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I think I’ll get through to her in my own way.
I cross the room in two steps and swat her phone onto the floor. “It wasn’t a question.”
That draws her attention. She glares up at me, her chin jutted out.
“If you’re going to stay here,” I continue, “there have to be rules.”
“No joy, no fun, no life,” she says, ticking the list off on her fingers. “I already know the rules.”
“Making out with some slimeball fucking busboy in the alley isn’t a life, Mariya. It’s not ‘fun.’ It’s trashy and fucking dangerous.”
“Says the guy who let Luna move in after one date.” She rolls her eyes. “Double standard, much?”
I grit my teeth. “You aren’t me. I’m an adult.”
I’m the leader of a Bratva. I hold your entire world together.
“And what the fuck am I?” she snaps. “I’m almost eighteen. I’m not a kid anymore, Yakov. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, but I’ve grown up.”
As if I need the reminder. The last time I saw Mariya, she had glitter streaks in her hair and a stuffed frog she kept in the center of her bed.
I look around the room and see the ratty green frog slouched on her bookshelf. A lot has changed, but not everything. Not the important things.
I take a deep breath and turn back to her. “It’s not about whether you’re still a kid or not, Mariya. It’s about keeping you safe.”
“And what if I don’t trust you to keep me safe?”
“Then get on a fucking plane and go back to live with Mother,” I spit. “If you’re going to live in this house, you’re going to follow my rules.”
She crosses her arms and flops back against the upholstered headboard. “I’m not agreeing to rules before I know what they are.”
“If you leave the house, someone goes with you. Always. I don’t care if it’s me, Nik, a guard—someone has to be with you at all times.”
“I object.”
I shake my head. “You don’t get to object.”
“Yes, I do!” she cries out. “I’ll follow your rules, but I’m not going to sit at home the way you make your girlfriend. I have a life outside of this house. I won’t be caged.”
“Luna isn’t caged.”
“She is always here. You’ve isolated her from everyone and everything. She’s alive, but at what cost?”
My molars grind together. “Luna just went out last night.”
Mariya frowns. “She did? I thought she was in your room all night.”
“Nope. She went out.”
“With who?” she asks quickly.
“Who the fuck do you think? Me.”
Her eyebrows raise. “You took her out? Like, on a date? I didn’t think you were capable.”
“You don’t know anything. You haven’t even been here.”
She narrows her eyes. “Through no fault of my own, may I remind you. But I don’t need to have been here to know what’s going on. The staff isn’t afraid to gossip in front of me. The maids are all talking about how Luna is the first woman you have ever brought home. I don’t know if that’s more sweet or sad.”
