There. I’d done it. I was actively snooping.
The ugly, twisted knot in my stomach proved how much I hated it.
“He was looking for a map of proposed changes to a drug route—intel to sell to the enemy,” he replied bluntly.
I nodded, lowering my gaze.
“And he wouldn’t have found any map at all,” he added. “I never leave out papers with critical and confidential details.”
Then what the fuck am I doing here?
I sighed and stood. “That’s good.” I cleared my throat. “Smart of you to be so careful like that.”
He shrugged. “Until someone tries to hack into the system and steal intel that way.”
“I guess so. But I bet you’ve got a lot of cyber defenses and firewalls and all.”
“We do.”
Yeah, I’ll never get my hands on anything that would make Uncle Roberto think that I can come home.
We went to his father’s building, and I couldn’t shake off the tension of being a fraud, a spy, a liar in these people’s homes. The more time I spent with the Orlovs, they lost the appearance of beingmyenemy. Or being villains at all.
Andre didn’t waste time meeting with his father and cousins, leaving me with Claire, Anya, and Natalie while they prepared lunch.
“Can I help?” I offered, feeling out of place. “I’m not even sure why Andre told me to come.”
“Because he fancies you,” Maisie piped up.
The women paused in getting things out on the counter.
I froze, watching the young girl who seemed to be testing out speaking without a censor.
“Fancies?” I said, smiling. “That’s an old term.”
Natalie got over her surprise and laughed lightly.
“But he does. I asked him.”
“Andre admitted he fancies Miss Sofia?” Claire asked, using a shocked voice like she couldn’t believe the scandal.
Maisie nodded, matter of fact. “I asked him why.”
Oh, God.
I could use a hole in the floor to swallow me up now.
“And he said he likes her ass.”
Cue another moment of shock. We all went still. My cheeks were onfire.
“Uh. Maisie,” Anya said. Mikhail’s daughter from his first marriage seemed just a few years younger than me. She opened her eyes wide and glanced at me with panic. “That’s not what he said.”
“No. He did.” Maisie gave me a thumbs-up.
I covered my cheeks. “Um…”
“Well, I can’t blame him,” Claire teased with a laugh. “I’d love to have a butt like that.”
