Chapter 10 Sofia
SOFIA
Aweek of being Andre’s office assistant passed in a blur. That was what happened when I was busy accomplishing something. Or trying to. Instead of doing silly little cleaning tasks for Renee when the floors of Andre’s residence were already spotless, I was making an impact in his office.
Piles of papers gave the impression of the room being tidy. The absence of cup rings and bunched-up wrappers implied the room wasn’t used as a dump. And all those back-breaking hours of dusting the blinds improved the air and light quality in the dark office space.
Each day, I did my best to generally clean up the place.
And at noon each day, Andre ordered me to join him for a “working lunch”.
The thing was that they never actually ended.
I only “worked” for a morning while he sat there and scrolled on his phone or took a few calls.
For all intents and purposes, he was “off”.
After the grandfather clock rang out at the noon hour, though, he made me have lunch with him, and that rolled into us merely sitting together and talking.
Sharing coffee and him doing a damned good imitation of a man who wanted to befriend me.
He didn’t.
He couldn’t with those lustful gazes he couldn’t hide quick enough from me when I turned to face him.
Besides, if he knew what else I was doing in his office, any interest or desire he had for me would end abruptly.
I saw the progress of my work to clean his room. It looked tidier and organized.
But I also felt like I was accomplishing something in snapping pictures of things that seemed slightly important and sending them to my uncle.
Most of it seemed to be in code. A lot of the papers looked dated. But I was trying my best.
He didn’t agree.
R: Why the fuck would you think I would want a blurry receipt of a food purchase for their restaurant from seven years ago?
That was the text he’d sent me while I showered one night.
I bit my lip and winced. It didn’t really seem like there was anything about drug deals to send to him. When Andre admitted he preferred digital correspondence, I relayed that to my uncle. He hadn’t been pleased.
R: No shit, he relies on technology. That’s why I had Emilio spying on him.
Sofia: Ok. Then I’m not the woman for this job.
I never was. My purpose in life was to help, not hurt. To be a nurse, not a stand-in as a spy.
Sofia: I’m not a hacker.
R: Just try harder. Don’t be useless.
He’d added another image of Esmeralda, who looked weaker than ever, pale and frail.
Sofia: It’s not my fault that I can’t find anything. He’s not stupid enough to leave things out.
R: Then figure out how to get on his fucking phone or something.
My uncle was clearly getting fed up with the low-quality things I was sending him, but it wasn’t like I could magically produce something that would satisfy him. Andre wasn’t even talking about business, giving me no chance to eavesdrop, either.
Passing along scraps of meaningless information was all I was comfortable with, anyway. I didn’t want to be caught. The guilt that ate away at me didn’t help me in juggling this double life here.
More and more, I started to worry that Andre was starting to catch on to me. Somehow. Some way. And the mere possibility of his turning on me and treating me like he did Yusef intimidated me.
If I die, no one will care for Esmeralda.
“You look like you’ve got something on your mind,” Andre said as I finished shoving boxes of older documents into a filing cabinet.
“I do?” I glanced back at him as he stood and checked his appearance in the full-length mirror.
Instead of the jersey-soft T-shirts and jeans or sweatpants he’d been wearing while relaxing at home, he’d dressed up today.
No tie, but he looked more “on” and ready to present.
The reason for his change of attire was a meeting with his father and cousins over at Mikhail and Claire’s building.
I still didn’t understand why I had to come with him as his so-called assistant. It wasn’t like I’d be in the meeting with them.
“Yeah, you do.” He speared me with an expectant look.
“I was just thinking back to the first time I was in this room.”
He paused in checking himself out to study me with a frown.
“Yusef was in here grumbling about looking for a map,” I said. “But I can’t recall finding a single map in organizing all of this.”
There. I’d done it. I was actively snooping.
The ugly, twisted knot in my stomach proved how much I hated it.
“He was looking for a map of proposed changes to a drug route—intel to sell to the enemy,” he replied bluntly.
I nodded, lowering my gaze.
“And he wouldn’t have found any map at all,” he added. “I never leave out papers with critical and confidential details.”
Then what the fuck am I doing here?
I sighed and stood. “That’s good.” I cleared my throat. “Smart of you to be so careful like that.”
He shrugged. “Until someone tries to hack into the system and steal intel that way.”
“I guess so. But I bet you’ve got a lot of cyber defenses and firewalls and all.”
“We do.”
Yeah, I’ll never get my hands on anything that would make Uncle Roberto think that I can come home.
We went to his father’s building, and I couldn’t shake off the tension of being a fraud, a spy, a liar in these people’s homes. The more time I spent with the Orlovs, they lost the appearance of being my enemy. Or being villains at all.
Andre didn’t waste time meeting with his father and cousins, leaving me with Claire, Anya, and Natalie while they prepared lunch.
“Can I help?” I offered, feeling out of place. “I’m not even sure why Andre told me to come.”
“Because he fancies you,” Maisie piped up.
The women paused in getting things out on the counter.
I froze, watching the young girl who seemed to be testing out speaking without a censor.
“Fancies?” I said, smiling. “That’s an old term.”
Natalie got over her surprise and laughed lightly.
“But he does. I asked him.”
“Andre admitted he fancies Miss Sofia?” Claire asked, using a shocked voice like she couldn’t believe the scandal.
Maisie nodded, matter of fact. “I asked him why.”
Oh, God.
I could use a hole in the floor to swallow me up now.
“And he said he likes her ass.”
Cue another moment of shock. We all went still. My cheeks were on fire.
“Uh. Maisie,” Anya said. Mikhail’s daughter from his first marriage seemed just a few years younger than me. She opened her eyes wide and glanced at me with panic. “That’s not what he said.”
“No. He did.” Maisie gave me a thumbs-up.
I covered my cheeks. “Um…”
“Well, I can’t blame him,” Claire teased with a laugh. “I’d love to have a butt like that.”
“Claire, you just had a baby,” Natalie scolded. “It takes a little longer to bounce back to the body you had before.”
“No. Some women are just born with it.” Claire winked at me.
“Your uncle Andre did not say that,” Anya insisted sternly with a scolding look at the girl. “I was listening in. He said he liked her sass.”
Maisie pouted. “That’s what I said.”
Natalie giggled but cleared her throat as she seemed to belatedly remember that she wasn’t supposed to find something like this funny. “Close, but not quite.”
Claire came to my rescue, asking Maisie if she wanted to go help set the table. Natalie led her daughter away, but Anya stayed. “He also mentioned that you went to school for nursing.”
I raised my brows. “He did?”
Claire nodded as she prepared a salad with me. “Yes. Why’s that surprising? You practically live with the smartass loner.”
“I just didn’t realize he… talked about me?” I shrugged. “My sass or my ass.”
We all laughed.
Claire asked me more about my nursing goals. Anya was intrigued too. I learned more about how Claire was once a doctor and now had an in-house clinic in the building. Anya, and Maisie’s former babysitter, Daria, were training under Claire.
If only I could jump on the opportunity to do the same.
When they asked why I’d stopped my classes, I admitted that financial restraints held me back. Namely, my uncle told me to quit wasting my time and to be at the house to keep it clean and to make his food.
But I didn’t stop there. Maybe Claire could know of resources I could use later. When my uncle decided I could come home, I hoped to use the money I was making here to put a down payment for Esmeralda to stay at a facility where she’d get better care than what I could provide her.
Claire and Anya listened and asked questions about my relative’s condition.
“I’ve got a couple of places that would be more specialized to help her,” Claire said.
Right then, the men came out of Mikhail’s office, laughing and seeming to tease Roman about something.
“I am starving,” Sergei said.
“You always say that, Daddy,” Maisie teased.
“Because I spend all my energy chasing you.” He crouched, acting like he’d pursue her to tickle her sides.
As she shrieked around the room, everyone made clearance for their antics. We all moved to the table, and I worried all over again how much of a fraud I was.
Acting like I belonged here, as a guest with this family.
Pretending that I could do this, playing the part of an assistant along for a meeting and meal.
Andre sidled up to me, leaning close enough to whisper in my ear.
“I’m starving too.”
I swallowed hard, knowing that the way he set his hand on my hip implied another kind of hunger. One I wasn’t ready to accept.
“I’m starving for a taste of your sweet pussy, Sofia.” He dug his fingers into my side and urged me closer.
My cheeks flamed again.
Oh, shit.
He wasn’t playing fair, teasing me with that image before we’d sit with his family!
“I’m famished for you, however I can get you, sweetheart.” He pulled me flush to him as he reared back just enough to stare at me with molten desire swirling in his dark-blue eyes.
I forced a swallow and refused to let him see how his naughty words out of the blue could throw me off balance like this. No beating around the bush with him. He was confident and skilled enough to speak his mind, no matter how inappropriate it was here.
He was over ten years my senior, though. Maybe it was something that came with age, the ability to be so daring and frank about his desires.
I wasn’t—daring or frank.
I was distracted, though, taken to the instant fantasy of him setting me on his dining room table again before going down on me for this taste he seemed to have in mind.
“I’m… not on the menu,” I whispered.
He gave me a slow lift of his lips in an almost-smile that looked so wicked, so mischievous, that I felt my heart race and my pussy throb.
Damn you.
That was all it took. One heated look, and my mask cracked.
“Andre, are you admiring Miss Sofia’s ass again?” Maisie called out from the table.
Mikhail spat out the drink of water he’d just taken. Sergei covered his face and Roman chuckled.
“Sass,” Anya corrected with a wince. “Her sass.”
I bit my lip and wasn’t sure if I was holding in a laugh or a groan.
“Oh, most definitely,” Andre replied, taking my hand and leading me to this family dinner where I wouldn’t ever fit in. “Miss Sofia’s sass is part of what makes her so intriguing.”
I pressed my lips together, wishing I could fan my cheeks.
Intriguing? Is that what you’re calling it now?
As he held a chair out for me and put his hand on my ass to usher me to it, I shot him a scolding and reprimanding look to behave.