Chapter One – Olya
Dad, you have to be kidding me!” I protested, as I followed him out of his office and into the living room of his penthouse apartment.
I’m not, and that’s final, he told me firmly. He wouldn’t even look at me. God, this was driving me insane! I had barely gotten back through the door and he was already telling me what to do. Well, I wasn’t the girl who had done everything she had been told when she was growing up – no, I was ready to put up a fight, if he thought he was going to have a say in how my life was going to go now I was back here.
Please, just listen to me, I begged him, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn around and face me. I don’t need anyone watching over me. I can handle myself.
You have no idea what goes on in this city, he replied, his voice dropping slightly, as though the mere thought of it was enough to throw him off his game. You’re not going to just walk about out there without anyone watching over you. You’re an Antonov. That means you’re always going to be a target.
I rolled my eyes skyward.
I’ve been an Antonov my whole life, I reminded him. And nothing has ever come of it! Why are you so worried all of a sudden? What happened?
His face darkened for a moment. I eyed him. Something had changed in the time I had been away, I was sure of it – something about the way he carried himself, as though he was more cautious than before. I had assumed it was something to do with the business, the business he ran with his stepbrother Damyan, but I had no idea. Maybe something to do with that girl I’d met when I had first arrived back in the city, Mina, though he hadn’t gone into too much detail about what was actually happening there.
You don’t know how dark this city can get, he replied, as though it should have been obvious. Be grateful for that.
I don’t know because nobody has ever bothered with me, I pointed out. Why do I need to start assuming they will?
The bodyguards are going to arrive at your place next week, he replied. That’s the end of it. I don’t want to hear any more about it.
Dad, I-
I’ve said what I need to say, he snapped back, clearly annoyed that I wasn’t just rolling over and taking it like he had expected me to. I’ve got nothing else to discuss with you, Olya.
And, with that, he closed his bedroom door behind him, leaving me standing there in the middle of the living room, beyond frustrated at what had just happened.
Bodyguards. He wanted bodyguards watching over me. And not just when there was something happening with the business, no – he was bringing in two guys to keep watch on me twenty-four-seven, moving in to the new apartment he’d set me up with a few blocks over from the Flood. I couldn’t believe it. He had always been protective of me, but this? This was beyond anything he’d ever done before, and I hated the very thought of it.
I flopped down onto the couch, pouting. No way was I going to put up with this. Sure, he could stick me with a couple of bodyguards, but that didn’t mean I was going to let them control my life. They were going to have serious problems keeping me in hand. If they thought they could just stroll into my life, tell me how I was going to live, follow me everywhere, they had a whole heap of other shit coming their way.
I should have known there was something up when my father had given me the keys to that apartment, a few blocks away from his. He’d told me it was somewhere I could stay while I was figuring out what I was going to do with my freshly-earned degree, but clearly, he’d made sure I had a place he would have some control over, a place that he would be able to call the shots in. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before; I should have never taken him at his word. I knew the way my father worked, and every little detail was usually part of some long-term plan he had in mind to make everything work to his advantage.
I dragged myself to my feet, and sloped out of the door, not seeing any more reason in sticking around now he had told me how things were going to be. Maybe I could move out, find another place of my own, make it so he couldn’t install his men there...but I didn’t have any funds that didn’t come directly courtesy of my father, and I knew there was no way I would be able to find a job fast enough to put down rent and a deposit on a place in the next few days. Shit!
Outside, it had just started to drizzle, the rain reflecting my terrible mood. I couldn’t believe it. All my friends from Budapest, all my old school companions here in New Ruska, none of them were having to put up with any shit like this, were they? None of them had to worry about keeping themselves safe against some imagined threat that their father had invented for them...
And, okay, I got it. New Ruska was a Bratva city, through and through, and my father was the head of one of the most powerful families in the place – I could see why he might be worried about the danger that would put me under. But didn’t he see how ridiculous he was being? I wasn’t going to give up my freedom to have two guards trailing after me in everything I did. How was I meant to go out and have fun? Or even get a job, for that matter? I was going to be totally limited, they were going to cramp my style, no matter what I was getting up to. Just the thought of it had me fuming.
I couldn’t believe it. But, at the same time, maybe I should have expected something like this, after being away for so long. My father had always been protective of me, ever since my mother abandoned me on his doorstep all those years ago; she had never wanted me, and he had always gone out of his way to make sure that I knew how much he really, truly did. I appreciated the effort, but right now, I wished I could just tell him he didn’t need to worry that much. There was caring about me, and then, there was going to all these lengths to try and control me. I didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
I arrived back at my new apartment and trudged up the stairs to my new home; I hadn’t even gotten around to unpacking the boxes yet, but I guessed I was going to have to leave the guest rooms empty for the bodyguards who were about to move in and live with me. I hated having roommates; I had been so looking forward to having some real space of my own when I was back in New Ruska, but, obviously, I wasn’t going to get quite that lucky. God, it just pissed me off so much – right when I thought I had gotten things the way I wanted them, my father’s interfering was going to ruin it all.
I threw myself down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. I knew him well enough to be well aware that he wasn’t going to change his mind anytime soon. If he had it in his head that this was how it needed to go, then he was going to do just that, whether I liked it or not. I wished I could just convince him I wasn’t this useless little girl anymore, I was a grown woman, and I could handle myself, no matter what the world threw at me. I had just made it a whole year living in a new city, for God’s sake, wasn’t that enough for him? Wasn’t that proof that I wasn’t the kid he so obviously thought I was?
Well, I was going to have to accept it. I didn’t know what these bodyguards were going to be like, but I got the feeling they would be as uptight and stoic as my dad was. Hardly fun to have around, especially not after the good times I had been having lately.
Good times ended here. I should have been ready for something like this. And, whether I liked it or not, all the freedom I’d gotten used to was about to vanish into thin air.