King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Three Hundred Sixteen

Sephle

Adrik asked Andrei to stay behind while everyone else went with Chen. He knew I’d want more time alone with Andrei, but I think Adrik was also curious to see what Andrei’s newly discovered gift was about as well, especially given that he so easily read me that morning.

For the first time since I’d come into their lives, I saw Andrei nervous about staying behind with me. “Bubba, don’t be nervous,” I said, trying not to laugh at him. He was still sitting at the kitchen island, so I walked slowly to him, sliding my arm around his shoulders. He grabbed my wrist, bolding onto my arm. He gave me a sideways glance. He’s definitely nervous.

Adrik might’ve been enjoying his nervousness. He was standing on the other side of the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. He watched me try to calm Andrei down, finally saying, “how long have you been noticing these things?”

“Not long. Really since the night we saved Max. Tori popped into my head the day or two before that night and I couldn’t get her out of my head. I’ve not thought about her since the day she got fired, really. I mean, we saw her that one day when Glana wanted to go shopping. Well, Misha saw her. I didn’t see her. Mentions of her here and there after that, but other than that, I never thought about her. It was weird that I thought of her and couldn’t get her out of my head,” he said.

“Did you feel like something was wrong when you thought about her?” Adrik asked.

“Yeah. It wasn’t the same as Misha’s impending doom, but something didn’t feel right. Same as when Sephie grabbed my hand today when I was thinking about her going to the meeting with the journalist.”

What about the rest? About her lung healing and her still feeling like shi t?”

“That just popped into my head. I said it before I really thought much about it, Andrei said. He glanced at me, apologetically.

“Don’t be sorry, Bubba. You’re right. I do feel like shi t still,” I said, smiling at him. “But that’s the way it works for me. I’ve learned that when something pops into my head like that, it’s usually because the other person is thinking it but doesn’t want to say it. That’s how it seems like I can read your mind all the time. It’s only different with Adrik,” I said.

“How is it different with him?” Andrei asked.

to light, if you will. It’s an issue that you need help dealing with. But if you’re not thinking about it or struggling with it, I don’t necessarily pick up on it. I might be able to if I made an effort, but I don’t like to pry. With Adrik, it’s everything. I just have to look at him for a few seconds and I know what he’s thinking.

Since I believed her when she said she was starting to feel

I do feel some better. I just still

That should

She’s going to get all sharp

of Bubba’s hard work training me. He’s going to have to start completely over with me by the time I get out

like to call ‘job security,”

from Chen’s latest meeting with the journalist. I felt Adrik hold me tighter before he lightly brushed his fingertips over my cheek to wake me up. “Wake up, solnishko. They’re back

sarcastically. Adrik

asked as

is quite good at pretending to be someone else,” Stephen said. “I don’t know why he thinks dating is hard.”

makes most men incapable of forming complete thoughts. Women instinctively know this, so they put them on display. It’s downhill from there, really,” I said.

seems legit,”

much information on the mayor, but he said he was going to look into him to see what he could find. He was under the impression that the mayor was clean, but he also said he hadn’t looked into him much. Since he was the one that appointed Henry, he assumed the mayor

trying harder to be. If he took campaign money from one of the bosses, it would’ve been hard to get away from that,” Adrik

asked, my half-empty glass of water in my hand. Adrik

he didn’t know. Henry said it came from a non-existent corporation. On paper, it would’ve looked like a large donation from

how they get politicians in their pockets, princess,” Ivan said. “They make it look legit at first, then once they’ve already accepted the money, they reveal where the money actually came from. They’ve already accepted

“Rude,” I said.