King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Sixty

Adrik

Misha and Sephie left for a run the next morning while the rest of us went to the gym. Where Misha had dreaded having to run with Sephie in the beginning, he now looked forward to it. After the attack on them, they rarely went for a run in the city anymore. They would use the treadmills in the gym, but they both said they hated it. When we were at the house, though, they would be gone for sometimes two hours. Sephie had told me that Misha was now wanting to take the long route each time they went for a run. It made her happy to not feel like she was killing him any longer.

I discussed what Sephie and I had talked about the night before with the other four guys while we were in the gym. “It should surprise no one that Sephie made a great observation last night.” The guys all stopped and turned toward me to hear what she’d come up with this time. I laughed at their curious, but not surprised in the least expressions. “We were talking about Armando and how well he and the other bosses knew Sephic before she met me. She said Armando was the only one that would ever talk to her like a person, but she always got the feeling he was trying to set her up with one of his sons, because he would mention he had a son her age frequently.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it was for his son. I think it was for him,” Ivan said.

“Sephie ended up saying the same thing last night, but I’m curious to hear how you came to that conclusion,” I said. Ivan never ceased to amaze me with his observation skills. They were almost as good as Sephie’s.

“I caught him looking at her a few times, but I don’t think I would’ve noticed had he not made a few comments about her when we were at his house in Italy. He doesn’t really know her, so they seemed very out of context. They came across as mostly harmless at the time and they would’ve been, had he known her better, but she told me that none of the bosses knew much, if anything about her. Including Armando. It just felt wrong, so I started paying attention. It’s calmed down somewhat since he and Giana got together, but much like her inability to not stare at Misha, he’s incapable of not staring at Sephie when he thinks no one is watching.”

I thought about his words for a minute. What Sephie had said last night was starting to make more sense. “That makes the rest of what she said last night seem more plausible,” I said.

“What else has she known all along that none of us caught on to until she pointed it out?” Andrei asked.

say she’s known all along. She’s just seeing Armando in a bit of a different light with everything going on and remembering things in the past that seemed benign at the time that didn’t age well. She told me that the other bosses were starting to put Armando into a bit of a leadership role among them before I came back. She said Armando would help settle disputes and would get them all to agree, She’s also said all along that she never even knew of my existence until that night at the restaurant. She said she never heard the other bosses mention my name. Not once.”

King Boss,” Viktor said, laughing. “She didn’t know who you were or what to call

Sephie had brought out in all of us, but especially me. I hardly ever joked about anything before Sephie, but now we could find the lighter side of just

win? That way, If you lose, he can still keep favor with the other

rethinking his loyalties. You all know how well I take betrayal of any kind,” I said. “Sephie said last night, just to play Devil’s advocate, that Mando might’ve gotten it in his head that he could run the city while I was gone. If you add in that he

instead of the story about his son like he said and her point was that I basically came back and

with her before she met you, did she?” Stephen asked. I could tell he was perplexed over Armando’s behavior, if this really was

to stay 1 after occasionally and would help her clean up after the other bosses had left. He would ask her questions about her life, like he was trying to find more information out about her. She said she never told him anything important and that she didn’t like the idea of him knowing

things that don’t even belong to

it. We should hopefully be able to get some answers if Keith and Chris can record his meetings. He’s never taken his

able to test his allegiance, Give him false information and see

time that right. We don’t want to scare him into hiding too soon if he finds out we’re on to him,”

remembered something Ivan had said the night before, while Sephie was still cooking dinner and we were all standing in the kitchen together. “You know who originally suggested that I do away with the other bosses?” I asked, looking at Ivan.

conversation because you’ve already been

articles were in Italian, but he manag ed to find a few that were in