Chapter 141


    Chapter One Hundred Forty-One


    Sephie


    It was my turn to fight back the tears. Iughed, trying to smile through the pain. “It seems like a small


    thing,paratively. But most normal people want to reproduce at some point. I look at all the other


    bosses and it’s like they’re single-handedly trying to boost the world’s poption they have so many


    kids. I assume Adrik would be the same, which makes me worry that he’s not going to want me when


    he finds out. Or worse, he’ll keep me around while he has a child with someone else.”


    He cursed under his breath. “He would never do that, Sephie. We wouldn’t let him do that. And he


    doesn’t even like kids. You should hear what he says about the other bosses and their affinity for


    procreation.”


    I sat up straighter to look at him. “Really?”


    He nodded. “He won’t care that you can’t have kids. He might try to ki ll the doctor that did it to you. I’m


    assuming it was not a happy situation if it made you ha te doctors in general. But it won’t make him


    love you any less.”


    I chewed on my bottom lip for a minute. “Ivan, I’ve literally never told anyone about this. Even Ms.


    Jackson doesn’t know. It happened before I met her.”


    “You can tell me, Sephie. Sometimes it’s good to get stuff out. I felt better after I told you my secret.”


    I took a deep breath. “When my uncle would beat me, his favorite thing to do was kick me in the


    stomach. He thought that because all the women he hung out with were, uh, easy, that I would be too.


    He would scream at me, calling me a wh ore, and tell me that he would make sure I wouldn’t have a


    little brat to feed as he was kicking me in my stomach. As I’m sure you can


    feed


    figure out, he did a lot of damage there. I started hemorrhaging blood one night. I tried to hide it from


    him, but all I could do was sit on the toilet and bleed. It was bad. There was so much blood. Of course,


    he was drunk, so he couldn’t take me to the


    emergency room and he wouldn’t call an ambnce. He called one of his buddies who ‘knew a guy’This belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    that would do back-room. abortions and procedures for the seedier side of town. He was a respected


    doctor during the day, but would perform procedures for extra cash at night. My uncle was convinced I


    was pregnant and was having a miscarriage, so he got his buddy to take us to this ‘doctor.’ That guy


    did an ultrasound and found a bu nch of scar tissue on my uterus from my uncle’s repeated beatings,


    but my uncle just knew it was because I’d been pregnant and didn’t tell him. He told the doctor to take


    my uterus. I was still 16 at the time, so not legally an adult. My uncle had legal rights over me, so the


    doctor performed the surgery, despite me trying to tell him it was because my uncle had kicked me so


    many times.” I felt the tears falling. I wiped my nose on my sleeve, not even slightly concerned what I


    looked like in front of Ivan. “I never really thought much about kids until I met Adrik. I assumed he was


    like the other bosses and would want like his own army of children at some point. It’s thest thing that


    scares me. I’m terrified he’ll leave because I can’t give him children.”


    He pulled me closer to him, his giant hand rubbing my arm lightly. “You have to tell him, Sephie. He


    won’t look at you any differently.” He kissed the top of my head again. “Sephie, we all think you’re the


    strongest woman we’ve ever met. This only- adds to that. You’ve endured things that would cripple


    most men and you’ve done it all on your own. I just want you to know that you’re not alone anymore.


    We’ll always be here for you. No matter what.”


    The tears wereing full force now. There was no stopping them. I couldn’t talk. I just rested my head


    against his giant shoulder. I su cked in a breath, trying to talk a few times, but couldn’t get the words


    out in between sobs. I just held up my pinky,pletely giving in to the pain when he readily grabbed it


    with his.


    Adrik


    1


    I tried to hurry my meetings up as much as possible so I could get back to the house. It made me


    nervous to be away from Sephle right now. I had wanted her toe with me, but I knew she wouldn’t


    want to leave Andrel and Ivan. So, I was left to rush through meetings.


    Myst meeting of the day was with Armando. At least he would understand my desire to get back to


    Sephie,


    Viktor walked in with Armando and Giana. I was surprised to see na with him but greeted her


    warmly. Sephie seemed to get along with her and Ivan didn’t totally ha te her, so that was all I needed


    to know. She smiled shyly at me.


    “Is Sephie not with you?” Armando asked, sitting down across from my desk.


    “No. We had a, uh, situation yesterday,” I said.


    Armando looked shocked. “Is she okay? What happened? You didn’t tell me!”


    “They tried to grab her in the city. She had Ivan, Andrei, and Misha with her, but they separated them.


    Ivan almost died but managed to get her to safety. Andrei got shot, but he’s also okay. She’s safe. She


    wanted to keep an eye on Ivan and Andrei today.” Armando looked shocked. I looked at Giana, who


    lookedpletely terrified.


    She surprised me by speaking up. “Why do they want her so bad?”


    1 exhaled. “Various reasons, depending on who you’re talking about. She’s been privy to more


    information about the organization than pretty much anyone else, including me. That makes her a


    target now.”


    Giana looked down at her hands in herp. “Ig norance really is bliss,” she mumbled.


    Sephie was right. She is funny in her own right.