Page 16 of The Brat: Prequel

“H-He tried to put his hand up my skirt when I smacked him.”

“Left one?”

A sigh escapes me. With it, my fears.

Maxim will do whatever Maxim does.

“Da.“

Even I hear the resignation in my tone.

“I thought O’Donnelly was teaching you self-defense.”

“He is. Timofai took me by surprise.” I’m not about to make matters worse by telling him how the boys crowded me. Dissension’s one thing, but the boys’ fathers will overthrow him if he kills their sons!

“If O’Donnelly is a useless instructor, I’ll teach you myself when I’m back in the city.”

Hope blossoms, encouraging me to stand and take a seat on the lid of the toilet. “You will?”

Over the years of him being my driver/guard, he became a friend. I miss him. Inessa wouldn’t like me to say that out loud, and Camille would stare at me worriedly, probably questioning whether I needed a shrink or not, but I do.

Max was a big part of my everyday life. A rational voice in the chaos. A defender and a protector. A provider of chocolate and jokes on the darkest days.

Now, he’s a name on my cell phone.

“It will cause trouble if I do,” he warns.

“Oh.” The hope that filtered through me immediately disperses and my shoulders sag. “I’ll try harder with Brennan.”

"Good. You might not be the Pakhan’s daughter anymore, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t inherit his enemies. Don’t you have guards on you?"

Stepanov wasn’t my father’s enemy. He’s an old-school ally.

Maxim’s the reason I’m being targeted… but I can’t tell him that, can I? Not when I don’t know why. I’ll just sound crazy.

“I do, but not in school.”

“That’s where it happened?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

I stare at my feet. “Gym class.”

“You didn’t report it to the faculty?”

“I could have,” I warble.

“But you didn’t. Why?”

“H-He said I’d be your whore, Maxim⁠—”

“He mentioned me by name?” That sharp tone is a clue. I’m just not sure to what.

“Da.”

And suddenly, the tenor of the conversation changes. As if he gets what’s happening while I’m left in the dark.