AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But every time I look at her, I see his fists in her face and I add another boulder to my hidden rage. Every time I hear her pretty voice, I hear her cries and I smash through those boulders with my bare knuckles. And every time I touch her, I remember how I don’t deserve her because I failed to protect her.
This woman who blushes and her whole face lights up when I tell her she’s beautiful. She is. She’s stunning but more than that she’s pure fucking innocence.
And I’m just a monster.
I already know the names of the men we’re having dinner with and everything there is to know about them, excluding her father who is in attendance as well.
Of the eight of them, half have squeaky clean records, the other half have a few traffic violations, one act of disorderly behavior when he was a teen, and a few divorces between them, mostly as the result of adultery.
They have no nefarious connections of any kind. No dark and deeply hidden skeletons in their closet but that doesn’t mean anything.
Anyone who comes into contact with Sophia is a suspect until properly proven otherwise. It’s my job to keep her safe.
She’s as regal as the queen she is. Poised and perfect. A butterfly as she weaves through conversations with her class and her charm in the dining hall.
Me. I’m silent and watchful. Her father seeks out my company immediately and keeps me occupied but my attention stays on her.
The sound of her modest laughter, her quick wit, and her fearless nature when it comes to making deals and extracting verbal promises I know she’ll call upon later makes me hard for her.
She’s fucking spectacular. The men present see it too. I see it in the way they look at her.
I pay special attention to the Swedish diplomat. He’s had three drinks with his dinner and sipping from his fourth. He’s leaning in a little too close to her.
I examine her body language. She’s at ease, but not unaware of him. She moves away strategically, still trying not to offend him. He places his hand on her waist.
I act on instinct alone. I don’t reason my actions. I don’t tabulate the consequences.
Another man is touching her.
He’s a threat to her wellbeing.
He must die.
Chapter Four
Sophia
The feeling of dread hits me way before my brain registers what’s happening before me.
One moment I was trying to get out from under the Swedish diplomat, Lars Lindberg’s grasp on my waist, the next sheer chaos erupts.
I’ve met Lars a few times already. It’s no secret he considers himself a ladies’ man but he’s harmless if you know how to handle him and as long as I’m not alone with him in a room. I do know how to handle him. I stay out of his way especially when he gets a bit too touchy after a few drinks.
But tonight I needed to talk to him. He has connections I need on my side to get the mines up and running again. He has enough influence to bring the whole of Sweden on as a co-investor in our mining operations. Sweden will be our biggest ally in this endeavor. Without them, we’ll have all the land and none of the tools. In other words, we’ll be screwed.
Strohamden has the funds now to open those mines, but without experts in the field working from the ground, without Sweden’s competence and dexterity, the operations were bound to fail. It had happened in my father’s time. I won’t make the same mistakes he has.
We were making good progress and had even struck a deal and arranged a meeting for the next week where I could meet some experts in the field of mining. Lars Lindberg could take Strohamden up ten levels.
For that meeting alone, I would consider the whole evening a great success. But then he put his hand on my waist. For a split second only.
I don’t even think he realized he was doing it. He had been profoundly well behaved up to that point. But innately I knew it was enough.
Every thought I’ve had, every suspicion I tried to brush over that Kayne was not the same crashed down on me as the truth.
I know he’s possessive. I know he’s overly, overly protective. I know the old him would have taken a different approach. A verbal warning that would have scared off any man who held his life dear.
But not this Kayne.
