Page 121 of Sinful Blaze

Todd sputters. “We-we did n-not?—”

“Y-y-you d-d-didn’t?” Sofi mocks his fear, tilting her head to one side. “Who assigned him to her, huh? Who insisted that Daphne be forced to work with her stalker ex-boyfriend even after she told you her reasons for refusal? Who chose to ignore her screams for help not even five minutes ago?”

Neither of the brothers has an answer.

As for me, I’m more than speechless. I’m seeing Sofi in her element, and yet I have this feeling that she’s holding back.

She’s the cat playing with her food before going in for the kill.

“If you plan on keeping your money and your company, I highly recommend you stick to your own business and remove your nose from Daphne’s. I will be escorting her to lunch, and you will be ensuring she is comfortable when she returns. That might not be until tomorrow, and you will be perfectly fine with that. You don’t want to be the two assholes who forced a traumatized woman to work the same day she was assaulted on your property under your watch, do you?”

The Tweedles shake their heads. They also can’t move fast enough, scrambling for the closest exit.

Sofi sighs, rolls her eyes, and turns to me. “I’m dead serious, Daph. If either of those two threaten your job after this, we will take them to the cleaners. Fucking ridiculous.”

I don’t know what to say. I’m not used to having someone look out for me like this. At least, no one but Melanie, but even then, I’m usually the one always looking out for her.

She walks with me out of the showroom and through the gallery, our arms looped together like the sisters she suddenly claimed us to be. Talking about, Where we should go for lunch; what is her little niece craving? Since we have the day ahead of us, should we go to the mall? Have I checked out the baby store near Nordstrom’s?

It’s right when we finally reach the main doors that I find my tongue again. “What did you mean by ‘sister-in-law’? Pasha and I aren’t married.”

“Yet.” She grins and winks at me. “That’s the operative word, Daph. Yet. If you think he’s going to let you go, that he’s not in it for the long haul, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

Something warm and wonderful blooms inside me. I shouldn’t think of him this way, or of our relationship as anything other than what it is. And I don’t even know what it is because we’ve never outright talked about it.

But damn, is it hard not to imagine what it’d be like to be Pasha’s wife.

To be Sofi’s sister-in-law.

And—especially when I take in the sight of Asya leaning against the waiting car, beaming at us—what it’d be like to have a mother-in-law like her.

“There’s my beautiful girls!” Asya finishes wiping her hand with a handkerchief before she extends her arms out for a hug. “Look at you, my sweet Daphne! You’re glowing!”

“And you’re bleeding.” I stare at the fabric speckled with blood, as well as the few spots still on the back of her hand.

“Oh. It’s not mine.” She laughs it off, stuffing the fabric into her wristlet. “Anyway, where are we thinking of going for lunch?”

“Baby’s hungry for tempura, apparently.” Sofi opens the door for me with a playful wink. “What my niece wants, my niece gets.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I quietly ask Asya.

She pats my cheek lovingly and simply smiles. “We’re family, solnyshka. Family looks after each other. Anyone lays a hand on mine, I snap his head off.” She smiles at Sofi and opens her own door to get in. “Tempura sounds delicious!”

46

PASHA

“I thought you’d be at lunch with Daphne and Mama.”

Sofi makes sure the door to my office is locked before she settles into the chair facing my desk. “We already had lunch. Mama is taking her shopping for baby clothes and more toys.”

I frown. “Daphne has work today. Why isn’t she going back to work?”

The way my sister drums her fingers on the arm of the chair sets me on edge. Whatever update she’s sitting on, it’s not good.

“You’re not gonna like it,” she confirms.

“Just fucking tell me.”

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