My blood boils. The thought of someone else on my arm—of Mia on someone else’s arm—is enough to make my templesthrob.
“I will do no such thing.”
“It’ll put her in the clear,” he says in a diplomatic, pacifying tone. “It’ll keep the plan going and it’ll keep her safe—”
“I will keep her safe!” I bellow in Maksim’s face, all patience gone. “Mia signed a contract. She sold herself to me.”
“She didn’t sell her soul,” Maks shoots back. “She didn’t sell her life. Something that, in light of recent developments, youshould be keen to preserve.”
“She means nothing to me.” I spit those words out like venom. “And you’re no one to tell me what to do. I’m your boss, not theother way around.”
“And I’m your friend,” Maksim counters. “I don’t want to see you g
