Page 46 of Bought By Sin

Moron was right. All the Volkov family residences and buildings were heavily guarded.

“Who is Gregori affiliated with, then?”

I was hesitant to ask any question, but the concept of getting some answers that pertained to an assignment was part of my “job”. Even when I was just an expendable pawn as a runner, it was dangerous work. The Cartel would do the bare minimum of telling me who to look out for and who to avoid. That was the lowest form of common courtesy they ever extended to me.

So it shouldn’t have been out of the norm for me to ask Lev this.

He paused, though, as he turned off the engine and we sat there for a second. “Gregori is affiliated with new groups that he’s trying to take over. Yusef Antonov is his right-hand man.” He got out, and I followed suit. Instead of talking any further about Gregori, he updated me more about who Yusef Antonov was. He described what the man had tried to do in meddling with the Cartels in the region. He listed how he was wanted in several countries for war crimes.

In other words, bad news. For the rest of the day, we prepared for heading out, just the two of us. It would be a limited mission, tracking a location for Gregori and Yusef, or one of them. Most of what Lev showed me for getting ready were the pieces of equipment I’d need to use. The scopes, cameras, and recorders. He went over the map of the route we’d use to try to spy on them.

All throughout the day and into the evening, I was by his side. It gave me ample time to realize that he trusted me. He really trusted me to ask that I accompany him over any other member of the family. That realization stunned me. It unsettled me. Because it made the stakes that much higher.

We headed out before dark, but on the ride, I felt tossed up and churned to pieces. My stomach tensed. My heart picked up its pace. And that apprehensive mood kicked in. The adrenaline ramped up, heightening my senses. I was finally tasked with a job, and that was different from the vacation-like feel of the last few weeks since he’d taken me. The proximity to him made me more aware of every little move he made, but he didn’t make a move on me.

It was go time.

He was focused as the dangerous, lethal enforcer he was.

But despite it all, being alone with him on this ride—while knowing he trusted me to have his back—every second that passed added to the undeniable tension that never fizzled out between us.

Just focus.

Concentrate.

Pay attention.

It was easier said than done. My nerves were frayed as I tried to reconcile my attraction with the resentment of still being owned.

Just do what is expected.

I frowned, knowing I’d failed at that already.

I wasn’t supposed to have let him touch me like he did. To make me come—twice.

Stop.

Don’t even think about that now.

It was time to prove my worth. As a spy. Soldier. Guard or lookout. Whatever he wanted to classify me as. Yet in the back of my mind, I wished I could be greedy to slip another label in that list as a valid contender.

I wished that he could see me as a woman he desired again, too.

17

LEV

Ipulled up and parked a safe distance away from where the supposed rendezvous location was. Abandoned warehouses lined the streets in this part of the city. The scent of the ocean lingered in the breeze, proving we were near the coast and further from the desert we called home.

The setting was a change from what I called home, but with Mila next to me, it didn’t seem any different. On the long ride here to hopefully spy and have a proof of life that Gregori and Yusef were alive—not just theoretical targets—Mila was a constant variable that grounded me.

Her presence was a staple that I had come to look forward to and rely on as an anchor. She was someone new to look forward to the future with. She was not someone embroiled in my past or even aware of what it held.

Having her seated next to me grounded me somehow. She kept me more in control. Because while she refused to admit that she’d ever submit to me, she was already starting to. She already had by letting me fuck her. And she would continue to surrender to me the more that we were together.

I felt it in my bones.

I knew it in the back of my mind.