Page 9 of Guarded Rebellion

He cleared his throat. “You are expected to reside at an alternative location.”

“I heard you the first time, Rurik,” I snapped, familiar with this man’s name. He was a distant cousin, actually, but since he was a soldier and often out of the mansion, we were strangers more than family. “What does thatmean? Why? Who decided to make this change?”

“Your protector,” he answered, glancing into the mirror to see me. “The lead in charge of your security deemed the dorms too accessible for his liking.”

“Oh, for—” I huffed, glaring out the window. “I thought the guard assigned to me would just have another room on the floor in the dorms.” And that still would have been too close for comfort. I needed some space. For once in my life, I wanted to be free of always being watched.

“He is ordered to oversee your safety, and he will do as he sees fit to ensure you remain unharmed until you return home.”

I scowled, letting his words sink in.Until I returned.Yeah, I knew I would have to. But on the day I could leave that mansion,I wanted to put off thinking about the inevitable return. It would make this taste of freedom feel too limited. Too short.

“And just who has been assigned to lead my security detail?” I crossed my arms, not bothering to look away from the window as he pulled into the underground parking garage for a tall building.

“Someone your uncle trusts.”

I rolled my eyes.Obviously.But that description did soothe me somewhat. At least he wasn’t assigning a green new recruit to be my bodyguard. They always got too flirty, too cocky.

He slowed the car to a stop, and a man approached to open the door.

Cool air seeped in despite the shelter of this underground parking area, and I exhaled a long, exasperated breath as I swung my legs out of the car. I was supposed to be embracing freedom right now, setting foot on the campus and looking up at the old architecture of one of the dormitory structures over a hundred years old.

Not this modern monolith of a building further from campus.

I was supposed to be meeting the eyes of my new roommate and fellow classmate as I was greeted at the dorms.

Not the serious and cold gaze of one of my uncle’s favorite soldiers.

“You?” I spat out with more annoyance than I cared to show.

My reaction to seeing Lev Kvashnin glowering down at me couldn’t be helped.

Of all the men to be in charge of my security, it had to behim?

5

LEV

“You’re assigned to lead my security?” Eva demanded.

She stood as tall as she could, but the top of her head just barely reached my chin. With the ferocity of defiance and sass in her eyes, I bet she hated to have to crane her neck just to face me directly.

I didn’t reply. I’d never seen the point in answering something someone else already knew. If she wanted confirmation that I was the soldier expected to be her bodyguard, then my actions would be proof enough in time.

“Dammit,” she muttered, cross when I didn’t play along and speak. She shook her head as she brushed past me. “Of all the damn guards, he had to pickyou.”

Now, I was curious. I gave Rurik a slight wave to indicate he was free to go with the other soldier waiting to take him home. I’d come earlier in my own car to once again scope out the penthouse I’d arranged for Eva to stay in. One look at that dorm had convinced me it would never be good enough. Too many halls, too many exits. Fuck, too many people.

Staying on campus would’ve made it easier to spy on any Petrov man there to safeguard Irina Petrov, but I suspected thewoman wouldn’t be allowed to reside in any such dormitory either.

Tomorrow morning, I would drive Eva to campus then be her shadow, whether she liked it or not. She didnotseem pleased thus far, and I wondered why.

“What’s wrong with me?” I asked, not caring about her answer but intrigued, nevertheless. She’d have to put up with me no matter what.

She turned to glare at me over her shoulder as I followed her to the elevator door. “What’s wrong with having a hulking, incommunicative, glowering asshole tailing me everywhere?” She huffed as she jabbed a finger at the button to open the door. It slid open and she entered. Slumping her back to the wall and crossing her arms, she looked me over with a scathing glare. It seemed she was determined to protest any security guard.

I joined her in the elevator then pushed the button for the top floor. “You’re stupider than I thought if you assumed you wouldn’t have a guard with you.”

“Did you just call me stupid?” she shot back, slitting her eyes.

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