I’m done with the conversation and try to push past him, afraid of where it will lead. Fearful of what will happen if I break one of Evgeny’s rules.
Dad’s hand wraps around my wrist, preventing me from leaving. “Whatever you’re trying to do for us, Eva, it is not worth it. Nothing is worth this.”
You are, I want to say.You all are. Keeping you safe is worth it.
But I don’t because I can’t.
Dad’s eyes harden. “You keep doing this, Eva, and bad things will happen. Terrible things.”
Fear stabs at my heart at the words. “Papa, I?—”
“Everything okay?”
Dad’s hand drops like a stone from my arm as we both look up the stairs to see Vasya. He watches us with narrowed eyes, one hand on the banister, the other resting lightly on the outside of his leather jacket.
The place where his gun must be hidden.
“Everything is fine,” I manage, though my too-bright smile feels more panicked than cheerful.
My father grunts and shuffles off, back into the recesses of the house.
“You ready?” Vasya asks, his gaze trailing after my father as he comes down the steps to me.
“Almost. I just want to check on Marco, and then we can go.” I push an escaped strand of hair behind my ear, my heart hammering wildly in my chest.
I’m still not quite calm by the time Vasya lets me back into the car.
“Thanks for helping with Katie’s homework,” I say as his big black Rover eases away from the curb.
Vasya shrugs. “She’s a good kid. I always wanted a younger sibling anyway. Nice to spend time with one.”
“You don’t have any brothers or sisters?” I ask.
“No. Only me.”
The leather steering wheel creaks as Vasya’s hands tighten around it, but his mild expression doesn’t change.
“I thought you and Evgeny were like brothers?”
It takes Vasya a moment to reply. “We are. He’s the closest I’ve come, anyway. But he was always the heir, and me? Well, I’m whatever he needs me to be.”
The words clash with the easy smile Vasya gives me when I’m unsure how to respond. Silence falls as the car stops at a light.
“Look, Eva.” Vasya licks his lips, his hand tightening on the steering wheel again. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Evgeny, but I’m telling you, as someone who knows him better than most, don’t let it happen.”
He doesn’t look at me as he says it.
“You can’t save him, Eva. He’s not some nesting doll with a good soul deep inside. Whatever you think, he’s thepakhanof the Kucherov Bratva. That is who he is. The Bratva will always come before anything else, and he’ll do anything to protect it.”
When he looks at me, his blue eyes are burning.
“Anything.”
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry and my father’s warnings ringing in my ears.
“Nothing is going on, and I’m not trying to save anyone but my family,” I force myself to reply. “I’m there until he lets me go, and that’s it. I’m doing this to protect my family.”
Vasya doesn’t look convinced by my words. I’m not entirely convinced, either.
