Guarded Rebellion (The Baranov Legacy)

3. Lev

3

LEV

I t made the most sense for Rurik to drive us to the Baranov mansion where the Boss lived. He made the enormous, lavishly decorated and exquisitely maintained residence his working space as well. The study near the back of the mansion was where we often received our orders. Calling Oleg Baranov a homebody would be an insult, but it seemed the best description for the man who’d taken me in as an orphan.

“An assignment?” Rurik asked, confused when I told him to change the route from my place.

It seemed my plans were toast. Going home to my apartment would have to wait. That hot shower, big steak, and a solid night of sleep in my bed with the pillows I preferred wouldn’t be happening just yet.

Goddammit.

I sighed, letting my shoulders slump with the exhale. “That’s what I said.”

“Damn,” he commiserated, chuckling a little.

When the big boss called, you ran to follow his orders. It didn’t matter what position a man held in this organization. You had to listen to the Boss. When he said jump, you fucking jumped. I’d seen firsthand what happened when new recruits thought they could take their sweet time with obeying him. It never ended well.

“It seems to me that you might’ve jinxed yourself,” Rurik teased. “All this talk about taking it easy.”

“Ah, shut up.”

“I guess it’ll still be a while before you’ll get some.”

“Peace?”

“And otherwise,” he teased.

“Very funny,” I replied dryly.

The high of having a job well done no longer had me in an optimistic mood. What did the Boss want? Why would he call me with an assignment already? I hadn’t even fully come home from the last one yet. And I was one among many who worked for the family. It couldn’t be a matter of being short-staffed.

Expectations for soldiers could change from day to day. As a loyal member of the Baranov organization for almost twenty years, I had gone from one assignment to another before. Back-to-back jobs weren’t unheard of. However, I was hopeful that the duration and difficulties of my assignment to take out Yusuf would have granted me some slack.

“What did you say was happening on the home front lately?” I asked Rurik, trying to latch on to a guess in all these musings.

“Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary,” he replied. “Same shit, different day.”

“Hmm.”

Most of the men who worked for the family were stationed in different parts of the city. Some of the supervisors and crew leaders could take it easy by having their designated soldiers doing the dirty work. Oleg had always kept me as a lone operator. I preferred it, really, even though at first I wondered if he’d kept me separate yet in the family as a brother because I wasn’t blood.

Rurik was the closest “friend” I had in the organization, and we were often tasked to be each other’s backup. Aside from him, though, I had no means of gathering intel or gossip. Without him, it was impossible to get a good feeling for what was happening with everyone else. It led me to this cluelessness about what the Boss could want me for.

“There hasn’t been any infighting?” I asked. “No attacks on our businesses?”

He shook his head. “No, nothing like that in the last couple of months that you’ve been gone. It has more or less been life as usual since that drug op fell apart from Yusuf screwing us over.”

And I’ve taken care of that. I’ve taken care of him.

“Then why does the Boss want me on an assignment so soon?” I wondered aloud. I could speculate as much as I wanted, but no answers would be forthcoming on this drive. I wouldn’t be clued in until I spoke with the Boss.

“Did he say to come right now?” Rurik asked me, grimacing as he glanced at me. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to clean up a little bit first.”

“Not really.” I shrugged. Oleg could forgive me for being filthy and ragged like this. He didn’t care for pretty boys, although he expected a professional appearance. He knew I was just getting back from an assignment, so it would almost be expected. More than anything, he’d value my promptness in coming to speak with him instead of delaying to clean up. “I’ll just go in the back entrance,” I told him. That was the way most soldiers entered the extravagant mansion. The idea of leaving muddy footprints or having debris trail off my clothes didn’t sit well with me.

Decades had passed since I’d proven my worth to the Baranov Family, but still, a deep, innate need to always please the Boss resided as strong as ever. They’d taken me in, and I wanted to stay in.

Ten minutes later, we were there. Rurik parked alongside the other black vehicles with tinted windows, and we exited the car together. Oleg had asked for me, but if this was something so confidential that Rurik couldn’t accompany me, he could dismiss him as he saw fit.

Soldiers and guards nodded at us in acknowledgment as we passed through the house. I ignored the slight sting in my side with every step I took, determined to get to the Boss’s study as quickly as possible. Once I received my orders, then I could clean up and relax before starting it.

Maybe it’ll be nothing. Perhaps it’ll be a simple chore that I could do whenever I pleased.

I wouldn’t have to wonder any longer. Rurik opened the double doors to his study, and there he was. We found him seated behind his massive behemoth of a desk. The polished surface was clear and tidy of clutter, as always. Oleg Baranov, I’d come to learn, was a meticulously tidy man.

He lifted his face from a handful of papers, raising his bushy, graying brow at our arrival.

“Looking rough for wear,” he commented as a greeting.

I nodded, minding my manners not to roll my eyes. Thanks for stating the obvious.

“Slightly, sir,” I replied with a dip of my chin.

His serious blue gaze brightened with a hint of amusement. Despite his age, the suited man was as alert as ever. Every now and then, he gave the impression of having the ability to lighten up. Otherwise, he was taciturn and all business. This sense of sarcasm we shared helped him to seem more like a man, not a robot.

“Welcome home,” Oleg said, not missing a beat. That was all he’d allow for introductions or pleasantries. “Your next orders are to supervise the security of my niece.”

I furrowed my brow, immediately confused. Eva? Eva Baranov? She was the only niece he could lay claim to. The aloof brunette’s older sister, Sonya, had disappeared many years ago. “Your niece?”

Who lives here?

“Has there been a security issue on the premises?” I glanced at Rurik, who’d given me the impression nothing serious had been going on around here in my absence. He shrugged slightly, also sporting an expression of confusion.

“No. She wishes to enroll in college courses,” Oleg replied, matter-of-fact as he folded his hands together atop his desk.

“College?” I huffed, almost convinced this was a joke. “You want me to?—”

“I am ordering you to accompany her and provide security on campus. She’ll have a dorm, but whether or not she is to reside there will be up to your discretion.”

“You’re ordering me to babysit Eva?”

His face remained stoic as ever. “ Baby sit?” he challenged.

“To be Eva’s bodyguard. At college ? Come on.” I smiled, glancing at Rurik. This had to be a prank.

“Yes,” the Boss said.

“Me?” I pointed at my chest, as if he needed the emphasis of who I was. He wanted me , a lethal killer and trained spy, to twiddle my thumbs while his spoiled brat of a niece pretended to be smart at college? “Can’t someone else do it?” I wanted to scoff at the mere suggestion. “What about him?” I gestured at Rurik.

“Do I need to remind you that you lack the privilege of declining orders, Lev?”

I sighed. “No, sir.” Of course, I’d do as he asked, but this was bullshit. This was a joke. Asking me to babysit Eva at a damn college campus was an insult to the qualifications I brought to the table. It’d be a waste of my skills.

“She’ll be starting with the winter semester,” Oleg continued. “You’ll have a few days to get your affairs in order.”

Gee, a couple of days to “relax” then.

Still, I struggled to comprehend the why of this assignment. Why me? I suspected there had to be more than what met the eye. Oleg Baranov wasn’t the Boss for no reason. He often coupled motives, and some weren’t clear at the surface level.

“I thought you were against her enrolling,” Rurik said. “I mean, there’s not really any point in studying anything once she’s married…”

“I changed my mind,” Oleg said, standing to meet us on the other side of the desk. “And I’ve changed my mind for a specific reason. I’ve heard that another student will be in attendance at this institution.” He made direct eye contact with me, serious as ever. “The second eldest daughter of the Petrov Family. Irina Petrov. I expect you to spy on her and the Petrov security with her.”

Aha. Now we’re getting somewhere.

“I see,” I replied.

“I doubt that you do,” Oleg replied blandly. “While you were following your orders and taking out Yusuf Ilyin, I wondered if the Petrovs are plotting against us. As you’re aware, we cannot clearly determine what their role was with that drug arrangement falling apart.”

“Agreed.” I wouldn’t take offense to his implication that I couldn’t see this in a big-picture frame of mind. Of course, I did. I was “just” a soldier in the family, but I had eyes and ears. I wasn’t a stupid grunt worker.

The notion of babysitting Eva on a college campus didn’t appeal. I seldom had to deal with her to know more than what other soldiers commented. Sexy but sassy. Polite but aloof. She sounded like a pain in the ass already, but spying was a better job than babysitting. Collecting intel about the Petrovs was a worthy cause.

But it still sucked that I’d miss out on a real break after all.

“Do you understand your orders?” Oleg asked me after a few more minutes of sharing vague details about the job.

Unfortunately, I do…

“Yes, sir.” I bit back another groan at not being able to sleep in my own bed.

Or relax.