Page 45 of Guarded Rebellion

I’d never concerned myself with the finer details of all these politics. For one, I wasn’t allowed to know such things, even though gossip ran freely and I was dismissed when I was within earshot of those talking aboutbusiness matters. And secondly, I didn’t want to clutter my brain with the power plays and agendas of all the men in charge of our world. I could never decide my fate. I couldn’t offer input and assist in any plans about takeovers, who did what, and where business could happen. What good would it ever do to bother myself with information I would never have the power to use?

Politics always mattered, but to me, they existed on a backburner. I couldn’t help but wonder if Sonya and my mother had left to rid themselves of the layers of politics and influence.If they’d had to fend for themselves out on their own. If they’d succeeded in remaining under the radar of not only Uncle Oleg and the Baranov forces, but also the other rival families and the countless enemies who watched our every move.

Is it even possible to extract yourself from that web?If such a removal could be achieved, I wasn’t sure if I would follow in their footsteps. Because with Lev rescuing me from being raped at that party, I was shown how much of a promising comfort his strength and loyalty to the family could be. At the same time I could loathe how limited my freedom was, I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t safe.

We arrived at the mansion, and I tried to shift back into the mindset of being here for good—or until I was shipped off to a husband. Oddly, I didn’t recoil at the return to this prison of a “home”. The apartment I shared with Lev seemed more like home than this place, but I didn’t want to think too hard on that.

“Wait out here,” Lev ordered as we strode toward my uncle’s study together.

“I will not,” I shot back.

“Eva, he asked to seeme,” he argued as he pushed the doors open.

“And it’s aboutme,” I replied just as levelly, glaring at the sexy jerk.

“This is business,” he growled.

“And I?—”

“Good morning to you, too,” Uncle Oleg said, a slight hint of amusement in his tone as he looked at us bickering.

I sighed and crossed my arms. “I’m not sure I’d call it agoodmorning.”

“Only peevish,” Lev said, glowering at me.

“How wonderful to see you’re getting along splendidly,” Uncle Oleg quipped.

“There is no ‘getting along’,” I said, flicking my finger between me and my hot bodyguard, “happening here.”

“Is that right?” he asked, raising his brows at Lev.

“Yes, sir. Your niece is extraordinarily difficult.”

My jaw dropped, but I caught myself from gaping at him and clamped my mouth shut so hard my teeth clicked.

“And you’re extraordinarily skilled, are you not?” he asked with a chuckle.

For the first time in my life, I suffered the hex of a blush. My cheeks heated, and I willed myself to maintain my composure.

Skilled? Oh, he most certainly isskilled. With his mouth, his tongue. With those fingers and hands. And that big, long?—

“Eva,” Oleg said, making me mentally cringe at his attention on me with my thoughts in the gutter, “do behave.”

What if I don’t want to? Just so your favorite soldier can discipline me so well again?

“I try,” I replied dryly, opting for sarcasm instead. “However, the idea that our rivals are on campus and potentially targeting me isn’t good news to sit with. Being preyed upon makes me fickle.”

Lev rolled his eyes. “You were born to be fickle.”

“And you?—”

“For fuck’s sake,” my uncle drawled. “What do you mean, Eva?”

Shit. I walked into that one. I couldn’t tell if he knew that I’d almost been raped at that party.

Lev came to my rescue again. He spoke over me, hiding myoh, shitmoment.

“Eva was also in attendance at the party and an Ilyin soldier attempted to bother her.”

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