Being targeted so directly was the trigger to her lashing out and condemning me for being such a horrible person, a terrible father, to warrant her life being endangered like that.
“Welcome to the real world, Sis,” Andre muttered next to me as Anya shouted and cursed me out—again.
“This isn’tmyworld,” she spat, glaring at him. Like this, fiery and pissed off, she proved that she was indeed my child. My flesh and blood. Strong, passionate, and unafraid to speak her mind. She was an Orlov, all right.
It just would’ve been nice for her to balance it out, half the time as a pouty, moody, teenage brat who’d give the illusion of peace and calm with her silent treatments as a protest to livinghere. Then half the time acting like a bold, courageous, and opinionated young woman who railed against being shot at.
“And I’mnotyour sister, you criminal jackass.”
I looked up at the ceiling, seeking inspiration for patience. Mine had run out, but I’d be damned if I didn’t take this “breakthrough” with Anya as a new beginning. I wasn’t sure I’d ever know how to handle a daughter, a woman in my household. She’d either be a target or a future pawn in an arranged marriage if I ever had to deal with that prospect. But I hoped there could be something in the middle, too. Some common ground where we’d act like family members of some kind.
This has to be better than her sullen and locked in her room.
It has to be.
I can work with her anger.
She was frustrated. Probably scared and determined not to show it.
But I could work with her on this. I could try to show her how to be stronger and more formidable, because Andre was right. This was the real world,ourworld.
“This will never be my home. And you will never be someone I want near me.” She pointed at me, nearly spitting with rage. Her blonde hair fell out of a ponytail, making her appear more wild and unhinged. “So stop acting like you care, like you give a shit about me and my life!”
“Would you rather me leave you homeless and penniless in Moscow?” I replied calmly.
“Yes!” She fisted her hands and rammed them down so her arms locked rigidly at her sides. “A thousand times yes!”
“Then I suppose you’re both stupid and suicidal on top of being sassy,” Andre quipped, pushing off the wall of the hallway to walk off.
“Andre…” I warned. I wouldn’t ever dictate his actions or words, but I knew from the simple experience of once having a sibling that criticism like that wasn’t going to help here.
“You fucking asshole!” she roared at him as he walked away, not looking back. “Both of you!”
“He’s right,” I told her, getting annoyed now.
“Oh, of course you’d side with him. Of course, you’d agree with him that I’m a stupid girl?—”
“It is stupid of you to think you’d fare better without my money or protection,” I cut in sharply.
She clamped her lips shut and glowered at me with fire in her eyes.
“It also would’ve been suicidal if you hadn’t come here to live with us. That attack last week proves that you are targeted.”
“I’m only ‘targeted’ because of you!” She cringed at me, shaking her head. “Because you insist on keeping me like a prisoner. That’s all I am here. So do us both a favor and stop acting like you give a damn and want to check on how I’m doing after nearly dying!”
“And that is where he’s right about your acting like a sassy brat,” I growled.
She was alive because I protected her. If she couldn’t admit that, I wasn’t going to be gracious with her attitude. No one dared to insult me and live to tell that tale.
“I’ll act however I want to,” she argued. “It shouldn’t matter what I do or where I am because it won’t change the fact that you want to keep me stuck here. Because that’s what asshole criminals like you do!”
I swallowed back the angry words I wanted to dole out on her. They wouldn’t improve her impression of me, and I had to admit that she was right. I wasn’t too proud to try to deny her claims. She was accurate with that assessment. I was a criminal in terms of the law and order regime that the rest of society had to follow. I could be an asshole when my authority was challenged. Like she was trying to do now.
Yet, I couldn’t concede to her. I couldn’t soften up or justify my life to her. Nor could I abandon her now or give up on forming a connection with her since she quit the silent recluse act.
How the fuck am I supposed to do this?
What the hell am I supposed to say?
