Guarded Rebellion (The Baranov Legacy)

2. Eva

2

EVA

I can’t wait to leave home.

Home. As if this place could be called such a kind name. These four walls didn’t resemble a place of love and comfort. Luxury could be found in the Baranov mansion just outside of New York City proper. Riches. Drapings of wealth and displays of high-quality… everything.

My uncle, Oleg Baranov, was the Boss. Under his hand, he saw to our prominence in the city. Just like he ensured we would never want for anything. But with that came something that seemed a lot like imprisonment. This wasn’t a home. It was a prison cell.

“Eva, why would you want to give this up?” my father asked. Boris Baranov had long lost his state of prime. Haggard and tired, he lifted the crystal glass of vodka. Lines of wrinkles bracketed his mouth as he sipped his ever-present vice. Before he could lower the tumbler, he let out another one of those exasperated, all-suffering sighs. Like I was the reason he was an alcoholic.

I crossed my arms, too defiant to lose hope in this argument. Even though my uncle had left to take a call, I wasn’t in any position to give up. Surrendering wasn’t an option. As soon as he came back into this room, I’d reiterate why I should be granted permission to go to college.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I challenged my worthless father.

He grunted a weak, single laugh. “What’s so wrong about living here? What’s so terrible about being a Mafia princess? You have everything you could possibly want or need. Your allowance has no limit.”

I want something money can’t buy. I narrowed my eyes on him, all too aware that he wouldn’t understand. My father had never aspired to do anything but drink. He’d never cared to experience anything but supreme laziness.

“You are protected here.” He arched a brow, as if waiting for a challenge on that note.

I am confined and trapped here.

“There is nothing you can gain from going to college.” Like every other time I tried to make my case to go to college, he tacked on a silly little chuckle. As though I were requesting something ridiculous and frivolous.

“I can gain an education.”

“Bah. What the fuck for, Eva?”

I pressed my lips tighter together to compress the urge to scream. “Because I want to.” I never took my wealth for granted, but as those words came out of my mouth, I heard the spoiled-brat tone of them. Going to college wasn’t a matter of wanting to study English. It was becoming a matter of needing to do something for myself for once in my life. To break out of this mold and embrace a sliver of freedom and independence.

“You have one purpose, Daughter. One.”

Tipping my chin higher, I looked to the side. Refusing to make eye contact wasn’t exactly a power play here. Not with him. From how slurred his speech, he was five minutes from passing out anyway, too drunk to function as a logical adult.

“You will be married. Sooner or later, Oleg will find you a husband. And then after that…” He raised one hand and rolled it in a clumsy flick. “Then you will bear him children. Hopefully, sons.”

Rage boiled within me, scaling higher and hotter as I tried my hardest not to lose my composure. Since I was a child, it had been ingrained in me to be proper and never talk back. Never show my anger. No tantrums—ever. Bottling in my emotions only set me up to near explosion, though. Because as I let his familiar reminder sink into my mind, I detested the future he painted for me.

To be bartered off in marriage. To be a fucking broodmare. What was there to desire in that kind of a life sentence?

Maybe that’s why Sonya left. She didn’t want to be stuck in this life either. I bit my lip harder at the thought of my older sister who’d disappeared many years ago. Envy accompanied my anger at my father’s words. My heart raced faster with the jealousy that she might have been spared such a confining, loveless life of being a married off broodmare. My mother had vanished the same day, and I had never fully reached a state of forgiveness. If she’d left and only taken Sonya to spare her, what did that mean? That she didn’t give a shit about me? That she was fine with leaving me in the Baranov family to ultimately face an arranged marriage and the expectation to pop out babies?

“Having a college degree doesn’t preclude me from marriage and becoming a mother,” I argued evenly. I wanted to scream it, among many profanities. I wished I could roar and tell him with all the decibels I could muster the energy for.

“A degree ?” He spluttered on his next sip, rolling his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Eva. Why? I thought you just wanted to go for a few classes because you’re bored.”

I was bored, so damn stagnant in my life that I was becoming obsessed with the thought of getting out of here.

“Yes, a degree,” I bit out. I had yet to lower my chin. “I don’t do anything halfway. If I attend classes at the university, I intend to do so successfully and obtain a degree.”

“But you won’t do anything with it!” He chortled, licking his lips as his vodka spilled. Already, droplets were wetting his shirt that was strained too tightly over his body. Fat, not muscles, thickened his barrel chest. I wasn’t sure if he fancied himself as a modern-day Dionysius or what. All I saw when I had to make eye contact was a waste of space.

“This is nonsense,” he drawled, again lifting his hand in that dismissive wave. “Why bother with going for any classes or any degree when you can’t use it?”

“I could,” I replied.

“How? When?” He narrowed his eyes, squinting as though he couldn’t understand who the hell I was anymore. “You will be married. You will have a family. What will you do with this fancy degree you want? Huh? Just to look at a pretty diploma?” He grinned as he lifted his glass again. “We’ll forge one, all right? I understand the allure of wanting trophies to admire. We can get you a diploma.”

“I want to earn a degree.”

“To do nothing with it.” He smirked. “You can seriously imagine having a job.”

I tightened my arms around myself. Crossing my arms had become more than a defensive stance. I needed the comfort of a self hug at this rate.

“A job?” Maria, my aunt, breezed into the room, high as ever. “Eva wants a job ?” She paused while grabbing a bottle of wine from the bar. Her once-over was slow and calculating, as usual. Beneath her arched, pencil-thin brows, her eyes zeroed in on me and sought out flaws. “Why? You’ll already have one soon enough.”

My father nodded. “That’s what I’m telling her.”

Maria smiled wickedly, stuck in her own misery and projecting it on me. “You’ll have a job of taking your husband’s cock and producing him heirs.” Once more, sneering at me, she raked her gaze over me. “Good luck with that .”

Pity almost rose to the surface. She’d borne Oleg three sons and one daughter. And all those cousins of mine were dead. The sons died in turf wars, and the daughter killed herself when she was just fourteen. Since Maria suffered during her childbirth, she’d been unable to conceive again, much to Oleg’s annoyance and likely her great glee.

She left me with that dark “advice,” exiting the room with her coveted wine bottle as quickly as she’d come in.

“See?” my father asked. “You have no reason to bother your uncle about permission to go to college. You will obey, Eva, and wait until it is time to serve your purpose.” He sat up, grimacing at the clear pain in his body from the lack of exercise or care. “Are you impatient? Perhaps Oleg can dedicate more time to locating a worthy husband sooner than?—”

“No!” I blurted the instant reply just as Oleg returned to the room. “No, Father,” I said in a calmer, steadier tone. If I wanted to get my uncle’s favor and be blessed with permission to go to college, I’d only be able to do so if I were cool and collected. Oleg didn’t care for hysterics of any kind. Shows of emotion peeved him.

“Uncle.” I cleared my throat as I turned my back on my father to face the Boss. “I would like to ask you again for permission to enroll at the college.”

“Eva,” my father growled. “This is nonsense. You are being an ungrateful, selfish brat to continue to push this issue. Your uncle has far bigger things to be concerned about than your little fantasy of being a college student.”

I ignored the insult of his remark. I did my best to tamp down the frustration that riled me up at my only parent ridiculing me and making me feel like my dreams were stupid. That I was a nuisance to put up with.

Oleg locked his somber, stoic gaze on me, not his younger brother. At sixty-two, Oleg Baranov appeared as fit, strong, and sharp as a man half his age. He had always seemed more like a father to me, and that made sense since he was the one who called all the shots around here. He alone was the leader of the massive Baranov Family, and I did respect the power he represented. I just wanted him to extend his power to me in this request.

Please, please say yes.

“A fantasy, hmm?” Oleg asked. “Is that true? Is going to college your fantasy ?” His tone was serious, but as he sat near the fireplace and rubbed his temples, I got the sense that he was mocking me.

“No. It’s not a fantasy. It is merely a wish. A drive. I am determined to study?—”

“To what end?” he asked.

“To obtain a degree.” Because I was speaking to him, not my father, I could lose a little edge of my defensiveness and dial up my sass. Moving my arms, I opted to place my hands on my hips. “To further myself. To be wiser. To experience something other than shopping and dolling myself up for parties and dinners here.”

He didn’t immediately reply, but I’d be damned if my father tried to interject again. “I want to apply myself before I am to be married. I don’t wish to be idle. I would rather live with a thread of determination to succeed.” I arched one brow, daring him to counter me. “You don’t suffer fools, Uncle, so why should I be expected to remain one?”

He rubbed his lip, staring at me intensely. This scrutiny was nothing new. Oleg never made decisions on a whim. Even though my father was probably correct with his statement that my uncle had bigger things to concentrate on, I wished I could figure out a line of argument that would prompt him to cave and let me do what I wanted.

Let me be free. For just a little while before I will never be able to live my life again. I wasn’t trying to get out of my fate. Of course, he’d arrange a marriage for me. But until then…

“All right.” He nodded once and sighed.

I blinked. Then again. It didn’t matter how many times I lifted and closed my lids, the sight before me remained the same. My uncle still sat there, serious as he faced me after granting me permission.

What?

I couldn’t believe it. I struggled to keep up.

For months, I’d pressed my case. Nearly every time I spoke to my uncle, it was to beg for permission to go to college. All this time, it had been a flatly consistent no .

Until now.

“Excuse me?” I asked, keeping a lid on my excitement.

“You may go to college,” he replied over the sound of my father’s huff behind me.

Why? What changed? While I was giddy with the news that he’d suddenly allow me to do as I wanted, I had to wonder why he’d changed his mind. My uncle wasn’t prone to rash decisions—ever.

“Thank—” I couldn’t finish the instant burst of gratitude, smiling too wide to speak well. I coughed on a breath, stunned speechless.

I’m out of here! I can leave! I can live on my own terms away from this place for once!

“Thank you, Uncle.” I risked annoying him by approaching him. I kept my hug short and simple, which wasn’t easy to pull off since he remained seated, but I swore he was fighting a smile at my gesture. After the deaths of my cousins, I was the only princess he had. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied in his gruff tone as he patted my hand. “You will, of course, have security.”

I stood back from him, freezing my face into this expression of calmness.

Fuck.

Security?

Here, it was the norm. The headquarters of this Mafia family and the residence of the Boss would naturally be guarded. Those many soldiers who patrolled were a big part of why I wanted to get away and live somewhere where I wouldn’t be watched and kept in place twenty-four, seven.

“A bodyguard,” Oleg added, watching me closely. “If you wish to go to college, you will have security with you.”

Dammit. I nodded, though, obedient on the surface. He could send a soldier out to watch over me on campus.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t try to lose him while I’m there…