Chapter 18: Bossy Bodyguard: Part 2 – Chapter 18

Stupid.

I was too fucking stupid.

If only I hadn’t prioritized arguing with Damon and looked at Emma just for a damn second. She wouldn’t have fainted. But of course, I just had to prove my point.

“She fainted because of the sudden drop in her blood pressure. She’ll wake up in a couple of hours. If she doesn’t, you have my number.”

I thanked the doctor and watched him leave with Mrs. Karen, Emma’s personal maid and one of the main house staff, from the doorframe. I gave her a polite nod and wondered how the heck I was going to explain all this to Elena.

Damon had to work, so he had to leave and demanded me to keep him updated. But first, I needed to call Elena.

“Let me guess,” she started, her voice husky. I checked the time and mentally winced. It must be four in the morning in Azmia. “You’re taking the case.”

Flickering my eyes at Emma, I heard myself say, “Yes, I might.” Before she could cheer, I continued, “But this is more serious than the usual.”

I told her everything. The mysterious man at the club I had noticed watching her, getting roofied, her room being intruded by someone and leaving her a message and a present. Everything was a mess, but it made sense that the person who had tried to roofie Emma at the club might be the same person who invaded her room.

“Fuck,” Elena sighed, and I heard some shuffling in the background with some clicking noises.

Ah, of course. Cleaning her guns. I could relate. Cleaning them gave me a sense of comfort and made me think.

“Did you call the forensics team to gather the evidence?”

“They left an hour ago. We should get a report from them in the morning.” I rubbed my forehead, looking out of the window. “I don’t like how she’s the only one in the house besides the staff, Elena. Her brother doesn’t think it’s too concerning for her to leave her house. They don’t have surveillance cameras, so no one was caught. Even the two guards at the front gate don’t know shit.”

“Calm down, Big Bear,” she joked and turned the phone to speaker when I heard her whisper ‘I hate you’ to her husband. “Cillian, if you think she needs guards around her, I’ll start looking right away—”

“But isn’t Cillian the father of her ex?” Her husband, Zayed, asked, his voice rich and serious yet playful.

“Yes, Caleb is her ex.”

“How did they break up?”

“Zayed!”

“What? It’s just a question.”

I pursed my lips. “Neither of them has told me the reason yet. But I’m guessing that after her mother’s funereal, they both broke up. Caleb left to party and Emma went to the club where I met her.” And took her to my private suite.

Zayed made a humming noise and asked, “Well, why don’t you guard her, then?” He cackled, and I stared at my phone. How the hell did Elena Hill end up with this guy?

“That is juicy! Staying at your ex’s dad’s house. Forced proximity? Check. Bodyguard romance? Check. Banging your ex’s dad? On its way—ah, little witch! That fucking hurt.”

I heard more yelping and shrieking sounds before Elena was back on the call, this time without the speaker turned on. Thank God.

“Please ignore whatever Zayed said. I do most of the time,” Elena said, her voice sharp as she continued, “But he made a good point. You have guarded celebrities and politicians before. How about Emma Moore?”

My palms felt clammy thinking about the afternoon where I had to stay in the room while she showered. Going through her color-coded undergarments and choosing the least sexy one (because they were all so goddamn sexy, and I didn’t want to make a wrong expression) and give it to her, waiting for her to wear them and hearing her curse me for choosing the one with Barbie while she thought I couldn’t hear.

Could I let anyone else other than me guard her? Twenty-four seven? Being so close to her and catching her sweet vanilla scent.

The answer was simple.

Hell no. There was no fucking way I’d let another man or woman guard Emma when I could perfectly do it by myself.

“I’ll do it,” I said, my voice firm, seeing the sleeping figure of Emma. “I’ll be her bodyguard until we catch the bastard who is behind this.”

“I knew you’d agree.” I could hear Elena’s smile through the phone. “What about her living conditions?”

“She can stay here. I’m guarding her, so I will monitor everything, and besides, this might be the place she feels the most comfortable.”

“Good. I’ll arrange everything and talk to Damon. If he is an ass, I’ll hand the phone to Zayed.”

“Good idea.” I had talked to her husband for a few seconds and I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know how she lived with that devil.

“Oh, before I go, you know that she’s in school, right? Senior in high school. So you have to guard her there as well.”

“Oh, fuck.”

Emma

I hated fainting and waking up with a throbbing headache. Groaning, I forced my lids open and looked around me. I rubbed my eyes, surprised to see the familiar chandelier on the ceiling, and slowly sat up. It was odd to be in the same comfortable mattress and satin sheets and feel my heartbeat increase, shivers of uneasiness and nervousness rolling through my spine and all over my body.

The last time I had woken up in this bed, it was my birthday and everything was perfect. Caleb was my loving and doting boyfriend, my mother was alive, and some would even say that my life was perfect.

Now? I had dumped Caleb, my mother was buried six feet beneath the ground and someone was stalking me.

Rolling out of bed, I looked around the room, hugging myself. My windows were closed and the curtains were drawn, yet I still felt like I was being stared at. That I was being watched, and it infuriated me that I was letting someone ruin my life just because they were delusional.

Shaking my head, I checked the time and decided on my options. It was half past seven in the evening. I could either call Mia and ask her about school, any gossips about me, get ahead of my syllabus or I could dress up and go out, stop thinking so damn hard for once.

“Mrs. Karen?” I called out, opening my closet and racking through my dresses. I needed to dress up, go out, maybe get drunk and forget all about it. I could ask Summer. She always knows the right place to party.

“Mrs. Karen!” I called her again, throwing a skirt and a top on the bed. When I heard a knock on my door, I said, “Come in. Can you please tell the driver to ready the car? I’m going out. Which one do you like the best?”

I turned around, holding two skirts. One was black and white stripped pencil skirt with thick fabric from Chanel and the other was a flirty dark red number with thin, light fabric.

My eyes widened seeing Cillian leaning on the door frame, his arms crossed. My mouth suddenly went dry, noticing his suit jacket was missing and the sleeves of his dark shirt were rolled over his elbows, giving me the shameless and delicious view of his black ink. I licked my lips, eyeing the dark swirls running through his veiny, corded arms and underneath the sleeves.

Oh, God… why did my ex’s dad have to be so hot?