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.

you gentlemen need to get out more,” I replied. When he heard me speak Russian, his eyes went wide. Ivari had walked up

quickly that she’s one of

it completely disarmed him as well. He talked almost the entire way to 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

“okay, but don’t come complaining to me when they start visiting too much.” Aleksei was still talking so he didn’t hear me. Ivan

closer, whispering in my ear, “you don’t have to do anything while we’re down here, love.”

I don’t, but I want them to like me,”

have to do anything more than be yourself

the driveway, as it didn’t look like an entrance to anything from the main road. As we dr ove along the driveway, there were 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

getting lost later,” I mumbled to myself as we stood outside while the guys grabbed our bags from the vehicles. Andrei had walked up beside me, so he heard me. “You

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,

Vitaliy and Trino both stood up and walked toward us. Vitaliy was tall, but not as tall as Adrik. He opened his arms for

protective of me, but I was confused as to why they would be so now. Adrik spoke to his father briefly, thanking him for getting Trino. I caught Trino’s eye as they talked, knowing Trino

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

label on it.