The Payback

THE PAYBACK MILA SIN MANUELA ROUGET Copyright © 2023 by Mila Sin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Cover by Taylor Dawn at Sweet 15 Designs Proofreading by Dee's Notes To everyone who has fantasies about the fictional Bratva leader and his bodyguard at the same time I see you I am you Enjoy CONTENTS Author's Note Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Epilogue Afterword Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Mila Sin AUTHOR'S NOTE This book is written in British English, as the characters are European and have learned British English, despite the story taking place in the US. Content includes but is not limited to: torture, murder, graphic sex, frustration at infertility, human trafficking (not of main characters), self-inflicted religious punishment, and lactation kink. You do not need to have read The Cleanup and The Meetup to enjoy this book as it is a standalone, but it is recommended because, well, Olivia is a badass. Also important to note: Few of our partners are built like book boyfriends and should be treated accordingly. Should you reenact these scenes, you or your partner may acquire shoulder or back injuries (trust me). Experiment with caution. CHAPTER ONE Eleanor I always thought my dad would walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I also thought I’d marry for love—but today, I’m marrying for something better. Revenge. The heavy and ornate wooden doors in front of me swing open, and I study the impressive tile at my feet leading into the church. I’m standing in the hall of Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and I’m about to get married to the leader of the New York Bratva. Fun times, right? “Ready?” Agent Kim quietly asks from beside me. He’s my stand-in father today, and I feel better walking into this with another trained agent at my side. “Let’s get on with it,” I mutter, keeping my eyes fixed on the floor and adopting my persona for the foreseeable future. I can’t get lost in my head when I’m undercover, so I push out every thought that contradicts who I’m supposed to be. I’m no longer Interpol agent Eleanor Cameron. No longer responsible for the things and people waiting for me at home. No longer the same good girl who obeys every rule and follows protocol like it’s my drug. I am Elsa Lee. The shy and demure virgin bride who’s being used as a pawn to broker a truce between the Bratva and the Emerald Sabres. The beloved cousin of Peter Lee, one of the highest-ranking members in the Sabres organisation and an Interpol asset. As the wedding march begins, I repeat the details in my head and take my first steps as Elsa. To make my undercover personality even more confusing, my name’s about to change again to Mrs Dimitri Aslanov, wife to the local pakhan, controlling the tri-state area’s Bratva. Pakhan means “boss,” and there are thirty in America alone, each controlling various sections of the country and the members that live within their territories. They usually control four criminal cells through an intermediary called a “brigadier,” who does the dirty work. The brigadier—in this case, Sergei Aslanov, Dimitri’s uncle—is used to enforce his rule in their respective territories. I take a deep breath and slowly exhale, letting the last of my nerves melt away. It’s showtime. I am Elsa. I am Elsa. I am Elsa. Agent Kim and I pass over the threshold, and I feel the weight of expectant eyes on me as we begin the long march up the middle of the church. As we walk, I peek at the spectators of this unholy union from under my lashes. On the left, eight other agents are in attendance, pathetically filling out my side of the church and posing as my “family.” Really, they’re backup. Understandably, there’s a lower turnout for my side of the church. The Emerald Sabres are based in London, and the Bratva members on the other side of the aisle know first-hand that taking time off from running a city is hard, so they had no problem accepting my bullshit excuse as valid reasoning. Business needs handling, no matter whose wedding is taking place. On my right, I can make out most of the heavy hitters in this Bratva chapter. But Sergei Aslanov steals my attention because, after Dimitri, he’s the next most influential player. He’s sitting in the first seat in the front row as the closest living relative to the groom—a spot typically reserved for the groom’s father, but Danil Aslanov left the land of the living eighteen months ago. A handful of other members I’ve seen in the files are in attendance, including money launderers, enforcers, and the managers from the legitimate businesses used to clean the money from the illegal ones. Those “managers” are here, too. More than the men, I feel the eyes of the wives and girlfriends on me, assessing me as I join their ranks. There are no kids at this event; a rule Dimitri passed down to the attendees, ensuring no innocent lives were taken if this went belly-up. The heavy and musty smell of incense that hangs in