“I’m fine, Papa.” Matleon opens the passenger-side door for me, and I slide inside the car.
“Have you reached your new apartment?” I wonder how much this Matleon has talked with my dad.
“No, Papa. We’re on our way now.”
“Alright. Do it quickly.”
“Okay. But I could move alone. We don’t have to bother Matleon.” I glance at him. He’s started the car.
“Let him come with you, little one. You don’t know much about that place. He is a reliable man.”
“Ty znayesh, ya ne lyublyu yego.”
(You know I don’t like him.)
“Don’t say such things in front of him when he’s helping you, Kroshka. He knows Russian,” Dad sighs.
I glance at Matleon. His face is hard. He doesn’t like it. Well, that’s his problem if he doesn’t like thetruth.
“I don’t need his help. I don’t even need to move, to be honest.”
“You need to. And from now on, you’ll keep a security team with you, picked by Matleon.”
I frown. “Papa, why are you involving him so much in this?”
“You are in his territory. Last night, Kaz called him to send help, but he decided to look into this matter personally. He is a busy man, yet he’s still giving you his time, which means hecares for you. And we don’t speak ill of people who care for us. I know he’s not your favorite, but it’s important to be polite around him. When you’re with a respectable man, showing him respect is the right thing to do.”
“Okay, Papa,” I reply with pursed lips. I don’t know what he has said to my father for him to take so much of his side.
“Take care of yourself,” he says softly.
“Okay. Bye-bye. Love you.”
“Love you too, Kroshka.”
I cut the call. Silence falls inside the car, thick and uncomfortable. We stay like that until we reach the university. He pulls up in front of my hostel building. I step out, and every student roaming around is staring in our direction. For a moment, I think they’re in awe of the car. Then I turn my head.
Five black SUVs are lined up behind us. Men dressed in black are getting out of them. I sigh. How could I forget?This man is a big deal.He can’t go anywhere without a full security team. And he’s perfectly fine with the attention it brings.
I’m not.
I walk back toward him. “You can leave now. I don’t want you roaming around campus with this huge security team.”
He puts on his Clubmaster sunglasses and speaks in a calm, almost lazy voice. “One more time you say anything about me leaving before you shift to your new apartment, I’m going to lock you in my penthouse and end this research problem of yours.”
Then he starts walking.
I grab his arm around his thick, muscled bicep, I can’t even make it halfway around it. He stops.
I grit my teeth in a low voice. “Have you taken me for the kind of woman you can make dance on your finger? Let me break your delusion, I have a family who could fight you if you dare to harm me.”
He smiles. “Who told you I would harm you? That’s not in the plan. And about your family…” He takes my hand that’s holding his arm, transfers it to his other hand, and holds it firmly. “They will thank me for doing that.”
He starts walking again, taking me with him inside the hostel. I try to pull my hand back, and he tightens his grip. I curse under my breath but match his steps so onlookers don’t see that I’m being dragged.
As soon as we turn into the corridor leading to my room, I spot Dexter. He must be heading to the seminar I won’t be able to attend. I yank my hand hard from Matleon’s grip. This time, I successfully get it back.
Dexter looks between me and Leo. He is an Australian researcher who has come here for the same program. He is my age; we are both the youngest here. The reason I didn’t leave this program is him. He has come to work on developing medicine for a new type of blood cancer.
