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“It is kind of a dramatic word,” he said, giving me a sad smile back.
I nodded, sniffling.
“I’ll bring dinner to your room, if you want,” he offered.
“That’s really kind of you.”
I turned, water bottle in hand, ready to head back to my room, when something occurred to me.
“Why do I need a bodyguard? Do you live here now?”
Everett was already opening drawers and cabinets, rooting around the pantry, and checking ingredients in the fridge as he talked.
“Mr. Delancey hired me. You’re going to be CEO of The Milenna Company. A lot of attention will be on you for a while. I don’t have to stay here, unless you want me to. It must be hard to suddenly be alone in a big house like this. I noticed there’s a guest suite near the back of the house, that could work for a bit.”
I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t feel my limbs.
“Wh-what?” I stammered. “I’m CEO?”
Everett stilled. He turned to face me.
“You didn’t hear it from me,” he said, a guilty expression on his face.
“Stay,” I whispered as a final request.
I turned and somehow made it back to my room, falling on my bed to stare up at the ceiling. The mantle of leadership was going to be laid on my shoulders and my parents wouldn’t be there to help me, support me, comfort me. I was alone.
At some point, Everett knocked on the door and I said he could come in. He set a bowl of spaghetti on my desk and said something about being in the guest suite. Everything had changed before I was ready. I was terrified.
CHAPTER 12
I don’t know how much time passes, but I exist in a terrified daze in the emergency waiting room. Someone draped a warm blanket over me. A nurse brought me some tea. Everett’s phone is in my pocket, his blood crusting on my white sweater. His silver chain and ring are around my neck. I’m so grateful I never thought to take my ring off.
But someone to the left of me is holding their phone at a weird angle and I realize they’re either videoing me or taking a picture. I’m going to attract attention here.
I pick up Everett’s phone and guess the password based on what I remember seeing him type in. The phone unlocks as another person to my right raises their camera, this time more obviously. I find the number I’m looking for and dial.
“Ainsley, I need your help.”
I tell her where to find me and why and she comes blazing in less than fifteen minutes later. She goes wide-eyed when she sees me.
“Oh, Laina. Okay, let’s get you to the car,” she says, ready to escort me out.
I shake my head and stay put. “Everett’s in surgery. I’m staying here.”
She nods. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”
I slowly stand up and follow her, my body aching from the absence of adrenaline. The room she finds for me has a small cot and a chair and I lay down on the cot, prop my hands behind my head, determined not to fall asleep. Ainsley takes the chair and attends to something on her phone.
“How are you?” she asks softly.
“Worried,” I reply.
“He’s a tough cookie. He’ll pull through for you,” she says. “Where’s the laptop?”
“Under my bed.” I turn my head to look at her. “How much do you know?”
“Enough to know we need to secure it.”
