Protective

Aftermath

Lana

"I'm doing fine, I promise," I said, "School is fine, too."

Yeremy and I were in the car on the way to school when father called me.

"How's your work going?"

"It is fine," he said simply, "Some shipments and trades. Simple things. I will call you later this week, my love."

"Yes father, okay," I nodded mindlessly before hanging up the phone.

He was still lying. I suppose that meant that Dmitri didn't tell him about showing me the file. Father still thought that I was under the impression he was in Moscow on business.

Truthfully after finding out about Petyr I could hardly say that I handled the situation well.

How do you handle that kind of news well? You let your family and loved ones protect you, of course.

You do not take any unnecessary risks with your life, obviously.

Yet when the opportunity to sneak out presented itself, I could not have been more idiotic.

Roman's words stuck with me the entire night. Everything he went on to say just reminded me of that God awful letter that is nicely tucked in a drawer in my brothers office.

A part of me wanted to run into a hole in hide. Whether it is Roman or Petyr or random man on the street, being a girl meant that I could not shake the undeniable feeling that I am never, ever going to be safe.

However the other part of me knew better. I was raised by Mikhail and Dmitri Petrov and they were arguably among the scariest men on the planet. I would not be intimidated by anyone.

Let alone the likes of two men far more inferior than me in social status, wealth, and power.

"Yeremy," I spoke softly, "Are you ready for the day?"

"Depends on what you mean," he replied skeptically.

"Roman Luciano made an enemy out of me last night, whether he knows it or not," I glanced outside the window as we arrived on campus, "I am going to obliterate him."

_______
Yeremy

The more time I spent with this family the less I understood about them. Especially Lana.

Why did she talk and act the way that she did? It was the question on my mind constantly. The more time I spent with her the more I wanted to know what made her tic.

Obliterate him? Why did she want to obliterate him was another question swimming in my mind.

Did he hurt her? Emotionally? Physically?

The thought made my jaw clench. I was under clear ordered to kill anyone who harmed her, but she refused to tell me what happened.

So I resorted to eavesdropping. Yes. I was eavesdropping on her and Rose. I hid in a bush outside as they whispered by the window in the schools hallway.

This is what my life has come to. Hiding in fucking bushes and eavesdropping on girls.

If Mikhail did not come back with news about my fathers murderers soon, I was just going to kill myself.

"You told me you'd tell me if you went to the party," Rose complained, "Why didn't you call me?"

"I am truly sorry," Lana apologized, "It all happened so fast and to tell you the truth I was only there for about an hour before I was telling Yeremy to come an get me."

"Only an hour?" Rose started, "Was it that bad that you let yourself get caught?"

"Well, I wouldn't say caught," Lana giggled, "I have a theory that Yeremy was there the whole time. I think that is why he did not get mad at me or tell my brother."

"So you knew he was following and you still went?"

"Look the opportunity struck with Roman," she explained, "But it didn't exactly go as planned."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was flirting with him. He introduced me to people, we danced, the usual stuff. He then took me to the balcony in his bedroom and we talked for a bit. Then we started making out.."

"Why do you say it like that?" Rose pressed.

"Rose," Lana took a deep breath, "It made me want to sleep with him. I literally forgot the entire reason I was there."

Rose laughed, "Yeah well that's exactly what it feels like. Making out can be dangerous."

"I just really wasn't expecting that," Lana shook her head, "Then he ruined it."

"He's a bad kisser?" Rose asked, clearly surprised.

"No," Lana said quickly, "His friends came looking for him and I overheard them talking about me. It was mainly Roman describing what he was going to do with me once he got me out of my dress."

"Ugh," Rose groaned, "Disgusting pig."

"Exactly. I pretended to be okay once we got back to the party and I took the opportunity to slip away."

Now, I understood why she was acting so strangely. That little prick.

"I'm so sorry Lana," Rose took her hand, "He's an asshole."

"Well I knew that. I should've been more careful with myself," she sighed, "Still, there will be consequences."

"Consequences?"

"It was always my intention to knock him off his pedestal and take it for myself but now I'm going to ruin him."

"So we ruin him and Violette?"

"Pretty much. The pride is going to have a change in leadership."

"Lana," Rose said sharply, "They won't accept you. They're like extremely misogynistic."

"They don't have to accept me," Lana smiled, "They only have to fear me."

I rolled my eyes. She was just like her father in so many ways. I wondered if I should do something about Roman. She clearly already had her own plans so him. It made little sense to intervene.

God why was I still hiding in this bush? That's right.

This was my life now. Babysitting the spoiled brat with the mindset of Gengis Khan.

_____
Lana

"What happened last night? I turn away for a second and you were gone."

It was my final period of the day and I was actually not dreading this interaction. I had the entire day to think about what kind of bullshit excuse I would give him and I landed on a really good one.

"My brother told me that my father was coming home and so I had to get back fast," I smiled, "I would've told you but I didn't have a lot of time. I'm sorry about that."

"No worries," he brushed it off lightly, "At least your dad comes home from business trips. I feel like I haven't seen my parents in months."

That didn't surprise me at all. Absentee parents breed out of control children. It was like the law of nature.

"Believe me, that I understand. My father is always working and when he's home he's in his office."

"I think the only benefit of them never being home is all the freedom I have," he joked, "Hence the party on a school night."

"I would kill for more freedom. I feel like a caged bird most of the time," I sighed.

"Can I take you on a date this Saturday?" he laughed, "Or does the bird have to return to her cage?"

I paused thinking about it. I wasn't sure if going with him was the right idea. He was untrustworthy, but if I went I could learn more about him.

"I can't do Saturday. I have a meeting for an internship I just applied to," I started, "Maybe next Saturday."

It was time I put some distance between us. I had other people to focus on. I did have more than one target.

- - End of Chapter - -