Page 47 of Bought By Sin

For that reason, she was a controllable comfort tonight.

A night when I needed one.

Preparing to potentially see the one man I hated more than anyone else in the world, I felt on edge and tense to get this over with. Even if we stayed from a distance like a stakeout to spy on either of those men, I would be close to the man who had given me half of his DNA. The “parent” I’d disowned the day that he bombed that meeting with so many leaders. The “father” who had acted with such greed and evil to overthrow the throne so he could rule instead of Dmitri.

I had gone my whole life under the impression that he was dead. It made it so much easier to not have to think about him, to erase him from my life, to banish him from ever having mattered. With Uncle Dmitri acting like a real parent and guardian, I had never needed love or guidance from anyone else. We’d all formed a cohesive unit, my brother and cousins and me.

Thinking about how strong and close we were as a group—on my birthday, no less—brought more of that sadness back to the surface. Keeping the dread of Uncle Dmitri’s inevitable death at bay was a challenge, but now, with all these thoughts about seeing Gregori, I couldn’t shake off this pensive mood.

“Three o’clock.”

I blinked, brought back to the present as I watched out a window of a building. It was empty, save for me and Mila spying down at the alleyway through scopes.

She’d registered movement while I was stuck in my head.

Thank fuck you’re here.

I checked what she was looking at, but she seemed uneasy about lying still and spying out the window she was hiding at, too low on the floor to be spotted.

“Fuck.” She backed up, crawling and squirming away from the window.

I was still watching the small group of men gathering in the alley below. The lighting sucked. The rain blurred everything. I couldn’t be sure that Yusef or Gregori were down there, but I was recording it all with my body cam and scope angle.

“What?” I turned back, frowning at her.

“My nine. My nine o’clock. Someone else is watching.”

I turned to see what I’d missed before. Sure enough, the glint of another scope showed from a window at the top of the building across the street from us.

Fuck!

She was right. She’d picked up on them spying. We weren’t the only ones invested in seeing who was operating in this distribution channel. But Mila was quick enough to know we had to be closer to a means of escape.

I backed up, rushing to meet her near the door. She’d just reached it and we scurried out of there as bullets came flying.

I hunched over her, blocking her from the snipers across the street. She tucked down, running low as she scrambled down the stairs. My footsteps clattered and boomed after hers as she sprinted down. Gun out, ready to protect her and myself, I held my breath and tensed when she doubled back and slid to the side, down a hallway. I followed suit, firing at the thug who rushed in.

They’re not leaving anything to chance.

It’s got to be backup.

He knows he has a target on his back.

I ran with that conviction, that the snipers and extra layers of security were all part of Gregori’s attempt to stay alive and still take the throne.

Mila led the way, running and proving that physical skill and speed that she’d demonstrated at the training facility adjacent to my home. She ran, winding through the maze of hallways. Maneuvering through the building flawlessly, she confirmed that she was exactly what I envisioned she could be.

A badass who never flinched or choked.

A stealthy warrior who wouldn’t quit.

A fighter with stamina and grit and the intelligence to find her way out of a bad situation.

I ran after her, both watching her and looking out for a threat to ambush us before we could exit the building and leave.

Like this, she wasn’t a sidekick.

She wasn’t an assistant.