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Maybe she’d indulged in too many afternoon cocktails?
I certainly hoped it wasn’t due to anything else. The fact that she had chosen Hugo to be her bodyguard out of the five men I’d sent her, hadn’t escaped my attention. I wondered if I’d made a mistake picking him as one of my choices, but he was undeniably one of my best soldiers, and he would take a bullet for her, or me, without question.
‘Buenas noches, princesa,’ I said as I took a seat.
She looked up at me. ‘Evening,’ she replied, her smile still firmly in place.
‘Did you have a good day?’
‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘Good,’ I said as Magda walked into the room carrying dinner. She placed my plate in front of me and I wondered if I’d walked into the wrong house. I looked at Alana’s plate and noticed she had the same.
‘Can I get you anything else?’ Magda asked.
I shook my head.
‘No thank you, Magda. This looks delicious,’ Alana replied.
Magda nodded and then disappeared out of the room.
‘Coca Cola?’ Alana asked, as she held up the glass decanter filled with dark brown liquid.
‘You decanted the cola?’ I asked with a flash of my eyebrows.
She shrugged. ‘Seemed classier, somehow.’
I nodded and held out my glass as she poured. ‘So, this is your favorite meal? Cheeseburger and fries?’
‘Bacon cheeseburger and fries,’ she said with a smile. ‘And yes, it is. I’m sorry if you were hoping for something a little fancier. But Magda insisted that I choose my favorite, and this is it.’
She placed a napkin on her lap and then she picked up the giant greasy burger with both hands and took a huge bite.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched the look of satisfaction on her face as she chewed that first mouthful. She wasn’t playing with me — this really was her favorite food.
Suddenly, she stopped chewing and looked at me and I realized I was staring. She self-consciously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.
‘What for?’ I replied as I picked up my own burger and took a bite. ‘There’s no other way to eat a burger,’ I grinned at her and she grinned back as she carried on eating.
When we’d eaten our burgers, and finished our decanted Coca Cola, Magda brought me a glass of Scotch before clearing the dishes.
I stared at Alana as she sipped her water and stared into space, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was on her mind.
After a few moments silence, she turned to me. ‘Why did you ask Magda to cook my favorite meal?’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe, I wanted to get to know something about you?’
‘Okay,’ she replied, eyeing me suspiciously.
‘So, how was Hugo today?’ I asked her, suddenly feeling a tightening in my chest that I couldn’t explain.
‘He was great. Thank you for allowing me to choose my own bodyguard. I appreciate it.’
‘Why did you choose him?’ I asked as I sipped my Scotch.
She chewed her lip as though she was deep in thought. ‘He was the best candidate,’ she finally offered.
‘The fact that he was the youngest and best looking didn’t factor into your decision at all then?’ I asked with a frown as my chest grew tighter.
