Page 22 of Rise of the Queen

I smiled as I stood up. “Then get back to work,” I said as seriously as I could. He laughed and smacked my ass as I turned to leave.

I walked to Misha’s and Andrei’s desks quickly. There were still plenty of people here, as the workday wasn’t over yet and I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I walked from Adrik’s office. Since Armando had taken me and Ivan, I’d garnered way more attention from the people in the office than I ever wanted to. It still made me uncomfortable.

They both noticed when I got to their desks. Misha stood up immediately and stood between me and any lingering eyes. “Are you going to start dinner, gazelle?” Misha asked, shielding me from view.

“Yep. You guys want to help?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions, spider monkey,” Andrei said as he closed his computer and got up from his desk. He shot Misha a look as he turned away from me. Before I knew it, Misha grabbed me by my hips, picking me up so I could hitch a ride with Andrei. “Close your eyes. Then you won’t see them looking at you,” Andrei said quietly.

I laughed quietly. “You two are my favorite. Don’t tell the others.”

Once we were in the safety of the elevator, Misha looked over at me. “Why does it still make you nervous when people look atyou? You know that people generally tend to stare at beautiful women, right?”

I smiled at him. They were all so sweet to me. Sometimes it was overwhelming how much they cared about me. “I don’t always get the feeling that they’re staring because of that, my adorable Russian guardian. It always feels the same as when Sal was looking at my boobs and Armando was looking at me after he cut my clothes off. Even when I know it’s not, that’s what it feels like. I don’t like it.”

Andrei held onto my legs a little tighter. “Don’t worry, spider monkey. You’re so tiny next to us that they won’t be able to look at you. We’ll protect you. I’ll carry you everywhere so you can close your eyes and won’t have to see them, if you want.”

“Bubba, you’re my favorite,” I said, squeezing his neck a little tighter. Before Misha could protest, I added, “You are too, my adorable Russian guardian. Don’t think I’ve already forgotten you just told me I was beautiful.” His handsome wide smile stretched across his face as we walked off the elevator.

Andrei and Misha just nodded to the guards outside the penthouse. “Spider monkey,” they both said as we walked past. It’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.

“All of Vitaliy’s guys are coming to dinner, too?” Andrei asked. I’d put him to work helping me and I think he was protesting at the amount of work in front of him.

“I assume so, but I don’t know for sure. I never really asked, now that I think about it. But I figure if they don’t, then there will be leftovers for you guys,” I said.

“I’m going to tell him not to bring them, then,” Misha said.

“Is it just because of the leftovers or you don’t like his men?” I asked, curious.

“Mostly the leftovers, but I think we’re all still unsure about unknown people since Trino’s guys,” Misha said.

“It’s obvious that Aleksei is the only one that Vitaliy trusts completely. That makes me nervous for the rest of them,” Andrei said.

“Did something happen that you’re not telling me about?” I asked. I could understand they were nervous since having to deal with Trino’s guys, but it seemed like they were overly nervous.

They both looked at each other like they were trying to talk the other one into answering my question. “You realize I can fish it out of your head if you don’t tell me …” I said, stopping what I was doing and crossing my arms across my chest.

“I would like to see you try,” Misha said, a sly grin on his face.

“Challenge accepted, my adorable Russian guardian.” I walked over to him, searching his eyes the same way I would with Adrik. It took me longer, but once I got past his very weak internal protests, I could read him like a book. He was still smirking at me, thinking that I was struggling, so I let him think he could shut me out for a few more moments.

When I turned to walk away from him, I caught Andrei’s eye. He had picked up on what was happening and was waiting for me to tell Misha everything. Those two were like brothers. They enjoyed seeing the other one not be able to get away with something.

“It’s not all his men. It’s only the new ones. The guys who have been with him for years are still solid, but the two new guys are a bit too braggadocious for your liking. They targeted you and Bubba when we were in Panama since you two are theyoungest. That’s why you don’t like them. They’re assholes and picked on you when they don’t even know you,” I said. I was actually starting to get angry at the thought of them being mean to Andrei and Misha for no reason. I knew my eyes were going dark, but they wouldn’t be able to see through the contacts. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, so Adrik wouldn’t rush upstairs as well. “We have a couple of options here. Either I can find the perfect way to emasculate them in front of everyone, or I can tell Vitaliy they’re not allowed to come, or you two put them in their places.”

Andrei chuckled. “You’re mad that they picked on us, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. I didn’t know about it when we were down there. Otherwise I would’ve put a stop to it then.”

“It always happened when you were away with Boss and Vitaliy,” Misha said.

“What kind of training do they have? Same as you guys?”

“I don’t know. I know the guys that have been with him for a while have much the same training as we do, but I don’t know about these guys. They haven’t been with Vitaliy for very long. They were with him the last time we saw him, but that was a couple of years ago,” Andrei said. He was trying to be subtle about it, but I could tell he was watching my eyes as we talked. I knew it was only a matter of time before they noticed that my demon eyes had stopped making appearances when I got angry and I’d have to come clean about my untamed eyes.

I thought for a few minutes while I went back to working on dinner. “I think it’ll stick if you two find a way to put them in their place. In front of everyone. If they don’t have the same training as you do, then it should be quite easy. That’s the best way. Much like with Mike, guys like them respect brute strength more than anything. I also can’t see Vitaliy putting up with thembeing disrespectful toward you guys, but he likely doesn’t know about it yet.”

Adrik walked into the penthouse, looking slightly concerned. I knew he’d felt my anger. I smiled at him. “It’s okay. I was just angry because I found out a couple of your father’s guys were assholes to the Wonder Twins while we were in Panama.”