Chapter 395
King of the Underworld
Adrik Sephieâs anger levels stayed at a smoldering level throughout the day. Andrei and Misha felt the difference, both asking me about it instead of asking her.
âBoss, is Sephie okay? She feels different and not necessarily in a good way,â Andrei asked when he and Misha walked into my office. Sephie had taken Stephen upstairs to help her, before any of the others could offer. She also asked me to keep them as busy as possible so she could have a little extra time with Stephen.
âClose the door,â I said.
Misha closed it, now concerned. âWhatâs going on, Boss?â
âSephie found out about Stephenâs past. I donât know details but it has to do with his sisters, who will be here tomorrow. Her anger is justifiable, but itâs different than it normally feels. It has me worried, to be honest. Her anger feels like mine. Itâs very chaotic, which means sheâs struggling to control it,â I said.
âDoes he have to see his sisters when theyâre here? I mean, if itâs that bad, why not just tell them to f**k off?â Misha asked.
âI said the same thing. So did she, but she also feels like Stephen needs to confront them. She feels like this is whatâs holding him back from realizing what his gift is,â I said.
âWhat does he need from us?â Andrei asked.
âHeâs not going anywhere near his sisters without all of us with him. I think weâre going to have to keep an eye on her to keep her from snapping his sistersâ necks. She already asked him if she could ki ll them and she wasnât joking. Other than that, I think we let it play it out. Between Ivan and Sephie, those girls donât stand a chance. I think Stephen might need to see his sisters for who they really are for once, instead of the monsters he remembers from his childhood.â
Misha clapped his hands, rubbing them together. âI love a good unraveling.â
That night, Stephen told everyone that his sisters were coming. He didnât go into details, but he made it obvious that he was not in any way excited to see them.
âDonât worry, man. Weâre going with you. Or are they coming here?â Andrei asked.
âNoooo. They arenât coming anywhere close to here. Thereâs no way in he ll I would tell them where I live,â Stephen said. I had to admit to being slightly relieved about that. âIâm supposed to meet them for dinner tomorrow night. Surprisingly, theyâre staying at Battistaâs hotel.â
I knew how I could help. Sephie caught my mood shift and glanced at me, searching for her answer to her silent question. She didnât say anything, but she added her own plans on top of it. We silently had a conversation that no one else in the room was aware of and I loved every second of it.
Later, once we were alone, I made sure I read her correctly. âI just want to make sure Iâm correct. You caught my idea about the hotel?â
âI did. Battista seems to be very willing to help us out, but mostly because he thinks thereâs something special about you and I that can be useful to him for that, then we âYouâre okay with him seeing your eyes?â
okay with acaring the ever-loving shi t out of Stephenâs sisters. If Battista helps us out and seeing my eyes is the payment for with it. Vitally can see too. He doesnât know about them yet either,â she said.
She was chewing on her bottom lip, the are you thinking about?â
âI wish there was a way to push everything I felt when he shared his memories with me onto them. I donât usually get emotions with memories like that, but it was very clear that I was experiencing it as he did, feelings and all, I want them to feel what he felt. I want them to know that pain. I want. it to haunt them the same way it has him. Theyâre the ones that need to carry that burden, not him.â
âI agree with you, but I donât know how to make that happen. Nor do I want you to hurt yourself by trying to make something happen that shouldnât. happen. You could push your anger to Andrei and Misha, but youâre also connected to them. You donât have that connection with Stephenâs sisters, so I donât know that it would work the same with them.â
âI know. Thatâs what I canât figure out. Doesnât mean I still canât wish for it to happen, though.â
I pulled her to me, kissing her gently. âI have no doubt you will figure out how to make them suffer as much as possible while in your presence.â I had a small grin on my face, as I was loving the thought of being able to witness it, âLet me call Battista before it gets too late, love. Donât stress about this too much. Otherwise weâll have Ivan and the Wonder Twins back up here because theyâre worried youâre going to burn the building down.â
She cut her eyes at me, a sly smile curling up one side of her plump lips. âCall. Battista. I wonât burn anything down in the meantime,â she said. God, I love her.
Battista answered promptly when I called him. I told him as few details as I could while still explaining the situation to him. He was understandably hesitant, so I sweetened the deal for him. âYou think thereâs something special about Sephie and 1, donât you?â I asked. I heard him inhale. Then silence.
âYouâll be able to answer that question if you make this happen.â
âThe restaurant is yours,â he said. âI look forward to seeing you tomorrow.â
The next morning, I told Vitaliy what was happening. âThereâs more to Sephie that you still donât know about. She plans on using it on Stephenâs sisters tonight, but we needed Battistaâs restaurant to give us a somewhat private venue to make it happen. His sisters arenât coming here to the building. We told Battista heâd be able to answer his questions about us if he makes it happen. He agreed. Youâll also get a show if you join us,â I said.
âWhat more can she do?â Vitaliy asked.
âYouâll see,â I said, a smirk on my face.
He scoffed. âNow Battista is going to want to stay here longer. He drags me to so many lunches,â he said, rolling his eyes.
I chuckled. âYouâve already stayed much longer than youâd planned anyway. Whatâs a little longer?â