Page 26 of Guarded Rebellion

“Crystal clear,” I bit back, knowing I had no intention of sticking with this rule.

His overbearing attitude was too much.Hewas too much. After a week of loose guidance while he was on calls, I wasn’t in the mood for him to overcorrect and come down hard onme. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was studying and minding my own business, reading and doing research for assignments. Life wasn’t fair, I knew that. But the way he wanted to take out his aggression on me was bullshit.

I wasn’t social. I didn’t go out of my way to speak to people. Socializing wasn’t high on my list of priorities, and for that reason, his reaction to one man talking to me pushed me over my tolerance.

I’ll show you.

So long as I was here and further from the Mafia world, I’d indulge in every thread of independence that I could.

Whether you like it or not.

11

LEV

She’s not yours.

She’s not yours to get possessive over.

She’s not?—

“Lev? Are you even listening to me?” Rurik demanded.

I exhaled, wishing I could lose the pent-up frustration trapped in my chest.

All afternoon and into the evening, I mentally berated myself for losing my cool with Eva earlier. I came back to see the punk with his arm on her, like she washis, and it pushed me close to snapping.

The idea of another man with her wasn’t supposed to piss me off. She would be married off whenever the Boss decided.

Bottom line, she wouldn’t end up withme. And I was struck by how much I had let that idea get into my head.

Marcus raised his brows at me, and I stifled the need to groan. He’d been watching Eva during my meeting with her uncle. And he hadn’t intervened with Bryce’s sudden approach to her. He hadn’t seen a need to step in, sensing the guy to be a non-threat. But his comment that came later irked me.

“Shewasn’t interested in him,” Marcus had said after he met up at the apartment following the lecture. “Eva didn’t look likeshe wanted to bother herself about that guy. So I trusted her judgment on the situation and didn’t see a need to rush in and extract her.” His reasoning was just, but it also pointed out how over the top I had been.

Now, hours later, Marcus and Rurik joined me outside the library, where Eva studied in a group with Kelly. Marcus said he’d linger on campus because of something he heard from students as they left that lecture hall. Rurik was nearby as well, as I expected him to be as my backup and remote eyes and ears.

“Yeah,” I told him, lying. “I’m listening.”

Marcus cleared his throat. “I’m going to take off, all right?” He lifted his hand in a wave, excusing himself now that he’d shared his intel with us.

Once we were alone, my fellow soldier and friend scowled at me. “You were thinking about Eva again.”

I furrowed my brow. “Of course, I was. She’s my assignment.”

He shook his head. “No. More than that. Lev, man. You can’t let her get under your fucking skin like this.”

You think I don’t know it?

I crossed my arms, determined not to zone out about her again. Or at least I’d keep that habit to when I was alone, lying in bed and not sleeping because I’d never find decent pillows to rest on again. “You were saying?”

He sighed. “I was saying that what Marcus overheard and followed up on is the same shit that I was wondering about.”

“Drugs on campus aren’t exactly a surprise,” I reminded him. I’d never gone to college, but everyone knew people experimented during those formative years.

“I agree. But there’s an uptick on reports of female students being drugged. And raped.”

“Duly noted. But this doesn’t relate to Eva. She won’t be in the position to be taken advantage of. I’m with her all the time. And if I’m not, you or another man are assigned to her.”

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