Page 39 of Tempted to Rebel

“Please… teach me. I need to know what to do if someone comes after me. I—” I bite my lip—“I know I’m a bratva daughter, but my father didn’t believe in girls having guns, and I was happy enough to ignore the need for most of my life. The gun you saw when you kidnapped me isn’t even mine. It’s my brother’s. I’ve never used it. I don’t even know how to load it or clean it or?—”

Thanatos curses in heavy Russian, suddenly walking down the hallway. He runs his hands through his hair, stops about twenty feet away, then turns on his heel and stares at me.

My heart thunders in my chest. I take a few steps closer to him, knowing that even if he hates me, he loves his brothers. He loves his family. And like it or not, we’re going to be family if this pregnancy is real and I’m carrying his brother’s child.

“Please,” I murmur, clenching my hands by my sides. I can’t read his expression. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he’ll say yes or insult me some more or?—

“Fine,” he grumbles, holding out his hand. When I don’t take it, he reaches for my hand and shakes it stiffly. “We start tomorrow.Afteryou get a full night’s sleep. I’ll tell Dmitri that you need a real meal—not that shit Rebel eats—and you’ll eat every bite he puts in front of you. I won’t have you passing out because you haven’t had enough calories.”

I’m so stunned that all I can do is grab his entire arm in earnest. “Thank you,” I breathe, overwhelmed with relief. “Thank you so much.” He falls forward as I shake his arm, caught off guard by my enthusiasm, and tumbles forward. Before he crashes into me, he slams his hand on the wall beside my head and steadies himself.

We stand in suspended silence as he studies my face, his gaze flicking from my eyes down to my lips. His warm breath ghosts across my cheeks as he exhales. “Be ready at eight A.M. sharp, Princess.” He pushes himself off the wall and opens the apartment door for me. “Now get back inside before Rage finds out you tried to leave.”

I don’t move, and he scowls. “What is it now?”

“I have things I need to do out here.”

“Likewhat?”

“I have a business to run, thank you very much!” I roll my eyes. “I’m not just a baby factory, you know! How many times do I have to tell you guys? I have responsibilities!”

Thanatos clenches his jaw. “What do you need to do your job from here?”

I purse my lips. “I can’t do my job from here.”

“You managed just fine for the week you stayed in your little hideaway,” he snaps, glaring at me.

So much for progress.

“I need things from my office. And a cell phone. And to check on my employees and my shop.” I count on my fingers as I listitems off. “But it would be much easier if I could get everything myself?—

“No.”

I throw my hands up. “You won’t know what you’re looking for if you go without me!”

“I’ll manage.”

“No, you won’t!” I jab his chest with my finger. “I need my things, and I need my tasks done properly. No one can do this but me.”

Thanatos doesn’t look moved by my plight. “Give up the business, then. It’s not like clothes are as important as, oh, I don’t know,your life.” He glares right back at me. “If I take you outside of this building, Rage will blow a fucking gasket. Not to mention, I’ll have to work double-time to watch your ass, because your situational awareness is some of the worst I’ve ever seen.”

My body shakes with fury. “You don’t know what I’ve put into this business. None of you know. It means a lot to me, and I?—”

He lifts an eyebrow and cuts me off. “You sure about that?” Gesturing broadly all around us, he scoffs. “Have you forgotten where we are? Who runs this place? Whoownsit?” Shaking his head, he smacks the heavy metal door to his brothers’ apartment. “If anyone will understand, it’s that man you fight with so goddamn much. Talk to Rage about your business, and he just might help you keep it.” He nods toward the apartment, and my gaze lands on the golden cage gleaming within.

FuckingRage.

“He won’t listen,” I protest.

“Then you have to make him listen.” Thanatos plants his hand on my lower back and shoves me through the open doorway. “Make him listen or lose everything you’ve worked for in your life. Your choice.”

The door slams shut behind me, and I turn around and kick it, screaming. “You’ve got to be fuckingkiddingme!”

I hear Thanatos’s laughter louder than anyfuck youI’ve ever gotten in my life. The man might be willing to teach me self-defense and basic weapons handling, but beyond that?

He isn’t interested in helping me at all.

Chapter 14

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