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Clutching my purse in my lap, I tried to hold back the tears as my newly assigned bodyguard started the car. My father stood at the door to our mansion, already dressed for office at 5 am, watching the black land cruiser roll into motion.
Would I ever see him again? Would the danger he wanted me safe from catch up? I had as little information as I had a choice. I had to go. My home for the last twenty-three years was no longer safe.
Was it ever? The illusion I clung to shattered slowly, filling me with icy dread.
The man next to me looked as grim as I felt. I tried not to look at him. I didn’t need to see his strong arms flex under rolled-up white sleeves, and his fists tight with tension as he gripped the wheel. It was just one more thing to remind me of what I could never have.A man.
I was guarded twenty-four-seven, never allowed a life. And now, as I was shipped off cross-country like cargo, what was bad would get worse. I felt it in my core. Something coming. Something terrible. But all I had was my father’s word that everything would be okay. If I did exactly as he said. Follow the rules like a good little girl.
Do as I say.
Do as Marc says.
I shot the driver a sour look.
Marc Maddox. My new babysitter.
Where my father found him, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. He looked anything but friendly. He hadn’t said a word to me since I got into the car, and the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. If he disliked me so much at first glance, why did he take the job?
He threw me a brief glance. Our eyes met, and a strange bolt zapped through my body, filling my lower abdomen with simmering heat. Stifling a gasp, I averted my gaze, focusing on the Louis Vuitton purse I gripped tighter by the second, and tried to ignore the strange quivering in my belly. Despite the stern look on his chiseled face, the man was gorgeous. A shadow of a beard decorated his strong jaw, giving him a rough edge to the already masculine profile. His hair was dark brown, perfectly trimmed at the sides and left longer on the top, adding a wild touch to the otherwise strict appearance. I gulped at the memory of his steel-gray eyes and cursed my stupidity.
Even if I wanted to crush on a guy, this man was not only too old for me, but he was also way out of my league.
She looked at me from the passenger seat, those ocean-blue eyes quickening my breath until I had to look away.Fuck. She was pretty. Too fucking perfect to sit next to me.
Kaylie Remington. The prissy little princess forced into my life was everything I hated. A pampered, entitled brat. I turned down jobs likeherout of self-preservation. But I didn’t turnherdown. Her father’s fat bank account made sure of that. If cash wasn’t motivation to sacrifice one week of my sanity… Well, there was that. Then, there were the threats to put me away for crimes I thought were long forgotten.The job, or jail.It wasn’t a hard choice.
I gritted my teeth, letting the silent rage burn within me. I didn’t respond well to intimidation. Some son of a bitch blackmailing me. My darkest moments used against me…
One more look at the girl made me bite down harder. She was dressed in a gray skirt that slid up slender thighs as she sat, and a light pink sleeveless top, showing just enough skin to quicken my pulse. Why did she have to be so goddamn pretty? My jaw cracked from tension, and my grip on the wheel tightened with the sudden urge to run a hand up her thigh until she begged me to stop.
Fuck. What was wrong with me? I couldn’t think of her like that.
Letting out a slow breath, I shot her a sideway glance, catching her looking at me.
Her silence and the hostility in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. This was going to be a long journey.
As the cruiser rolled down the straight road from the huge white mansion glaring back at me from the rear-view mirror, I dialed a number while scanning the surrounding area. A perfectly cropped lawn spread out to the sides, leading down to a pond that looked more like a small lake.
Then, the voice came on the line. “What?”
“Johnny,” I demanded his attention. “Where are you?” I skipped the formalities. He knew damn well why I checked up on him.
“Where you left me,” he snapped into the car’s speaker, catching Kaylie’s attention. She glanced at me, a mix of curiosity and annoyance on her pretty little face. “What the fuck do think of me?”
I chuckled despite myself. He really didn’t want to know. “Listen, I’m taking another job. Two weeks max. I’ll be unavailable.”
“What kind of job?”
“Escorting some fu—” I cut myself off before I could say what was on my mind.
Kaylie narrowed her eyes at me, reading the unspoken words on my face.
“A girl in trouble. Working for her father,” I said instead. “Just don’t go anywhere.”
“Bloody hell Marc, I’m with Bree. Where would I go? Leave us the fuck alone.”
I nodded to myself; half amused, half annoyed. Before he could say another word, I cut the call, stepping on the gas a bit harder as I turned the car onto the main road. The faster I got this over with, the better.
