The Underworld Series, page 40
His cheeks blushed slightly, his handsome smile stretching across his face. “You have a dark sense of humor about cheating death like we do.”
“Well, what’s the fun of cheating death if you can’t laugh about it?” I asked.
They laughed, but both were thoughtful. Andrei looked to me as we walked closer to the forest trail. “Ivan was right, you know. You’re really making it difficult for any other girl to have a chance with us.”
“We’re going to compare everyone to you from now on,” Misha added.
“I mean, no pressure there,” I said, scoffing.
“We don’t mean it as a bad thing, gazelle. You’ve just showed us how good it can be,” Misha said, slinging his arm over my shoulders as we walked. I wrapped an arm around his waist, nearing the forest trail.
I sighed. “It’s not going to be easy for you. The more you accept yourselves and truly own who you are, you’re going to attract all kinds of people who want a taste of what you have to offer. But most people just want to take from you, without ever giving in return. You have to wait for that one special person, or in my case, six of you, that give back just as much as they take. They’re out there, but you’re going to have to eliminate…okay, bad choice of word right there. I did not mean eliminate literally,” I said, laughing. “You’re going to have to weed out the bad ones to find your special one.” I thought for a minute, then added, “It might not be as difficult for you guys. Your murderous auras when you’re working will keep a lot of them away.”
They both laughed. “We don’t really look that mean, do we?” Andrei asked.
“Well, you two look nicer. Viktor and Ivan are slightly more intimidating. They smile less than you two. Viktor is easier to win over while Ivan is the toughest nut to crack I’ve ever met. Stephen is the wild card. He’s so quiet that you’re not sure if he’s just a really nice guy or if he is plotting your murder at any given moment.”
We came into the clearing by the lake. The wildflowers were all fading with the beginning of fall, but they were still eerily beautiful. The lake was calm and clear, giving us a clear mirror image of the fluffy white clouds in the sky. I took in the scene, not realizing just how much I had missed this place. It was one of Adrik’s favorite places on the property, but it was also one of mine. They both knew my favorite spot to sit by the lake and headed straight for it. We all sat down, silently enjoying the scenery, the quiet, the moment.
We sat for a long time in silence, both guys looking like they were lost in thought. Andrei picked up a rock and chucked it in the water. “Did you know right away that Boss was the one for you? Like was it love at first sight?”
I smiled, thinking back to that first night. “I don’t know if I would phrase it exactly like that. You and Viktor walked in and I’m sure my eyes went wide. You’re both giant, very attractive men, but I felt nervous looking at you both. Then Adrik stepped inside the door so I could see him and there was like a weird calm that came over me. There’s always this pull toward him when I see him. I felt that right away, for sure, but I wouldn’t say that I recognized it as love right away.”
“He feels that pull when he’s around you. He can’t stay away from you. It’s so different from how he’s always been with his past girlfriends,” Misha said. “They were always clinging to him and he would just look like he was miserable and wanted to get away from them,” he said, laughing at the memory. I found the mental image of him being desperate to get away from his past girlfriends amusing.
“We all feel it, though, just to a lesser extent. We all want to be around you,” Andrei said. “You’re like a desert oasis for us.”
“Don’t you dare compare me in any way to a camel.”
We sat by the lake for a while longer. I was starting to get sore from sitting on the ground, so I suggested we head back to the house. “I know you don’t want to, Bubba. I promise, for real this time, I won’t leave you alone if you don’t want me to.”
He stood up and offered me his hand, pulling me up. Probably shouldn’t have sat like that for so long. I put my hand on my hip, pressing just above the wound. It wasn’t excruciating this time, but I could feel it.
Misha said, “We sat for too long. Your hip doesn’t like it when we sit for too long.”
“Ugh, I think you’re right. I’ll be okay. I just need to walk,” I said, limping toward the direction of the house.
“I can give you a ride back to the house, spider monkey,” Andrei said, his eyebrow raised.
I laughed. “Are you trying to make Tori want to kill me while I’m sleeping?”
“I can do it. She can’t say anything about me giving you a ride,” Misha offered.
“I think I should walk for a minute first. If it doesn’t go away, I’ll take you up on it,” I said, smiling at him. Sometimes I felt guilty at how they all liked to spoil me in their own ways. “But give me your arm in the meantime. That helps.” Misha was immediately next to me, offering me his arm to lean on as we walked slowly back to the house.
I made it to the edge of the forest and then relented. “Okay, Misha, I’m taking you up on the offer. It’s not getting any better.”
He grinned down at me, stepping in front of me. He squatted down to make it easier for me to get on his back. I looked over my shoulder at Andrei. “Would you mind, Bubba?” He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around Misha’s waist, my arms around his neck. He bounced me higher to the right spot and set off toward the house.
We were laughing at dumb jokes as we walked into the kitchen. Tori had her back to us, getting something out of the refrigerator. We all stopped and waited for her to turn around. When she did, she gasped. Apparently, she hadn’t heard us come inside. She stood, stunned, for a moment. Andrei spoke first. I’m so proud of him.
“Hi,” he said. He was unsure whether he should go to her or not. I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t tell if she wanted him to come to her or not. Misha still had a hold of my legs and squeezed them both, holding onto me in sympathy for the awkwardness of the situation. I was trying so hard not to laugh. I knew it was going to piss her off if I did. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
She smiled tightly at all of us. “I see you’re all still alive,” she said, slamming the vegetables in her hand down on the counter. I flinched. Misha squeezed my legs again, whispering, “I’ll protect you, gazelle.” I hugged his neck a little tighter.
Andrei walked closer to her, clearly nervous. “I wanted to tell you, Tori, but I couldn’t. We had to go no contact. It was as much for your safety as it was for ours.”
Tori picked up a knife to cut up the vegetables she had just abused on the counter. Well, this isn’t going to end well. She chopped a few pieces of broccoli like that particular head of broccoli had killed her entire family. She stopped and looked at him, “I’m sure you stayed in contact with her though, right? I mean, she’s the special one.” I felt Misha tense at her words. This was unexpected.
Andrei, trying to diffuse the situation, said, “She was with us, yes, but it’s not what you think.”
Tori was back to chopping the broccoli as savagely as she could. I was starting to worry about the safety of her fingers at this point. “I think I understand the situation perfectly, given that you’re all still carting her around like a goddamn princess that can’t be bothered to walk on her own.” Misha tapped my legs as he squatted down, to indicate that he was going to put me down. I stood up as he walked closer to Tori. Andrei moved closer to me, pushing me partially behind him.
“You need to check your fucking attitude, lady. You have no idea what happened when we were gone. Andrei might not want to make you angry, but I don’t give a fuck. You can’t see the wounds on Sephie because she’s wearing long sleeves and pants, but it was not a fucking vacation while we were gone. She almost died. But even if we were on fucking vacation, you don’t get to ever refer to her like that again. She’s Boss’s girlfriend and you will treat her with respect, or you will leave this house. And aside from that, she’s our little sister, and don’t think for one minute we will allow you to speak about her in that way. I don’t care how angry you are with us, with Andrei, you have no right to talk about Sephie like that. Do it again and I’ll gladly drag you to the front gates, so you can leave.”
Ugh. Why are girls so complicated, especially when it comes to me? I was mostly hiding behind Andrei at this point. I’d been in similar situations with Max so many times that I knew what was coming next. She was going to force an ultimatum on Andrei. With Max, it usually meant that he would disappear for a few weeks, and I would only see him at work. He would always break up with them and come back to hang out with me. He never apologized for it, but honestly, I just expected it to happen each time, so I didn’t see the need for an apology.
She looked stunned at Misha’s words, but she kept violently chopping the broccoli. Misha turned his back to her, walking back to me. His face was red with his anger, but he smiled at me hiding behind Andrei. “Come, let’s go find Boss,” he said, offering his arm to me. I glanced at Tori. She glanced up, her gaze throwing daggers my way. I held her gaze until she looked down. I glanced up at Andrei.
“You okay, Bubba?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go find Boss,” he said, turning to walk out of the kitchen. We heard her still trying to murder the broccoli as we left the kitchen.
As we walked up the stairs, I said, “That was SO much worse than I thought it was going to be.”
“No shit,” they both said at the same time, causing us to giggle.
“Wait, shh…You can still hear her murdering the broccoli. That’s crimes against cruciferous vegetables right there,” I said. We all laughed, probably louder than we should have, but we needed a stress relief after that hot mess.
As we walked into Adrik’s office, he was smirking. “What trouble have you three gotten into now?” He opened his arms for me to come to him. I saw him frown as he noticed my limp was back. Misha tried to smooth it over. “We sat by the lake for too long. Her hip doesn’t like it when she sits for too long.”
Adrik’s eyebrows furrowed, but he said nothing. He pulled me onto his lap, sliding his hands over my legs. “Now, what were you all laughing about? Have you seen Tori yet?”
Andrei sighed. “Oh yeah,” he looked at Adrik, his eyes wide. “It went even worse than what we were thinking. She’s not only mad at me, she’s mad at Sephie for being with us. Boss, you need to know what she said.”
I interrupted him, “Bubba, it’s fine. She’s just mad. She’ll eventually get over it and it’ll be fine.” I felt Adrik tense.
Misha argued, “No, Sephie. I agree with Andrei. He needs to know what she said.”
I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. Andrei proceeded to tell Adrik what had happened, what Tori said, and then what Misha said to Tori. I knew he was mad, but he looked at Misha with a smile on his face. “Well done, kid. I couldn’t have said it better.” He was quiet for a moment, his hand running up and down my back. Normally I would’ve loved this, but I knew he was trying to keep himself calm.
He looked to Andrei. “After this, are you still interested in pursuing a relationship with her?”
Andrei didn’t have to think about his answer. He emphatically shook his head no. “Not in the slightest, Boss. This is going to happen again, and I won’t allow it.”
Adrik nodded, inhaling deeply. He stood up, me in his arms. He kissed my cheek before gently setting me down. “I want you to lie down for a while. I think you overdid it with your hip. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Andrei, with me. Misha, stay here.” They walked quickly out of his office.
I couldn’t help but smile at the situation. “I love how he’s so calm with us in here, like he’s not feeling all murdery and shit on the inside right now.”
Misha laughed. “I want to sneak down to the kitchen, so I can hear what’s going on.”
“Whatever it is, you know it won’t be pretty. I just hope they take her knife away from her first.” I limped over to the couch, lying down. I exhaled, mumbling, “Ahh, sometimes I hate it when he’s right about literally everything.” It felt good to lie down. Maybe I did overdo it with the long walk, but it was worth it. Maybe it was needed to fully show us the extent of Tori’s anger.
After a few minutes, Adrik returned without Andrei. My eyes went wide, “Did she kill Andrei?” He smirked, but shook his head no. He walked to the couch, pulling me up. He sat and pulled me back down to rest my head in his lap. His hands immediately went to my hair. He looked at me for a moment, his eyes smiling at me.
He sighed. “Tori will no longer be working here.” He looked from me to Misha. I glanced at Misha, shocked. He did not look as shocked as I was. He looked thoughtful.
“I think that was the best decision, Boss. Who wants to order takeout?” he said, grinning.
I looked up at Adrik, still shocked. “You fired her? For that? She was just angry.”
Misha coughed. “She was more than angry, Sephie. She’s always been jealous of you. It’s clear as day to all of us.”
Adrik twirled one of my curls around his finger. “That’s the thing about anger, solnishko. What is said in anger is usually brutal honesty. She just revealed how she really feels about you. I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect of you.”
My mouth fell open. I was so shocked at their response. “How does Andrei feel about this?”
“You can ask him when he gets back from escorting her off the property,” he said, that sly smirk on his face. “Why is this so difficult for you?” his fingers lightly tracing over my face and neck.
“I…Well…I don’t know. I mean, this happened all the time with Max. But he would choose the other girls over me every time. He’d disappear for a few weeks, then he’d be back once he broke up with them.”
“I told you, Sephie. Your friend is not a smart man,” his smirk turning into a small smile.
Misha, sitting on one of the cabinets, lamented, “Ivan is gonna be so happy when they get back. He hated Tori. Even before her and Andrei got together.” He laughed. “He would purposely be extra grumpy around her because he knew she was terrified of him.”
Adrik smiled. “Ivan has always been a good judge of my previous girlfriends. He was always the first one to see their other sides.”
“His demons pull their demons out for the world to see. He’s very good at that. He just doesn’t always realize that his demons work for him now, instead of against him,” I said.
Misha cursed under his breath. I looked at his shocked face. “What?” I asked.
“I’ve never heard him described that way. It’s perfect.”
“Shall we send for Vinny’s tonight? I have a meeting next week that you’re going to need to be present for. I need to make sure you’re paid up for it,” Adrik said, grinning.
“I think Andrei needs to pick his breakup dinner,” I said, laughing. “It’s the least I can do for wrecking his relationship status.”
Adrik clicked his tongue. “You didn’t wreck anything, solnishko. You saved him.”
Andrei came to the office after almost an hour. I was still lying with my head in Adrik’s lap, his hands still running through my hair. Misha was still sitting on the cabinet. We were talking about random things, wondering aloud where exactly Viktor and Ivan were in their journey across the ocean, while listening for screaming from downstairs.
I was expecting him to look sad, but truthfully, he looked quite happy about his situation.
“Bubba, you don’t look as sad as I was expecting you to look.”
He sighed, as he sat in one of the chairs across from the couch. “I’m not sad at all, spider monkey. This has been building for a while. She’s always been jealous of you. Like, weirdly so.”
Misha snapped his fingers, pointing at me. “Told you.”
“Why would she be jealous of me? I’m the one who got you two talking!”
“I don’t know. Like I said, it was weird. It never mattered how much I reassured her there was no reason to be jealous, she was still jealous. Like me telling her there was no reason to be jealous actually made her more jealous. I never understood,” Andrei said, rubbing his face with his hands.
“Why are women so complicated?” I groaned.
“I’m fairly sure if you could find the answer to that question, you would also be able to solve all of the world’s problems,” Andrei said laughing. “But first, let’s order takeout since we just got rid of our chef.”
“Are you sure you don’t want some of that incredibly finely murdered chopped broccoli downstairs?” I asked, turning my head to smile at him.
He looked at me, astonished, “I have never seen vegetables so abused.”
Misha laughed, “Ivan, Viktor, and Stephen are going to be mad they missed this.”
I got up from the couch and walked over to Andrei. I leaned on his back, hugging his neck. “I still love you, Bubba. Even if she was pretending that head of broccoli was your face and my face.”
He patted my arms, looking up at me. “Yeah, I’m not sure which one of us she hates the most right now.”
I went back to the couch. As my head rested on Adrik’s lap, I said, “Ivan. He’s still on top.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Sephie
That night, Adrik was in the closet. I was lost in my thoughts, sitting on the edge of the bed. I didn’t notice him walk into the bedroom, shirtless. I felt his warm hand on my cheek, his thumb rubbing gently. “What are you thinking about, solnishko?”
“This whole thing with Tori. I feel bad she got fired. She probably thinks I told you to do it.” My eyebrows creased as I thought about how much she likely hated me now.
