King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Three Hundred Thirty-One

Sephle

That evening, while I was making dinner for the first time in what felt like months, the guys were noticeably happier. Being at the house wasn’t just good for me, it was good for all of them, too. We were able to relax, away from everyone else. We didn’t need to worry about being overheard during any conversation. The house staff was minimal and they were all gone by the end of the day. The guards outside stayed outside and they always stayed far enough away from us that they couldn’t overhear our conversations when we were outside. It had become the spot where we could get away from everything going on and just be ourselves.

While the guys were excellent at their jobs, they needed down time too. Where they didn’t need to worry about some random person trying to get Adrik. Or me. No one knew about the house. I felt safe around the guys, but they felt safe at the house.

Viktor had brought his computer into the kitchen while I was cooking, but I made him put it away. “One night, Papa Bear. One night with no work. Or at least until dinner is over. You all need a break,” I said, pulling the ingredients for dinner out of the refrigerator. He started to argue with me, but I made my eyes go dark and stared at him.

“I don’t know how i feel about your demon eyes, sestrichka. I know you’re just doing it to be a shi t, but you do look scary,” Viktor said, his deep belly laugh filling the kitchen.

“That’s kind of the whole point, Viktor,” I said in a very loud whisper, making him laugh even more. His loud laugh was one of my

favorite sounds.

Adrik was close by, leaning against the counter, his arms crossed across his chest. Misha was helping me, Andrei was also close by, ready to jump in when I needed him. Ivan and Stephen were across the island, laughing and talking with Viktor. I caught myself looking at everyone and couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face. Adrik walked up behind me, kissing my neck softly. “What are you smiling about, solnishko?” he asked quietly.

“This really is the best day ever. We all needed this today,” I said, turning toward him so I could look at him. He looked relaxed and happy as we all laughed and talked in the kitchen.

“We needed a reason to celebrate,” he said, pressing his lips against mine gently.

more during dinner than they had in a while. It was obvious that they were all more relaxed than they had been since Ivan and I were taken. I knew the guys were stressed to see me

once Adrik and I were alone, he brought it up as well. “I had us come here because I knew it would help you, but I think it helped all

too, huh?” I asked, watching him while he buttoned up his shirt on me.

too. I knew the guys were getting stressed, but I didn’t realize just how stressed they

I said,

me tight against him. “Don’t apologize for that, either. They would happily do it again. They like babysitting you more than pretty much anything else they have to do. You didn’t hear the argument that happened when we made their rotation schedule after the meeting with Henry,” he said, smirking at me.

Why would they argue?”

an odd number of them. There’s an even number of hours in the day,” he said, clearly

“Shu t up.”

They argue like children sometimes,” he said,

I always wanted to know what it was like to have brothers. Now

biased, though, solnishko,” he said. “You love them no matter what. And it’s usually you that they’re

just such a funny picture in my head to think about. “I don’t want to cause problems between all of you,” I said. While he was also amused at it, I never wanted him to feel like there was any reason to feel jealous. For any reason. He was becoming

1

a problem, Sephie. You shouldn’t worry. They’re big boys, Mostly. Just as long as I get the most time with you,

in temperature. The warmth that was spreading over my body now was a raging inferno, but I knew it was mine and not coming from him.

he could feel my warmth, but I wasn’t sure he was feeling it at the level I was yet. I put my hands on his chest, trying to push the fire that was building inside me to him. I looked at him, chewing on

“No.”