Page 23 of Bought By Sin

I waited for him to approach and report on how Mila did.

Well, he’d report on how the crew handled the task. Not only her. I was selectively interested in his review of her performance, though.

Because I was obsessed.

Despite her lack of talking to me and opening up at all, she hogged my mind. She popped into my thoughts when I was idle, I was distracted and dragged away from concentrating to think about her, and at night, my dreams incorporated more fantasies of her.

“I don’t get why any Cartel used her for smuggling runs,” he said as he joined me and Roman while the recruits entered the training facility. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder as if it wasn’t obvious who he was talking about. Mila was the only woman being trained for anything out here.

“She excels at everything,” he said, shaking his head with the start of a smile, like he couldn’t believe it. “She can think quickly under pressure, and I swear it’s like she’s hardwired not to panic. At all.”

Those were good qualities to want in any member of our organization. But I couldn’t be so clinical, to only view her as an employee, as a runner, spy, guard, assassin. Anything she could do for our Bratva wouldn’t ease this persistent need for her. All that she could prove herself through wouldn’t erase how badly I wanted her to submit to me. To even hint that she could open up to me.

I’d been drawn to her from the first second because she had appeared so defiant and stubborn, so unafraid, no matter the threats and unknowns she faced so acutely. And I still coveted that. I still wanted to know that I had control and power, something that would be evident in taming her, a woman who was seemingly untamable.

Both my cousin and Roman looked at me, waiting for my reaction.

“Good,” I said at last.

“Good?” Viktor said, giving me a funny look. “That’s all you can say?” He huffed. “She’s a diamond in the rough, man.” Patting my back, he urged me to walk with him. We were both due for a meeting with Adrik and the others, but I wasn’t sure that I should bring Mila. Since I took her out of that standoff, she’d become my unofficial accessory, going with me everywhere while I tried to get her to open up to me and while I sought a purpose and job for her.

A possessive pride once again filled me as I received yet another report about how skilled she was. It aggravated me, making me remember how I’d told my brother that there was nothing to worry about in regard to my acquiring Mila as a slave. That I had everything under control.

I was committed to integrating her into my life, but I couldn’t fully understand why. Why her, why now? If I’d succeeded in fucking her that first day and conquering her with that little test of seducing her, it wouldn’t have been enough.

I needed to have all of her. Her story, her secrets, her wishes and fears.

“What’s your plan with her?” Viktor asked. “Because we could use her for different assignments. It’s a waste not to have her involved in more than a smuggling run.” He arched a brow at me. “Unless you’re thinking of having her be something, uh, else.”

I texted Roman to have one of the guards take her back to the safehouse after her training was complete for the day. Some distance might be in order. Viktor putting me on the spot so directly and asking me what I wanted from Mila was unnerving.

Because I wanted her.

All of her.

Or does it just seem like more because of the heat of the moment? Does she seem more alluring and tempting because she’s new to me? Something different that I hadn’t counted on finding?

“I don’t know what I should plan to do with her yet.” I glanced at him, masking how unsettled that short woman made me feel. “Because I agree with you. She’s too smart and skilled to do something as autopilot as a run. She’s not some entry-level grunt worker to do menial shit like what the Cartels had her do.”

“Then maybe she should be trained more. As a spy, like you’ve been hinting. Or even an assassin.”

I nodded, glad he wasn’t going to push on my personal addiction to keeping her close and shaping her into whatever job she could have with us. He offered to drive me to the mansion, and I was glad to have the downtime to zone out on the short ride to think, ponder, and dwell.

My thoughts shot right back to Mila. And the more I obsessed over how guarded she was, I debated how much I could invest in her and treat her like my own personal project. It was crystal clear so far that she wasn’t inclined to crack or open up to me. She’d been too trained, too conditioned to be this fierce and defiant.

But what if she didn’t have to be this hard like a fighter?

I furrowed my brow at that softer possibility.

What would she do if I showed her that she could lean on me, depend on the stability of being a part of the Volkov Bratva?

I shook my head. This was crazy talk.

No. That’s so fucking stupid.

Right after I was reminded of how much of an asset she could be for us, so skilled and stealthy, and I wanted to what, reduce her to being my whore or something like that? That would be a waste. It would be irresponsible of me not to give her a job where she could excel.

She would excel for me. In my bed. Under me. On me and riding me⁠—