but neither one of us could stop.

Vitaliy’s men were waiting for us at the small air strip when we landed. We still had a short drive to get to Vitaliy’s ranch once we left the airport. The guys knew a couple of Vitaliy’s men that came to get us, but a couple were new. One man walked up to Adrik, as soon as we were off the plane. He was much older than Adrik, as well as all the guys, but he still looked lethal despite his age. He wasn’t nearly as tall as Adrik, but he was built like a house. I caught myself wondering how difficult it was for him to walk through doorways when he was so wide. He had grey, almost wh ite hair and his clean-shaven face clearly showed a few scars.

Adrik smiled when he saw the man. “Aleksei. It’s good to see you again, my friend,” he said as he opened his arms for Aleksei. They embraced each other, talking quietly, and laughing like old friends. Adrik stepped away from him and held his hand out to me. I stepped closer to Adrik as he put his arm around my waist and held me against him. I caught Aleksei’s surprise when he saw Adrik do so.

“Sephie, this is Aleksei. He’s been working for my father as long as I’ve been alive. Aleksei, this is Sephie,” he said. It was evident that it was somewhat of a surprise that I was there, but Aleksei was a gentleman and didn’t make a big deal out of it. I extended my hand to him, telling him it was nice to meet him and trying to give him my warmest smile. I could see the tough exterior crack slightly when I smiled at him.

“Sephie is a very unusual name,” he said as he was carefully studying me.

“Aleksei probably isn’t that common around here either. Should we fascinate the locals later?” I asked. I thought Viktor had the best loud laugh I’d ever heard, but Aleksei’s laugh was a very close second. His laugh shook his body. He looked at Adrik, saying in Russian, “I’ve never known you to bring a woman around your father. Smart choice to wait until you found this one. He’s going to love her.” Adrik smiled at me, knowing that I would want to respond.

heard me speak Russian, his eyes went wide.

quickly that she’s one of a kind,” Ivan said, grinning

the ranch. He asked questions about the city, but he asked questions about people and places in the city. He didn’t want to know about the bosses and the larger problem. It was obvious that he missed specific things about the city, as well as specific people. He asked about a specific restaurant that I had never heard about and said he desperately missed this one particular dish he used to

come complaining to me when they start visiting too much.” Aleksei was still talking so he didn’t

me closer, whispering in my ear, “you don’t have to do anything while we’re down

want them

do anything more than be yourself and that will happen,” he said, kissing my

steep mountains in the distance. Plant life was lush, making everything so green that it almost hurt your eyes. Compared to the hibernation of everything back home for the winter, Panama was bursting with life. Adrik caught my look of wonderment as I took in the landscape. “I see now why your father likes to migrate in the winter,” I said.

expansive house. It reminded me of Trino’s island house. There was only one floor, but the house seemingly went on forever. “I’m definitely getting lost later,” I mumbled to myself as we stood outside while the guys grabbed our bags

waited to take us further into the house to Vitaliy. We walked through a few rooms, finally reaching the back of the house. I could see Trino sitting at a table with an older man, who I assumed to be Vitaliy. His hair was still mostly dark like Adrik’s, but he also had prominent grey throughout. He was clean shaven. Even sitting, I could tell he was a much larger man than Trino. Trino nodded in our direction, which caused Vitaliy to look toward us. The resemblance between him

was always good, but he made sure it was perfect. It made me want to stand up a little straighter too. Vitaliy and Trino both stood up and walked toward us. Vitaliy was tall, but not as tall as Adrik. He opened his arms for Adrik as we got closer. “My son,” he said. Although I know he meant it warmly, it was anything but. I caught myself wondering if he was capable of it. Adrik embraced his father. The embrace he shared

Adrik spoke to his father briefly, thanking him for getting Trino. I caught Trino’s eye as they talked, knowing Trino wouldn’t be able to understand what they were

Adrik who I was. I was starting to understand that Adrik hadn’t told his father I would be with them. Adrik, who very rarely got nervous, looked at me, then back to his father. He said in English, “this is Sephie. My future wife.” He extended his hand to me, the guys made room for me to walk to him. I was a little shocked that he had called me his future wife, but tried to play it cool. We’d talked about it before. He’d just never actually called me that before.

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