King of the Underworld 

484 

Sephie 

As we walked across the floor to the bathroom, Emilia very shyly asked me, “how long have you known Trino?* 

I thought for a few minutes, glancing at Ivan and Andrei. “I actually don’t know the answer to that question. I’m terrible about keeping up with information like that. Like six months or so? Sure, that seems right.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. 

She laughed. “We’ll go with that,” she said as she walked into the bathroom. I waited outside with Ivan and Andrei. Most everyone in the office had gone home for the day, but there were still a few overachievers still working ban and Andrei both put themselves between me and anyone left in the office without me having to say anything. 

Ivan said, in Russian, “I haven’t seen anything on her. I also don’t have my usual murderous rage when it comes to chicks around her.” 

“If ever there was a glowing endorsement, that should be it,” I said, laughing. 

“She needs Viktor, but otherwise, I think she checks out. So far, everyone in the office has checked out from what I can see. Although I think we need to have a discussion about how much Keith hearts Stephen,” Andrei said 

1 giggled. “I caught that too. Like maybe a little stalkery, even. Does Stephen still hang out with him?” 

“When would he have time? He’s always with us now,” Ivan said, his sly grin curling up one side of his mo uth, 

“And this is how Keith came to ha te us all so he decided to revenge move to Colombia,” I said as Emilia walked out of the bathroom. Her eyes were little wide when she heard us speaking Russian. “Don’t worry about that either. We were actually making jokes. Russian is just such a coarse language that anything sounds like a threat.” 

“You could say the same for Spanish and Italian, honestly. My neighbor is Arabic though. They win the prize for harshest language ever,” she said as we walked back to the office. 

“You might have a point there,” I said, laughing quietly. Adrik’s eyes landed on mine as we walked back through the door. Since he couldn’t see that my eyes changed, I pushed my warmth to him. 

We heard Ivan laughing in our heads. “I can feel you two being f**king adorable right now,” he told us. I glanced at Ivan, completely surprised he could feel that and also apologetic he could feel that. “Don’t apologize, princess. I think I’m just extra sensitive to you both right now. It’s not a normul occurrence,” he told us. 

I climbed in Adrik’s lap, wrapping his arms around me as Ivan sat down on the couch with us, I did catch Trino kissing Emilia’s hand as she sat down next to him. It was a very sweet moment. 

One that was short-lived, as Adrik asked, “have you heard anything on Martin?” 

Trino sighed, then cursed in Spanish. I don’t know why his cursing tirades always made me laugh, but they did. I think it only served to increase his anger each time, but I just couldn’t help myself. He finally said, “he’s still trying to take over while I’ve been gone. There are some pendejos that are working with him now, but some have stayed loyal to me. There are more that have stayed loyal to me in my network than are working with him, which is advantageous to their survival rate.” 

“And what of the Mexicans?” I asked. 

A devilish grin stretched across Trino’s face. “That’s where it gets really good. Since he switched sides, they’re trying to work with him again. But now he won’t work with them. My people tell me he’s severed ties with Sal and Ricardo. Something about him not getting payment he was owed. He’s du mb enough to think he can take over everything on his own.” 

We couldn’t help but laugh. “We’re the reason he didn’t get that payment. We put her on a plane with a new ID so no one could find her,” Ivan said. 

Emilia’s eyes went wide. “You’re talking about him getting paid with a girl?” 

I laughed. “It was not our idea. We’re the ones that stopped it. Her godfather was the one that arranged it, for the record. We’re very pro-not using any humans as payment for anything.” 

Trino cursed again. “Giana was the payment? Really?” he asked. 

We all nodded. “Martin wanted in on Lorenzo’s human trafficking. He threatened to kidnap and sell her if she didn’t obey. She was payment for something happening in the city, but we never got that detail. She’s safe now. As long as she’s smart, no one will ever find her.” Adrik said. 

Trino sat in stunned silence for a few moments, clearly shocked that Martin was capable of such things. He finally looked at Adrik, anger clearly visible on his face. “I’m going to enjoy ki lling him.” 

Adrik felt me tense, but he just chuckled. “Yeah, so about that. It’s slightly more complicated than that.” 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

Adrik hesitated, not sure how to answer without just spilling everything right then. I squeezed his arms, answering for him. I said, in Italian, “remember those times we saved you from dying and then that one time my eyes went black in front of you?” 

Trino nodded, saying, “that is not something I could easily forget.” 

“The answer is connected to all of that. It’s much bigger than you know. Much, much bigger. We don’t know how much you want us to say in front of…everyone,” I said, glancing quickly at Emilia, 

“How bad is i he asked. 

“Worse than you could ever imagine,” I said. 

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he considered his options. He glanced toward Chris and Keith, asking, “do they know?” 

“Not yet. We’ve been trying to come up with a way to break it to you slowly, but that’s one of the tests they have to pass to be your security. Your last security team almost met with an untimely end because of their issues regarding me,” I said. 

He scoffed. “You would’ve done me a favor, honestly.” He looked at Gus, then that, then glanced at Chris and Keith one more time. Finally, he looked at Emilia. He looked back to me. “She’s passed your approval process so far, Miha?” I nodded. “Good. We’ll see how she does in the advanced round,” he said, leaning back and sliding his arm around her shoulders. 

“You’re sure?” I asked him in English. 

“Miha, I owe you my life. You’re the reason I got to see my mother one last time. Whatever you’re about to tell me, pales in comparison to those two things, Trino answered in English. 

“Oh boy,” I said, getting up to close the office door. 

I laughed. “It was not our idea. We’re the ones that stopped it. Her godfather was the one that arranged it, for the record. We’re very pro-not using any humans as payment for anything.” 

Trino cursed again. “Giana was the payment? Really?” he asked. 

We all nodded. “Martin wanted in on Lorenzo’s human trafficking. He threatened to kidnap and sell her if she didn’t obey. She was payment for something happening in the city, but we never got that detail. She’s safe now. As long as she’s smart, no one will ever find her, Adrik said. 

Trino sat in stunned silence for a few moments, clearly shocked that Martin was capable of such things. He finally looked at Adrik, anger clearly visible on his face. “I’m going to enjoy ki lling him.” 

Adrik felt me tense, but he just chuckled. “Yeah, so about that. It’s slightly more complicated than that.” 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

Adrik hesitated, not sure how to answer without just spilling everything right then. I squeezed his arms, answering for him. I said, in Italian, “remember those times we saved you from dying and then that one time my eyes went black in front of you?” 

Trino nodded, saying, “that is not something I could easily forget.” 

“The answer is connected to all of that. It’s much bigger than you know. Much, much bigger. We don’t know how much you want of…everyone,” I said, glancing quickly at Emilia. 

“How bad is it?” he asked. 

“Worse than you could ever imagine,” I said. 

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he considered his options. He glanced toward Chris and Keith, asking, “do they know?” 

“Not yet. We’ve been trying to come up with a way to break it to you slowly, but that’s one of the tests they have to pass to be your security. Your last security team almost met with an untimely end because of their issues regarding me,” I said. 

He scoffed. “You would’ve done me a favor, honestly.” He looked at Gus, then Oscar, then glanced at Chris and Keith one more time. Finally, he looked at Emilia. He looked back to me. “She’s passed your approval process so far, Miha?” I nodded. “Good. We’ll see how she does in the advanced round,” he said, leaning back and sliding his arm around her shoulders. 

“You’re sure?” I asked him in English. 

“Miha, I owe you my life. You’re the reason I got to see my mother one last time. Whatever you’re about to tell me, pales in comparison to those two things.” Trino answered in English. 

“Oh boy,” I said, getting up to close the office door.