Page 7 of Savage Surrender

“I can’t wait for summer,” I mumbled under my breath, my mouth hidden by my scarf as I walked to the coffee shop so I could order a hot drink on the way to my first lecture.

No one heard me. No guards were nearby. They were always present, someone on campus, but my father chose not to have a bodyguard on me all the time. If he arranged for that kind of security detail, it would alienate me as someone others wouldn’t trust or talk to, and that would defeat the purpose of my gathering intel. On another note, he probably didn’t give a shit about me and whether I were to ever get hurt. I had a purpose for him, and I served as an asset for his plans, but that never meant he cared aboutme.

While the Petrov guards were always here somewhere, giving me some distance but keeping an eye on me, I appreciated how they stayed back. I would go insane if I couldn’t vent my complaints sometime, in some way.

Summer was my favorite season, and I wanted to be stupidly optimistic that I could be free by then. That “someday” would come before summer arrived and I could make good on my vow to kill my father and not have to worry about my father hurting Maxim anymore.

In the coffee shop, I got in line and unwrapped my scarf so I could breathe clearer. Sucking in a deep inhale of the aromatic scent of coffee beans being ground and brewed, I closed my eyes and tried to calm down from the stress of the last few weeks. Igor Petrov was a stressor of the highest degree.

When I opened my eyes, I blinked them again in surprise. Standing in front of me in line was a familiar head of blonde hair. She wore a beanie, but still, the long, golden waves splayed over her shoulders.

Kelly Garnet was only important to me as someone close to Eva Baranov, who had been a person of interest for my father. Since seeing Kelly in the health clinic on campus after she was drugged, though, I couldn’t help but wonder about how she was doing. I had also been at the health clinic at that time, when one of my “friends” had been attacked. At that time, the socialite I'd pretended to befriend had started a rumor that Eva was the link to why so many more and more potent drugs were circulating on campus. Those girls weren’t ever my friends. I only let them think they were close to me for the sake of looking somewhat popular and outgoing so others would loosen up around me.

I tapped her shoulder gently, smiling as she turned to face me. “Hey, Kelly.”

She raised her brows, slowly looking me up and down. No obvious recognition showed on her face, but I knew she remembered me. She couldn’t fake it. I pointed at myself anyway, kind of lamely. “Irina?”

Kelly nodded, cool as a cucumber. “I remember.”

Awkward silence hung between us after that. I couldn’t accept that this was it. Yeah, her alliance would lie with Eva, but that couldn’t mean she’d never tolerate small talk with me.

“You’re looking good.”

Actually, she wasn’t. She looked tired. If stressed had a look, she was wearing it.

Her reply was a simple, short nod.

I wouldn’t be deterred. “How have you been feeling after…” I looked around to see if anyone was listening in. “After you were drugged?”

“Fine.” Kelly looked ahead to gauge how the line was moving. This aloof thing was either a well-rehearsed act or she was not in the mood to speak to me.

Still, I wasn’t a quitter. “How is Eva doing?”

Now she reacted. She narrowed her eyes slightly, getting defensive at the mention of her friend. Or former friend. Eva wasn’t here anymore, so it was a guessing game whether the Baranov princess was still in touch with this “commoner”.

When she turned again, facing forward and literally giving me her back, I furrowed my brow. Feigning ignorance, I acted as though she hadn’t heard me. “Kelly? How’s Eva?”

Glancing at me with an icy smirk, she shook her head. “Look elsewhere if you’re on the hunt for gossip.”

Dammit.She not only knew who I was but she also recalled that I had interacted with Eva before. And I had been near others who’d spread rumors about Eva, all for the purpose of getting Lev to come out for my father’s men to capture him.

NowI gave up. I stopped trying to get a rise out of her, or any answers. She clearly wasn’t giving me any.

Besides, I didn’t need Kelly to tell me how Eva was doing. I’d asked mostly out of curiosity whether Kelly and Eva were still talking to each other. Whether others would view Kelly as a source of leverage against the Baranovs because of her association with Eva.

It was common knowledge through the Mafia families that Eva was safe and staying off campus. She was committed with Lev. She lived at the Baranov residence again, untouchable and out of reach.

After I ordered my drink, I waited in line and thought back to when I first noticed that Eva had the hots for Lev. He was always near her, always within reach. It started as smoldering looks that I doubted they realized they couldn’t hide. Then it evolved into more knowing expressions, like they were crappy at keeping their attraction a secret. I couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t hard on the eyes. Tall, muscular, and so dangerous.

I’d never experienced that sort of attraction for a man. First of all, I never had the freedom to want a man or get to know someone for the exclusive purpose of dating. So long as my father ruled my life, I wouldn’t be able to experience something as ordinary as that.

More so, I’d never felt such a connection with a guy. No attraction. No love-at-first sight just looking at a man and the vision of him making me gaga for him. No swift realization of the presence of a handsome man stealing my breath.

I especially never felt any such attraction for the Petrov guards on my father’s staff. I had to routinely do my best not to grimace at them with disgust, bothered by them on an elemental level because they supported my father no matter what, blindly doing as he said. That was the way of Mafia families. The big boss called the shots, and everyone followed. But when the boss was a sadistic asshole who’d scorned his own flesh and blood, where was the mercy or justice in that? I hadn’t asked to be born a Petrov.

All the guards who worked for the Petrov Family were old and gross. The younger ones were too full of themselves and indoctrinated with the idea that I was a bratty burden to deal with because that was how my father projected me to be.

Besides, Ialwayshad to watch what I said around them. Friendship was out of the question, too. It had to be. I was unable to lower my guard and slip. Letting them know how much I hated my father would be the first grievance that would make him overly suspicious of me.

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