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HE’S A BODYGUARD. NOT A BODYBUILDER.
NATHAN
Her name should have been glitter instead of Candy.
I tried brushing off the shimmering specks, but no matter how many I got rid of, more popped up in its place. Strippers—no exotic dancers. Same difference, but one sounded more respectable than the other. They were workers, doing what they needed to get by. Who was I to judge their profession? No one. Especially not when I was basically a fucking babysitter, and a terrible one at that.
I let her escape, knowing that was her plan, and now I did not know where the hell she went off to. I sighed, leaving Cherry Pops in defeat. Walking over to the edge of the sidewalk, I was surprised to see no one had taken the helmet or leather jacket off my older brother’s motorcycle.
Originally, I wasn’t planning on taking it after his disappearance. But his girlfriend insisted I take the motorcycle since my niece was far too young.
I pulled the helmet over my head and slipped the jacket on. Reaching into the pockets of my pants, I pulled out the key and placed it in the ignition. Swinging a leg over, I revved the engine and took off.
Karina couldn’t have gone too far, not without the driver I sent back to Boston. She was on foot. At least, that’s what I assumed. Luckily, Cosmos Circle, a borough in the Crystal View City, wasn’t as big as it sounded. But it was one of the well-known parts just like Boston was in Massachusetts.
I swerved past a few cars, feeling the breeze cut right through my pants. I was lucky it wasn’t Winter. That chilly wind was no joke. I still remembered the first time I thought I’d be safe riding with only a shirt, the temperature a little below thirty-five.
Shaking the thought from my head, I slowed down at a yellow light. I placed my feet on the ground and sat back, watching for it to change to red.
The sound of familiar laughter caught my attention. Immediately, I looked over my shoulder towards the sidewalk. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I noticed little Miss princess walking out of a little corner store. She held the door open for her friends, a bright smile on her face as they stepped onto the concrete. My eyes followed them as they walked past me. That conniving little piece of shit.
Karina is a woman, not an assignment.
I took a deep breath, remembering Mr. Vasiliev’s words. I had to at least try to be friendly to her, as much as I didn’t want to. Once the light turned green, I placed my feet back on the pegs of the bike and drove to the corner, jolting to a stop in front of them before they could cross. All three of them raised an eyebrow. I pulled off the helmet and smiled.
“Ok, I’m not going to lie. That was actually pretty hot,” Bunny said. She was quite the talker, very expressive.
A groan came from the Princess. I looked her over, noticing her roll her eyes. It made me chuckle. “You should have known it wouldn’t be easy to disappear from me, Miss Vasiliev.”
“I thought we didn’t have to be formal, Mr. James.” She mocked.
A smirk tugged at my lips. “Karina.”
She stood up straight, looking dead into my eyes from the distance between us. “Jason.”
“It’s Nathan, Princess.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“And I told you my name wasn’t Jason.”
One girl giggled, bringing me back to our surroundings.
“So, Nathan, you said you’re Karina’s bodyguard, right?” Bunny asked. I nodded in response before she continued. “Then she must be in some sort of trouble.”
“Trouble she refuses to tell us about,” Vivianna added.
“I can’t confirm or deny that. I’m just here to keep an eye on her in case anything happens.” Especially not when Miss Delacroix was a suspect. Or well… at least her father was. His gambling addiction was enough motive to want to take over, but that didn’t explain why Karina was pulled into the mess. Still, he had yet to be ruled out.
I focused my attention back on Karina. “Where are we headed?”
“We—” She pointed between the two of us. “Are going nowhere. My friends and I, however, are going far away from you.”
“Sorry Princess, can’t do that.” I gave a fake pout. “Especially since your father specifically asked me to not let you out of my sight.”
Bunny glanced at her with a look that she seemed to understand. Karina sighed softly, her shoulders drooping. “Fine, you can come along with us. We’re going to drop off Bunny.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is there any glitter at your place?” I asked Bunny, who only chuckled.
“Maybe some specks here and there, but no. I make sure to wipe it off on the men I dance for. Just like Candy,” she said with a shrug and a smile on her lips.
Karina snickered, her eyes traveling down to the bike. “Did my dad get you that thing?”
As if Mr. Vasiliev would buy me anything. Well, maybe he would have if I asked. I never needed or wanted anything. I was fine with what I had.
It won’t kill you to open yourself up a little to her.
Here’s to hoping, I thought to myself. “No, it belonged to my brother.”
She tilted her head, processing what I said.
“I thought you were an orphan?”
“It’s… not something I talk about. Only your father knows. Everyone else just assumes I have no family.” In fact, some of the other workers praised Mr. Vasiliev for picking up a young man like me off the streets like I was some charity case.
“So, you lie about it when people ask?” she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Nobody’s ever asked me personal questions like that.”
She nodded, as if she wasn’t sure if I was being honest. “So, you have a brother?”
“Technically, I have three.” If I counted the one my grandmother adopted in that equation, which I usually did. And even though my older brother was gone, I still counted him as well.
“Any of them single?” Bunny was quick to ask. I shook my head. “Are you single?” She added.
Should have known that was coming. I was by choice. My family was the most important thing, and their safety was my top priority. Work was second, which included the Vasiliev’s, along with Mr. Vasiliev’s business. I didn’t have enough time on my hands for a relationship. And even if I did, I wouldn’t risk their lives on the chance that someone wouldn’t think we were dating. Staying single was best. Getting close to someone would just be a hassle.
“How about we stop asking him personal questions and just go?” Karina turned her gaze away from me, directing it down the not-so-crowded street.
I chuckled, “Princess is right.”
She rolled her eyes. “And stop calling me Princess.”
Smirking, I hopped off the bike and hooked my helmet on the handle. “Lead the way, Karina.”
“Isn’t that thing heavy to push around?” Vivianna asked, finally deciding to speak again as I let them pass by me. I followed.
“Do you see his arms? It’s probably like pushing a regular bike to him.” Bunny chimed.
“He’s a bodyguard.” Karina sighed. “Not a bodybuilder.”
“Guards can kill people and lift dead bodies,” Bunny told her. She wasn’t wrong.
Have I dodged bullets? Plenty. Carried a drunken old man back to his bed? Yeah. Watched over his sassy, sexy daughter? Of course. But disposed of dead bodies and killed people? No, not yet.
I chuckled, following them on the street as they walked along the sidewalk. I kept some distance between them, giving the women some privacy to talk about… well, whatever it was they talked about.
I could only just faintly hear some of their conversation.
“By the way, when did you get a bodyguard?” Bunny asked, glancing back at me for a split second.
“When I landed. Dad wasted no time assigning me one.”
“You would think he’d let you be. It’s been years since that happened.” Vivianna chimed.
The incident years ago was another reason why Mr. Vasiliev had me watch her. Unlike one of the other bodyguards who nearly assaulted her, Mr. Vasiliev trusted me, even Karina and I’s first encounter last year.
“It’s not going to happen. Not now anyway. Everyone knows who he is, everyone knows who I am. I’m my father’s weakness, according to them.”
“I mean, in a sense, you are. Your dad keeps you safe. He’s not like mine, ready to throw it all away for money. He cares about you.”
Vivianna was right. Mr. Vasiliev was protective of his daughter. He only wanted the best for her. If anything were to happen to him, she and her brother would have the company to fall back on for money. They would get everything they could ever need.
“But he cares about his company more, and I’m nothing but a product. Someone who others expect to follow in his footsteps.”
“And that’s not something you want to do because you enjoy being a model, right?” Bunny looked at her.
“Exactly. I don’t want to be my father. I have my own dreams, my own life,” Karina said, “even when I was little, he tried to sway me to learn everything about his company, and I didn’t want that. Now other people just use me to get to him.”
She sniffled and reached her hand up, wiping what I could only assume was tears from her face. “I’m just sick of it. I’m my own person too.”
I sighed, letting my shoulders slump. A drop of guilt splashed over me. What was I to even say? Regardless, I opened my mouth, unable to keep quiet on the subject since she was upset. “No one sees you like your dad, Karina. Trust me on that.”
She snapped her head in my direction. Dried mascara stained the corner of her eyes. A fake laugh came from her lips. “Oh yeah, and how would you know?”
She stopped in her tracks, and I took a step towards her. My fingers twitched at my sides, aching to wipe the lone tear stuck to her cheek. “Because no one looks at your father the way they look at you.”
“Right,” she rolled her eyes, “because they lust after me and see me as an opportunity.”
I sighed once more. This was going to be harder than cheering up my damn niece. “I’m not going to lie and say no because I know for a fact a lot of the people working with your father do, but…”
Goddamnit… I was going to regret my words later. “You deserve to be treated with respect, like the woman you are.”
She blinked twice, keeping her wide eyes on me as if she was waiting for an answer. One that would fill her with all the hope she’d been looking for.
“No one should see you as an opportunity,” I continued. “You’re not just some round to get to a grander prize. You are the prize, just like these lovely ladies beside you.”
Bunny cleared her throat, catching my attention. She smiled, lifting a finger to her cheek as she looked at the other women. “I like him.”
Vivianna turned around with an eye roll, and Bunny soon followed. But Karina’s eyes were still on me. I let out a small cough, purposely avoiding her gaze by looking at the ground. “We should keep going before we lose your friends.”
“I don’t trust you.” She told me.
Pushing my bike forward, I got closer to the edge of the sidewalk. “You shouldn’t, not when you don’t know me. But you will, and in time, maybe you’ll learn to.”
Before she could speak, her friends called out, “Hey! No making out with the bodyguard!”
Karina scoffed. Turning from me, her light brown hair whipped the side of my cheek. I chuckled, watching her catch up to them.
A couple of blocks and multiple conversations later, they stopped in front of a two-family house similar to my grandmother’s. Only this house was blue, had a flat roof, and a balcony in the front on the second floor. I kicked the motorcycle stand down, parking it right out front. I pulled the keys from the ignition, placing them safely in my pocket.
“This is where you live?” I asked.
Bunny hummed. “Karina bought it for me and my family. Mom lives downstairs with my brothers, and I live upstairs.”
So, Karina had her father’s generosity?
I nodded, walking over to the women. Following behind Bunny, I held the door open once she opened it, letting Bunny and Vivianna walk in, and leaving me alone with Karina, who stood a foot away from the entrance. “Are we going inside?”
Karina shook her head. “No. We’re going home.”
“We?” I raised an eyebrow at her, letting the door slip from my fingers and close.
“Yes, as in you and me,” she said.
“And you’re not afraid of the ride?”
Karina looked behind her at my bike, her hair blowing a little in the cool air. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“I could leave it here and come back for it later.” I shrugged and made my way over to her. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had to do something like that.
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll take the ride. If you leave it here, someone will take one look at and sell it.”
I nodded. At least she knew the bike meant a lot to me. I moved in front of her, closing the distance between us. “Just promise me one thing.”
I could hear her suck in a breath at our sudden proximity. “What?” she asked, her eyes taking their sweet time to look over my body, eventually meeting mine.
I made sure she kept eye contact. “You don’t let go of me for even a second.”
She froze, not looking away from me. Her demeanor was telling me she was in awe, or possibly confused. I did make it unintentionally sound a little more intense than I intended.
“You’ll slip off and I’d rather not have to make a trip to the hospital because you didn’t listen,” I added.
Karina blinked twice before she shook her head, a smirk creeping onto her face. “I’ll listen. This once.”
“Good.”
We walked beside one another to the bike. Although it was only a couple of steps away, it felt like forever with the scent of her floral perfume surrounding me.
I grabbed my helmet from the handles and placed it over her head.
“It smells in here,” she said, her nose scrunching up.
“I was sweating.” I told her, slipping off my jacket.
“Gross.”
Placing the jacket over her shoulders, she looked up at me.
“It’ll protect you from the wind,” I informed her, tossing my leg over the bike.
“I’m so glad I wore jeans instead of a dress.”
A smile formed on my lips. “It doesn’t take the attention off of you.”
“Do you always stare at me?” She asked, her hands wrapped around my waist. Her fingertips pressed over my stomach for support.
“Only when you’re not looking, Princess.”
“You really need to stop calling me that,” she mumbled. The zipper from the jacket poked against my back as her body pressed into mine.
“I didn’t get to finish before,” I called out.
“What do you mean?” She asked, tightening her grip on me.
“You are right. You are your own person, Karina.” I turned my head a little. I couldn’t see her through the helmet, but I imagined the color pink was tinting her cheeks. “No one can ever take that from you.”
Twisting the grip, I looked back in front of me. A small smile tugged at my lips as she held me tighter.
“Remember, don’t let go,” I told her and headed off into the distance.
