Page 21 of Rise of the Queen

“That’s weird. Maybe it was like I was dreaming?” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “You only feel me if I’m having anightmare. Good dreams don’t set off any alarm bells. Lena is a very nice woman. Not scary at all for a ghost.”

We heard a knock on the door. “That’s Misha. He’s worried too,” she said.

Ivan went to the door and opened it, revealing a very worried Misha. “You guys disappeared. Is everything okay?”

Ivan turned toward Sephie, a questioning look on his face. “How did you know it was him and not one of the other guys?”

“I don’t know. I just did,” she said.

I looked at Ivan and Misha. “Everyone is okay. Give us five minutes and we’ll be out.” They both nodded. Ivan closed the door behind him.

“Five minutes? Really? You couldn’t have said to give us an hour?” she said, a mischievous grin on her face as she slid her hands around my waist, grabbing my ass.

Chapter Ten

Sephie

I grabbed Adrik’s hands andpulled him with me to the bathroom so I could put my contacts back in. “You were right. There is more to what your mother told me. I didn’t know how much you wanted Ivan to know right now,” I said.

He chuckled. “I thought you were holding back.”

“It’s nothing big, but I still think you should hear it before anyone else does,” I said. I had stopped in front of the mirror, pulling his arms around my waist as he stood behind me. He rested his chin on my shoulder as I went about putting the contacts in. “She said she wanted to thank me for bringing you and Vitaliy together.” I paused and looked at Adrik in the mirror. “I know you’re about to be shocked, but I argued with her and told her I hadn’t done anything.” He laughed as he moved my hair out of the way so he could kiss my shoulder. “She said that much of Vitaliy’s light died with her and he was almost overtaken by his own darkness, but that I was the spark he needed to remember his own light. I told her that you were right and I was just really good at getting grumpy men to laugh.”

“You’re very good at that,” he said, smiling as he continued to kiss my neck.

“I did ask her if she was special like Vitaliy and you. She said she wasn’t. She said all your power comes from Vitaliy. Apparently all mine comes from my dad. But I think she’s special in her own right. She said she accepted Vitaliy completely forwho he is right away. He said something similar to me the first day we were here. It takes a very special person to be able to do that, especially with someone as complicated as Vitaliy.”

I turned to face him, after finishing with the contacts. “She told me that Vitaliy has a giant heart for the people he cares about, much like you do. He just struggles to show it. Even more than you do. That’s when I called him a cheeseball again and she made me promise to tell him I called him that.”

Adrik laughed. “I would actually pay to see that as well. Did she say anything else?”

“She did.” I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his gently. “She said you worry about me the same way Vitaliy used to worry about her. Ivan is almost as bad. Then she said that you all were good men. She said you needed to know that the Universe knows that you’re good men.”

I could see Adrik struggling with what I’d just told him. I watched as several emotions flashed across his face. I could see the internal struggle as he fought whether to believe her words or not.

“She’s right, you know. You are good men. Anybody with half a brain knows you’re good men,” I said, my fingers lightly running over his cheek. His breath hitched as he looked at me, his arms wrapped completely around me, holding me tightly against him. He didn’t say a word, he just held me until our five minutes were likely up and we had to rejoin everyone else.

“We should go back out. They’re going to come check on me again,” I said, loosening my hold on him.

“Not yet,” was all he said, as he pulled me closer to him. I rested my head against his hard chest. I felt his head resting on top of mine as his arms moved to keep me as close to him as possible. We stood like that for a few more minutes as I tried to help calm his storms.

We’d been back in the city for a few days. Trino was staying at the building while Viktor and Ivan helped him get a new security team setup. Gus, Oscar, and Chen were helping Trino with whatever he needed as much as they could as well.

“I’m taking the ‘baddest motherfuckers in Colombia label’ away from them, Oscar. They’re all pussies,” I said, when we were talking about Trino’s former security team being scared of me.

“That’s fair. Totally fair,” Oscar said, laughing. “I did not expect them to wet themselves over the thought of you.”

“I really want to say that I have that effect on people, but that would just be wrong,” I said, laughing.

“Miha, don’t take it personal. We all know the truth. Don’t judge all Colombian men by the cowardice of a few,” Trino said.

“Still trying to get her to come to Colombia, man?” Gus asked. He was both amused and surprised at Trino’s words.

“A man can try,” Trino said, laughing as they went to leave Adrik’s office.

Viktor, Ivan, and Stephen had just left for the airport to pick up Vitaliy and his men, who were set to arrive that evening. I walked to Adrik, who was still finishing up a few things. “I’m going to head upstairs to get started on dinner,” I said, my hand running over the back of his shoulders as he leaned over his desk.

“Just a few minutes and I’ll be done. Take the Wonder Twins with you,” he said, looking up at me, a sly smile on his face. I laughed at his use of my new nickname for Andrei and Misha.I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. “I can wait on you, if you like,” I said against his lips. He reached up and grabbed the back of my neck as he groaned quietly. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, his tongue brushing lightly over it, which made my thighs clench in response. I heard him chuckle as he felt my response to his kiss. “I’ll get done much faster if I feel like I have to chase you upstairs,” he said.