Page 41 of Bratva's Intern

Maxim picked up a tie from a nearby table and held it up. It was a deep midnight blue with thin white stripes running along its length. He hummed appreciatively under his breath, then looped it around my neck.

Heat pooled in my gut as he worked, standing closer than I was ready for. My head grazed his chin. His fingers brushed against my chest, cool in contrast to the burning flush of my skin, as he knotted it. It felt like a noose pulling me into him.

Once satisfied with the knot, he stepped back, eyes raking over me from head to toe. The satisfaction in those eyes both excited and alarmed me.

“Well,” he murmured after a moment, the corner of his lips twitching upward. “Perfect. This is how I expect you to dress every single day at the office.”

Maxim turned away and walked toward Etienne with a confident stride, leaving me standing there unsure whether I should follow or retreat to the sanctuary of the changing room again.

The shop owner’s eyes flickered between Maxim and me as they engaged in hushed dialogue, one where I was clearly the subject of conversation yet excluded from.

I used their distraction as an opportunity to look in the full-length mirror. I hardly recognized myself. The suit clung to my body in all the right places, flattered my form in ways no clothing ever had. It made me feel expensive.

Why did I have a feeling my life was about to change forever?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

WREN

Istared at the shopping bags. All of them. There were too many to count. Enough for two shop assistants and Sergei to have to make several trips to the town car. My heart was in my throat as I waited for Etienne to mention the total cost, but he and Maxim looked casual as they spoke in French. Of course Maxim knew three languages. Maybe more.

My hands were slightly clammy, my pulse a little too fast, my mind reeling at how many hours we’d spent shopping. Way more than my lunch break, but when I’d mentioned it to Maxim, he’d given me one of those looks that reminded me he was in charge, and I was along for the ride.

I’d kept my mouth shut, although the whole time I worried about what others at the office would think. I’d only worked for Maxim for a week, and he was spending a fortune on clothes for me.

They’d think I was sleeping with him when, in fact, he was ashamed of the way I dressed.

I groaned. How was this my life? Jess was the one who chased sugar Daddies and wealthy highfliers, not me. But this morning, she had dressed up for an interview—her skirt way too short—but she’d been pumped about getting a job, so I’d wished her all the good luck in the world.

“Thank you for the assistance today, Etienne.”

Now he remembers he speaks English.

“It’s always a pleasure, Mr. Morozov, and that Ralph Lauren I ordered for you should be here by the end of the week. I will give you a ring once it is here.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I’ll send your receipt over by the end of the day.”

Maxim nodded, then turned to me, taking me by the elbow. “Are you ready to go, or is there something else you see that you want?”

My mouth fell open. Was he being serious? He’d bought more clothes for me today than I’d owned at any one time in my life.

“You bought me so many new clothes. I’d be greedy to ask for anything else.”

Maxim’s lips curved into a barely there smile, but I noticed. I was too familiar with his angry face not to see the difference. Just a subtle tug of his lips that made him look less intimidating.

“But you didn’t ask for anything, did you?” He stared at me as though deep in thought. “Wouldn’t even pick one thing that you liked.”

At the slight pressure from his hand, I followed him from the store. “I’m sorry, but my brain balked at the idea of picking clothes without knowing the price.”

“It was my treat.”

“Even so, habits are hard to break.”

“You better learn to break them soon. After this internship, your life won’t be the same, Wren.”

I tilted my head up to look at him. “Are you that good a mentor that I’ll learn life-altering secrets?”

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