Page 185 of Sinful Lord

“You fired that poor girl?”

“No,” Roz laughs. “Not really. She was just… reassigned. Our family out west needed a good trustworthy secretary and she’d always wanted to live in California. So, I used you as an excuse to ship her out.”

“So she wasn’t interested in me?” Maksim says, a hint of disappointment undercutting his smile.

“She wouldn’t shut up about you,” Rian grumbles. “Same goes with all of the other young girls with daddy issues around here.”

“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Maksim says, his rich brown eyes scanning the room. “Considering the competition.”

“I think it’s more that you’re the last single man around,” Gabriel chuckles, placing his hand on Maksim’s shoulder. “They know better than to fuck with us.”

“Because then they’d have to deal with me,” Roz nods. “And Bianca. And Mel. And we’re not to be trifled with, and neither are our men.”

“That makes it less flattering,” Maksim notes.

“Take what you can get,” Rian says. “Now, let’s get this meeting on track. What do you say?”

“I like the sound of that,” I mumble. Anything to get me out of this office and back to Melina. It doesn’t matter that we’ve just barely returned from a globe-hopping trip together, or that she’s just outside with Bianca and our nephews. I miss her.

“Very well,” Rian nods, looking over at Roz. “Here’s the deal. Roz and I have been talking. We think it’s about time we change our ways, particularly when it comes to how we treat our girls. Locking up those we care about, even if it’s for their own safety, only ever seems to lead to more danger and a lot of unhappiness. I don’t want any of my cousins or future nieces to ever feel like they’re trapped. What happened with Mel can’t happen again. No matter how well it ended. Can we all agree on that?”

Grunts of approval echo around the room. I’m right there with everyone else.

The only reason Melina made it out alive was because I realized my love for her just in time. In any other scenario, she’d probably be dead… or worse.

My fingers curl into fists.

“Agreed,” I huff.

“Good,” Rian accepts. “But if we’re going to let our girls be completely free, then we’ll need to make sure they’re ready for this dark and depraved world. They need to be trained. Taught.”

“And how are we going to train them?” Gabriel asks.

“With a private tutor,” Roz answers.

The answer seems intuitive, but it appears to immediately bother Maksim.

“You’re going to hire someone from the outside to teach our girls?” he says, stepping forward. “No offence, Tytus. But we just barely dodged a bullet with you. I don’t think it’s wise to let anyone else into our family for a very long time. Not unless they’re born into it.”

“We don’t plan on hiring someone from the outside,” Rian corrects him, his ocean blue eyes focusing in on his uncle.

“Then who’s going to take on that responsibility?” Maksim asks.

But it feels like we all know the answer already.

“A man who has more experience than anyone else here. A man who’s been loyal to this family for decades. A man I trust with my life, and with the lives of everyone I care about. You. Maksim Smolov. You will be their teacher.”

We all turn to the grizzled Russian as a respectful silence grips the room.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” he stutters, a rare hesitation coming over him.

“Say yes,” Roz tells him.

But Maksim just shakes his head. “After what happened in Berlin, I’m not sure I can be trusted with such a delicate responsibility.”

“What went wrong in Berlin?” I ask, only half-joking. “We all made it back in one piece. Now, we’re stronger than ever.”

“I let you run-circles around me,” he growls. “I trusted you when I shouldn’t have. If you hadn’t turned out to be who you actually are, then it would have meant Melina’s doom.”