Dominic just grunted.

“Taking that into account, it might be best to put some space between your wolf and Mila,” said Trey. “Or he’s going to be highly fucking pissed when this thing between you and her ends, and he’ll want to challenge the male she’s entering into an arranged mating with.”

“Do you think it’s possible that she could be your true mate?” asked Taryn, her voice soft.

Dominic fisted his hands. “No.”

“You should be open to the idea,” she advised. “Plenty of people don’t sense that they’re around their true mate. It can take a while for—”

“She’s not mine.” The words were like gravel.

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“I can. I can’t tell you why because it’s not my secret to share, but I can tell you that I’m absolutely certain I’m not her true mate.”

Clearly reading between the lines, Taryn gave a slow nod. “That’s a shame. But it doesn’t mean you can’t still have something with her.” Standing, she straightened her tee. “I’ll go speak with Rhett and get this blog post done.”

“And I’m going to join that football game before Kye gives me another dirty look for not playing.” Trey raised his brows at Dominic. “You coming?”

“No.” He had a call to make, so when the Alphas walked away, Dominic whipped out his phone and dialed Mila’s number.

She picked up after a few rings. “Hey, GQ.”

Her smoky voice snaked over both him and his wolf, as comforting as it was arousing. “Hey, what you up to?”

There was a slight hesitation. “No weird dirty line?”

“I’m saving them for when I next see you.”

“You don’t sound like yourself. What’s wrong?”

Fuck, she read him too easily. He sighed. “Pierson had the journalist release a follow-up article, and it’s bad.” Dominic brought her up to speed.

“I really hope someone stomps on that motherfucker’s dick.”

Dominic’s mouth curved slightly. “One can but hope.” He scratched at his nape. “Trey’s concern is that this is going to put a spotlight on me, and that whoever shares the spotlight could then be targeted by the Piersons. He thinks it’s best if I keep my distance from you until all the trouble dies down. I can’t say I like the idea, but I also don’t want this fucked-up mess touching you.” No response. “Mila?”

“It’s understandable,” she finally said, her voice a little stiff. “After all, I kept my distance from you when I realized I had a bounty on my head. Oh, wait, no. I trusted that you could take care of yourself, and I respected that you have your own mind.”

He cursed. “It’s not like that, Mila. I know you can protect yourself—I’ve seen it firsthand. But this guy won’t come at you physically; he’ll attack your reputation, which may then bleed over onto the barbershop and your family. He’ll do his best to dig up your secrets, and then he’ll twist what he finds, just like he’s done to me. If you read the second article, you’ll understand.”

A heavy sigh. “Fine. Whatever. I hope for your sake it blows over soon.”

Something about her tone put him on edge. “Mila, I’m not using this as an excuse to put space between us, if that’s what’s going through your head. That’s not who I am.”

“But it’s best to put that space there. I’m leaving the country soon, and it’s probably not fair of me to be fooling around with you when I should be thinking about Maksim.”

Dominic snapped his teeth. “Fooling around? Is that what you’d call it?” His wolf peeled back his upper lip just enough to bare one fang.

“And what would you call it?” she challenged.

He swore under his breath. He didn’t have an answer for her, because he didn’t know what the fuck was between them. He’d never had it before. “I’m going to call you every night, Mila. And you’d better fucking pick up.”

“Why would I do that?” she asked tartly.

Because his wolf would need to hear her voice. Because Dominic needed to be sure he was in her thoughts. But he didn’t say any of that, knowing it would just give credence to her bullshit “we shouldn’t be having sex because I should be thinking about that Russian bastard” thing. So instead, Dominic said, “Because if you don’t, I’ll spank that sweet ass when I finally get my hands on it again.” It wasn’t a lie.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

She needed a swim, Mila decided a few days later. It was always a good way for her to unwind. Always got rid of the tension from her muscles and allowed her to escape from her thoughts. And since she’d spent the past week and a half always glancing over her shoulder, knowing it would only be a matter of time before another hit man struck, Mila was wound far too tight. So she bagged up her bikini, towel, and other essentials before heading down to the communal pool in the basement.

Halfway down one of the stairwells, she came across none other than Adele. Shit. Her inner cat rose to her feet with a hiss. Mila forced a smile. “Adele, hi.”

Adele’s face brightened. “Hey, I’ve just come to pay my mom a quick visit. How are you doing, sweetie?” Always so damn nice.

“I’m good.”

Adele puffed out a breath. “Knowing you’re on a hit list and could have people watching your every move . . . God, your head must be fried.”

Well, yeah. “It’s definitely not much fun.”

“You must be infuriated with Alex for causing trouble and then leaving you to deal with it.”

Mila bristled. “I don’t think it happened quite like that, but we’ll see.”

A playful glint entered Adele’s eye. “On a much lighter note, I heard you’re involved with one of the Phoenix Pack wolves. Ingrid tells me he’s quite a dish.”

Chest tightening, Mila felt her smile falter. This was really the last discussion she wanted to have with this female. “He is.” She hadn’t seen him since the day before Pierson’s second article was released, but Dominic had called her each night and sent her several text messages. Very sexually suggestive text messages, complete with cheesy lines.

“Valentina must really like him if she invited him for dinner. Twice.”

“Yeah, she does.” Mila had expected her mother to be offended on Mila’s behalf when she heard Dominic’s reason for staying away from her. Instead, her mother had found it “cute” that he’d want to protect Mila. It seemed that GQ could do no wrong in Valentina’s eyes.

Adele glanced around, as if checking they were alone. She lowered her voice as she went on. “Joel doesn’t like him much. He worries that the wolf is too much like Grant. But I happen to agree with Ingrid—life’s all about living. If this Dominic guy can make you happy, even for just a little while, you should grab on to that.”

Her cat lashed out with her claws, not liking the sound of Dominic’s name in the mouth of this feline who’d stolen her true mate. Mila tried making excuses to leave, but Adele just kept on talking.