Page 44 of Bought By Sin

“What the fuck do you think she’s been doing?” I asked. “She hasn’t been preparing to sit around and do nothing.”

My phone buzzed.

I glanced down at my text.

Alexei: She’s been entertaining you.

Alexei: You missed a spot on your beard.

I lifted my hand and ran it over my face. Glowering at him while Maksim and Adrik debated whether they should subcontract this assignment instead of me handling it—with or without Mila—I watched him roll his eyes.

Alexei: You dumbass. I’m fucking with you.

I shot him a stern look.

Alexei: But you’re proving that she’s not just training. That she’s doing something to be on your face.

Lev: Stop making excuses. She’ll be fine as a spy.

Alexei: I’ll stop making excuses when you do. Don’t let your dick do all your thinking for you.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket, butting into the conversation. “There’s no need to subcontract for something that is my specialty. And there’s no need to question Mila assisting me on this task.”

“Because that’s who she is now?” Carina asked. “Your ‘assistant’?”

“Look, I don’t like knowing the details,” Elena said with her signature worry-wart tone. If I had a dollar for every time she said that…

“But from what I can tell, Mila would be a good person to spy on Yusef or Gregori.” She glanced at Adrik, as if still doubting that she could speak up as an outsider who’d married into the family. She would be the wife of the Pakhan, the mother of the heir in waiting. But she was doing her best to adjust and fit into her role.

Adrik nodded at her to continue.

“You can think quickly,” she told Mila, looking at her directly, as if realizing that was more important than talking over her. “And you’re new to the family, so you⁠—”

“I’m not part of the family,” Mila said quickly.

I gave her a shut up already glare.

“New to the scene, and no one would really be looking for you as a spy in the field,” Elena finished saying.

I nodded. “I agree. And I’m not asking for permission. Mila is my…” I stumbled, put on the spot. She was mine, but I couldn’t declare that without inviting more questions. “She is like my assistant, and I’m confident that she can have my back as I go out to look into this lead. If Yusef Antonov and/or Gregori are staying near this distribution channel, then they will see that we aren’t sitting around waiting for them to attack or interfere with our business.”

They could complain all they wanted. It didn’t matter what they said. I would stand by keeping Mila with me. Through the throes of lust, among the twists of seeking her submission, and out in the field near the docks as she could audition as something more like… my partner.

16

MILA

Ifinally had a job.

Being a Mafia man’s “assistant” didn’t seem appropriate, but I accepted it as a stand-in for what Lev didn’t want to say. He wasn’t labeling me as any one type of employee. He struggled on getting past the detail that I was his. That he owned me.

As his what, though?

After that meeting, I knew I wasn’t the only one wondering about it.

I was glad to have some direction. It helped to know that I’d have a task and something to do. Because while Lev was unerringly good at making me feel good, I did not relish the idea of being his fuck toy.

That brought back too many memories of that nasty old man who’d seen me and planned on the same thing.