Page 8 of Rise of the Queen

The guys couldn’t hold in their laughter. None of them could keep it together long enough to answer, so it fell to me to do so.

“There were a few minutes between when they got to the building and when they actually made it up to me and Ivan. Armando knew they were in the building and made a call to his security guys, who had already left and wouldn’t take his call. I might have told him his best option was to go to the roof and jump. Otherwise he was going to experience a very slow, painful death,” I said. “He didn’t take me up on the offer, so he almost died that day and a few times since.”

Adrik looked at his father. “I want him to suffer for what he did to her,” he said.

“As well you should. What was the end game of taking her? To get to you?” Vitaliy asked.

“That and they were trying to sell me. I still don’t know if it was Sal’s idea or Armando’s idea to do so, but Armando seemed to think I was going to solve a lot of his problems once I was sold. When he realized I wouldn’t fetch top dollar, that’s when he lost it and the beating began,” I said.

Vitaliy cursed under his breath. “By what standards did they decide that you wouldn’t get top dollar?”

I sighed. “I have scars covering my back, Vitaliy. Armando didn’t know about them. I keep them covered. My stomach and legs were also heavily bruised from when they grabbed me and Ivan. They had to slam me into a parked car to subdue me. When he saw the bruises and the scars, he lost it. I might’ve also provoked his anger by being a shit. I have a problem controlling my mouth.”

“The scars. What are they from?” he asked. I could tell he was curious, but he was very serious, like he was already planning on destroying whatever it was that gave me the scars.

“Her uncle almost killed her,” Ivan said, so I wouldn’t have to.

We watched as Vitaliy’s anger rose to the surface, his face a new shade of red. “And what of him?” he asked. He was gripping the arms of his chair so hard that his knuckles were white.

“I killed him,” I said, flatly.

My answer took Vitaliy by surprise. I heard Aleksei cursing behind me as well. Vitaliy thought for a moment, then said, “I see I was wrong to worry about you, malishka. You were made for this world.”

Misha snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “Called it.”

Chapter Three

Adrik

As soon as Sephie andI were alone that evening, she went straight to the bathroom to take out the contacts she’d been wearing all day. This was the first day she’d had to wear them this long and they were starting to irritate her eyes. “It’s taken all my self-control not to scratch my eyes constantly for the past hour,” she said, on her way to the bathroom.

“You wore them a lot longer today than you ever have before. Maybe we need to put a time limit on them,” I said, following her. As soon as they were both out, she did rub her eyes for a moment. She walked to me, her sweet smile on her face. As she got closer, I could see her eyes had changed to deep blue. “I’ve actually missed that today,” I said. “Your eyes are gorgeous on a normal day, solnishko, but I find myself loving when they change.”

“I find myself loving you, my future husband,” she said. We hadn’t had a chance to discuss how I had introduced her to my father, and I could tell she’d been waiting to give me a hard time about it.

“I …” I stammered, running my hand through my hair.

She giggled. “You don’t need to justify it. I liked it. I just didn’t expect it,” she said as she pulled me down to kiss her. “I also didn’t expect you to be so nervous around your father. Is that normal or is that because you didn’t tell him I was coming too?”

Of course, she would have figured out that I didn’t tell anyone she would be with us. “Sephie, I didn’t tell them because I just didn’t think about it. You’re always with me. Just like the guys are always with me.”

“Oh, I’m not mad about it. I thought it was hilarious how they all looked at you when they saw you being affectionate with me. It was like they weren’t sure you were the same Adrik they’ve known for years. I don’t think I would’ve seen that same reaction if you’d told them. But that doesn’t mean I still can’t give you shit about it,” she said, grinning at me. I watched as her eyes went from blue to green.God, I love her.

“What did you and my father talk about when he kidnapped you?” I asked as I pulled her shirt off and started to unbutton her pants.

“A few things. You’re going to worry when I say this, but I don’t mean it in the way you think I do,” she said. She was helping to unbutton my shirt, likely to keep her hands busy as I could see her start to worry over how I was going to react. “You’re not as different from your father as you think you are.”

I slid my shirt off, thinking about what she just said, and watching her watch me. Her eyes were changing again, but it was like they couldn’t pick a color to stick to. “Okay, how do you mean it?” I asked, holding my shirt out so she could slip into it.

She grinned at me as she put my shirt on. “When he shook my hand, you saw the reaction he had, didn’t you?” I nodded my head, remembering his surprise when he took her hand. “It’s because he can feel there’s something different about me. He knows there’s something different about you as well. He told me. The only way he could know there was something different about you and me is if there’s something different about him as well.”

I was quietly buttoning up my shirt on her as she talked, thinking about what she was telling me. I still couldn’t look away from her eyes, as they kept changing while she talked. “Did he tell you what was different about him?”

“No, but he said your mother knew I was coming. She also knew the guys were coming. When he told me that you and I were different, I felt compelled to tell him that it wasn’t just us. I didn’t get into specifics, but he said that I’d just made your mother a very happy woman. She used to tell him that you would find me and find others who are special like you and you’d be able to realize all the dreams your father had when he ran the city, plus some.” She put her hands on my chest while I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close to me. I was still loving being able to hold her against me completely, now that she didn’t have her cast in the way. I had no idea how much I would miss the little things between us.

“She said that? Really?” I asked. “I don’t really remember my mother. She died when I was very young. I can barely remember what she looked like.”

“I know. He knows too. Your mother was for him what I am for you. That’s why he lost control of his anger. His control died with her. He told me he worries that his anger became your anger. I told him yours was different from his, but didn’t go too much into details. He was very much lost in his memories when we talked. I think that’s the first time he’s allowed himself to think about your mother in a long time.”