Page 10 of Guarded Rebellion

“Are you?”

She growled, fisting her hands as she lowered them, her arms locked straight. “Just don’t talk.”

I shrugged.Fine by me.We weren’t here to be friends. She was delusional if she thought she could tell me what to do, but she had a point. The less we spoke, the better. All I would need to convey to her was what she could and couldn’t do. This was a job. An assignment. Nothing more.

But this curiosity stirring within me was an odd development.

Whynotme,though?

I wasn’t clear on how she knew me and that she’d rather not have me near versus any other Baranov man. Of course, we werefamiliar with each other. We’d seen each other at the Baranov mansion.

Yet, I hadn’t directly dealt with Eva in my time as a Baranov soldier. She was often aloof and preferred to be private. From what I gathered, she liked to stay in her room. When she wasn’t, she had her nose in a book and seldom spoke to anyone. The little I could gather about her came from the other guards, who all unanimously claimed she was a frigid, bratty bitch.

When we arrived on our floor, I led her to the apartment. She had her own room, and I had mine. A third room was available in case I needed backup. More guards would be working under my supervision here and there, and one would always be patrolling around the premises.

Idisobeyedher mandate for silence, giving her a curt rundown of the place. “I have a copy of your schedule. We will prepare to leave for your first class at eight thirty in the morning.”

“My first class isn’t until ten.”

“We’ll accommodate for traffic.”

She smirked. “There wouldn’t be any traffic if I were in my dorm. Like I’m supposed to be.”

I shook my head. “There are too many variables to account for at the dormitory.”

She pressed her lips together and looked away.

“Isn’t this more your style?” I taunted, gesturing at the apartment that resembled a suite in a five-star hotel.

“I don’t give a shit how crappy that dorm room might have been. I’m supposed to be rooming with a woman named Kelly, not a sarcastic jerk like you.”

“You can meet her tomorrow,” I replied coolly. “I don’t trust your rooming with a stranger who has a questionable background.”

“For fuck’s sake.” She flung her arms out. “She’s not questionable.”

“How would you know? You’ve never met her.”

“Neither have you!”

“But I have run a check on her,” I argued. “Too many gaps remain in her background for me to know she’s trustworthy.”

“Not everyone is an enemy,” she retorted. “Innocent until proven guilty. You ever hear of that?”

“In this world,” I said, stepping closer and watching the glittering anger in her blue eyes, “it’s guilty until proven innocent.”

She didn’t flinch, not backing down. “You’re going to be such a buzzkill.”

I watched her turn and sulk to her room, amused and annoyed with her resistance to my presence. She had to have known she’d have a bodyguard, but she was giving the impression that it was a headache she thought she wouldn’t have to face personally.

I narrowed my eyes, anticipating that she’d be the cause ofmyheadaches for the next long while.

You want to go to college, you’re going to do so on the Boss’s terms. On my terms.

With how poorly our first meeting went, I wasn’t surprised when she cloistered herself in her room for the rest of the day and night. Her things were already in there, unpacked for her to sort through. Her only appearance was to go to the kitchen and get some food, taking it straight back to her room without sparing me a glance or a single word.

Suit yourself.The longer she stayed in her room and out of sight, the longer I had to sit back and almost relax.

The next morning, though, I was all business. So was she, dressed in tight jeans and a sweater under a long coat as she gathered things to stow in her bag.

---