King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Fifty-Six

Misha

Three Martha Later

“Are we taking the usual route, boss?” I asked Sephie as we both stretched for our morning run. Since

I’d been running with her regularly now, I was able to keep up with her better. She was still faster than I

was. I did make the mistake of testing that out a few weeks ago and I still regret it. I’m not sure my ego

will ever recover.

“I think so. I like being able to see Mr. Turner at work on the way back here.”

“You got it. You’re sure you don’t want to eat something before we go?” I asked. She had been doing

fasted cardio in the morning, trying to lose a few pounds. I didn’t see where those pounds were that

she needed to lose, but I knew better than to argue with a woman over these matters.

“I’m sure. It’s not as bad as it sounds. And there’s that da mn pala, ball, extravaganza thing coming up

in a few weeks. I have to like wear a dress for that and I ha te wearing dresses and being in public.

Everyone stares. I’ll be da mned if they can say I’m f at while they’re all staring at me.”

I laughed, shaking my head. I always found it funny that men were constantly trying to be bigger while

women were constantly trying to be smaller.

“You will look great, gazelle. And just think about all the sandwiches from Vinny’s that you’ll be able to

eat after it’s

over.”

·

“Someone should warn that poor man. He’s going to go hanaupt feeding me after that event,” she said,

a very serious look on her face. She could definitely pack the food away, esperally for a girl. It was one

of the things we all loved about her. She was always down for a food run whenever we got to stay with

her. She always worked out with us, too. She was practically one of us.

We finished stretching and set out on our usual route. Over the past couple of months, we’d all settled

into somewhat of a routine. It was so much easier with her at the penthouse, We didn’t have to fight

over who got to stay with her. We would take turns throughout the day and we each had found unique

things that we did with her. I would run with het. Andrei was basically her trainer now, İvan was

teaching her how to drive defensively, Viktor was teaching her how to defend herself, and Stephen was

teaching her how to sh oot. She took an interest in each of us as an individual and his point, she likely

knew more about each of us than Adrik did, even though we’d been with him much longer. We all had

demons from the past and in her own way, she was helping us deal with that. She was always there to

make everything mate fun.

Woman’s touch, I suppose. She was different from any woman any of us had known before. We all

loved her and loved being around her. She would come hang out with us if Adrik had a late meeting or

needed to work late.

As we ran, I was silently grateful we were back at the penthouse and not at the house. She always

wanted to take the kong way around the lake when we were at the house, and I would suffer every

time. The route we took through the city wasn’t nearly as inng I still had some improvements to work on

before I could easily keep up with her on the long

Funs

neated the last leg of our route, the hotel that Mr. Turner worked at coming into view as we ran down

the street

Only a few more blocks to go now.

We passed by the hotel, stopping briefly to say “good morning” to Mr. Turner. As we left the hotel and

continued on our way, I got a bad feeling. I made sure to keep an eye on Sephie beside me, while

trying to weave in and out of pedestrian traffic. There were suddenly a lot of people on the sidewalks. I

was just about to stop her so I could keep her closer to me when I felt someone try to tackle me from

my left side. Just as I was pushed to the side, I heard her

scream behind me.

S hit. They’re going to try and grab her.

The man that tackled me was still trying to get me to the ground but couldn’t. He still had his arms

around mine. I still had full use of my legs and I was taller than him, so I was using that to my

advantage. He had pushed me closer to the buildings, so I turned and shoved him into the building as

hard as I could. The shock of the impact made him loosen his grip enough that I could get my arms

free. I elbowed him in the face, causing him to stumble. I looked to find Sephie. She was fighting with

her attacker. The guy that had tackled me was coming back for more. He looked like he wasn’t

completely with it, somehow. His eyes were having trouble focusing.

I punched him in the face as hard as I could. His body immediately going limp and falling to the ground.

I ran to Sephie, who had her attacker on the ground. She was straddling him, just letting her fists fly in

this guy’s face. I could tell she was pi ssed. I’d sparred with her a few times. If you pushed her to the

point of anger, you better be ready for a fight. Clearly this guy was not prepared.

I caught her arm and pulled her off him. He was unconscious. He wasn’t going anywhere. I stood her

up and looked her over. While my attacker couldn’t get me to the ground, hers took her down

immediately. She had road rash down one side and she had clearly hit her head. She was bleeding

from a cut above her eyebrow. Adrik was going to be so pi ssed at me.

“Sephie, look at me. How bad are you hurt?” I asked, holding both of her shoulders. She didn’t answer.

She just kept staring at the guy on the sidewalk as she was trying to catch her breath.

Mr. Turner, who had seen everything, ran to us. “Are you guys okay? Do you want me to call an

ambulance?”

“No, Mr. Turner. I’m calling my people. We’ll take care of it. But thank you.” I turned to look at Sephie,

who was still

hurt?” breathing hard, her face red, still pi ssed. “Gazelle? Talk to me. How bad are you

She finally looked at me and I could see the switch flip in her head. “I’m okay. My head hurts, but I’m

okay.”

I exhaled, taking my phone from my pocket. I had Viktor on speed dial. He answered on the first ring.

He knew we were out and the only reason I would be calling was not a good one.