Page 53 of Rise of the Queen

I ran my fingers lightly over his stubble, loving the feel of it against my fingertips. “You do an excellent job of taking care of me. It’s not your fault I’m high maintenance,” I said, smirking at him.

He laughed loudly. “You’re the most low-maintenance woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. But it makes me love you even more than I thought possible.”

I leaned down, putting my head on his shoulder as he ran his hands over my back. I sighed, loving just being close to him. “I love you, Adrik. Always and forever.”

I woke up at some point in the middle of the night to noises coming from the kitchen. I quietly got out of bed and grabbed a pair of leggings before walking out of the bedroom. Vitaliy was in the kitchen rummaging through the cabinets, searching for something he very obviously wasn’t finding.

“Can’t sleep and you’re looking for something to help you with that?” I asked. I didn’t mean to startle him, but I did.

“Malishka, what are you doing up? You should be in bed,” he said, almost firmly. Like it was an order.

“I could say the same for you. Don’t you need more sleep as you get older?” I asked innocently. He squinted his eyes at me as I walked to the cabinet where we kept the tea. I pulled out my favorite tea that helped me sleep. “Don’t be grumpy or you’ll get none of this and you’ll be awake the rest of the night, having no one to blame but yourself.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I didn’t know how much I would miss having someone who was never afraid of me.”

“I think you’ve done an excellent job of showing your warm and fuzzy side just since I’ve known you. You’ll have even more friends soon,” I said, filling the electric kettle and turning it on.

He scoffed, but then he smiled at me. He looked at me for a few moments. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there were tears welling up in his eyes. “You’ve given me a second chance with my son. I wasn’t the best father to him the first time around. Maybe I can make up for that, even if it’s just a little bit,” he said.

I looked at him as we waited for the water to boil. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself again, Vitaliy. You did the best you could with what you had at the time. There’s a part of him that understands now where your pain came from and he knows he would’ve been in the same shape you were if the roles were reversed. I can’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been for you to lose your soulmate but have to be reminded of that loss every single time you looked into your son’s eyes.”

His eyes got wide. “You’ve seen a picture of Lena?”

I smiled at him. “I’ve seen Lena. We had a talk when we were still in Panama. I told you she still watches over you,” I said, looking at him sternly as I poured the hot water into two mugs.

“How is this possible?”

“Eh, the logistics are somewhat complicated. She’s the person to ask that question to, but she made it happen. She said she wanted to thank me. She said she always knew I was coming for Adrik, but she never realized the role I would play in your life as well.” I handed him the cup of tea, adding, “She had a message for your son, as well as his men. But the important thing for you to know is that she is still very much in love with you, old man. She’s also always around, keeping an eye on you. So on nights when you can’t sleep, you should try talking to her. She’s very resourceful. She can get messages to you.”

He sat in silence, mostly stunned at what I’d just told him. I could see his emotions clearly visible on his face. His cold, tough exterior completely non-existent as he sat in front of me. I suddenly didn’t feel like tea anymore. He was still staring at the counter as I walked quietly back to the bedroom.

Halfway down the hallway to the bedroom, I was met by Adrik, leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. He’d been listening to our conversation. He didn’t say anything, he just wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my neck.

Chapter Eighteen

Adrik

It took me a fewdays, but I finally managed to talk to my father without Sephie around. I had to enlist the help of all the guys to keep her busy while I had a conversation with him. I wanted to make sure she didn’t overhear what I was going to ask him.

“How did you propose to my mother?” I asked him after he walked into my office, closing the door behind him at my request. I’d even asked that Aleksei not be present. He was slightly worried.

He exhaled, the relief clear on his face. His sly smile slowly appeared. “I was wondering when you were going to think of this. I was worried you would wait too long.”

“I’ve been thinking about it since right after I met her. I didn’t want to scare her by asking her too soon. I’ve had the ring made for months now. I was going to ask her before she and Ivan were taken. After, she was so hurt that it didn’t make sense to ask her then. Now, she’s dealing with finally being forced to feel her fear and she’s insecure for the first time in her life, I think. I want her to know without a doubt that I’m not going anywhere. Or that the guys aren’t either. She’s worried they’re all afraid of her now.”

He scoffed. “How could they be afraid of her?”

“I don’t know, but that’s what she’s worried about. She spends so much time taking care of everyone else, sometimes she forgets to take care of herself. She has six of us that she expertly takes care of, but we have one of her and I feel like we fail miserably most of the time. I want to do something special for her to try and help make up for that.”

“That’s women, son. That’s what they do. Your mother was much the same. Aleksei will tell you. She had a similar bond with him and a few of my men, but not as strong as what Sephie has. My men were not the same. Your mother was not the same. But it was similar enough.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “I see why you love her. I haven’t met a woman like her, including your mother. When you have a woman like that by your side, you become unstoppable. Everyone worries about men when it comes to business, when it comes to war, politics, all of it. Men are in charge. But it’s the women who hold the world together. She’s what will hold you and your men together so that you can rule this city the way it should be run. For the benefit of the people, not only those few in charge. That’s what I could never make happen, but you will. With her.”

I ended up talking with my father for a few hours. He told me more about my mother in those few hours than he had in thirty years. I knew it was all because of Sephie. She made me see him completely differently than I had when I was growing up. She helped me understand why he did the things he did. I had a new perspective on why he was the way he was when I was a kid. She was right. I would’ve been the same as him, had the roles been reversed and I had lost her.

Viktor finally stuck his head in the office. “It’s getting difficult to keep her from coming down here. She’s starting to get worried about you,” he said, a small smile on his face.

Vitaliy stood up. “Come. We mustn’t make her worry.”

It took a few more days to make the plans, with the help of the guys, but we were on our way to the house that weekend and Sephie was none the wiser. She just thought I wanted a couple of nights to ourselves. Which I did, but there was more to it.