King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

397

Sephie

“So, let me see if I have this straight,” I said, in English once again, so Battista could understand. “You think that

there’s no possible way your brother could’ve accomplished even half of what we’ve been talking about tonight?”

She stayed silent, but she didn’t object. “Well, that stands to reason then, that you think this because you feel

superior to him in some way. If you feel superior to him, then it must mean you have accomplishments that

overshadow his, yet you can’t seem to come up with a single one to wow us with. Yet, I’m the one that’s lying?”

There were a few coughs and laughs from the guys, who were trying to hold it in, but just couldn’t. She looked

around at them, realizing they were laughing at her. She started to squirm slightly in her seat. I might’ve enjoyed

that.

“Please, tell me. How long have you had the job you’re at now? And what is it you do?” I asked, trying to appear

curious and not seething. She was starting to get angry, but she wasn’t at the level I needed her to be at yet.

When she stayed silent, I poked her harder. “And what of your husband? What is he? Number four? Is that right?

What happened to the first three?” I asked, crossing my arms across my chest, enjoying watching her get angrier

and angrier.

The youngest sister tried to come to the defense of her older sister, but it was weak. I focused on her. “Do you

really want to play this game, little girl? Do we need to talk about why you haven’t married yet or better yet, why

you have to keep moving to larger cities to escape your reputation?” That shu t her up and even got a tricker out of

the oldest sister “Oh, don’t think you’re immune from my charms, either,” I said, addressing the oldest sister.

“Those two are bad, but you’re no better Arguably worse, I’d say “The oldest sister looked at me, wide-eyed, then

looked at Stephen. She knew in that moment that he’d told me everything. The other two hadn’t caught on yet, but

the oldest sister knew. I watched the color drain from her face.

The middle sister had been string in her own anger during all of this. She finally exploded. She slammed her hand

down on the table, causing the youngest sister to jump in fright “Enough! You can’t speak to me that way. You’re

obviously too st upid to see how much of an im becile my brother is and you’re making up lies to try and make him

seem more important than he is

I glanced briefly at the guys during her little outburst. Every single one of them had their hackles up. I could feel

Adrik’s anger, as well. I knew my eyes were about to go dark. I just hoped they went black I wanted her scared.

I put my palms down on the table, as I slowly stood up. I was looking down when I stood up, so she couldn’t see my

eyes yet, nor could anyone else. kept my palms on the table, so I could lean over, getting even closer to her

“I can speak to a piece of shi t like you however I go dda mn please. And if you ever take that tone with me again,

you will regret it for the rest of your very short life.” My voice was loud enough everyone could hear, but it was

controlled. I sounded as calm as possible, but my tone was daring her to yell at me again. I could see the fear in her

eyes as she looked at me, but she couldn’t look away. While my anger was at an in sane level, I was also

concentrating on everything I felt when Stephen shared his memories with me. I used it as fuel for my fire, but I

also desperately wanted to find a way to push it to her. I wanted her to break right in front of me. “You have the

audacity to think that your brother would even want to see you, for one. Then you come here, insult me not once,

but twice, and you insult him in front of his real family, who coincidentally can end you and make it appear like you

never existed. I think it’s clear that you’re the im becile here.”

I paused, wanting to see if she could come up with a response. She hadn’t looked away from my eyes. It was like

she was frozen in place, unable to speak, unable to move. The youngest sister once again tried to stick up for her

sister. “You’re not his real family. We’re his real family,” she said.

I laughed. I turned from the middle sister, focusing all my anger on the youngest. She was nervous when I first

stood up. Now, she was terrified. “You really think he wants to claim a fil thy piece of trash like you? You realize you

don’t get extra points for having all the sexually transmitted diseases, right? I almost feel sorry for you. You’re so

lost in trying to prove your worth to your bi tch of a sister that you lost yourself somewhere along the way, Instead

of having the strength to stand up to her, you turned into her and you ha te yourself for it. I don’t blame you there.

I ha te you too.” She was now frozen in place as well, but she was making noises. Like she was crying. Or whining.

Or both.

The oldest sister looked at Stephen. She was now angry as well. I stood up, crossing my arms acro Stephen, then to

me. “I don’t know what he’s told you, but it’s all lies,” she half-yelled.

my chest, daring

She looked at

gently

his shoulder

thing. He

been consumed by her demon since she was a baby. You probably had something to do with that too, as I’m

guessing you were very jealous of her when she was born.” I pointed to the youngest sister who was clearly

struggling internally, but unable to move. “She’s an id iot that just wants to be loved. She might’ve turned out to be

a very sweet girl, but you made sure she’ll never amount to anything.” I finally stared at her, my anger only slightly

subsiding. “But you. You’re the worst of them. You let unspeakable things happen. Not because you didn’t care. Not

because you didn’t know it was happening. No, you knew all along. You wanted it to happen. You thought if your

siblings could f**k each other up enough, you’d turn out to be the brightest and your parents would love you the

most. You’re pa thetic and quite frankly, I don’t want to look at you any further.”

Adrik stood up, standing behind me. I felt his hand on my waist. He looked down at Stephen, who looked grateful,

then back to the oldest sister. ‘You’ve seen Stephen for the last time. You’ve also come to this city for the last time.

Take your sisters. You have 24 hours to leave this city. If any of you are seen in this city again, you’ll be shot on

sight. This is my city. Stephen is my family. I protect my family.” I could feel his anger feeding into mine and I knew

he was looking at her with every ounce of intimidation he had in him. She looked terrified.

She looked at Stephen, like he was going to argue. He stared at her for long enough that I wasn’t sure he was going

to answer. Finally, he said, “oh, I’m sorry. You’re expecting me to step in here? Nah. I’m good. I’ll let you learn what

it feels like to fend for yourself.”

Ivan looked at his watch, then to the oldest sister, as the other two were still stuck in their own minds. I saw a brief

flash of surprise on his face, but he quickly masked it. “You better get a move on. The clock is ticking. That 24 hours

is gonna go by real fast.” He pointed to the other two. “And it looks like your travel companions have some special

needs that are going to need to be addressed.”

She looked at her sisters, pulling both of them out of their chairs. They readily stood up and went with her, but

neither spoke and neither looked like they had a clue what was happening. I caught Andrei’s eye when they walked

past him. The look on his face told me he had snooped. Maybe it did work…