Page 83 of Rise of the King

I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked to find Adrik.

The second half of the evening was the fundraising dinner, so everyone shifted to the tables that had been set up below the stage. I was happy enough to be able to sit down for a bit. Adrik kept me much more active than I was expecting to be in heels. I hadn’t fallen yet, but I think it was more to do with his support on the dance floor than anything.

The guys were standing in the shadows, keeping a close eye on literally everything and everyone. There were several speakers and then Adrik was to get his award. He leaned over to whisper in my ear, “You’ll be alone at the table just for a few minutes. They’ve got eyes on you. If anything happens, they’ll be to you within seconds.” He looked at me, the intensity in his eyes like he was discussing business. “No matter what, you will be fine.” He leaned in to kiss me, surprising me with the passion of the kiss. It felt like he was trying to tell me something with the kiss.

They started to introduce him, so he stood to walk to the side of the stage. He kissed me once more quickly, before standing and disappearing from my sight behind the curtains. He had taken his jacket off and left it on his chair.

There were only a few other people at our table, as most who had been there earlier were now on the stage or waiting to go on the stage. The other people were on the other side of the table, turned away from me to watch the speaker at the microphone. I glanced behind me, spotting Ivan step just far enough out of the shadows that I could see him.

Adrik’s introduction ended and everyone stood to applaud. He walked out to accept his award. He was supposed to say a few words after accepting his award, then he would be back. The applause grew louder. Everyone was on their feet. I glanced over the crowd, proud that all these people loved Adrik so much. Just as I glanced away, there was a commotion on stage. I looked back to the stage as I saw Adrik clutch his chest, falling forward. I glanced behind me to see Ivan and Viktor rush to the stage. I froze for a second. Just as I was about to rush to the stage as well, I felt hands grab me. One arm around my waist, another over my mouth so I couldn’t scream.

I knew immediately this was not one of the guys. I had sparred with all of them. I’d escaped their grips. I knew what their arms around me felt like. This was a stranger. I struggled against their hold on me, bringing my knees up as we approached the back door to the ballroom, hoping to grab the doorframe with my legs. I managed to just catch the doorframe, causing the person holding me to stumble to the side. I stomped on his foot and elbowed him as hard as I could. He bent over, loosening his grip. I was standing on my own, but his arms were still around me, albeit looser. I turned toward him, putting both hands together, I swung my arms toward his face, hitting him with both fists. He fell backward momentarily before shaking his head and grabbing me again. I went limp, causing his grip to loosen again and managed to get a few steps away from him when he grabbed me again. This time he threw me over his shoulder and ran from the ballroom. We ran through a kitchen. I tried to grab anything I could to hit him with, but nothing stopped him. I was pounding my fists into his back as hard as I could as he ran with me.

We made it outside and he was met by another man. The guy that had me said something to the second guy who ran to a waiting vehicle, grabbed a zip tie, and came back to me. Within seconds, he had bound my hands together. They pushed me toward the vehicle and into the backseat. They both jumped in the front seats and the vehicle took off. We were still downtown. They were weaving through the side streets. I sat up, waiting for the next turn. As soon as he slowed to make the turn, I opened the door and jumped out. I rolled down the street, taking longer than I expected to stop. I heard the brakes screech and the vehicle reversed quickly. I got up as quickly as I could and started running. I wasn’t sure where I was. I just knew I needed to get away from them. The vehicle sped up even more, closing the distance to me. I ran as fast as I possibly could, but they eventually caught up to me. The second guy jumped out and grabbed me. He threw me back into the back seat and climbed in beside me. He kept a tight grip on my arms as the vehicle sped off again.

We left downtown and drove away from the city. They pulled up to the small, private airport just outside the city. Shit. They’re never going to find me. As soon as I saw the jet on the runway, I started to panic. I couldn’t let them get me on that plane.

The SUV pulled up beside the plane. Both men jumped out. They tried to pull me out of the backseat, but I kicked one of them in the face. I heard him curse me in Italian, confirming my fears that they were bad news. The other one came to the other side and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Don’t make me hurt you,” he said as he dragged me toward the plane. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder to walk me up the few stairs to the plane. I grabbed the door frame and tried to get free, but he broke my grip and walked me onto the plane. He threw me into a seat toward the rear of the plane.

“You, stay. Or I shoot you,” he said, pulling a gun from his boot. He slipped my shoes off before leaving me, his anger clearly visible on his face that I had kicked his buddy. Might be the only perk for wearing heels.

I pulled my knees to my chest, burying my head in my arms. All I could think about now was Adrik. I kept replaying everything over and over in my head. I had only glanced away for a second. When I looked back, he was going down, grabbing his chest. I remember seeing Ivan and Viktor running to him. I couldn’t see the other three guys. Then I was grabbed. What the fuck happened? And, more importantly, how was I going to get out of this situation?

There was only one exit from the plane. And it was guarded. Why weren’t we taking off? They were just standing around, like they were waiting for something. I buried my head again, the tears coming full force now. For all I knew, Adrik was dead. How was I supposed to live without him?

I was sobbing now. I couldn’t imagine a life without him. My body started shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything. The only thing I could feel was the gaping hole forming in my chest as I replayed the scene of Adrik going down over and over again.

I heard vehicles pull up outside the plane. Voices. Doors being opened and shut on the vehicles and then the underside of the plane. Footsteps coming up to the plane. I didn’t pick my head up. I didn’t care to see who had taken me. Nothing mattered anymore if Adrik wasn’t in my life.

Chapter Thirty

Sephie

I kept my head down, hugging my knees as tightly as I could with my hands bound. I heard another vehicle pull up outside. More voices. More doors opening and closing. More footsteps coming up to the plane.

I heard someone walk toward me and stop in front of me. I just curled into a tighter ball, expecting the worst. I heard the click of a knife blade being extended and flinched. I felt warm hands on mine and then my hands were free.

“Princess. You’re very difficult to kidnap. You look like hell. Boss is going to be pissed.”

I was still so scared that his familiar voice didn’t register. I just kept my head down, my body still shaking, still convinced of my imminent death. I heard him kneel in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. I flinched at his touch, still trying to get away from him. I heard him curse in Russian.

“Sephie.” He shook me gently. “Look at me, Sephie. You’re safe.”

I peeked at him. I recognized him. Ivan. My brain still not registering what was happening. I just buried my head again, rocking back and forth, shaking uncontrollably. I heard loud voices outside this time. One sounded familiar. Rushed footsteps up the steps to the plane toward me. They stopped short of me.

His loud voice, “WHAT THE FUCK! YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO HARM HER!”

The voice that had threatened to shoot me said, “She fought back. Hard. She jumped out of the vehicle. We barely caught her. You guys didn’t tell us she was so fucking fast. Or strong. I think she broke Alfredo’s face. She kicked him in the face when we tried to get her out of the vehicle.”

Footsteps. Hands on me. These hands were different. My body instantly relaxed when I felt these hands. I was still too scared to look, still rocking back and forth.

“Persephone, love. Look at me.”

I hugged my knees closer to me, shutting my eyes tighter. That voice. That was the voice I wanted to hear more than anything in the world. The one voice that I would never hear again. The tears started flowing again. I started rocking back and forth. “No, no, no. It can’t be. It can’t be,” I said quietly to myself.

“Sephie. Look at me, please. Solnishko. It’s me, Adrik.”

“No, I saw him go down on the stage. This is a cruel joke.”

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