Chapter 14 – Marcus

Harmoni

Once we arrived back home, I felt like my legs would give out under me due to exhaustion. I hadn't pushed my body this hard in a very long time. I would definitely be sore tomorrow, and probably already this afternoon.

I walked up the few stairs to my house before noticing that William was following me. I raised an eyebrow, silently questioning him.

"Your father said I could shower and get ready here so that I didn't have to make a detour back to my house before work,” he said, shrugging like this wasn't a big deal. ~Fuck, I was in so much trouble.~

"Oh," was all I managed to get out. I couldn't believe this drop-dead gorgeous man would be standing naked just a few rooms away from mine while the water ran down his body. I stopped my thoughts before I could get any more turned on. He was my bodyguard. Nothing more and he wouldn't be.

I'll admit, I enjoyed looking at him, after all he was the definition of a Greek god, but he and I couldn't happen. I built walls for a reason, and they might crack a bit when I'm around him, but I needed to maintain them. The alternative would be too painful.

I walked in and straight to my room. I didn't have much time left to get ready. William had already been in the house and knew where the guest shower and bedroom were, so I didn't need to show him.

The warm water felt like heaven on my skin, relaxing my tense muscles slightly. I thought back to our training session this morning.

He had been very patient with me and even gave me a few compliments, which I gladly accepted. It felt good to hit the bag.

What felt even better was his hands on my waist. I shivered just thinking about it again. I needed to stop thinking about him this way. Yes, he was attractive, but in four months, his job here would be done, and he would leave.

I wouldn't put myself through the pain of watching someone walk out of my life again. I barely survived the first time.

~Well, that officially plumbed my mood~, I thought to myself with a heavy sigh.

Stepping out of the shower, I quickly got changed and applied some light makeup to try and hide the dark shades underneath my eyes. Needless to say, I hadn't had a good night's sleep since the party.

William was already waiting for me when I arrived downstairs.

"Damn, you're slow," he teased. "Let's go before we're both late.” With that said, I stepped into the passenger seat of his car.

I dreaded going to school today. My mind was filled with worst-case scenarios such as what if Marcus started to spread rumors about? What if people saw what happened? Worse, what if he decided to finish the job? Not only this, but Emily would probably be furious with me for leaving her by herself at the party without even saying any kind of goodbye, not that I could or had even thought about it at that moment.

That thought alone sent a sting of guilt through me. I hadn't even thought of her this weekend. I had turned off my phone Friday night and didn't bother turning it back on until after my shower this morning. That's when I saw all the missed calls and messages from Emily. Gosh, I was a horrible friend.

"If anything happens, I'm just a phone call away, Princess," he added, picking up on my discomfort. I nodded, grateful for his support.

"Thanks for today, Simba. I'll see you later,” I smiled before closing the car door and watching as the car drove away.

Entering school, I saw Emily waiting for me at my locker. Yep, she was angry. Her arms were crossed against her chest, and her eyes narrowed at me as soon as they landed on me. If there was ever going to be a hole that swallows me whole planned in my life, I wouldn't mind it being moved forward to now.

"Where were you?!” she whispered harshly as soon as I had reached my locker.

"I had to get away. My bodyguards took me home,” I explained, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Satisfied, I gathered my necessary books for the next few classes.

“Your bodyguards? You could have at least come to tell me you were leaving! You completely ditched me! I can’t believe you would do that. Plus, you didn’t even bother to answer any of my texts or calls. I was worried sick about…”

As she was speaking, memories of the night flooded my mind, and my eyes glistened with unshed tears. I tried to hide it, but Emily saw it anyways immediately stopping mid-sentence and turning to face me.

“What happened?” she asked. This time, her voice was laced with concern and worry. I shook my head. I didn’t know if I wanted to talk about it again, and I didn’t want to talk about it in the middle of a corridor full of nosey teenagers.

Talking to Agent Bowen on Saturday had been painful enough. “Sweetie you know I’m here for you, right? You can tell me anything.” I took a deep breath and swallowed my tears down.

“I’ll tell you at lunch, we need to go to class now.” Just as the word left my mouth, the bell rang signaling the start of class. We went our separate ways since we didn’t have our first class together, but not before Emily gave me another worried look. I was fortunate to have her as a friend. I wouldn’t trade her for the world, she was too precious.

Lunch came by faster than I would have liked. We sat down on a bench away from the buzzing cafeteria, and I slowly went over what happened that night while Emily held my hand, giving me a reassuring squeeze from time to time. Including how William had been kind enough to take me to the SWAT HQ to file a report.

“Mia asked if I wanted to file a restraining order as well, but since Marcus goes to our school, I didn’t think it would make any sense,” I explained.

“Mia?” she asked.

“Mia Bowen, she was the agent that took my statement,” I explained. “Do you think Marcus is going to hear about it?” I asked cowering at the thought.

“I don’t know sweetie, but I won’t lie to you, there is a chance. Don’t worry, I won’t leave your side,” she reassured.

I could only hope he wouldn’t retaliate.

Later that day, I was running late for one of my classes when suddenly, my arm was grabbed and dragged away from the main corridor.

“What the..?” I started but stopped as soon as I saw who had taken me away. My blood ran cold. Looking straight at me was none other than Marcus. I guess I wasn’t going to be as lucky as I had hoped.

“Hey, there baby,” he started. “I heard you went running your mouth. You thought I wouldn’t find out bitch?” he said coming closer. He had me pinned against the wall, his face was so close that I could feel his breath on my skin. I was completely frozen. I couldn’t mutter a single word, let alone scream for help. Looking at my state he laughed, making me shiver.

“You’re a tease,” he said as I felt his hand touch my thigh. ~Oh god no, please~. “Your bodyguards won’t always be here to help you,” he continued bringing his head closer to my neck and licking a patch of skin. I was disgusted.

His comment made me think of William. What was my training for if I didn’t even try? I remembered his words and repeated them in my head. We had gone over this drill a dozen times this morning. I closed my eyes and turned off what Marcus was saying, but I could still feel his hand running up my thigh slowly.

~Take a deep breath. Think!~

~Concentrate.~

~Push. Grab. Hit. Run.~ I repeated to myself until my eyes flew open and I did just that.

Not realizing I was going to resist him in my petrified state, he stumbled back when I shoved him away with both my hands. Putting as much force as I could. Before he could regain his footing, I grabbed onto his shoulder and pushed my knee into the most sensitive area of his body. He groaned in pain as he fell to the floor clutching his balls. I didn’t waste any time. I ran. As fast as my legs could take me.

“You bitch! You’ll regret this!” I heard him scream. I didn’t look back, too scared to see him running after me.

I quickly knocked on my classroom door and entered.

"You're late, Miss Pearson,” the teacher said, looking up from the papers she was correcting. I thought she would send me to detention, but she simply motioned for me to take a seat. Thank God. I didn't know what I would do if she had sent me back into that empty corridor.

I quickly went to my seat and took out my books, trying to distract myself with what was going on in class. Clearly, that didn't work. I took out my phone and pressed on William's name, ready to send him a text message explaining what had just happened.

~Should I tell my bodyguards?~ I thought about it for quite some time and decided that I would keep it to myself. If I told them, they would tell my dad, and if my dad knew... well, let's say all hell would break loose. Honestly, just speaking to William would initiate changes, and I didn't want my bodyguards following me inside the school.

Besides, the stubborn side of me wanted to prove Marcus wrong. I wanted to show him that I didn't cower behind my bodyguards. I canceled the message and placed my phone back into my pocket. I would just have to focus on my training and become better at defending myself. I was good, William had said so himself, now I just needed to not be caught off guard and not freeze. Easy enough... right?

Once my classes were over, I quickly rushed to the field to start my usual cheerleading practice. I was always looking over my shoulder and trying to see if Marcus was anywhere near me. Luckily for me, I didn't see him for the rest of the day, but who knew, maybe he was watching me.