Page 66 of Guarded Rebellion

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. And I’ve got too many exams to put up with your nosiness.” She shut the door quickly, locking it before the woman could speak again.

“We can’t stay here,” I told her as I got my phone out.

She nodded, walking around the body without looking at it. “And get him out too.”

I sighed, calling Marcus to assist. Cleaning up this kind of shit was never fun, but I’d “graduated” past those tasks. The Boss would have a crew come to remove evidence of this man and all the blood spilled, but it wasn’t as easy as walking out and letting the crews in.

This was a dormitory, and countless innocent bystanders would get nosy and snoop, walking around.

I stood, wincing with the pain. Keeping my phone pressed to my ear to arrange for the cleanup, I let Eva close to steady me. Dizzy and still so whipped from the fight, I needed to lean on her. And she got it. She didn’t have to be asked or told.

Continuing to push the compresses where I was cut, she stayed right there, collected and eager to help. I told Marcus to come and also get a crew to clean up.

“Do you need assistance?” he asked. “Medical?”

Eva heard the question, too. She looked up and shook her head. “I can handle this,” she told me.

“No,” I told him, amazed by this young woman who didn’t flinch at the gore and violence.

A dead man lay at her feet, but she wasn’t letting it destroy her. She’d grown up as a Baranov. She was the Mafia princess of a family full of killers and torturers.

Of course, she’d have a strong stomach for this kind of stuff. But seeing her not lose her cool had me admiring her even more.

After I hung up, Eva walked with me to the door.

“I’ll cling to you like this,” she said, cozying up close and letting my coat flap around her with my arm raised. “And that should hide most of the blood.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. Before she opened the door, though, I stopped her. “Wait.” I grabbed my gun that had been kicked out of my hand during the fight.

“Shit. His too,” she added, ducking back to get his gun that had fallen near him. She looked up, furrowing her brow. “Should we take the knife, too?”

“No. Marcus will handle it.” I doubted another man could be lurking nearby to get that weapon and use it against us. Again, I marveled at her common sense, to take any weapons off the enemy so no one else would be armed.

I wanted to get out of here now, before Marcus and any other men showed up. I had to stop this bleeding, and in this weaker state, I felt like I wouldn’t be in the best shape to defend Eva should anyone else come by. I needed to get her—us—to the apartment, where I knew we’d be safer.

“Let me check the hall,” Eva whispered as she opened the door.

I stood there waiting, leaning against the wall, as she peeked her head out. I held my gun, ready to act, but I allowed her to be the lookout and see if anyone was nearby to witness us leaving.

No one was. Whoever that dorm staff member was wasn’t there. As quickly as we could, we exited the building and moved outside.

Marcus pulled up close just as we stepped away from the building. “Here, take my car. We’ll arrange to have yours brought back.”

Eva nodded, taking his keys. Marcus frowned at me.

“We’ll discuss this later,” I explained. “And make sure you have the crew look at his phone.”

“Disabled?” he asked, aware of how soldiers often had devices programmed to be wiped in case the carrier was taken and could hold trackable information.

I nodded.

Eva drove us back to the apartment since I couldn’t drive and keep my hands on my wounds at the same time.

“Hey,” I said, realizing when she parked in the garage. “You didn’t get the papers for Kelly.”

She huffed a laugh, shooting me an incredulous look as she helped me get out of the car. Then it turned into laughter, but not quite hysterical enough to make me worry about her lagging reaction to the violence.

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