Protective

The Storm

Lana

"Is there anything I can do for you, Ms. Lana? Are you hungry?"

"No, Alena. I'm fine," I smiled, setting my bag on the table before glancing at Yuri, "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head but I could tell he was lying, he hadn't ate a thing all day.

"Alena, please get Yuri a plate of food," I said.

"It's not necessary—

"Please," I held my hand up, "Enjoy it. I'm going to my room, yes?"

"Da," he nodded gratefully.

I smiled before making my way to my wing of the house. I was tired after a long day with Aileen. We had talked for some time and I had gotten more information out of her about Adalia and Santana De León like my father had wanted.

She didn't seem to have much of a problem selling out anyone from her old life and I considered a number of possibilities of why that could be.

I wasn't really sure which was possible but she didn't strike me as someone who was taking any of this easily.

She wanted me to think that but what her family had done to her hadn't hurt and she thought she could feel better about it by believing that all fathers were like that.

Despite everything that was wrong with my father, I couldn't let her believe that he was like hers.

Even with his many absences for the important things, the quite literal child abuse he put Dmitri through, and the things he made me see, I didn't doubt he loved us.

I had never doubted it. He might have had the wrong idea on how to raise us after our mother passed but he did what he thought would prepare us.

I thought about that as I went through the last of his journals. I was getting incredibly close to the day my mother had passed and my father changed.

He was much different before, much happier. He had never planned on doing to Dmtri what his father had done to him. He and my mother decided it was best to raise us differently.

It must've been her death that changed his mind. Someone had killed her and he must've thought we needed to be prepared for a much different world.

I sighed, slipping out of my heels and heading to my bathroom. I was beginning to slip out of my skirt when I heard the gunshots.

I pulled my skirt back up, my eyes wide as I instinctively ran back into my room to grab the gun I kept in a Jimmy Choo box underneath my bed.

I loaded it quickly before hearing the banging on my door, "Ms. Lana! Let me in! It's Yuri."

I practically tripped over myself letting him in and he shut the door behind him immediately.

"No time to explain so I'll give you the short version—"

"No need," I interrupted him, holding the gun close to my chest, "They're here for me, right? Let's go."

He nodded, "We'll take the passageways to a getaway car your father set up months ago."

I nodded as he ushered me behind him. We encountered practically no one as he rushed me into the library. I worried about Alena and the other servants. Maybe they got out through the kitchen door.

I wanted to ask Yuri but the second I opened my mouth I felt something wet splatter across my face and Yuri was on the ground.

He tried to talk but blood was gurgling out of his mouth. It was his blood on my face.