King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

376

Adrik

I woke the next morning before Sephie. I fully expected her to stay asleep. She was so tired last night, even after she slept most of the afternoon, that she fell asleep in under two minutes. She was laying across my chest in her favorite spot, her fingers lightly playing on my chest. I ran my hand through her curls, causing her to snuggle into me more. I continued to run my hand over her body, loving the quiet moments I got with her.

“Good morning,” she said quietly, without moving.

“I didn’t expect you to wake up with me this morning. You can go back to sleep, love. I know you’re exhausted,” I said, my fingers playing with her curls.

“I feel bad sleeping when your father is here. Feels tude,” she said, finally picking her head up and looking at me.

“He won’t care, Sephie. He’s not the boss of you,” I said, grinning at her.

Her smile stretched across her face. “Somehow I don’t think he’s going to stay in the city for too long. He’s very grumpy about having to meet with people he hasn’t seen in years. I think there’s a reason he hasn’t seen them in years, but they clearly can’t take the hint.”

“He’s still considerably less grumpy than I’ve ever seen him before, since he met you,” I said.

nice so I don’t tell everyone

you called him that

I’m looking forward to it,” she said, looking back at me grinning ear-to-ear

last meeting. We’re finishing up removing Armando and Ricardo from the building project.

very rarely asks me to come see him, so I know he has something he needs to tell me. He always works the early shift, so he’ll be home by early afternoon, she said, walking out of the bathroom as she was putting her hair up on top of her head. My breath caught

You’re beautiful in the momings,” I said as she was silently giving me a

my face in both her hands. She

them to make the project happen. I brought Armando on as a courtesy. At the time, I still believed he was loyal to me and was going to

with for years. He was very happy with that idea. “She’s got more business sense in her little finger than Armando does in his entire body. I’ve never met someone so successful and yet so du mb in my entire life. I don’t understand how he’s stayed in business this long. But she’s clearly just getting started,” Neal had said when I brought it up to him. “If we bring her on for no other reason than her marketing and persuasion skills, it’ll be worth it. He laughed. “She has a

also knew well enough to not ask. He did

with me over the years, so he never said a word about the darker side of my business dealings. Even

promptly at 4. We ran through the paperwork, discussing a few changes. “There are no traces of Armando or Ricardo on any of the documents for this project any longer. Sephie is also now a partner on the project, as you requested. I just need her signature on the few places that are marked in red. Once that’s complete, it’ll be official. We’re breaking ground on the first of next month. We’ve

very

me a huge amount

office, followed by Ivan and Andrei. Neal stood to greet her, extending his hand to her. “Sephie, it’s good to see you again. How have

You?” she said, taking his