King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Two Hundred Forty-Four

Adrik

I couldn’t keep my eyes off Sephie even on the elevator down to my office. This is going to be the longest meeting ever.

“Am I expected to remember everyone’s names? Because that’s not a thing I do,” she asked, chewing on her lip.

I laughed. “No, love. You have me. That’s a thing I do. You don’t need to.”

She cut her eyes up at me, a mischievous look in her eye. “I knew I kept you around for a reason,” she said as the doors opened. She walked off the elevator like she owned the place. I’ve never been more turned on in my life.

Armando was already in my office when we walked in. He had a habit of being extra early to large meetings to make sure last- minute details were taken care of. I appreciated it about him, as it meant fewer details for me to have to worry about. He looked up from the papers in his hand as Sephie walked in. “Sephie, my dear. You look beautiful as always, cara mia,” he said, opening his arms for her.

She walked to him. “Mando. It’s so good to see you,” she said as she hugged him.

“It’s been too long. I’ve missed you, but I’m very happy you decided to come today,” he said, kissing both her cheeks. Sephie right. Giana had kept herself away from us so far. Armando had taken her to his house over the weekend again, so it had been a few days since I’d seen him, even. Things seemed calm, for the moment, so I wasn’t complaining.

was giving Armando a reason to

the office. “Everyone is in the conference room,” he said. He gave Sephie a high-five as she walked by. “You look like you’re

I saw her hesitate once she glanced around the room. She turned to me, saying in Russian, “second man from the end on the other side of the table owns the restaurant I used to work at,” she said. I could feel she was still calm. I think it surprised her to see him here

stopped her before we walked any further. “Is that a problem? I can get rid of him if it is,”

nice guy. I just didn’t expect him to be here,” she said. “But thank you for

out. He was clearly surprised to see Sephie walk into the meeting. Even more surprised that she sat down next to me. I pulled her chair next to mine, stretching my arm across her lap. I

with the potential for splitting the space up into smaller restaurants il necessary. The location was in a great part of town, so it should’ve been an easy sell. A few of the restaurant owners were hesitant, however. The owner of the restaurant where Sephle

building will be full? And what kind of taxes are we going to be hit

city belonged to. The building was in Armando’s ared of the city, thankfully, so we didn’t need to go into details about how that wouldn’t matter very soon. Two of the other restaurant owners nodded in agreement to his question. I wasn’t sure what areas of the city they were from, but I imagined

of the office space leased, as well as 50% of the apartments sold or leased. We haven’t even broke ground on the project yet. The building will be full by

least 15 other restaurants within a 5-block radius of your restaurant. Those are just the ones I could remember off the top of my head. I’m guessing it’s a similar situation for the rest of you, give or take.” She pointed to the map. “This building will be here.” She ran her finger over an entire block of buildings on the map. “These buildings? Apartments. There’s one bodega, but no restaurants.” She moved to the next block. “These buildings? Office space. Two more bodegas and one coffee shop. No restaurants.” She continued for three more blocks around the location of the new building. “So that makes 5 restaurants total in this 5-block radius, not counting the restaurant space this building will provide. I’m not the best at numbers, but even I know those are pretty fu cking good

to be great. I glanced at everyone’s faces as she walked back to sit down. My business associates were all trying not to laugh as well. The restaurant owners who were on board originally were also trying not to laugh. The ones who were hesitant all had the look of being fo olish across their faces. Armando caught Sephie’s eye as she sat down, winking

attendance, several of my business associates, including Neal, came up to me and Sephie. “Can she please come to every meeting?” Neal asked, finally able to laugh. The others agreed with him, making her blush. They kept laughing amongst themselves as they talked with each other and the restaurant owners. The owner of the restaurant she used to work

you again,” he said, extending his hand

How are things at the restaurant?” she asked. I knew she was likely curious

a rough patch after you left, but we’re