Page 31 of Bought By Sin

“That was downright embarrassing, Roman,” the soldier whined good-naturedly. He held his hand out to shake mine, but I ignored it. I wasn’t going to let anyone here trick me into thinking I was just “one on the team”. Until I knew precisely what my role would be for Lev and his cousins, I had to stay on guard.

But Roman was right.

That sparring exercise was good. It made me feel good. And I tried not to let it get to my head.

“Go on, take a break,” Roman instructed, tipping his chin in the direction of the water bottles on the bench.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and stayed apart from the others as I went to hydrate. It didn’t matter how tired I was at the end of a long day in here. It was a healthy tired, a purely physical exhaustion of using my body hard and earning a deep rest in return. It didn’t bother me how difficult it seemed at times, calculating which maneuver would best help me in a hard fight. It was a mental exercise that pushed me to improve and learn from my mistakes.

I sat, sipping water as I watched other recruits, soldiers, and vetted Bratva men spar or fight on the other mats. This building was so large that it seemed like an entire army could practice in here and still have room leftover.

But that’s what they are.

An army.

Not a gang of buddies I’ll ever fit in with.

I heaved out a sigh at that morbid reminder. It didn’t depress me for long. Nothing could weigh me down with the rush of endorphins that followed a hard workout.

I wouldn’t admit it if anyone were to ask me, but I was thrilled to have this chance to spar and learn more moves. Since I began here a week ago, starting that day after I instinctively wanted to protect Elena and Carina, I’d been enjoying this training. It wasn’t a light and fluffy Pilates hour. This was no easygoing cardio workout on machines.

Every day for a week, I’d been grunting and sweating and grappling and straining to stay on my feet with this crash course of defense and combat training.

It gave me the illusion of power, of tangible might that could be measured in the aches of my muscles. Of physical prowess that could be registered in the increased range of motion in my arms and legs.

But I knew better than to assume they were subjecting me to this intense workout regime for the sake of improving my confidence or stamina. I had to have a purpose here, and since Lev had stolen me as his slave, it seemed that he was tweaking how I had been inclined to act like an extended member of security that one day.

He probably wants me to join the ranks of patrolling guards.

I’d be the only woman to do so, as far as I could tell, but that wouldn’t bother me.

Or maybe he’s going to set me up to be a spy and take out hits.

I wasn’t opposed to a more offensive and solo assignment like that.

Regardless of whatever my master and owner planned, I wasn’t gullible enough to assume that I was given the opportunity to train and exercise like this for the sake of my own interest or pleasure. All that they did for me here was to increase the success of what I could do for them.

Not myself.

Lev entered the building right then, and I willed myself not to react to him. Not to let my heart race.

He still doesn’t want me, though.

I hated how he’d seduced me that first day and proved how easily he could master my body into responding to him.

Instead of standing around and watching how I did, he approached Roman and then came to speak to me. On his way toward me, the two men sparring on the mat were instructed to leave.

“Ready for more?” he asked, rubbing his hands together. He stood before me, stretching. I’d tried to shore up defenses and immunity to how good he looked, how hot he was, and how dangerously tempting he was with his lean physique and rugged face. Only now, as I peered up at him from my seat on the bench, did I acknowledge he wasn’t in his usual suit or formal button-down with slacks.

A tight T-shirt emphasized his muscles. The hint of those tattoos beneath the fabric were more prominent now. His joggers didn’t hide much from my imagination, either.

I swallowed hard, catching on quickly.

He’s here to spar with me now?

That was new. That was… an interesting development. I hadn’t been overly shocked when Nikolai, Viktor, Maksim, and even Alexei had taken their turns training with me. They all came to work out here often, but I hadn’t felt this flutter of excitement when I was paired up to spar with them on the mat.

“Ready for what?” I asked, wishing that Lev would answer me fully for once. Any time I spoke up to show my curiosity about what he expected of me felt like a vulnerability. I wasn’t supposed to let him think that I wanted anything from him, not even an instruction or direction. It had been drilled into my head from my years with Cartels and gangs that I wasn’t supposed to ask anything. I wasn’t supposed to wonder or be a human with questions. I wasn’t supposed to be a person who thought at all. Just a thing, ready and primed to follow orders when they were given to me.