Page 34 of Rise of the Queen

I nodded my head. Misha, always curious, said, “Okay, you guys are going to have to explain what the hell happened. I also want to know what you said to Battista to get that woman out of your chair.”

Before I answered him, I asked, “Did you get anything from her, Misha?”

He nodded his head, emphatically. “I was insanely nauseous the entire time we were there. But only when looking at her.”

Before I could speak, Ivan moved to lean against the counter in the kitchen. He looked at everyone, sighed, then said, “When I was a kid, my mom sent me to a research facility where they did horrible experiments on me because of my inability to feel pain. She didn’t know that would happen. They gave her some other story and promised to send my siblings to school. My dad had died shortly after my youngest brother was born, so she was trying to raise four kids on her own and she agreed. She thought I would be taken care of. The reason that hospitals fuck me up is because I’m reliving what they did to me in there every single time. It wasn’t just physical torture. They tried to break me. They tried to turn me into a monster and they enjoyed it.”

As he was talking, I hopped up on the counter next to him. I hooked my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him squeeze my arm as he continued talking.

“When Sephie told you all that my demons pull other people’s demons out so the world can see them as I do, she didn’t know how accurate she was. When I was at the facility, I never saw the doctors’ real faces. I saw the demons inside them. That’s why I’m so haunted by it and why I fight so hard anytime I have to go to the hospital. I’m trying to kill the doctors, but they keep coming back. I can’t see whoever is in front of me. I only see the demons’ faces from that facility.”

I glanced around the room at everyone’s shocked faces. Ivan continued, “That woman at the hotel today. I saw the same thing with her that I saw with the doctors. As soon as she walked up to introduce herself to Vitaliy, I saw it.”

“Vitaliy saw something, too. I caught his look when he touched her,” Adrik said.

“I saw it when she stood up to get the fuck out of my chair,” I said. They all laughed at my irritation.

“What did you say to Battista, gazelle?” Misha asked.

I giggled. “I asked him if he always surrounded himself with such ill-mannered women or if he brought her special for us. Then I said if he did, I needed to thank him because it’s been a really long time since I made another woman cry.”

They all laughed. Ivan slid his arm around my shoulders, hugging me to his side. “What about when she turned to leave? You said something else to her that nobody else caught,” Ivan said.

I cut my eyes to him, unable to hide my smile. “I told her if she tries to touch Adrik again, she will no longer have functioning hands.”

They all erupted in even louder laughter than the first time.

“What did Battista say to you before we left?” Adrik asked.

“That’s where it gets even more interesting. He told me I did him a huge favor and that he’s in my debt now,” I said.

“His attitude toward that woman changed after you put her in her place,” Stephen said. “I don’t know what they were saying, but he was very dismissive of her after it happened when he wasn’t before.”

“I noticed that too,” I said.

“She was worse than Giana about staring, though,” Misha said.

Andrei snapped his fingers and pointed to Misha. “Same.”

Adrik scoffed. “I don’t even know how you knew she tried to touch me because it happened while you were gone, but it made me sick.”

I hopped off the counter and walked to Adrik, clearly feeling his disgust. I couldn’t help but love him a little more for it. I wrapped my arms around his waist. “I fucking love you,” I said as I rested my head against his shoulder.

“I think there’s more to that woman being there today than we know about, especially considering what Battista said to Sephie before we left,” Viktor said.

“We definitely need to have this conversation with Vitaliy when he gets back. I know he knows something about her that he couldn’t say in front of everyone,” Adrik said.

“I just want to point out how convenient it is that you’re so good at reading my mind now. I didn’t have to tell you Ivan was unnerved. I was planning on letting you figure out why he was unnerved when we got back, but that heifer put a hold on those plans.”

Adrik pulled me closer. “You’re adorable when you get all bitchy,” he said, kissing my temple.

The guys took advantage of Adrik’s mostly free afternoon while we waited on Vitaliy to make it back to the penthouse. They all took care of little things they’d been putting off because of more important tasks. Adrik had some work in his office to get done, so I went with him so the guys could come and go as needed.

I stretched out on the couch, suddenly exhausted from everything the past few days. I tried to stay awake, but inevitably fell asleep. Since Ivan and I were taken, I hadn’t fallen asleep once without someone next to me. I wasn’t even sure if it was possible anymore.

It was possible. It happened.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep when I felt Adrik’s warm hands on me, gently shaking me awake. “Solnishko, you were having a bad dream. I need you to wake up.”