Schooling her features, she turned so her voice would carry. “Where sh-should I meet you, Dad?”
“Come on, Jacobs. You can do better than that. Put your poker face on and tighten up. A lot of lives are in your hands.”
Knowing she had no other choice, she tried harder to appear normal and said, “I thought you were down the hall.”
“That’s more like it. More what I’d expect from Vasily Tarasov’s fuckin’ daughter. Now, I want you to tell the biker Dad wants to see you.”
As he told her where to go, she tried to picture it in her mind so she wouldn’t forget. The loading dock, behind the ballroom. Okay. But how could she get back there without dragging Caleb with her? After what Nika had just told her about hating Kevin, her friend needed her brother more than Eva did, and she wouldn’t endanger him in this situation that had nothing to do with him.
“Jacobs?”
“Yeah. I’m here.”
“I don’t have to tell you not to pull any shit, do I? You get your sweet ass down here ASAP with your biker pal or everyone goes boom.”
Swiftly gathering herself, Eva tucked her phone into her pocket while approaching her curious friends. “My father wants to see me downstairs,” she said quietly without meeting their eyes. She had no money, no wallet.
Not that she’d need either where she was going.
“He said for you to bring me, Caleb.”
Both of them stood.
“No! I mean, no, Nika, you stay here.” Do not cry! “I’ll be right back. He wants to see me alone.” God, she was blowing this.
Nika was frowning. “Why?”
“I’m not sure.” When the fear and emotion closed up her throat, she gave into it and let her eyes fill. “He said he wanted to talk to me about my mom.” That would excuse the tears. “I won’t be long,” she lied as she pulled her best friend in and hugged her so hard Nika yelped.
“Ow, Eva! What the hell?”
“Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled, letting go and turning away when all she wanted to do was hold her sister forever. “This whole thing is freaking me out. I’m just…sorry.”
She went for the door with Caleb on her heels and stopped short after opening it. Aron, her father’s bodyguard whom he’d introduced her to earlier, was in the hallway.
“It is me,” the hulking guy said in his heavy Russian accent, clearly having seen he’d startled her.
Shit. How were they going to get past him? And the others lining the corridor? “Um… ”
“Hey, brother.” Caleb and the bodyguard bumped fists. “Eva’s old man wants to see her downstairs. You coming with?”
Aron nodded. “Vasily left room few minutes ago.” He motioned for one of the men standing not far away to take over his post, then waved Eva and Caleb ahead.
Caleb nudged her into motion as she processed her father having gone downstairs. What would she say if they ran into him in the lobby?
What would she do if Gabriel came out and caught her trying to leave?
She walked faster.
“You okay, Priss?” Caleb asked, lengthening his stride to keep up. “Your old man seems like a good guy. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“He is.” God, she wasn’t even going to have the chance to know him. “I, uh, just don’t know why he wants to talk to me about this now, that’s all. Think he’ll try to draw comparisons? Maybe warn me off Gabriel?” She forced another laugh that almost turned into a sob. “I hope he doesn’t think he has the right to dictate my life when I’ve only just met him.” He wasn’t going to have the chance to give her even one scrap of fatherly advice.
That knowledge triggered something inside her. Vasily Tarasov. He was her father. A powerful man who ruled an entire organization. She had his blood running through her veins. And her mom’s. A woman who’d raised her to be strong and resilient, her own person. Yet here she was, simpering with panic like a toddler who’d gotten lost at the mall.
“Can’t blame him if he tries. You just met him, but the guy’s been in your life the whole time. Of course he wants what’s best for you.”
Caleb’s words and her realization injected some steel into her spine, strengthening it, straightening it. Her head came up and her emotions leveled off. She might have to give in to Furio’s demands, but she didn’t have to do it like a pussy.