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CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Isaac
I hearthe door slam and seconds later, her shower is turned on and I hate myself more than I’ve hated anyone in my life. I stare at the marble counter she just leapt off and fantasize about breaking my fist on it. The urge is overwhelming but it would jeopardize my ability to do my job. Like I hadn’t already just jeopardized it to hell and back.
Isaac, you fucking idiot.My head is shot to pieces. I just kissed my client, and not just any client, an international superstar—achildstar—who relies on me to protect her. I was in a position of trust and I just abused it, without a thought for anyone other than myself. Of course she thinks she’s attracted to me. I’m her bodyguard for crying out loud, and I look after myself. I’m not being arrogant when I say it’s entirely conceivable she might have developed a crush on me. It was my responsibility to not fucking act on it. Not only that, she is NOT MY TYPE. I still want Paris. I still want no strings, I still want what I can’t have. I don’t want some nineteen-year-old following me around like some puppy dog, not when it’s my job to keep her alive.
I stop pacing, anchor my hands on the back of the couch and stare out at the same view we admired in comfortable silence when she first arrived. Who the fuck am I kidding? I haven’t thought about Paris for weeks. And my client is not just any nineteen-year-old popstar, she’s Aurelia. My Aurelia. Who just came hard for me when I brushed my fingertip across her clit. Fuck her Grammy award-winning, chart-topping voice. The gasp of shock she released as her breast shook against my lips was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. And those few minutes of exploring her body with my lips and fingers were deliriously hot.
I don’t move from my spot behind the couch for a whole hour. Eventually, I hear the door to her suite open and close, and her footsteps as she enters the living area. She walks straight past me onto the deck, carrying a book. Tentatively, I follow her out and sit in a chair opposite the lounger she’s laid herself down on. She’s wearing a sheer sundress with a turquoise bikini underneath. I mentally curse her choice of outfit as my hard-on has only just subsided.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
Her head snaps to the side and she plasters a fake smile to her face. “Whatever for, Isaac? Nothing happened, you’ll be relieved to hear…”
“That’s not true—”
“…and if you don’t mind, I’d like to finish my book before tonight’s show.”
She turns back to the open pages, signaling the end to our conversation. At least this time her book’s the right way up. I sigh, resigned. Maybe now isn’t the best time to talk. I stand and walk back inside to give her space. I’ll try again later.
* * *
“How’s Aurelia?”Luca asks as we stand outside Aurelia’s dressing room. “Did you find out where she’d been?”
“No.” I stare straight ahead at the wall, still trying to shake the feeling of heavy gloom that has taken up residence in my chest. “She won’t tell me. But she’s alive. That’s the main thing.”
“You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, Isaac. You took on too much, that’s all. Sometimes we need to be reminded of our limits before we stretch them to breaking point.”
“I know,” I sigh. “Doesn’t make it any easier.”
“Is Aurelia ok with it? With you not knowing where she was?”
“Yeah, annoyingly ok with it. She actually chose it as her moment to go do something she won’t fucking tell me about.”
“Well, maybe it was a private matter.”
I turn to face him, trying hard to disguise my burgeoning fury. “I don’t care what it was. If I don’t know where she is, I can’t do the job she’s paying me to do.”
“But if anything had happened to her, she’d breached the contract so you wouldn’t have been to blame anyway.”
I disguise the horror in my chest. “That’s not the point, Luca. The point is, something could have happened to her.”
Luca frowns. “I know you’re worried about that weird woman, but I’ve seen a lot of CCTV images of her, and Isaac, she doesn’t look like a killer, or some unhinged stalker. She may not even have anything to do with Aurelia.”
I face the wall again. “She does. You have to trust me.”
“Fine.” Luca holds up his hands. “We’re not going to take our eyes off her, man.”
I continue to seethe silently.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Luca knows me well. Too well sometimes.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s more to this than the fact she went off somewhere without telling you.”
“No,” I lie. “That’s enough to be getting on with.”
