I arched an eyebrow, my jaw flexing. “That was not a request, Stefan. It was an order.”
“I have my orders and they are to keep you safe,” he said as he crossed to me, reaching for my arm.
I yanked it away. “I am capable of walking on my own.”
He offered me an unimpressed glance as we stepped into the hall. “You know,malenka, I only mean to keep you safe.”
I rubbed at my temples, understanding but irritated. “Yes, I know. But I do not need to be dragged to my room like a petulant child.”
“I am not treating you like a child. But this is highly unusual.”
“Do you mean the arrival of Dr. Carter?” I asked as we arrived at the double doors leading to my room.
He heaved a grumbling sigh. “We do not know that he can be trusted.”
“Yet both you and Nadia believe he can assist with Papa. And you are willing to blackmail him into doing it.” I arched an eyebrow as I studied his features, searching for a crack in that stoic facade.
“I think he means more to you than a means to an end with your father.”
“And what if he does?”
“Be careful,malenka,” he warned, “if we find out he has been working with Nikolai?—”
“Don’t,” I cut in, wagging a finger.
I didn’t want to hear those words spoken aloud. I wasn’t ready to consider that this man—this special man with whom I’d shared a whirlwind few days—might be working for my brother.
It would break my heart to learn the only reason he’d been so kind, so devoted, was to get close enough to kill me.
But he’d had chances. He hadn’t taken them.
Maybe—just maybe—he was real.
Stefan held his hands up in defeat. “I do not need to say the words we have both contemplated. Now, perhaps we should go inside. You should rest.”
“I am capable of resting without your watchful eye.” I offered him an icy stare to let him know I meant business.
He arched an eyebrow at me. “After the incident this morning, I think not.”
I crossed my arms, not willing to give in yet. “Has this room not been under constant guard since then?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“And is there some failing in your men that would mean that Nikolai or one of his allies could have slipped past them and into my room without them seeing–or worse, perhaps they are complicit.”
Stefan lowered his chin, his annoyance obvious. “Of course not. These men are top notch, and I trust them all with both my and your life.”
“Then there is nothing to fret over. I can enter the confines of my bedroom without fear of danger.” I grabbed hold of the handle and pushed the door open, slipping inside.
Before I could shut it, a strong hand wrapped around the edge and prevented me. “Yet you will not.”
My features twisted with annoyance as I yielded, allowing him to slip inside the room with me. He was ruining my plan, but I would find another way around it.
“Can I not have a moment of privacy?” I questioned.
He crossed to the armchair and collapsed into it. “Certainly. I will sit quietly here whilst you take it.”
I clicked my tongue, my nostrils flaring as I curled my fingers into fists. “Fine. I will be in my bedroom.”
