But not before a final flick of his green-eyed gaze that lingers on me. And I might have imagined it, but I swear I see his shoulders relax.
And, despite the warnings from Vasya and my father, so do mine.
16
EVA
“If Mr.Volkov cannot complete the assignments, then maybe he shouldn’t be in my class.”
The professor sits across from Marco and me at his big oak desk. From the way he tilts his nose up to look down on us, you’d think he were the monarch of the entire campus, not a guy who teaches giant undergrad lectures.
“How is Marco getting top marks in all his other 400- and 500-level classes, which by the way he’s an honors student and on track to graduatemagna cum laude, and suddenly he doesn’t know enough to do well in your 200-level lecture requirement?”
The professor has been rude from the start, but I started out polite, doing my best to be friendly. Inside, though, I’m boiling over at how this jerk treats my brother. The brother who has been working his ass off for four years to make a better life for himself despite our circumstances.
But true to Marco’s description, the asshole refuses to budge.
“That isn’t my problem, Miss Volkova. Maybe if he needs his sister to stand up for him, Mr.Volkov isn’t ready to take on life’s responsibilities.”
“Eva—” Marco warns from my other side. He knows that comment has sent my temper skyrocketing.
I brush off the calming hand he’s placed on my arm and shove to my feet, pressing my palms to the professor’s desk.
“No, Professor,youare the problem. Marco does more in a day than you’ve done in the last year. He works two jobs, delivers pizza at night, then goes back and does your stupid, useless homework.”
“Sit down, Miss Volkova,” the professor warns, but I only skewer him with a glare.
“What’s your problem with him?” I demand. “Is it because he has to work multiple jobs on top of his loans and scholarship? Is it because he’s not one of your favorite little rich kids who waste money pretending to get an education while daddy pays for their cars, your grant money, and the library annex where you Xerox your idiotic handouts?”
“Sitdown, Miss Volkova.” The professor stands. “I won’t listen to any more of this nonsense.”
“I’m not done,” I snap. “Maybe no one has told you this, but those kids don’t need your help and goodwill. This kid does, and he’s trying harder than any of them to make a better life for himself. Is that why you hate him? Does he represent the kind of person you think should?—”
“Eva,” Marco hisses desperately, his hand on my arm again, this time with more urgency as the professor pulls himself to his full height, his face red with indignation.
“That is enough.” He slams his palms down onto the desktop, and the reverberations run up my arms. “If you don’t remove yourself from my office, I will call security and have them escort you out. You can see how well your brother does getting thatmagna cum laudewhen he fails my class.”
“Is that a threat?” I hiss, my voice dropping to a fair imitation of Evgeny’s frigid menace.
“Eva, come on. Let’s just go. He’s not worth it.” Marco tugs urgently at my arm as the professor picks up his desk phone to call security.
But everyone in the room freezes when a dark figure rises from the shadowed corner where he’s been listening. From the way the professor startles, he must have forgotten about Evgeny. Hell, I’d forgotten about him, sitting silently in the cramped office.
“I’m sure there’s no need to call security.” Evgeny’s voice is a deep purr I feel as much as I hear it as he comes to stand at my elbow. “Miss Volkova was simply advocating for her brother.”
The professor, not exactly short, has to tilt his head to look Evgeny in the eye. He’s trying to be brave in the face of what anyone can see is a clear and present danger, but his nose isn’t as high in the air as it used to be.
Then again, that might have to do with the fact that Evgeny is wearing a suit that even I, with zero style knowledge, can see is exceptionally expensive.
He smells expensive, too, and I realize the deep breath I took the moment I felt his presence at my side, full of his scent, has steadied me.
“All they’re asking is that you give Marco a fair chance, just like the other students in the class.” Evgeny’s voice is entrancing, I would do almost anything to listen to it forever.
“I have given him a chance,” the professor sputters. “I’ve graded him as fairly as everyone else.”
The man is clinging to his story and his pride, even though his tone has changed in the face of Evgeny’s presence.
When Evgeny pins him with a scowl, he recoils, and I can see his pride slipping away.
