Chapter 471


    King of the Underworld


    Sephie


    I slid my arm through Viktor’s as we walked around the pool. I stopped to inspect the rose bushes at


    the edge of the gardens as we passed, noticing the tiniest of little buds starting to appear. It was a sign


    of warmer days ahead, which made me quite happy to see.


    “I’m going to be counting down the days to when I can stop wearing a coat outside now,” I said as we


    continued toward the woods,


    Viktorughed quietly. “You would struggle to live in Russia during the winter,” he said.


    “You are not wrong there. I wouldn’t have survived, I would’ve frozen to death. I know it. I was not cut


    out to be that hardy,” I said.


    He squeezed his arm around my hand. “I think you’re more Russian than you give yourself credit for,


    Sephie. You’ve survived more than most people 1 know. You’re hardier than you think,” he said, looking


    down at me. The look of pride on his face was unmistakable. I couldn’t help but grin at him.


    We walked infortable silence for a while, before my curiosity got the better of me. “How does Ilya


    like working for Vitaliy?”


    A wide smile stretched across his face. “He’s very happy. He gets along well with the other guys, even


    though they’re much older than he is. Aleksei is catching up his training, which makes them both


    happy. Ilya is happy to learn more, Aleksei is happy to teach more. Vitaliy is happy to be rid of his little


    flowers.”


    “And once again, we saved the world,” I said, wistfully. “So how likely do you think it is that he’ll call the


    girl from the fundraiserst night?” I asked. I tried to sound innocent, but he knew this was likely going


    to make an appearance on the whiteboard.


    “He’ll call. Ilya struggles to be single. I think it’s the baby in him. I’m not that way. Sasha is not that way.


    I think Ilya likes having someone to fuss over him,” he said.


    “As long as he reciprocates,” I said. “Nobody likes a selfish dude.”


    “Oh, he does. I think that was part of the problem with thest girl. The one that almost broke him. He


    kept giving, thinking it would fix everything. She kept taking.” he said.


    “My offer still stands. I’ll happily kick her a ss,” I said,


    “I don’t think you need to worry about her. You have enough to worry about without fighting Ilya’s


    battles for him, too. He got away from her. That’s


    what matters.”


    I scoffed. “You’re so reasonable. It’s soooo boring.” I said as dramatically as possible, getting a belly


    laugh out of him.


    “I think both Ilya and Sasha would agree with you on that one. I’ve always been the serious one,” he


    said. We came out of the woods and walked to my favorite spot by theke.


    “I can believe that. You’re the oldest and always have been. Makes sense that you’d naturally fall into


    the father figure role for everyone. You’re so good at it. You’ve had plenty of practice. Remind me to


    thank Ilya for being irresponsible when you were kids,” I said, grinning at him.


    Heughed. “It probably has something to do with it. It doesn’t exin how you’re so good at taking


    care of all of us, though. You were an only child. Aren’t only children supposed to be spoiled and


    bratty?”


    “I fail to see why you phrased that like a question, Papa Bear. Have you met me? Have you not seen


    how I refuse to use my own legs to walk as much as possible? Are you unsure of what spoiled and


    bratty really mean? It’s a trantion problem, isn’t it?”


    He reached out and pushed me over gently. “I know what it means. Maybe you are a little bratty, but I


    would not call you spoiled. You’re so thoughtful is what I mean. Even when I was being an assho le,


    you were more concerned with how it affected the other guys than you were with how it affected you.


    Even though I know you’re struggling with it more than they are.”


    I was quiet for a moment, trying to think of how I wanted to respond. I was surprised he actually


    admitted he was an as shole. “You have more history


    with them than you do me. I’m your boss’s girlfriend. They’re your brothers. I’m also the reason things


    got so weird. Literally. From the very beginning. It’s all because of me. If you need someone to be mad


    at, it should be me. They haven’t done anything wrong.”


    He reached over and pulled my left hand out of my pocket. “You’re more than his girlfriend, Sephie,” he


    said. He held my hand up to look at the ring “And you’re more than that to the rest of us, too. This


    should be a constant reminder to you of that fact.”


    I stayed quiet, looking at my ring, but still thinking about how I’d been the catalyst for their lives to


    change sopletely.


    “You’re still worried that me asking to have my demon taken away was a rejection of you in some way.


    It wasn’t. It’s not gone forever, either,” he said. He looked out at theke, watching the reflection of the


    cl ouds in the water. He inhaled deeply, then continued. “I have always been the serious one. Abways


    responsible. I’ve always made sure everyone is taken care of. It’s just how I am. My mother used to


    worry about me when I was younger. She was worried I would eventually decide that I’d missed out on


    my childhood because I never was a normal kid. I never got into the normal troublesome situations that


    kids do when they’re young. I took school seriously, I took the military seriously, I took my marriage


    seriously. This decision wasn’t any different, with one exception.” He looked over at me. I could see him


    struggling to keep it together long enough to finish his thought. “This time, I chose me. I don’t want


    anymore responsibility. What I have already is plenty. I’m not ready to be able to take on thoughts and


    feelings of everyone else too. I just went about it in the most as shole way possible and for that, I’m


    very sorry.”


    I scooted over closer to him, not only because I was slightly cold sitting there, but so I could lean


    against him. “I know you’ve struggled with everything extra that’s been happening for a while. It was


    always your choice as to what would happen. I respect that. Everyone else respects that, as well. The


    biggest issue is we know you’re notfortable around us. It’s like a constant reminder for the rest of


    us that you chose a different path. I don’t care that you did. You did what was right for you and I respect


    the choice you made. I just want you to feelfortable around us again. I can barely contain my


    emotions on a good day, which means I can barely contain when my eyes change. Now you have to


    look at Ivan and Adrik too. I don’t want to be the reason you’re having PTSD shbacks because I can’t


    keep it together. I’ve already condemned the rest of them to always having to endure whatever it is I


    feel at any given time. I don’t want you to feel ufortable around me, or any of us, as well.”


    “You haven’t condemned anyone, Sephie. They love that they’re so connected to you. Seriously. They


    talk about it all the time,” he said, smiling Sweetly at me. “And honestly, what you didst night at the


    fundraiser for that girl made me realize what aplete as shole I’ve been this whole time. I was so


    focused on the demon that I forgot you’re still you. You’re so incredibly good that you even convinced a


    demon to help you be even better.” He paused, looking at me very seriously. “That’s exactly the reason


    why I’m not ready yet. I still focus on the bad too much. There was too much of a chance that my


    demon would’ve won.”


    “You’re still incredibly reasonable, for the record. I think that’s a very mature decision to make. I can tell


    you that I don’t think it would’ve happened, but I also don’t live in your head. I support your decision. I


    always have. It will happen when you’re ready. Or maybe not at all. It’s always going to be your choice.


    In every lifetime,” I said. “And as for the girlst night, I know what she’s going through. She just needs


    someone to believe her. You guys were that for me. Maybe Ilya can help her with that, too.”


    He put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer and kissing the top of my head. “You do so


    much for everyone else without a second thought. I’m so sorry I doubted you.”


    “You had your reasons. I just want you to feelfortable again. For your sake, just as much as ours.


    Did Kostya fix you again?” I asked.


    “He did. What Stephen did helped tremendously. I was going to ask him to do it again, actually. As


    much as I didn’t want it to happen the first time, I do recognize how helpful it was. I don’t think it got


    everything the first time, though. You were right, too. I was choosing pain over all of you. I see that


    now,” he said, squeezing my shoulders.


    “You’ve been carrying it around for so long that it’s be a part of you. It can be scary to let it go. We


    all knew you weren’t really mad, for the record. You were scared. It’s okay to be scared, but I want you


    to try and remember that you don’t have to face it alone. We’re all here for you and we


    all love you.”


    He didn’t say anything, he just held me a little tighter, leaning his head on mine. I heard his breath


    catch a few times and I knew he was trying to hold back the tears. Even with as irritated with him as I’d


    been, I still wanted things to go back to normal between all of us. I could learn to deal with him not


    being as connected as the rest of the guys, as long as we could find ways to make him feel more


    comfortable around all of us. We needed each


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    other.