King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Three Hundred Fourteen

Adrik

She handed me her sling so I could help her strap her arm back in. I’m trying to be cold on purpose. It’ll help keep me awake,” she said, grinning at me. I clicked my tongue at her, to which she responded by making her eyes go dark.

I cursed under my breath. “That is not playing fair,” I said as I pulled her as tight against me as I could. I leaned down and kissed her passionately, trying to make her knees go weak. My tongue didn’t give her the choice to deny me entry into her mo uth. Not that she would have anyway. Even though I was trying to make her knees go weak, I was still fighting against my desire to completely devour her. When I felt her falter, I deepened the kiss for a moment more until she moaned not so quietly against my lips.

She stepped back from me, a little more out of breath than I thought she would be. “You win,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. It took her longer to catch her breath than it should have, which worried me. “I’m okay,” she said in between breaths. “Just let me sit for a second.” I helped her to the edge of the bed, kneeling in front of her. She didn’t let go of my arm while she

worked to catch her breath.

“I’m sorry, solnishko. I didn’t mean for this to happen. What can I do?”

She grinned at me. “I started it.” She looked down at my worried expression, her smile widening. “I’m okay. I promise. It’s just difficult to catch my breath right now,” she said, her palm resting against my cheek. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the he ll out of that though.”

I cursed under my breath again, standing in front of her. “Can you walk? I can carry you downstairs. I think I should carry you after I almost made you pass out,” I said, pulling her up in front of me. I didn’t wait for her to argue, I just bent down and scooped her up. “I’ll be happy when you can eat again. You’re getting skinny again. You’re going to be all sharp soon,” I said as I walked us down the hallway.

The guys were all somewhat concerned when I carried her out of the bedroom. “It’s okay. I might’ve gotten carried away and almost made her pass out. The least I can do is carry her while she catches her breath,” I said, somewhat sheepishly. I heard several chuckles behind us while we walked to the door. Sephie hid her face against my neck so she wouldn’t have to see them

grinning at me.

The police commissioner was prompt, walking into my office exactly on time. “Henry,” I said, as I stood to shake his hand. Viktor, who had escorted him up, stayed by the door after he closed it. The rest of the guys were already in the office. Henry looked to all of them, nodding. He spotted Sephie behind me. She was already on the cabinet behind my desk. “You must be Sephie. I’ve heard quite a bit about you,” he said, smiling warmly at her.

She slowly started to get off the cabinet. Ivan saw her and went to help her stand up. She walked over slowly, extending her hand to Henry. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but hopefully it’s not all bad.”

places for lunch. Both he and his wife can’t say

mention of Vinny and Anna. “They’re wonderful people. My stomach is in a long-term

him to sit while I helped Sephie back up on the cabinet behind my desk. I tried to move a chair there for her, but she said she preferred to sit on the cabinet. She said most

tell me, what’s this important that we actually needed to meet in person?”

need to know the full story. I also have somewhat of a solution for the situation that I

care of. I’ve been hearing rumors of some of the bosses raising taxes in their areas of the city. Does

nodded. “It’s larger than that. The bosses made a move to overthrow me. Lorenzo has been looking for a way back to the city. The attempted coup was his way back. Salvadori was behind most of it,

other bosses? That can’t be sitting well with you.”

them. Lorenzo is already taken care of. Armando, Dario, and Massimo are too.

for a moment. “Are

need them. I’ve never needed them.”

the city. I heard Sephie say quietly in Russian, “he thinks that’s too much power for

fan of high taxes. The people know that. I would much rather they keep their money and invest it back in their community. That will become the norm once I take care of the bosses. I continue to run the city behind the scenes as I’ve been doing for the past ten years. Crime returns to the lower rates. Everything goes back to the way it was a couple years ago before the bosses started to get greedy. I

who is it?”

“Ricardo De Luca.”

Henry

“You know him?”

human trafficking before your father banished him. He resurfaced years later as a supposed legitimate businessman. One of

Ivan said. He stood up and handed Henry the stack of papers that

Henry asked, looking through the pages. “Holy

say, however, that he’s a very thorough source. You’ll find everything

He looked up to me. “I need to talk to the mayor, of course. I can’t make this decision on my own. Although, it’s

of against us. The people of the city are happy that you stopped the brawn operation. The media had a field day with that one. Those who know you, love you. Those who don’t