Page 196 of Rise of the Queen

We didn’t have to wait long for Stephen to join us. He was still laughing when he walked into the penthouse. Sephie had tried to not be worried after we lost contact with him, but she couldn’t help herself. She was visibly relieved when he walked in, walking quickly to him to give him a hug. It never failed to make me smile when I saw just how tightly he held onto her. He had taken so long to warm up to her in the beginning, for good reason, but now she was an anchor for him, just as she was for everyone else.

“Very good call on the delivery truck, Seph. Kyle said to thank you as well. He said that was the most fun he’s had in a while. He really enjoys making people angry,” he said as he relaxed his tight hold on her.

She chuckled. “Please tell me he’s still sitting outside the parking garage waiting for us to leave.”

“He was when we left. I almost wanted to leave someone to see how long he would stay there,” he said.

“You, sir, are a little bit evil,” she said. “I’m totally here for it.”

As strange as it sounded to say, it was kind of the perfect end to our day. Sephie managed to make us laugh through every tough situation we found ourselves in now.

“Would you still call me evil if you knew I ordered Thai for us on my way back here? I feel like you shouldn’t have to cook dinner if you save the day,” he said, his uncharacteristic smile that was slowly becoming more characteristic for him slowly spreading across his face.

She grinned at him. “Same order as last time?” she asked, hopeful he would say yes.

“Of course,” he said.

“You’re my favorite. Don’t tell the others,” she said, once again hugging Stephen’s neck.

“I wish I would’ve known I could do this when I was a kid. I would’ve been much more rebellious,” Misha said, shaking his head as he thought about the day’s events.

“You would’ve spied on the girls’ locker room all day, don’t kid yourself,” Andrei said, teasing him.

“Shots fired, Bubba,” Sephie said, laughing. She looked at Misha and said, seriously, “He’s not wrong though.”

Once again, we found ourselves narrowly escaping trouble, faced with a seemingly insurmountable hurdle ahead of us, but we were all laughing with each other like it was completely normal and not the least bit stressful. Because of her.

It had been a few days since the meeting with Doug and Eric when Viktor walked into my office, followed closely by Ivan. “We just got word from Battista that Niko and Vita are coming back. They’ll be here in two days,” Viktor said.

“Is Battista still here?” I asked.

“No, he’s on his way back too though. He said he’s bringing his friend, the arms dealer,” Ivan said, a mischievous grin on his face.

“We need to meet with the same leaders we met with before. Is Chen still the one setting that up?” I asked.

Viktor nodded. “He still won’t let me put him on the payroll for it either.”

“I can take care of that. He thinks I’m overpaying him for his contractor work so he’s reluctant to take anything more. Truth be told, I’m not. He does fantastic work. I’ll just add to that. And have Neal hand his name out to a few more people,” I said. Chenwas a good guy. I was grateful to have his help in all of this. I always took care of those who helped me.

“I’ll set it up right away. You want them here?” Viktor asked.

I thought for a moment. Last time we met with them, it was in my office. Something didn’t feel right about that this time, but I didn’t know what. I looked for Sephie, to ask her opinion on it.

“You have a question,”I heard her say to me as I was looking to see where she was.

“I do. We need to meet with the people who have organized the resistance against the bosses. Something doesn’t feel right about them coming here this time, though,”I told her.

She was quiet for a moment, then she said,“That’s because it’s not. They’re watching the building to see who comes in and out. We should meet somewhere else to protect them.”

Before I could answer her, I heard Misha’s voice, through her head, as well.“Same for me, Boss. Somewhere else is the way to go.”

“Thank you, both,”I responded. I looked to Viktor and Ivan, saying, “Apparently, they’re watching the building to see who comes in and out. I don’t want to put them in danger by coming here. We need to meet elsewhere.”

Viktor nodded, leaving to make the necessary arrangements while Ivan stayed in the office. “Do you want me to have them removed?” he asked.

“No. Leave them. We’ll make sure they don’t follow us, but if we remove them, Henry will know we know.” I couldn’t help but smile a little at the situation. “I think he still thinks he’s smarter than us,” I said.

“I know he thinks that. Wait until Stephen hears about this,” he said, laughing. “He’s gonna be so pissed.”

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