An Understated Dominance Chapter 5

 “How did you know that?”

Ruth’s eyes almost bulged out of her head. She was more shocked than embarrassed that Dustin could tell so much about her health just by looking at her tongue. Everything from the migraines to diarrhea was spot on. Was he really that good, or did he just make a lucky guess?

“There’s a lot you can tell about a person just by looking at them,” Dustin said nonchalantly.

“Do you believe him now, Ruth?” Natasha smiled. At the same time, she also heaved a silent sigh of relief. Thank goodness Dustin knew what he was doing.

“He just got lucky!” Ruth refused to admit defeat.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Rhys, she’s just too stubborn for her own good. Please ignore her,” Natasha told Dustin apologetically.

“It’s fine. Shall we begin?”

Dustin didn’t take Ruth’s attitude to heart. He walked over to Andrew and gave him a thorough check-up. It didn’t take long for him to find out what was going on. It was obvious to him that the old man had been poisoned. The poison was pretty potent too. Thankfully, it was discovered early on, so he could still be saved. Another day or two, and he would have been lying in the morgue!

“Ms. Harmon, can you get me some silver acupuncture needles?” Dustin asked.

“No problem.”

Natasha waved a hand. Immediately, one of her bodyguards went out. Five minutes later, he returned with a set of acupuncture needles.

“Thank you.”

Dustin nodded his thanks, then began to take off the old man’s shirt. First, he tapped his knuckles against the old man’s stomach to make sure he was hitting the correct positions, then began to place the needles in the correct pressure points. His actions were light but firm as his hands flew deftly. With his skill, his patient would not feel any pain from the needles. Seeing this, Natasha was surprised.

“He’s good!”

She didn’t know much about acupuncture as a medical practice, but she knew some experts in the field. From what she could see, those old experts had nothing on Dustin. His actions were one of an experienced and talented healer who had spent years in practice. She was curious about this man. Once all 16 needles were in place, Dustin breathed a sigh of relief. It had been some time since he last performed acupuncture, but thankfully he was still familiar.

“Is that all? Nothing changed!” Ruth looked confused.

“Your grandfather has been poisoned. It’ll take about two hours to drain the toxin from his body; you shouldn’t remove the needles before the two hours are up, or there might be serious side effects!”

Ruth pouted.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Ruth!”

Natasha glared at her sister.

“I need to go to the bathroom. Please watch over him while I’m gone,” Dustin told the occupants of the room before leaving.

Not long after he left, a group of doctors barged in. These were some of the most skilled doctors in the hospital. A balding man led the troupe.

“Hey! Who are you guys?” Ruth crossed her arms.

“My name is Jansen. I’m the executive director of the hospital, and also the dean of the medical school. I’m here on orders to treat Old Mr. Harmon,” the balding man introduced.

“Ah, you’re that famous Dr. Jansen! The best doctor in Swinton!” Ruth was ecstatic.

“More like one of the best,” Dr. Jansen said proudly, “but yes, I am.”

“It’s great to meet you, Dr. Jansen. Please help my grandfather.”

Ruth immediately moved out of his way. Clearly, she trusted Dr. Jansen more than she trusted a youngster like Dustin.

“I will.” Dr. Jansen nodded. When he got nearer to the bed, he frowned. “What’s with the needles? What nonsense is this?”

As he spoke, he made to remove the needles.

“Wait!” Seeing this, Natasha stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Jansen asked, annoyed.

“Dr. Jansen, I’ve already hired another healer. He said that my grandfather has been poisoned. We cannot remove these needles as there might be serious side effects.”

“What a bunch of bullshit!” Dr. Jansen snorted derisively. “If these needles can cure ailments, then what are doctors for?”

“That’s right!” Ruth agreed. “Natasha, that Dustin barely looks a day over 20. How could he be a skilled healer? Please don’t tell me you believe the shit he spewed.”

“Then how would you explain the way he could tell that you’re having diarrhea just by looking at you?” Natasha asked.

“He… he made a lucky guess!” Ruth said.

“Ms. Harmon, all of the best doctors in Swinton are here. I don’t know who you hired just now, but I believe he’s just conning you. Do you really think our professionally trained doctors are not as good as a random guy on the street?” Dr. Jansen asked. “I know you’re worried about Old Mr. Harmon, but please, don’t believe in these superstitions. It would just make things worse!”

“That’s right! Dr. Jansen has saved a lot of people. Don’t worry, Old Mr. Harmon will be safe in his hands!” the other doctors behind him chimed in.

Their confidence weakened Natasha’s resolve. However, she insisted, “We should wait for Mr. Rhys to come back.”

“Why should we?” Ruth said. “Maybe he’s already gone, Natasha!”

“Ms. Harmon, I’m a busy man. I’m not going to waste any more time here. If I pull out these needles and anything happens to Old Mr. Harmon, it’ll be on me.” With that, Dr. Jansen pulled out all of the needles.

As soon as the needles were removed, something strange happened.

Andrew’s body began convulsing. His face began to turn black, and blood gushed out from his nose and mouth. The machines on either side of the bed began beeping.

“What’s going on?” Dr. Jansen was surprised by the turn of events.

“What’s this, Dr. Jansen?” Natasha frowned.

“That’s strange, he was fine earlier…” Dr. Jansen felt uneasy.

“Sir, the patient is coding!”

“Quick, get the machines!”

Without delay, Dr. Jansen began emergency resuscitation. Even after a lot of effort, Andrew did not seem to get better at all. In fact, his stats were declining uncontrollably. Dr. Jansen was panicking.

“Ms. Harmon, I think… I think Old Mr. Harmon is… dying…”

“What?” Both Natasha and Ruth were shocked.

An Understated Dominance Chapter 4

 “Mom, take James to the hospital. I’ll deal with this.”

After a moment’s silence, Dahlia finally made her decision.

“Dahlia, you must defend your brother! Don’t let that bastard off so easily!” Florence said hatefully.

“Don’t worry, I know what I should do.”

Dahlia nodded, gesturing for two guards to send Florence and James to the hospital.

“What do you think, Lyra?”

Dahlia rubbed her temples. She felt a headache coming on.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? It was Dustin who assaulted them first. The security guards were witnesses, so that can’t be a lie,” Lyra said.

“But my mother’s not exactly an honest person…” Dahlia began. She knew her mother and brother well. They were a hot-tempered and ruthless duo.

“Either way, it’s still wrong for him to throw the first punch!” Lyra said righteously. “Even if there was a misunderstanding, why couldn’t he talk it out? Moreover, it was James that he beat up. Your brother! He didn’t think of how you would feel when he attacked your family. This alone is proof that he’s not a good person!”

Dahlia’s frown deepened along with her doubts. Lyra was right. Even if her mother and brother were rude and unreasonable, there was no reason for Dustin to assault them physically, nor was there any reason for him to hurt James so badly. It would seem like her decision to divorce him was right.

“You can’t just let this go, Ms. Nicholson. You have to teach him a lesson!” Lyra said.

Hearing this, Dahlia became angry. She took out her phone and called Dustin. At the same time, Dustin was sitting in a silver Bentley and frowned when he saw the call coming in. Despite his reluctance, he still picked up the call.

“Dustin, I need an explanation!” Dahlia demanded.

“What explanation?”

“Did you hit my brother just now?”

“I did. But…”

Before he could finish, Dahlia interrupted him.

“So it was you! I hadn’t expected you to be such a person! Are you taking revenge on my family just because I divorced you?”

Hearing this, Dustin was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Dahlia to be so aggressive. She hadn’t even stopped to listen to what he had to say. After three years of marriage, she was treating him as if he was a mere stranger, or worse.

“Dahlia Nicholson, is that what you think of me? You knew that I hit your brother, but have you stopped to think why I hit him?” Dustin asked.

“No matter what he did, you still shouldn’t have hit him!” Dahlia insisted.

Hearing this, Dustin laughed bitterly. He was disappointed in her. At this point, it didn’t matter who was in the wrong. She clearly favored her brother over him.

“Dustin, I’ll give you another chance. Go to the hospital right now and apologize to James, and I’ll pretend that nothing happened. Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?” Dustin retorted. “Are you going to call the police on me, or hire hitmen to take me out?”

“Dustin! Are you really going to throw away my goodwill like this?” Dahlia snapped.

“Goodwill? Are you sure it’s goodwill that you’re extending me? Anyway, I did beat up your brother, so do with that what you will.”

“You…” Dahlia’s retort was cut off as Dustin hung up.

She almost threw out her phone in anger. Dahlia had always been good at hiding her true emotions. It was one of the reasons why she had managed to get to where she was today. But right now, she was having a little trouble in that regard.

“How rude of him. Ms. Nicholson, do you need me to arrange for someone to teach him a lesson?” Lyra asked.

“No need. We’re done now.” Dahlia took a deep breath to quell her anger.

“But…”

Lyra was about to say more when Dahlia stopped her.

“That’s enough of this. I need to work on more important matters, like the charity ball with the Harmon family.”

“The charity ball? Has that got anything to do with our partners?”

“That’s right. I just received news that the Harmon family has shortlisted the Quine Group. If we do well at this ball, we could be the Harmon family’s next partners!”

“That’s great! I’ll go make the arrangements right now!”

…

After hanging up the call, Dustin arrived at Swinton Primary Hospital. Natasha brought him into a VIP ward, where an old man was laying on the bed. He looked pale, and his lips were dry and cracked. His breathing was weak as if he was close to death. Several doctors surrounded him, but none of them looked optimistic.

“Natasha! You’re finally here. These doctors are useless!”

Suddenly, a young woman with a ponytail ran up to them. She was the second daughter of the Harmon family, Ruth Harmon, and the old man on the bed was Andrew Harmon, her grandfather.

“Ms. Harmon, we’ve already done everything we could. There’s nothing else we can do for him,” a doctor said helplessly.

“If there’s nothing you can do, then let someone else take over the reins,” Natasha said coldly.

“Mr. Rhys will take over.”

“Mr. Rhys?”

The surrounding doctors had strange expressions on their faces. Dustin looked too young to be a good doctor.

“Are you kidding me, Natasha? This is Mr. Rhys?” Ruth looked shocked. “He looks about the same age as I am. Is he really a doctor?”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. Mr. Anderson was the one who introduced him to me. I trust him,” Natasha said.

To be frank, she wasn’t quite sure about Dustin either, but if Hunter recommended him, then he had to have his merits.

“Could Mr. Anderson have been conned too?” Ruth still looked doubtful. “Hey, you, are you really a doctor?”

“I know a little about medicine,” Dustin replied.

“Just a little?” Ruth pouted. “You should know that we only let in the best doctors into this room. Everyone here is a known expert in their field, and none of them could do anything about this illness. How are you so confident that you can?”

“Ruth! Watch your manners!” Natasha scolded.

“He doesn’t look reliable, Natasha! I’m just worried that he might make Grandfather worse!” Ruth said.

“Watch your words.” Natasha frowned.

“I don’t care, I won’t believe in him unless he can prove himself to me,” Ruth said with her head held high.

“How should I prove myself?” Dustin asked nonchalantly.

“Tell me what ails me. If you’re correct, then I’ll believe in you!”

“Really?”

“What’s wrong? You’re scared? If you can’t do it, then please leave. Stop wasting our time!” Ruth snorted.

“Show me your tongue,” Dustin said.

Ruth did as he said.

After a quick look, Dustin said without any hesitation, “Your hormones are imbalanced, so you should be experiencing irregular periods and migraines. You’re also showing some signs of food poisoning, which has affected your digestive system. You’ve been having diarrhea, haven’t you? Oh, another thing, you have hemorrhoids…”

The more he spoke, the tenser Ruth became.

An Understated Dominance Chapter 3

 “F*ck off!”

Those two words were enough to scare Florence motionless. She had never thought that Dustin could be so scary when he was angry. He had always been so mild-tempered around them. He now looked like he could eat her alive.

When she finally got her wits back, Florence began screaming, “Help! Help! He’s murdering my son!”

Soon, the Quine Group’s security guards gathered around them.

“What happened, Mrs. Nicholson?” The head of the security guards recognized Florence and stood at her side immediately.

“Tom! Lock this guy up at once! I want him punished for beating up my son!” Florence yelled.

“Holy cow! How dare you cause trouble in front of the Quine Group? Have you lost your mind?” Tom waved his hand. All the security guards surrounded Dustin.

This was their chance to kiss up to the president’s mother. If they did well now, then they might get a promotion and a raise.

“What are you waiting for? Beat him up!”

Just as they were about to act, a voice sounded.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

A curvaceous woman in a silver dress barged into the crowd with her bodyguards. With her lips painted a fiery red, she was stunningly beautiful. Every move she made was alluring.

“She’s gorgeous!”

The security guards stared at her lustily. She was one of the most attractive women they had ever seen.

“Mr. Rhys, are you okay?”

The woman ignored the looks she was getting and headed straight toward Dustin.

“Who are you?”

Dustin narrowed his eyes at her, his anger dissipating.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Natasha Harmon. Mr. Anderson sent me here,” the woman said with a smile. At this, the security guards began whispering amongst themselves.

“Natasha Harmon? Is she the heiress of the Harmon family?”

“Oh, my God! Why is she here?”

They were all shocked. Natasha Harmon was a household name around the city. She was pretty, influential, and smart. At 22 years old, she had already gained control of the Harmon Group and built her own business empire within five years.

“Ah, it’s you.”

Dustin nodded.

He had heard of Natasha before, but he hadn’t expected her to be involved with Hunter.

“Mr. Rhys, please wait in the car. I’ll deal with this.”

Natasha snapped her fingers. Behind her, her four bodyguards whipped out their batons and advanced toward the crowd. Even though there were just four of them, their threatening auras was enough to make the security guards back off. After all, they knew that the Harmon family only hired trained bodyguards.

“After you, Mr. Rhys.”

Seeing that no one else dared to move, Natasha smiled and held out a hand to lead Dustin to the car. Without a word, Dustin picked up the pieces of his necklace and left with Natasha. No one dared to stop him.

“What the heck? What do we pay you for? Why did you just let them go?” Florence yelled when she realized what was happening.

“Mrs. Nicholson, she’s Natasha Harmon. We don’t dare to offend her!” The head of security lamented. None of them dared to lay a finger on Natasha.

“Useless trash! You don’t dare to offend her, but you’re fine offending my daughter?” Florence demanded.

The security guards looked at each other, not daring to speak.

“What happened?”

Dahlia and Lyra came out to see what the commotion was.

“Dahlia! You’re here! Look at how badly your brother’s been beaten up!”

As soon as Florence saw her, she began to cry, as if she was the one who had been beaten up.

“What happened? Who did this?”

Seeing her brother’s wounds, Dahlia’s expression became chilly.

“Who else? It’s that bastard Dustin!” Florence cried. “We met him just now. James picked up a crystal necklace that he dropped and tried to give it back to him, but he tried to turn it around and said that your brother stole it from him. After some argument, he beat up James! My poor James, he just did what he thought was right. What has he done to deserve this?”

She began crying harder.

“Dustin?” Dahlia frowned. “He’s always been mild-tempered. Why would he beat up James for no reason? What did you do?”

“What do you mean by this?” Florence looked angered. “Do you not believe your mother?”

“I just want to know the truth,” Dahlia said.

After three years of marriage, she knew Dustin’s personality well. He was normally calm and collected and rarely lost his temper. He wouldn’t just beat someone up for no reason.

“Look at your brother! Is the truth not clear enough? If you don’t believe me, ask the security guards. They saw everything!” Saying this, Florence gave the security guards a look.

“Ms. Nicholson, your mother is right. That guy there was the one who assaulted your brother. If it weren’t for us, she would’ve fallen victim to him too.”

The head of security understood his assignment perfectly.

“You hear that? I’m not wronging that bastard!” Florence continued. “I’ve told you before, that Rhys guy is not a good person. He’s a hypocrite. Look at what he’s done right after you divorced him. He even has a new whore now!”

Hearing this, Dahlia frowned. She was unsure of what to think. Could Dustin really do such a thing? Maybe he was furious about the divorce and wanted to exact revenge on her through her brother. If so, then she had to admit that she had misjudged him!

An Understated Dominance Chapter 2

In the elevator, Dustin stared at the crystal necklace dejectedly. Even though he had expected it, he was still sad that his marriage had ended just like that. He had once thought that happiness was simple: meals on the table, cheerful days, and simple pleasures. Now, he found out that normalcy was a sin. It was time to awaken from this prolonged daydream.

Suddenly, his phone rang, breaking him out of his trance. When he picked up the phone, a familiar voice came from the other end.

“Mr. Rhys, I’m Hunter Anderson from the Swinton Group. I heard that today your wedding anniversary with Ms. Nicholson, so I’ve prepared a gift for you. I’m just wondering if you have any time today?”

“Thank you for your kindness, but I’m afraid we won’t be needing the gift,” Dustin said.

“Why?”

Hunter was taken aback. He could sense something wrong.

“Is there anything else you’d like to talk about, Mr. Anderson?”

“Actually, yes, there is.” Hunter cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’ve got a friend who contracted a strange illness. He’s seen a lot of doctors, but none of them could do anything about it. I was hoping that you could help.”

“Mr. Anderson, you know my rules.”

“Of course I do! I’m sincere in my request. My friend owns some canscora, which I remember you were looking for. I’m sure he’ll be willing to part with it if you help him,” Hunter said.

“Is this true?” Dustin asked seriously.

“Yes, it is!”

“Alright, if that’s so, then I’ll be willing to take a look.” Dustin immediately agreed to the request.

He wasn’t interested in money or jewels, but rather some rare herbs and plants, as he needed them to save lives.

“Thank you, Mr. Rhys! I’ll send someone to pick you up immediately!” Hunter smiled in relief.

As the president of the Swinton Group and one of the Mighty Three of Swinton, Hunter acted exceptionally timid in front of Dustin.

“Great, one more down, five to go. I should have enough time,” Dustin muttered to himself. His mood was lifted a little by this news.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened. As soon as he stepped out of the building, he saw two familiar figures walking toward him. It was Dahlia’s mother, Florence Franklin, and her brother, James Nicholson.

“Mom, James, why are you here?” Dustin greeted.

“Did you and Dahlia get divorced?” Florence did not waste any breath.

“Yes, we did.” Dustin gave her a forced smile. “It’s not Dahlia’s fault, it’s mine. Don’t blame her.”

He intended to end his marriage on a pleasant note. However, hearing this, Florence snorted coldly.

“Of course it’s your problem. I know my daughter well. If you hadn’t done anything wrong, why would she divorce you?”

Dustin was stunned. What was this? Victim blaming?

“Mom, you know how I’ve treated her over the past three years. I’m pretty sure I’m never done anything to betray Dahlia’s trust in me,” Dustin said.

“Who knows what you’ve done behind our backs?” Florence snorted again. “My daughter was right to divorce you! Look at yourself. She’s clearly out of your league!”

“Mom, don’t you think you’re going too far?” Dustin frowned.

If he hadn’t helped the Nicholson family three years ago, they wouldn’t be where they were today.

“Too far? So what if I am? Am I not speaking the truth?” Florence crossed her arms.

“That’s enough, Mom, stop wasting time with him.” Suddenly, James stepped forward. “Listen here, Rhys. I don’t care whether you divorce my sister or not, but you’re giving me all the money you got from her.”

“Money? What money?” Dustin was flabbergasted.

“Stop feigning ignorance! I know that my sister gave you eight million dollars as alimony!” James said coldly.

“That’s right! That’s my daughter’s money. You have no right to take it! Give it back!” Florence stretched out her hand in demand.

“I didn’t take any money from her,” Dustin denied.

“Bullshit! Who would pass on eight million dollars? Do you take us as idiots?” James did not believe him.

“Rhys, you’d better be tactful and give us the money. Don’t make me angry!” Florence warned.

“You can call Dahlia and ask her if you don’t believe me.” Dustin did not wish to explain himself any further.

“What now? Are you threatening us? Listen here. No matter how much you beg, I’m not letting you leave with a single cent of ours!” Florence snarled.

“Mom, he’s too dense for this. Let’s just search his pockets!” James said impatiently. He dove straight into Dustin’s pockets.

Florence followed suit.

“Mom, do you have to do this?” Dustin frowned.

He hadn’t expected to be accosted by the Nicholson family so soon after the divorce. They were really merciless.

Florence spat on the ground in disgust.

“Who are you calling Mom? Watch your mouth. Who do you think you are?” As she spoke, she continued searching through Dustin’s pockets.

After some time, they didn’t find what they wanted from his pockets.

“F*cking hell, did he really not take any of the money?” James said, displeased.

Suddenly, he spied the crystal necklace around Dustin’s necklace and pulled it off roughly.

“Isn’t this my sister’s necklace? Why is it with you? Did you steal it?” James demanded.

“This is the Rhys family heirloom. Give it back!” Dustin said, his expression darkening.

He wouldn’t take any money, but he would not leave his mother’s keepsake.

“A family heirloom? Does this mean that this is valuable?” James’ eyes lit up.

“In that case, Rhys, this can be your repayment for these three years that you’ve been living with us. Let’s go!” Florence gave her son a look and prepared to leave.

“Stop there!” Dustin grabbed James’ wrist. “Give me back the necklace!”

“Ouch! That hurts! Let me go!” James felt great pain in his wrist.

“Give it back,” Dustin repeated dangerously.

“F*ck, I’d rather throw it away than give it back to you!”

Seeing that he had no chance of freeing himself from Dustin, James threw the necklace onto the ground. With a crisp clink, the crystal necklace broke into several pieces. Dustin blanched. This was the only thing he had to remember his mother by.

“How dare you lay your hands on me! I’d rather break it than give it back to you!” James said as he rubbed his sore wrist.

Dustin clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles popped. His eyes were red with anger.

“You son of a bitch!” Unable to hold in his anger anymore, Dustin slapped James in the face.

James was slapped so hard that the spun back uncontrollably before falling to the ground. He was so dizzy that he couldn’t stand up.

“Since your mother can’t be bothered to teach you manners, then let me do the honors!” Dustin grabbed him by the hair and lifted him. Then, he slapped him several times.

James’ face soon turned bloody from the slaps.

“How dare you hit my son!” Florence screamed as she tried to help her son.

“F*ck off!” Dustin turned and glared at her. The glare was so intense that Florence froze in her tracks.

An Understated Dominance Chapter 1

“Dustin, here is the divorce agreement prepared by Ms. Nicholson. All you need to do is sign them.”

In the president’s office of the Quine Group, the secretary, Lyra Blaine, placed a piece of A4 paper on the table. A man sat opposite her, dressed in plain clothing.

“Divorce? What do you mean?”

Dustin Rhys was taken aback.

“Do you not understand what I’m saying? Your marriage with Ms. Nicholson is over. You’re not even on the same level anymore. Your existence is nothing but a smear on the president’s reputation!”

Lyra pulled no punches as she spoke.

“A smear on her reputation?” Dustin frowned. “Is that how she thinks of me?”

Back when they first got married, the Nicholson family was in ruinous debt. He was the one who helped them when they were at their lowest point. Now that they were rich, Dahlia Nicholson was ready to just kick him out.

“Something like that.” Lyra jerked her chin toward the magazine on the table. A photo of a beautiful woman was printed on the front page. “Look at the headline on this magazine, Dustin. Ms. Nicholson’s net worth has hit one billion in the course of just three years, a feat no short of a miracle. She’s now the most desired woman in Swinton! With all this, she’s destined for greatness. But you, you’re just a regular joe. You don’t deserve her at all. I hope that you’ll see some sense and do the right thing.”

When Dustin remained silent, Lyra frowned.

“I know you’re not happy with this, but this is reality,” she continued. “You might have helped Ms. Nicholson when she was in trouble, but she has repaid you for everything you’ve done for her over the last three years. In fact, you’re the one who owes her now!”

“Is our marriage just a business deal to her, then?” Dustin took a deep breath to suppress the emotions within. “If she wants to divorce me, let her speak to me herself.”

“Ms. Nicholson is very busy. She doesn’t need to trouble herself with such trifling matters.”

“Trifling matters?” Dustin was stunned. Then he laughed bitterly. “Is that so? Is divorce a trifling matter to her? She can’t even find the time to speak to me. Truly, she’s that unattainable now!”

“Dustin, don’t delay this any longer.” Lyra pushed the divorce agreement toward him again. “Just sign here and you’ll get a car and a house as compensation. On top of that, you’ll also get eight million dollars. This is more than what you’ll be able to earn in your lifetime!”

“Eight million dollars is a lot, but…I don’t need it. I will sign the divorce papers if she comes personally. Otherwise, I won’t sign anything,” Duston said coldly.

“Don’t go too far, Dustin!” Lyra slammed her hand on the table. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. With all her power and resources, Ms. Nicholson can divorce you easily. It’s only because she appreciates her past relationship with you that she’s allowing you to keep your dignity intact. Don’t provoke her!”

“My dignity?” Dustin was a little amused by that. She didn’t even want to speak to him directly to divorce him. What kind of dignity was that? Moreover, if she really did appreciate their relationship, then why was she threatening him now?

“I don’t think we have anything else to talk about, then.”

Unwilling to argue, Dustin stood up and made to leave.

“Dustin Rhys! You—”

Just as Lyra was about to lose her cool, a curvy woman in a long black dress walked in. Her skin was as white as snow, and her features were delicate. Her lofty aura and curvaceous figure made her look like a goddess right out of a painting.

“You’re finally here.”

Dustin felt complicated emotions when he saw the beautiful woman. They had been married for three years, during which they treated each other with care and respect. But this was how it ended. He still didn’t know what he had done wrong.

“I’m sorry for being late, I was caught up with something else.”

Dahlia Nicholson sat down. Her expression was as impassive as ever.

“You certainly are busy, if you need your secretary to help you deal with your divorce,” Dustin said.

Hearing this, Dahlia frowned slightly. However, she did not explain herself. Instead, she said, “Since you’re here, let’s get straight to the point. Let’s end this on a pleasant note. I’m sorry I have to do this to you, so you can have the car and the house, plus eight million dollars as alimony. How does that sound?”

At that, she placed a card on the table.

“Do you really think our relationship can be measured by money?” Dustin asked.

“Too little? That’s alright. Let me know what you want. I’ll give you anything within my power,” Dahlia said placidly.

“I don’t think you understood me. Let me rephrase my question. Are money and power that important to you?” Dustin was truly bewildered.

Dahlia went over to the windows and looked out over the city. There was determination in her eyes when she said, “To me, yes, they’re very important.”

“You’ve earned enough to feed yourself for the rest of your life. Why do this?”

“Dustin, that’s where you and I diverge in philosophy. You’ll never understand what I really want.” Dahlia shook her head in disappointment.

They weren’t just incompatible in status and power; they were also incompatible in their principles. Most importantly, she did not see any hope for the future in him.

“You’re right. How would I know what you’re thinking?” Dustin laughed bitterly. “All I know is to cook for you when you’re hungry, prepare your coat when it’s cold out, and carry you to the hospital when you’re sick.”

“There’s no point in going into this now.” Dahlia’s expression held complicated emotions, but it was soon covered up by determination.

“You’re right.” Dustin nodded without any emotion. “I heard that you’ve been close with the heir of the Nolan family. Is it because of him?”

Dahlia was about to deny it when she gave it a second thought. In the end, she nodded.

“You can say that.”

“Okay. I hope you’re happy with him.” Dustin smiled and signed the divorce agreement without any more hesitation. All he felt now was disappointment. Ironically, today was also their wedding anniversary. There was cruel humor in divorcing him on the day they had gotten married.

“I don’t want the money, I just want that crystal necklace back. My mother left it to me before she died so that I can give it to my wife.”

“Okay.”

Dahlia nodded and gave him the crystal necklace.

“From today onward, we will have nothing to do with each other!”

Dustin put on the necklace and left. He had no more gentleness in his expression; all that was left was distant aloofness.

“Did I do the right thing, Lyra?” Dahlia asked hesitantly.

Even though she was the one who asked for the divorce, she didn’t feel happy at all when it was finalized.

“Of course you did!” Lyra nodded. “You have the right to pursue happiness. Dustin does not deserve you at all. He’ll only bring you down with him. You’re destined to be the most powerful woman in Swinton!”

Dahlia did not answer her. As she watched Dustin leave, she felt as if she was losing something precious.

King of the Underworld - Chapter 120

 Sephie

After Stephen helped me connect everything the day of the attack, I was mostly quiet for the rest of the evening. Adik kept me close, either in his lap or with his hands on me. It helped me stay calm. I really hadn’t thought much about the attack after it happened. The concussion and resulting headaches took precedence over everything else. I didn’t have much time to process It. before the ball and everything that happened there.

I didn’t want anyone to know how badly I had wanted to ki ll the guy that hit me in that moment. Maybe that’s why I didn’t think about it or talk about it very much. I was worried they were going to look at me differently. I still hadn’t remembered that I killed my uncle that night in the basement until the night of the ball when I was on the plane. I was struggling with my own feelings.

Once Adrik and I were alone, he looked at me thoughtfully. His fingers playing with the curls around my face. He loved to push them back from my face, only to have them return shortly after. He was fascinated by my hair having a mind of its own. I loved it. It would make me laugh that he thought he could tame my hair. I’d been trying for years now. It was a losing battle.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you were struggling so much with the attack on you and Misha. I let you down, solnishko.”

I smiled at him, looking into his deep blue eyes that were filled with regret. “You didn’t know. How can I be mad at you for not knowing something I didn’t tell you? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why didn’t you tell anybody?”

I sighed. “I didn’t want anyone to know that I really wanted to ki ll that guy that day and that I would have if Misha hadn’t pulled me off him. I was worried that you all would look at me differently if you found out.” I had looked down at the floor, not wanting to see his eyes right away when 1 admitted that. I felt his hand under my chin, lifting my gaze to look at him.

“Sephie, you know who we are, right? Of all the people in the world to understand that feeling, the six of us can understand that feeling. We don’t think less of you because of that. It makes you more of a ba dass than you already are.” He smiled at me, his blue eyes had that knowing look that he got every time I needed to search them. I looked for what I was always afraid of finding, but never did. He waited patiently, still fighting the losing battle with my curls, amusing himself at their persistence. He pressed his lips to mine. “It’s also sexy as f uck,” he said, smiling against my lips.

I couldn’t help but laugh at him. I climbed back into his lap, wanting to be close to him again. He willingly opened his arms for me, wrapping me in his embrace. I loved the feeling of safety I had whenever I was in his arms. With him, it didn’t feel like he was keeping the darkness away. It was more like he commanded the darkness. It was there, but it was bent to his will, allowing me to stay safe anytime I was surrounded by it. I could feel his warmth stay with me anytime I felt the cold void try to take over.

“I love you, Adrik. Always and forever.” My fingers were running over his neck and down his chest where his shirt was open. I felt his breath hitch as he held me tighter.

“I love you, solnishko. I will always be here for you. No matter what happens.”

Two Weeks Later

We were in Adrik’s office. He was working on things at his desk, while I had found a book to read on the couch. The guys were busy on various tasks, so it was just the two of us. I would catch him looking at me every so often. Each time, it would make me smile and I could almost see his heart skip a beat.

Armando walked into the office with Giana. “Ah, Sephle, I was hoping you would be here too,” I stood up to greet his open

* Makh, to are you today? How are you, Giana? Settling in the better?” I asked.

Armando vald. That’s what I was hoping to talk to you about. I was hoping maybe you two could go for a girl’s day or something thet be out of the building for a while, maybe?

d thought tot a minute, glancing toward Adik, who looked slightly used. He already knew that I had no idea what a girl’s day meant. I suckdenly had an idea, though.

W course, we can. I just neest to find one of the guys.” Altik cleated his throat. I looked toward him.

“AL borst box, preferably three,” he said, a stern look on his face that told me there was no use arguing with him on this. I simply nodded my head. He picked up his phone, spoke in Russia, then hung up. “They’ll be here shortly.” He stood up, walking toward me. He pulled his wallet from his pants, handing his credit card. “Use this on whatever you like.”

“Don’t tell me that. I’ll come back with a pony. Don’t tempt me,” said, laughing.

He laughed, kissing my forehead. “We’ll find a place for it. Don’t worry.” But then he looked at me with the same stern look on his lace “I want you to spend money on clothes, if you need then He leaned down, his lips to my car, “you should think about getting a few skirts. Easter access.” He winked at me, leaving me completely flustered.

Ivan, Misha, and Andrei showed up a few minutes later, ready to escort us to wherever we wished to go that day. When we were in the elevator, I hit the button for the 5th floor. I looked at Gianja, grimming. “I’m going to be honest here, I generally fail miserably at the whole being a normal girl routine. I’m going to need help on what to do here, but I have just the right secret weapon for this.”

The guys all started laughing, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

“Giana, what are your feelings on Bingo?” Misha asked her, his wide smile across his face. Her cheeks flushed slightly when he smiled at her. She looked flustered for a moment, but eventually admitted that she didn’t know what Bingo was.

I surprised all three of them by telling them, in Russian, to be nice. Ms. Jackson had been secretly teaching me Russian and I’d been picking it up along the way, anytime they spoke it in front of me. I was nowhere near fluent in it, but I could pick up and say small phases. Their eyes went wide. Ivan grinned at me, “you ever cease to amaze us, princess.”

We knocked on Ms. Jackson’s door. I hadn’t told her we were coming, but I had a feeling she would be up for an adventure, especially with these three in tow.

“Oh my! Is it my birthday already? It feels like my birthday,” she did when she opened the door. Even Giana laughed at her response.

“Ms. Jackson, would you be interested in a girl’s day out with us?admittedly have no idea what that means and I’m really hoping you do, so please say yes,” I said, laughing.

“Oh, child, you don’t have to ask me twice. Let me get my purse.” She walked into her apartment. We heard her say loudly, “can we swing by Edith’s place this time?”

The guys just laughed. “Wherever you like, Ms. Jackson,” Ivan said. “It’s time we test her pacemaker.”

King of the Underworld - Chapter 119

 Adrik

Misha sat back down, exhaling. He was deep in thought for a few moments. I felt Sephie’s fingers on my neck and chest, playing with my collar the way she did when I would carry her anywhere. Her head still resting on my chest. She sighed, her body. continuing to relax the longer we sat there.

“I get that familiar feeling that Sephie was talking about and I feel the same feeling of impending doom that I felt that day on the sidewalk right now,” Misha finally said. “But I don’t know if the familiar feeling is because we were all forced to smell that perfume for a few months or if it was something to do with the day of the attack. I did not see her on the sidewalk. At least I don’t remember seeing her.”

“It’s possible she was there, just ahead of you, or she was a part of the sea of people that were suddenly around you two. It would’ve been difficult to pick her out of the crowd. The bigger question is whether she was there by chance or by design. And we still need to figure out the link to the ball. None of us saw her that night. We would’ve remembered that,” Stephen said, scratching his chin.

“Maybe one of the women in the bathroom wore the same brand of perfume? If they said they knew one of Adrik’s exes, then maybe it was Vanessa. Maybe they wear the same perfume? Although I don’t know why you would double up on that hot mess of a scent,” Sephie said, her fingers still lightly running over my neck, down my chest where my shirt was open. I wasn’t sure if she knew she was driving me crazy and was enjoying it, or she had no idea. Either way, she was driving me crazy.

“That’s entirely possible. That would explain why you remembered that exact moment in the elevator,” Stephen said. “That’s a satisfactory explanation for the night of the ball. There were a lot of people there, but we definitely would’ve seen Vanessa if she were there. I also can’t see her getting an invitation to that event. It’s, uh, a little above her,” Stephen said, somewhat sheepishly.

Ivan chuckled. “It’s a lot above her, let’s be honest.”

“I’m sure she’s a perfectly nice girl. You know, when she’s not trying to seduce other women’s boyfriends,” Sephie chuckled. She sat up straighter, stretching her back. I had pulled her sideways into my lap. I turned her so she could lean back against my chest and wrapped my arms around her waist. She held onto my arms around her, crossing her legs in between mine.

Ivan shook his head no. “You haven’t seen her other side, princess. She’s definitely not a nice girl. She’s the opposite of a nice girl, especially with me.”

Sephie looked at Ivan, “that’s because your demons irritate her demons. That’s your superpower, Squishy. Your demons bring out the worst in everyone, those parts that they try so hard to cover up, so others can see them the same way you do. You just need to remember that your demons work for you now instead of the other way around.”

Ivan looked stunned. He thought for a moment, then a sly smile appeared on his face. “I feel vulnerably diagnosed, but you’re right.” He winked at her.

She giggled. “You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others.”

In unison, everyone else said, “hey!”

I was worried how Sephie would sleep that night, but she slept through the night with no issues. She spent the entire night on my chest, which may or may not have helped her avoid nightmares, but I wasn’t complaining. I woke up several times, worried about her, and each time, she was still sleeping soundly on my chest. I wasn’t going to risk moving her, so I would run my hands through her hair or over her back and would feel her snuggle into me more, which would help me drift back to sleep.

Three Days Later

Sephie was sitting in between my legs, leaning back against me, with my arms wrapped around her as Stephen tried once again to walk her through the day she and Misha were attacked. He put her into a deep meditative state, then walked her through the events leading up to the attack. This time, however, when they got to the moments just before they were both hit, her body stayed relaxed, allowing her to continue.

“Sephie, you see Misha just in front of you. He looks back to you, then what happens?” Stephen prompted her.

“I feel arms around me, pushing me to the ground. I feel my face smash against the concrete. I’m stunned, but I feel the arms loosen around me, so I flip over like Viktor showed me and get the person off me. I can see his eyes. There’s something weird. about his eyes. He smells weird too. It doesn’t match. He’s wearing di rty clothes, like he might be homeless, but he smells like expensive perfume. I toss him off me.

I can’t find Misha at first, but then I see him punch the guy who attacked him. I see red at this point. It’s like I’m not entirely in control of my body. I didn’t think about jumping on the guy and punching him. I just did it. I was so angry that I wanted him dead in that moment. I feel someone pull me off, but I still can’t see anything but red. I feel a hand on me, but this one doesn’t make me mad. I can hear familiar voices, but it takes me a minute to snap out of it and see Misha in front of me. I realize it’s his hand on me. That’s why it didn’t make me mad.

Once I snap out of it, I start to feel the pounding in my head. I’m only vaguely aware that I’m bleeding. Misha keeps his hand on me. It’s like a lifeline to reality. I close my eyes and I can smell that god awful perfume again. I open my eyes, but I can’t see very clearly. All I can really focus. on is Misha’s hand on me. It’s keeping me here. I can see the darkriess coming. I’ve seen it before many times. I know what it is. and what it does, but it stays back as long as Misha’s hand is on me.”

I glance in Misha’s direction and his eyes are red. He had no idea he had this much of an effect on her that day. His jaw is clenched. I can tell he’s fighting back breaking down. None of us knew she was struggling this much to stay conscious when it happened. It’s a testament to her strength that she remained conscious as long as she did. I tighten my hold on her waist as I think about how incredibly strong she is for everything she’s been through.

“I can vaguely remember the ride back to the penthouse. We got out and I was walking next to Ivan when the darkness took over. I reached for him, but I don’t know if I made contact or not. Everything went dark. I feel really cold.” She inhaled. I felt

her tense and felt her body lightly shake, but it never got worse.

“Sephie, you did good. You’re safe now. No one will hurt you like that ever again. Do you understand?” Stephen asked.

“I understand. Does Misha understand it wasn’t his fault either? Does he understand that I would’ve killed that guy if he hadn’t pulled me off him? Or how he kept the darkness away for so long?”

Misha put his head down, cursing. We saw his shoulders heave as the sobs racked his body.

“He knows now, Sephie. I want you to count backward from ten and when you get to one, you’ll open your eyes and remember everything.”

She counted and opened her eyes when she reached one. She looked to me first, but immediately searched for Misha. He still had his head down, still struggling with everything she had just sail. She jumped up and went to him, wrapping her arms around him. He held onto her as he sobbed. I felt the tears in my own eyes. None of us knew.

She was whispering to him, so that only he could hear. He would nod his head, then grab onto her tighter. They stayed like that for several minutes before he finally got control. She wiped his tears and kissed his cheek before walking back to me.

She wiped. her own eyes once she turned away from Misha. I pulled her back down in my lap, holding her closely, and kissing her temple. “I’m so sorry, solnishko. I didn’t know. You hid it so well that we all thought you were handling it well. I had no idea.” She didn’t say anything, she just put her arms on top of mine and pulled my arms tighter around her.

“So, the connection to the smell was on the actual guy that attacked you. That means that he was close to either Vanessa or someone else that wears that exact brand and wears so much of it that it lingers on others. That narrows down the list of potential suspects to, well, Vanessa,” Stephen said.

“Now we need to figure out whether she was there by chance or by design,” Ivan said. “The tail we put on her hasn’t come up with anything useful so far. She still loves to shop. That’s all we know so far.”

“Keep it on her. We know she’s not the brightest. She might be trying to be careful right now, but that won’t last. She’ll slip up and give us something useful,” I said.

“Did you at least tell whoever is following her to stay upwind from her?” Sephie asked. Right on time, she made us all laugh and forget about the growing conspiracy we were uncovering

King of the Underworld - Chapter 118

 Adrik

I was lost in my own thoughts about whether Sephie was awake yet when I heard Viktor clear his throat. I looked toward him, immediately catching her eye. My breath caught when I saw her. She had a wh ite, long-sleeved blouse on. Her wounds were much better, but still visible, so she preferred long-sleeves when she was around anyone else but us.

She paired that with a pair. of black jeans. I was still in awe of how she could make a pair of jeans look so sexy so consistently. She wasn’t one to put a ton of effort into her appearance and yet she was still the most beautiful woman in the room. I could tell that she’d showered and applied the smallest bit of makeup that she would wear. She still made my heart threaten to stop when I saw her.

I motioned for her to come to me. She glanced around at everyone else, nervously. She hesitated to come to me. I looked at her more sternly and motioned again for her to come to me. Viktor gently pushed her toward me. He knew I had made sure there was a chair for her, in case she decided to join the meeting.

I wanted to get up and show her how much I missed her at this moment, but that might be too much of a distraction. Most of the men weren’t even paying attention and hadn’t noticed her walk in and sit down next to me. I put my arm across her lap, happy to be touching her once again.

“Why would you be worried about that? They have a built-in customer base if they lease space in this building. They don’t even need to do outside advertising. They can sustain their business strictly on the people in the building. That’s a restaurant’s wet dream.” I tried to not laugh too loudly at what she just blurted out. “Oh sh it. I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

She was so adorable that I almost couldn’t take it. I loved it when she said what was on her mind. She always had very valid

points. Everyone else in the meeting was shocked at her presence, more than they were at what she said. While these guys were all seasoned businessmen, they’ve said much worse in meetings before.

I was going to have to convince her to come to all my meetings, if for no other reason than her comic relief, as well as her superb observation skills.

After talking with Stephen extensively about what happened when she smelled Vanessa’s perfume in the elevator, he decided that there was some unconscious connection between both events that her subconscious had picked up on, but she wasn’t necessarily aware of in her conscious mind.

He tried to walk her through the day of the attack on her and Misha, asking her to think about every detail she could remember including sounds and smells that she might not have noticed the first time around. Not exactly a hypnosis but trying to pull more detailed memories out of her.

She did well until she got to the moment that the guy hit her and took her to the ground. We could all see her body start to shake as she relived that moment. It was clearly still traumatic for her, so Stephen stopped. He glanced to me and nodded his head toward her. I immediately went to her, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her into my lap.

She sighed and relaxed as soon as she felt my arms around her. She opened her eyes, looking at me. I saw fear in her eyes. She had done such a good job of hiding it from me when it happened that I thought she was handling it well. I felt a pain in my chest thinking of how I’d let her down.

I kissed her forehead, holding her closer to me. She was still shaking, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d felt it before. She inhaled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“Shhh. Don’t ever be sorry for this. Ever,” I sald, looking her in the eyes.

“This is your body’s way of processing the trauma, Sephie. Do you know what rabbits do when they get away from a predator?” Stephen asked. She shook her head no. “They go to their den and do this very thing. They shake to process the trauma of narrowly escaping death. They let it happen, then pop up like nothing happened. If you don’t let this happen, then you’ll

remain stuck in the moment of the trauma, if you will. Your body knows what it’s doing. You’re smart for not fighting it. You processed the night of the ball more than you ever did with the attack on you and Misha, but I doubt you’re done completely with either.”

“So, I have more of this to look forward to in my future?” she asked him.

“Don’t sho ot the messenger, but yeah. More than likely,” he said. He looked at her with a look of sympathy on his face.

“Awesome,” she said. She tried to put on a brave face, but I could still see the fear behind her smile when she looked at me.

“I’ll be right here with you, solnishko.” I tightened my arms around her as she rested her head against my chest.

“Maybe next time if you’re here with me, we won’t have to stop.” She looked up at me, like she was asking me if I would be willing to.

I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Of course, my love. Like I would turn down an opportunity to have you in my arms.” She smiled at me, the fear dissolving for a moment.

“Let’s give it a few days and then we can try it again. There’s a connection between everything, we just have to find it,” Stephen said. He looked to Misha. “Did you notice any strong smells the day you two were attacked?”

Misha thought for a moment. “No, I was focused on what I was feeling and the number of people that were suddenly around us. I don’t remember anything else.”

“Did you smell her perfume when she was here?” I asked. He shook his head no. “Go to the closet in the bedroom. There’s a trash bag all the way at the back. It has the clothes we had on that day. You’ll be able to smell it on the clothes. Just leave the bag where it is and close it back tight so Sephie can’t smell it. I forgot to grab it this morning to throw it out. Guess that’s a good thing.”

Sephie looked at me, surprised. “I was only kidding when I said we needed to burn those clothes.”

“You’re not the only one that ha tes that smell, solnishko.” I kissed her forehead.

Misha returned, a look of nausea on his face. “God, I forgot how much I hated that smell.”

“More importantly, does it bring anything up for you?” Stephen asked.

King of the Underworld - Chapter 117

 Sephie

We ate lunch and decided to pass the time in the gym. I still wasn’t 100 percent but was getting stronger with each day. I’d worked out a few times since getting hurt, with Andrei’s guidance, and didn’t make anything worse. So far, so good. Besides, working out harder meant I could eat more. It was a win-win for me.

Andrei still wouldn’t let me work out like normal and he insisted that I keep it short. Today was no different, but at least it was something. It also helped me pass the time until Adrik was out of his meeting.

After I was done in the gym, we went back to the penthouse so I could shower and change. It was middle of the afternoon by the time I was done with all that, so I decided to check on the status of the meeting, thinking it would be done. When we got to Adrik’s office, Ivan was sitting in the office.

“Boss is still in the meeting, princess, but I’m sure he will be happy for you to interrupt,” he said when we walked in. He had at knowing grin on his face, like he knew Adrik would be missing me as much as I was missing him.

“How are they still going? Hasn’t it been a couple hours already? Is this meeting that serious?” I asked, surprised they weren’t

done yet.

Ivan shook his head. “It’s not serious. Just complicated. Go interrupt. He’ll be grateful you did. Trust me,” he winked at me.

“Are you trying to get me in trouble, Grumplestiltskin?”

“Not at all. I promise you can punch me in the nose again if he’s mad that you interrupted the meeting.” He sounded sincere. I squinted my eyes at him, but decided to test it. I walked to the meeting room, cracking the door open quietly. I stuck my head. in, seeing Viktor standing by the door. He grinned at me and motioned me inside the room. As I stepped around the door, he cleared his throat. Adrik immediately looked to Viktor, his eyes finding mine. He smirked, motioning me to come to him. No one else in the meeting had noticed me step inside the room. I initially resisted, but he raised his eyebrow at me, looking at met sternly. I felt a gentle push from Viktor as I walked sheepishly towiird him. As I got closer, I noticed an empty chair on the opposite side of him. He pulled it closer to him, making it obvious that it was there for me, in case I decided to disrupt the meeting. I sat down quickly, glancing at the other men in the meeting. Most of them were so engrossed in what was being said that they still hadn’t noticed me. Adrik put his arm across my lap, his hand on my thigh. I held onto his arm, smiling at him shyly, happy to be able to see him and touch him again. This was the longest we’d been apart in a few weeks and as si lly as it sounds, I missed him.

He squeezed my thigh, like he was reading my mind. Armando noticed me and nodded his head at me. I smiled at him, listening to what was being said and looking at the other men more closely. They all looked comfortable in the meeting and they were all very occupied with whomever was speaking. A few of them nodded along to things being said. A few would make a face at something that was said, but would add their two cents, and the conversation would continue. I looked at Adrik to find him. watching me, watching everyone else. He raised an eyebrow at me, silently asking if I caught anything out of the ordinary. I smiled at him and shook my head no. I heard him exhale quietly. I smiled to myself at how much he was starting to rely on my assessment of people. I squeezed his arm. He squeezed my thigh in response.

The meeting kept going, the subject changing several times. They were very thorough in their planning. The project was a similar one to Armando’s project in Naples, but to a larger scale. The building would be a multi-purpose building, with restaurants, office space, as well as apartments. There were a few njen who expressed concern over getting restaurants on board with leasing space in the building.

Before I realized I said it out loud, I said, “why would you be worried about that? They have a built-in customer base if they lease space in this building. They don’t even need to do outside advertising. They can sustain their business strictly on the people in the building. That’s a restaurant’s wet dream.” Everyone stopped and looked at me, most of them shocked to see me,

as they still hadn’t realized I was in the room. “Oh, sh it. I said that out loud, didn’t I?” I put my hand over my mo uth, my eyes wide. I looked to Adrik, who was simply smiling at me. He squeezed my thigh, his thumb rubbing circles.

She makes a great point, gentleman. If we present it like that, I don’t see how any restaurant would be wary of leasing space in this building,” he said.

Armando winked at me. “I agree. I think we should present it as a restaurant’s wet dream, even,” he said laughing.

The whole room started laughing, helping me to feel somewhat relieved I opened my big mo uth. I chewed on my bottom lip, still embarrassed. I looked to Adrik again, his eyes darkened as he looked at my bottom lip, his grip on my thigh tightening.

Soon after, the rest of the room collectively decided that they had gotten through all the points they wanted to. Everyone stood to indicate the end of the meeting. They were talking amongst themselves, shaking hands, getting updates on various other projects, and continuing smaller points about the meeting that just concluded. Adrik stood and pulled me up. My hip was sore from sitting for so long, but I was able to stand without flinching.

Armando walked to me, opening his arms for a hug. “Sephie, I’m so glad you joined us.” I hugged him as he asked quietly. “anything off?” I stepped back, smiling at him. I shook my head no.

“All good, Mando. How’s Giana? Is she still mostly terrified?”

He chuckled. “Mostly, yes, but she’s getting better. It’s been a crazy few days for her, admittedly.” He had a faraway look in his eye as he thought about her. A small smile crept across his lips as he was lost in thought.

“She seems like a sweet girl.” I said.

He nodded, still clearly thinking of something else. Or someone else. A few of the other men walked up to Adrik, then spoke to me, still laughing at my comment. “You should consider a job in marketing” a few of them said, still amused.

They started filing out of the meeting room. The guys were escorting them down to the lobby as they left the meeting. I felt Adrik’s arm around me, his lips on my temple. “I’m very happy you decided to join me.”

I turned to look at him. “I almost didn’t, but Ivan said I could punch him in the nose again if you were mad that I interrupted the meeting. I decided to test that.”

I grinned at him as he laughed at me.

“I’m sorry you won’t get to punch him in the nose, but I’m still happy you joined me. I missed you,” he said quietly.

I looked around the room to see who was left and if any of them were paying to attention to us. There were only a few men left in the room, along with Armando, and nobody was looking at us. I kissed Adrik quickly. “I missed you too. That’s really why I interrupted. I mean, punching Ivan would’ve just been an empty perk for not being able to see you.”

He pulled me closer to him, kissing me again, this time more passionately. “You should come to all my meetings, solnishko. You offer valuable insight,” he said.

I laughed. “I don’t know why you put up with me and my inability to control my mouth.”

King of the Underworld - Chapter 116

 Sephie

I woke up curled up under the covers. I didn’t even need to check the bed to know that Adrik was gone. I only needed covers when he wasn’t in bed with me. He was like having a personal heater next to me all night long, to covers were never needed. It’s partially why I loved laying across his chest so much. It was the warmest option. Bonus points that he always ran his fingers through my hair when I was on his chest.

I stretched my legs out, feeling the soreness from our night before. The day before too. The two days before. I was beginning to lose count, honestly. We couldn’t get enough of each other right now. I hoped it never ended, honestly. I loved every second of it, especially now that he didn’t feel like he had to hold back as much. I was surprised at how much his need for me and his absolute lust for me turned me on.

I rolled over, noticing the closed bedroom door. He left me a note.

Sephic,

Triple strength tea works better than expected. I’m sending one of the guys to wait for you to wake up, so maybe put on pants before leaving the bedroom. I have a meeting this afternoon. You know where to find me. I miss you already.

Love you, A

I laughed, grateful that he told me to put on pants. Definitely would not have thought of that. I got up, found appropriate clothes. and went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. It was just past noon. Triple strength tea really does work.

I walked in to find Andrei and Misha both sitting on the couches, discussing something that sounded very serious.

“Let me guess, you guys had a draw and couldn’t decide on who would come up here, so you both came?”

They both laughed, nodding their heads. I looked at Misha, “we’re going to need to work on your strategy, young grasshopper. You’re too predictable, but at least you switched it up just enough that you forced a draw this time.” I winked at him.

“How are you feeling, spider monkey? Did the nightmares come back last night?” Andrei asked.

“No. Well, not exactly. Not the same one as you’re thinking of,” I slid, sitting in between them on the couch. “When I first smelled Vanessa’s perfume on the elevator, I had a flashback to the day that Misha and I were attacked.” I looked to Misha. “I could clearly see you a step ahead of me and the moment when you looked back to stop me right before we were both hit from opposite directions.”

He looked puzzled. “Why would you think about that moment aft smelling her perfume, gazelle?”

“I’m not sure. It’s that same weird familiar feeling that I had about the guys that attacked us. Like there’s some connection there that I’m not seeing. When I was on the elevator, I tried to no think about that day. So, instead, my brain jumped to the night of the ball.”

Both guys cursed under their breath. I smiled at them. “No, not what you’re thinking. Adrik had the same reaction. Ivan had escorted me to the bathroom earlier in the evening. He told me I had five minutes, or he was coming in atter me.

Of course, me being me, I told him I could be out in three. When I was in one of the stalls, there were two women who came out and were at the sink. They were talking about Adrik and about the rumors he was g ay. One of them said she knew one of his exes, that he was an as shole, and that he never remembered her name.

That’s how I knew for sure they were talking about him. One of them, the one that knew his ex, made a comment about him never telling anyone his real name. The other one made a comment about you guys and how much she’d like to take a ride on any one of you. I was hoping they would leave before I came out, but

of course, they lingered. I wasn’t going to let Ivan win, so I came out. They immediately recognized me. I just smiled and told them that I could introduce them to you guys, but that I happened to know that you guys appreciated boldness so they should Introduce themselves. It was just under three minutes, in case you were wondering.” I laughed.

Spider monkey, you know we can’t talk to anyone when we’re working, right?” Andrei asked.

“Of course I know. That’s why I told them to introduce themselves.”

They both started laughing. Misha gave me a high five. “You’re a little bit evil, gazelle.”

“I don’t think any of you would’ve been interested, if i’m being honest. They both looked like the type to look like a completely different person without makeup. Somehow, I don’t think that’s the type of girl any of you go for. I could be wrong though. It’s happened like once before.”

They both turned up their noses, shaking their heads no.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I rest my case,” smiling at them both.

“Why would smelling Vanessa’s perfume make you think of those two instances?” Misha asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know. Adrik wants me to talk to Stephen later, because OF COURSE he’s the one that would know how to mindfuck someone.”

We all laughed. Poor Stephen really was just a nice guy, but he was so much quieter than the rest of them that it made him stand out.

“Are you hungry, spider monkey?” Andrei asked.

“Don’t ask st upid questions, Bubba. Of course I’m hungry. And of course I want someone to bring me some Vinny’s,” I looked at him, a devilish grin on my face.

Misha pulled his phone out of his pocket. He gave orders, in Russian, then ended the call, putting his phone back in his pocket.

“They’ll be here shortly.” His wide smile stretching across his face. His black hair was getting longer on top, so it would fall over his eyes frequently, causing him to brush it back out of his eyes.

“You guys are so good to me.” I got up to get some water from the kitchen. “Anybody else want some water?” Both hands shot up. I grabbed three water bottles from the fridge and returned to the couch. “Who knows what the meeting Adrik has today is about?”

“He’s meeting with business associates of his, Armando, and a few business associates of Armando’s as well. They’re all people. he regularly does business with. They’ve been working on a project for a while now,” Andrei said.

“Sounds exciting,” I said, sarcastically. “That’s probably why Adrik left a somewhat open invitation for me to interrupt the meeting.” Andrei chuckled. “You can interrupt any meeting he’s in. He won’t care if it’s you.”

I grinned at him. “Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.”

Misha’s phone rang once in his pocket. He looked at it. “Food is downstairs. I’ll be right back,” he said getting up to go fetch our lunch.

“Misha, I can’t even begin to describe how much I love you in this moment,” 1 called after him. I just heard him laugh as he opened the door.

“What am I? Chopped liver?” Andrei asked, faking outrage.

“Bubba, you know I love you. Besides, I still have to make it up to you over the whole Tori situation. That did not go as I had planned.”

He shook his head no. “You didn’t know she would ultimately turn out to be like that. You were just doing what you always do trying to make everyone else happy. There’s nothing to make up for. You’re still my favorite spider monkey.”

King of the Underworld - Chapter 115

 Adrik

I woke up late the next morning. Sephie was still sound asleep on my chest. It never seemed to matter how we fell asleep each night, that’s inevitably where she would end up. It seemed to be her favorite spot and I was not going to deny her. I ran my hands through her hair, expecting her to start to wake up. She didn’t move. Guess triple strength tea really does do the trick.

I laid under her for a while longer, running my fingers through her hair and over her body, enjoying the peace. I didn’t have anything scheduled until after lunch, so I could afford to spend extra time with her this morning. I felt her fingers start to play on my chest. I smiled, knowing she was having happy dreams, at least.

My mind wandered to our conversation earlier and her experience after smelling Vanessa’s perfume. As far as I knew, she hadn’t thought about the attack or the night of the ball for at least a week, if not longer. Once she was able to kick her uncle’s voice out of her head and she broke the loop of the night of the ball, she hadn’t given it much thought. It seemed strange that both incidents would come back over something completely unrelated.

Why had Vanessa come back? Sephie was completely right, Vanessa did try to touch me when she came into my office. I’ve never felt so repulsed in my life. The thought of any woman other than Sephie touching me makes my skin crawl. I couldn’t get away fast enough from her. She sat on the edge of the desk and all I could think about was how she was in Sephie’s spot. I couldn’t stop thinking about Sephie sitting on my desk.

I wasn’t even listening to what Vanessa was saying. Her voice was always annoying to me on a good day. And my God, the smell. Her perfume was strong when worn correctly. It was unbearable when she wore it. I didn’t even tell Sephie, but I threw out the clothes we were both wearing that night. Somehow, I don’t think she’ll mind.

I did eventually catch a few things that Vanessa was saying before Viktor and Ivan walked in with Sephie. She said she’d heard I was back and wanted to make sure I was okay. She said she cried for days when she heard I had been killed. Right. Where would she have heard I was back from? As far as I knew, she wasn’t connected to anyone else in my organization. I always checked out a woman’s background before I dated them. Except for Sephie.

I didn’t care when it came to her. My usual rules were thrown completely out the window when it came to her. I should have one of the guys put somebody on Vanessa for a few days. Something doesn’t feel right about her just “randomly” showing back up, after dost two years.

I felt Sephie snuggle into me more, still sound asleep, making her tooing noises. I held her tighter against me, glad that she had broken me from my own thoughts. Regardless of whether she was aware of it or not.

I checked the time. I’d been laying there watching her and thinking about everything for over an hour. I needed to get up so I wouldn’t be late to my meeting with Armando and a few other business owners in the city. We were all working toward the same goal, so I didn’t feel like Sephie’s presence was imperative. All the business owners that were coming were close associates of either Armando or myself. They knew we could help them make even more money. I wasn’t worried about deception with them.

I gently picked Sephie up off my chest enough that I could slip out from under her. She stirred just slightly, making me hopeful she would wake. My hopes were dashed when she rolled over and curled up in a new position. I smiled at her, pulling the blanket over her so she wouldn’t get cold without me. She always said I kept her warm at night.

I carefully crawled back onto the bed and kissed her cheek before leaving to get dressed. I wasn’t looking forward to being away from her, but I wanted her to sleep. Clearly, she needed it. I would have one of the guys come up and wait for her to wake up so she wouldn’t be completely alone.

She still wasn’t awake when I was ready to leave. I left her a note, hoping that she would see it and put pants on before walking out of the bedroom. Not that I didn’t trust my guys, but some things were reserved only for me and I liked it that way. I kissed her once more before quietly leaving for my meeting.

I met Viktor and Ivan in my office. “Where’s the princess?” Ivan asked, a look of slight concern on his face.

She had trouble sleeping last night. I want her to talk to Stephen (oday. She said smelling Vanessa’s perfume took her back to the day of the attack on her and Misha, as well as the night of the ball,” I said. Both tensed, looking seriously worried now. “I know. I had the same reaction. She said it wasn’t that loop she was stuck in on the plane. She said it triggered a memory of listening to two other women in the bathroom earlier in the evening.”

Ivan chuckled. “Did she tell you what she did to those women?”

I laughed, nodding my head. Ivan just shook his head. Viktor looked lost, “what happened?”

Still smiling, I said, “she overheard these two women talking about me and the rumors about me. One of them apparently knows an ex of mine, so she confirmed the rumors were untrue, but did say I was an as shole that couldn’t remember my girlfriend’s names.

That’s how Sephie knew for sure they were talking about me.” I paused to laugh. “The other lady apparently wanted to take a ride on one of you. They didn’t know Sephie was in there, but because Ivan was waiting for her, she didn’t. want to wait for them to leave, so she came out and offered to introduce them to you guys.”

“But then she told them that she knew that we appreciated boldness so they should introduce themselves instead,” Ivan finished, laughing.

Viktor, still somewhat confused, asked, “doesn’t Sephie know we can’t talk to people while we’re working?”

“Oh, she knew. That’s exactly why she told them to introduce themselves,” I said.

Viktor cursed under his breath, laughing along with us. “She’s a little bit evil,” he said, laughing his deep belly laugh.

“That’s why she couldn’t sleep last night. She said she just kept going back to those two scenes, so she got up and made herself some tea. She said she made it triple strength, so it’s not surprising that she’s still sound asleep upstairs. One of you go upstairs and wait for her to wake up. Or send one of the other guys,” I said “And I want someone on Vanessa for a few days. It doesn’t make sense that she came back after all this time. That wasn’t random. I need to know who told her to come back.”

Viktor nodded, “already on it, sir. We had her followed when we tossed her from the building.” He pulled his phone from his pocket to send a text, presumably to one of the other three to go wait for Sephie.

“Well done. Thank you.”

“I told Misha and Andrei to battle it out and decide who would go upstairs. Stephen is in the lobby waiting for your associates for the meeting.”

“Perfect. I know she’s safe up there, but I haven’t been away from her in a few weeks and quite frankly, I don’t like it,” I ran my hand through my hair. I knew they would understand my obsessive need to make sure she was always protected.

“Honestly, Boss, I’m surprised you were able to leave without her waking up. She’s just as attached to you as you are to her,” Ivan said. “If it were anyone else, it might make me want to pu ke, ut you two are fu cking adorable.” He grinned when he said it.

I glared at him but laughed. “We are fu cking adorable.”

We were still laughing when Stephen stuck his head in my office. “Everyone is here, Boss. They’re all in the conference room. Where’s Sephie? Is she okay?”

I nodded, still occasionally surprised at their concern for her. “She’s fine. I want you to talk to her later, though. Vanessa’s perfume triggered memories for her of the day she and Misha were attacked, as well as the ball. We can’t figure out why.”

He looked surprised. “She didn’t have nightmares again, did she?

“No. Well, not the same one as she was in on the plane. Different memories. The fact that she’s thinking about the day she and Misha were attacked is strange to me. She never seemed like that bothered her, at least me ntally, like the ball did. And I have no idea why smelling perfume would trigger the memories.”

Stephen exhaled. “Could be a number of things, honestly. We’ll talk about it later and get to the bottom of it.”

I put my hand on his shoulder as I walked out of the office, on my way to the meeting. My mind was on Sephie, not at all on This meeting I was walking into

King of the Underworld - Chapter 114

 Adrik

I woke sometime during the night to an empty bed. I was admittedly exhausted by the time we finally went to sleep. I just couldn’t get enough of her right now, especially now that I wasn’t having to hold back as much. She was amazing. She would match my intensity every time, sometimes surprising me with her own intensity. She would regularly test the limits of my endurance and I fu cking loved that about her.

I stretched, moving to get up and immediately regretted it. I was sore. I bet she’s sore too. I should calm down for a bit or else she’s going to end up hurt again. I found a pair of pants and slipped them on, getting up to go see where she was. It wasn’t like her to get up in the middle of the night unless something was wrong. It worried me.

I found her standing at the windows, a mug in her hand. She heard me walk out and turned toward me. “I’m sorry, did I wake you? I was trying to be quiet.” She was wearing my shirt from earlier that day and nothing else. There was nothing sexier than seeing her in one of my shirts.

I wrapped my arm around her waist from behind her. “Your absence woke me, solnishko,” I said, kissing her shoulder. “Are you okay? Did your headache come back?”

She put one arm on top of mine that was around her waist, lacing her fingers through mine. “No, it didn’t come back. I can’t get my brain to sh ut off. I made myself some tea hoping it would help me relax and go back to sleep.”

“What’s going on in your brain? Did you have a nightmare again?” was concerned she had gotten stuck in the never-ending. loop of the ball again and I didn’t hear her to pull her out of it. That thought was one that terrified me. It seemed like my voice was what could pull her out of that and I was terrified that she would be stuck in that loop and I wouldn’t be there to pull her out of it, leaving her stuck replaying that scene endlessly.

“No. Well, yes. But not the loop at the ball. When we got on the elevator and I smelled Vanessa’s perfume, my mind. immediately went to the day that Misha and I were attacked. I could see Misha a step ahead of me and I saw him turn back to look at me just as we were both hit. I closed my eyes and tried to not think about it at the time, but my mind jumped. immediately to the night of the ball.”

I tightened my arm around her, cursing quietly under my breath.

“No, it’s okay. I was thinking about when I went to the bathroom, Jvan waited outside for me. There were these two women in the bathroom and they were talking about you. I could hear their whole conversation. They were talking about how there were rumors that you were g ay because you hadn’t been seen in public with a woman in years.

But then one of them said she knew one of your ex-girlfriends. She said you were always an as shole and would call her the wrong name. That’s when I knew for sure they were talking about you,” she giggled. “She made a comment about how you never told anyone your real name. Then the other one mentioned the guys and said how much she’d like to take a ride on one of them.

Ivan told me I had five minutes, but of course I told him I could be out in three, so I couldn’t wait for them to leave. I walked out and told them I could introduce them to the guys, but that I knew for a fact they appreciated boldness so they should introduce themselves as I washed my hands.”

I clicked my tongue. “You know they can’t talk to people when they’re working.”

She giggled. “Why do you think I told them to introduce themselves?”

I kissed her neck. “You’re a little bit evil, solnishko.” I smiled against her neck, biting gently. I felt her sigh as she was lost in her thoughts. “Those two scenes are what you’ve been thinking about instead of sleeping?”

She nodded her head, sipping the tea. “I can’t get rid of the feeling that something is familiar about those two scenes and

can’t figure out why smelling her perfume in the elevator made me think of that. I’ve never seen her before today. At least, not that I know of.”

I thought for a moment. “We can ask Stephen about it tomorrow. He has experience with hypnosis and how certain things can trigger memories. He might be able to help you connect it.”

“Why am I not surprised that he’s the one that can mindfuck you?”

I laughed. “I know, right? You don’t know if he’s just really quiet or if he’s thinking of 50 different ways to ki ll you.”

She laughed, leaning her head back against my shoulder, giving me complete access to her neck. I kissed down her neck as she said, “I said almost the exact same thing to Misha and Andrei the other day.”

We stood in silence for a few minutes while she kept sipping her tea. She finally yawned and I felt her body relax. “Better?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’m sleepy again. I made that tea like triple strong, so I apologize in advance if I sleep until noon now.”

I took the mug from her, setting it down on the coffee table. I picked her up, her head resting against my shoulder. “You can sleep as long as you need to, my love. You’re so much better now hut your body still needs time to heal. It doesn’t help that I’m practically addicted to you now.” I kissed her forehead as we walked back to bed.

She sighed, making the quiet cooing noise that she only made when she was super sleepy and happy. “I don’t mind that part. I love that part, actually. You take all the pain away for a bit.”

I laid her down on the bed. She moved over so I could climb in behind her. I wrapped my arms around her as she snuggled back into me. I loved that feeling of having her in my arms, wanting to be as close to me as possible. I held her tightly, knowing she was asleep again almost immediately. I smiled to myself, thinking about how much I loved her as I drifted off to sleep once again as well.