Page 109 of Bought By Sin

Fuck.

This is insane.

Something was in the damn air.

I couldn’t shake the image out of my mind now. Even with the sobering talk about Uncle Dmitri and his death.

Months ago, obsessing and dwelling over his approaching end had made me feel so out of control, hopeless and helpless to do anything but wait for him to leave this earth and to no longer be available for guidance and love.

But now, I had so much to look forward to—with Mila.

She comforted and completed me with how she reveled in my dominance. She leaned on me, and so long as she loved me, I would forever have a new goal and obsession to commit to.

Her. She was the light in my darkness, and I would never take the gift of her love for granted.

“Lev?”

I jerked my head up, looking around to see Adrik and Maksim looking at me. “Hmm?”

Dammit. They’d asked me something.

“I said don’t assume he’ll be there to hear of your wedding,” Adrik said.

I nodded, already accepting that Uncle Dmitri had to miss out on so much. He’d missed being lucid for Adrik’s wedding to Elena, then Maksim’s to Carina. He’d also been out of it and unable to receive or process the news of Luka being on the way. And he’d never know that Maksim and Carina were also adding to the family legacy and strengthening the family with another baby, one more member of the Volkov name to further cement the future of the line.

“I know,” I told them. “It’s unfortunate that his health is declining so rapidly now. Faster than what the doctors projected before.”

“It’s only inevitable,” Alexei said. “And we should all be prepared for the shift.”

Adrik nodded, his arms crossed as he glanced at Elena sitting next to Mila as she held Luka. They were both talking quietly, no doubt gushing about how perfect he was. “We’ll need to move quickly with the official announcement of my inheritance.”

“When you do,” I said, respecting and acknowledging how he never shied from facing his destiny as the next in line, “we will all vow to stand together as one.”

Maksim scoffed. “No one’s going to have the window of opportunity to prey on us at any time of loss.”

“I still wonder if Gregori was aware of Dmitri’s cancer diagnosis,” Elena said, piping up and proving that she was still listening to what we discussed. “He’d been shoring up money and organizing his network for so long, but it seems like he’s actually escalating attacks now.”

“And had been for the last year,” Viktor groused.

Now that we could look back at all the incidents of crime, theft, and sabotage across all the businesses that made up our empire, it was clear that Gregori had started messing with us that long ago.

“He won’t win,” I stated. “He won’t push us out of this region and he won’t be able to lay a single finger of claim on the throne.”

Everyone agreed, and we concluded the meeting with an agenda of being ready to move into action the second Uncle Dmitri passed away. Adrik would be sworn into power immediately and we would broadcast that transition immediately.

Back at home, I didn’t dwell on the somber and sad topic that we had met about at the Volkov mansion.

With Mila joining me in the shower as I cuddled her close, I could only focus on her.

“How soon could we have a baby?” I asked her after a long kiss.

She pressed against me, bringing every luscious inch of her slick, naked body flush against mine. Her arm was still healing and her range of motion improved every day with her workouts and physical therapy, but she was comfortable to raise her arm and link it around my neck.

“Seeing as we never use protection…” she replied with a lusty grin, “I imagine there’s no set schedule for us.”

I covered her mouth with mine, absorbing every sweet ounce of goodness and love she could give me. Clutching her close, I made sure that she would feel how hard I was. Ready to practice now.

“I can’t wait to knock you up,” I growled when we parted for air.