King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty

Misha

Armando laughed, telling me he wasn’t sure what I’d said, but he’d likely said the same thing last night. I couldn’t help but feel some relief that Armando was also angry and frustrated with this situation. If he was blindly siding with Giana over this, we would have bigger issues.

“With all due respect, Mando, you need to handle this before we do,” Stephen said. I could hear the anger in his voice, as well. Somehow his anger justified mine. I knew if he was mad, it was a big deal. Sephie looked at Stephen, as well as the rest of us. I think she was just as surprised as the rest of us to hear the anger in his voice. He waited until Armando looked away, then he grinned at Sephie.

She was thoughtful for a moment. I watched her pull Adrik’s arms tighter around her. Just like she was an anchor for all of us, he was that for her. She got stronger when she was with him, just as he got stronger when he was with her. They complimented each other in a way that I’d never seen before. She sighed and said, “she’s probably grown up privileged and somewhat sheltered. Now that she’s been thrown into the real world, she has no real coping mechanisms. She can only come from her place of understanding, which is made from her life experiences.”

While she wasn’t wrong, I did notice that Sephie tended to give people the benefit of the doubt a little too much. Sometimes a bi tch is just a bi tch. While she was hardly ever wrong about people, I found myself angry at her lack of anger at Giana. I knew she would get there eventually, if things didn’t change. I’d seen what she said to Max and I knew how long it took her to get to that point. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it if it took her that long to get to that point with Giana, if this situation wasn’t resolved quickly.

knows that, which is why she’s wanting for something more. But she’s looking in the wrong places for that something. It has to come from within her. She’s the only one that can decide to be happy. Nobody else will ever be able to make her happy if she can’t make herself happy. That’s what you need to try to

me. I enjoyed being the one that could keep everyone else in the dark when we spoke Russian in front of others. Sephie tried to laugh, but I saw the pain flash on her face quickly as she answered

after Armando left. I didn’t know what it was about being- able to go to the lake that helped her recharge herself, but it was obvious every time it happened. I could literally watch the stress melt off her as we sat and talked by the lake.

so I could tell the difference. As I thought about going to the house for a few days, I got goosebumps down my arms and across my upper body. It had only happened once or twice before, but I knew this was my gut

forward to a long run with Sephie, too. She used to almost ki ll me when we went for a run at the

been running with her long enough now that I could almost keep up with her at the house. I still gave out well before

able to run anywhere. I knew if I missed it, she was

1)

definitely missing it.

us that he was purposely leaving Giana alone for as long as possible. He made plans. to go to his house for the weekend, which made me happy to know I wouldn’t have to see her for a few days. He finally stood to leave. I couldn’t help