Page 50 of Guarded Rebellion

I narrowed my eyes at her, suspicious that this could be a trap. A diversion. Something to get Eva to leave the safety of this apartment. The distance between us and those on campus was a condition I had control over.

I wasn’t here to protect Kelly. Eva was my responsibility.

I wasn’t expected to stop and drop what I was doing to come to Kelly’s rescue. Only Eva’s.

Too many things bothered me about this situation, and I’d learned the hard way how foolhardy it could be to ignore my gut instinct.

I didn’t know this woman who called to say Kelly was out of it. She could’ve been paid off to make that call. She could be a pawn. It could all be a trick.

“Let’s go, Lev,” she insisted.

“It might be better for the dorm supervisor to handle it.”

“Goddammit!” She flung her arms out and growled. “She’s my friend. If she needs help, I’ll help her!”

“I’m not so sure you ever should’ve befriended her.”

She stiffened, standing straight as she locked her furious gaze on me. “I’m going to help her.”

“You aren’t in any position to tell me what to do.”

“Fine!” she shouted, walking toward the front door and losing her interest in fighting with me. “Youstay here. Do whatever the hell you want to do. Be broody and mute. I don’t give a shit. It’s exhausting putting up with you.”

I slammed my hand on the door she opened, glowering down at her scowl as I reached for my coat. “You are not leaving without me.”

She growled, baring her teeth as she fought not to lose her temper with me any further. She was right. This weird distance I tried to keep between us was exhausting. My desire to reach out to her and have a fraction of that hot closeness we shared before exhausted me.

“Then come with me.I’mgoing to help my friend.”

I shoved my arms in my coat as we left, almost together. She stormed off quicker than I did, but I multitasked to shove my arms through the sleeves without falling behind. “I’m still not sure you should even be friends with her.”

“Why? Because you can’t stand the idea of me having anything good in my life?”

“Who says she’s good?”

She groaned and cringed after she entered the elevator. “What? What is this about? Is it about the night I snuck out? That’s not her fault. That was my decision.”

“No,” I replied tersely as I texted Rurik that we were heading to campus and that Kelly needed help at the dorms. “Because I’m not convinced that you should be friends with someone like her.”

“Someone like her?” she bit back in a nasty echo as she crossed her arms on the ride down to the garage. “What the hell does that mean? What kind of biased, stupid prejudice do you have against her?”

“Rurik and I looked her up,” I explained.

“No shit. You have to investigate fucking everyone who might dare to speak to me. All my classmates I study with. The professors. The TAs.”

“Because it’s my job. It’s my fucking job to keep you protected,” I scolded as we hurried out of the elevator to my car. “Threats can lurk anywhere, Eva. You know this.”

“I am aware of the dangers that are forced upon me just for being born a Baranov,” she sassed.

I shook my head as we got into the car, irritated that she could word it like that. That it was a curse, not a blessing, tohavea family. To belong. I never had.

“But I fail to see what could be so dangerous and bad about Kelly that would make you so determined to stand in the way of my being her friend.”

I sped, incensed that Eva would always be this combative with me. Fighting with her often ended up seeming like a twisted game of desire. This push and pull drew me to wanting her more. In this matter, though, I disliked how much I could be wrong.

“She comes from a bad background.”

“Yeah, in foster care. Never really with a family for long,” she replied.

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