King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

372

Sephie

“I’m not sure, princess. This has never happened before so I don’t know how to handle it. Your hand on me helps keep me grounded,” Ivan said.

“I can do that. Adrik knows something is happening. He’ll be able to get most of this conversation when we get back to the table without me saying anything. I’m hoping he can make the meeting shorter. I don’t want to have to look at her make bedroom eyes at my future husband any longer than I have to anyway,” I said.

Andrei laughed. “She’s worse than Giana about making it obvious.”

“Right? Is there no subtlety left in this world?” I asked. Before we walked back to the table, I pulled Ivan toward me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, knowing he was struggling to keep it together. “We’ll get out of here as soon as we can. You’re doing great and I’m proud of you,” I said. He held onto me tightly for a few moments before I felt his arms relax around me.

hold of Ivan’s hand still. I was mostly lost in my own head, thinking about Ivan and how to help him when

away from her as he could without falling off his chair. He was forced to look at her, but

Ivan put your

distance before we were back at the table, so they moved instantly behind me and I felt Ivan’s hand on the small of my back. I crossed my arms over my chest as we walked

woman was siting in. She continued talking to Adrik like she didn’t hear me, so I cleared my throat louder this time. She finally glanced at me but didn’t make a move to get up. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I was so angry at her blatant disregard for my presence that I didn’t care. As she was talking to Adrik, 1 could hear the thoughts in her head. I could also feel

to Battista. In Italian, I said loud enough that everyone could hear me, “Battista, do you always surround yourself with such ill-mannered women, or you brought her special for us? If you did, I’d like to thank you. It’s been quite some time

felt Ivan’s hand press into my back at the same time I felt his bubble go up around me. When she looked at me, I saw exactly what Ivan saw. It wasn’t her face that I saw. It was something entirely

it. I felt the panic start, but I pushed my anger to the surface as much as possible, trying to override the panic. Ivan and Andrei both caught

to walk past me, I said in Italian, so only she could

could muster. Adrik moved his chair closer to me, so I could still keep a hand on Ivan. He stretched his arm across my lap, leaning over to kiss me in front of everyone. I had to admit to feeling ecstatic when I looked at

The woman was much quieter for the rest of the meeting, but would still interject occasionally. Her little stunt seemed to irritate Battista, as he was much colder to her for the rest of the meeting. Before, he would let her talk and seemed to take her opinion into account. After, he was very