Page 37 of Born into Mayhem
“If you take her, then you take me too,” he says.
Dominic shakes his head before he’s even finished speaking. “Absolutely not. That would draw too much attention, and you’d ruin the plan before we can even put it into place.”
“I’m not letting her go by herself,” Lev says and then he runs a hand over his face. “I can’t believe I’m even fucking talking about this like it’s a possibility.”
Matvey looks at his brother. “You know she’d fucking be all over this, Lev.”
“Would you let Yelena go?” Lev asks.
I can see thehell nowritten all over Matvey’s face before he says, “No, but we both know that Yel and Mia are two very different people. Yel wouldn’t want to do this, and Mia would be the first to raise her hand and volunteer for it.”
“Maybe this will work in your favor,” Danil says. “She still wants to join the Bratva. Maybe when she’s actually out there doing something dangerous, she’ll realize it’s not what she wants.”
I can see Sasha biting back a laugh at his uncle’s words, knowing full well that won’t be the case. The others are quiet while Lev thinks about it, but it’s Sasha who tips the scales when he says, “I’ll go with her, Dad.” He looks at Dominic and adds, “I can blend in. No one will know I’m there unless you want them to, and I’ll be able to make sure Mia is safe. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Lev doesn’t look thrilled, but he meets his son’s eyes and nods. “Fine. I’ll agree to it, but only if Sasha is with her every step of the way.” Then he shakes his head and says, “I can’t believe I just agreed to this. Jolene is going to fucking kill me.”
“Maybe we should ask Mia if she wants to do itfirst?” Luka suggests. He laughs at the look Damien gives him. “Yeah, I know, she’ll most likely say yes, but shouldn’t we at least ask?”
“Thanks for making us all look like a bunch of domineering dumbasses, Luka,” Vitaly says while his nephew grins at him.
Lev takes out his phone and sends Mia a text, and like she’s been waiting for the invitation her whole life, she’s knocking on the door a fews seconds later. Dominic hollers at her to come in, and I’m not at all surprised to see her walk in with her head held high, refusing to be intimidated or to show weakness of any kind. I’m proud of her in a way that I shouldn’t be, and when my cock gives a twitch at the sight of her defiance, I force my body into submission, refusing to give in to that line of thinking because now is definitely not the time.
Mia looks around the room, clearly confused as to what’s going on, and when her eyes meet mine, she refuses to hold my stare and quickly looks away.
“Have I finally been invited to the all-boys club?” Her mouth lifts in a small grin, and my eyes are immediately drawn to the cut that I’d just reopened not that long ago in the closet.
“You have,” Dominic says, making Mia’s eyebrows rise.
“Are you serious?” She looks to her brother and dad. “You’re letting me join the Bratva?”
Lev shakes his head. “Sorry, little witch, it’s not that, but Dominic needs your help with something.” He quickly adds, “You can say no, and, in fact, I highly encourage it.”
She steps further into the room, putting her near the chairs Sandro and I are sitting in and asks Dominic, “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to go to Italy. I’m having trouble with someone, and I need you to draw him in. All you have to do is show up, get his attention, and when he gives chase, which I’m confident he will, you just need to hold him off until my men can step in. You won’t be in any danger,” Dominic assures her.
Her excited expression drops a bit at that, but then she grasps onto the silver lining and asks, “I get to go to Italy, and I get to wear my weapons and potentially use them?”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Dominic says. “And Sasha is coming with you.” She smiles over at her brother, and then I see her enthusiasm take a dive when my cousin adds, “And Dario and Sandro will be watching over you. You won’t go anywhere without them.”
Vitaly laughs and smacks his brother on the back. “Uh-oh, I think I see where this is headed.”
Lev narrows his eyes at his brother. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Vitaly waves a hand at where Sandro and I are sitting and laughs again. “Come on. No one else sees the possibilities here? This is Nat and Dominic all over again.”
I can tell the idea never entered Lev’s head, but now that Vitaly has been so kind as to plant the seed, it’s already taking root.
“I changed my mind,” Lev quickly says. “She’s not going.”
It’s Mia who gives a lighthearted laugh and jerks a thumb in our direction. “Relax, Dad. I’m not Nat. I’m not going to fall in love with some guy who’s old enough to be my dad.” She looks at Dominic before very briefly shooting her eyes to my brother and me. “No offense, but it’s just not my thing.”
I bite the inside of my mouth hard enough to taste blood.La mia piccola viperastrikes again. Her words sting more than I want to admit, as does her flippant, casual tone, but what really pisses me off is knowing she’s lying and knowing she’s doing it to hurt me.
Sandro laughs. “None taken. My brother and I have no interest in teenagers.” He reaches over to smack my arm. “Isn’t that right, Dario?”
“That’s right,” I say, ignoring Mia as I look over at her dad. “You have nothing to worry about.”
