King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Four

Viktor

She walked back to Adrik, who opened his arm for her to step into. It’s like she fit perfectly next to him,

like they were made for each other. He kissed her temple pulling her closer. He was so different around

Sephie. For the better, really. In his younger days he was more of an as shole to the girls he would

date. It always seemed like he was trying to get away from them. He was never outright mean to them,

but he never thought about them the way he does Sephie. He’s consumed with Sephie.

I knew he was in love that very first night at the restaurant when we walked outside the restaurant to

find her after Anthony had smacked her a ss so hard. After Adrik ripped Anthony a new one in front of

everyone, he got up and walked to the back of the restaurant. He walked through the kitchen, like he

owned the place. One of the cooks tried to stop him, but Adrik just glared at him. He was imposing in

his own right. He was just as tall as the rest of us and only slightly smaller. I think he stayed leaner

because it was easier to find suits that fit him that way.

As soon as he told Sephie his name, I knew she was the one. He never told anyone his name. He’d

had girlfriends that he dated for a year or more that still don’t know his name. He knew Sephie for

under two hours and he told her his name.

I saw what he saw in her the next morning at her apartment. She was so funny, but so genuinely

concerned that we were taken care of, even though her neck was a shade of purple that I’d never seen

on a human and she was hoarse from Anthony trying to crush her windpipe. I knew she was special

and that Adrik would do whatever it took to keep her around for a very long time. Once he made his

mind up on something, there was usually no going back.

We were all grateful that she was in our lives and that he had seen her for who she is right away that

night so many months ago. She’d changed him for the better, but she’d also changed all of us. There

was no doubt that we would do whatever it took to make sure she was always safe and always looked

after, no matter what happened.

Adrik kissed her temple again, then said, “I need to call Trino. I want to see if Anthony and Lorenzo are

still down there or if they got tired of waiting and left.” He walked away from the kitchen to make his

phone call.

Sephie started to wash the dishes from dinner as she asked, “how did it go with Team America? Did

they pass the test?”

I chuckled. “They did. Mostly. They’re still getting used to working with each other. It takes a while to

learn how each guy operates in situations. Stephen really did save Keith’s a ss.”

She looked to Stephen, her eyebrow raised. He just shrugged his shoulders. “It was an honest mistake,

but I fixed it.”

“He said the wrong code word, huh? He said mayonnaise instead of whatever code you guys gave him,

didn’t he?” she said, grinning. Stephen laughed, just shaking his head at her. “So, that’s one for Team

Russia, zero for Team America because you saved his a ss? I feel like this should make it to the wh ite

board, along with the bet pool for Armando and Giana. We should have a running tally of how many

times you guys have to save their as ses before they get their sh it together.”

More laughter from all of us. Most women would’ve avoided this conversation. They would’ve avoided

training with us, learning how to defend themselves, learning how to sh oot. Not Sephie. She poured

herself into training with us. I laughed to myself as I remembered her telling me early on that the more

she trained, the more she could eat. She was starting to get good enough that she killed more of

Massimo’s guys that day they tried to grab her than the rest of us. It helped me worry about her less. It

also made me wish I had taught my wife a few things. She might’ve had more of a fighting chance.

Adrik walked back into the kitchen. We all looked expectantly at him, wondering what he had found out

from Trina. “Trino met with Anthony and Lorenzo today, just to keep them down there a little longer, to

help us out. He tried to get more information out of them on what their plan is, as well. Dario and

Massimo are still waiting, but he assured me Massimo will no longer be a problem once he meets with

him.”

“What other info did he get from Tony and Enzo?” Ivan asked.

“We have time. Not much time, but we have time. They’re still working on producing enough brawn to

completely replace the supply. Then they have to distribute it. They conveniently left out the part where

they were replacing the entire supply with it when talking to Trino. Many of the dealers in the city are

loyal to him. That’s how he gets his information on the bosses. He’s making calls to find out if they’ve

been approached or not,” Adrik said.

“What if they’re just going to replace the product and not tell the dealers? Maybe they don’t know.

Didn’t Andy say they were trying to package it like other drugs?” Sephie asked. She was a smart girl,

who caught on very quickly. It used to surprise me in the beginning that she could catch on as quickly

as she does, but now I’ve come to expect it from her. Adrik walked back to her, standing beside her as

she continued to clean up from dinner. We all noticed how he couldn’t stand to be apart from her. It was

like there was an imaginary force pulling them to each other at all times. He had to he next to her, but

he was also fine with her goofing around with all of us. It was like they were in orbit around each other.

Each one could leave, but they always came back to each other. He was always confident she would

come back to him, so he never minded when she would leave to show affection to one of us.

“That’s a possibility. Trino said he would check with his dealers and get back to me as soon as he knew

something,” Adrik said. She turned the water in the sink off, grabbing a towel to dry her hands as she

moved closer to him.

She looked lost in thought for a moment, then grinned and looked at Ivan. “We also need to add

potential outcomes for Dario and Massimo to the wh ite board. I vote on some dramatic ending for

Massimo, like Trino lights him on fire and throws him off a cliff. I feel like Trino has a flair for the

dramatic.”

Once again, we were all laughing in the kitchen as we were discussing very serious, life-threatening

topics.