Chapter 29 – Please Don’t Do This

William

“There was another attack and we still have NOTHING?! How can that be?! Push your CIs harder! Get me some information!” I yelled.

The look on my team’s faces brought me back to reality. I was breathing heavily and I was letting my emotions get the better of me. I knew my team was doing everything they could. They were the best after all. Standing here yelling at them to do their job was absolutely pointless. Even I knew that.

“I’m sorry,” I said running my hands through my hair. Yesterday, after bringing Harmoni and her friend to the hospital I was relieved to hear that Harmoni only had a few scratches and would be able to head home immediately as long as we monitored her to make sure she didn’t have a concussion.

Yet, seeing her in a hospital again I couldn’t help but blame myself for what had happened, I felt guilty for not taking her out of harm’s way as I had promised.

“It’s okay Serg, we get it,” Cayden reassured me.

“No, it’s not I should have never raised my voice like this. I know you are all just as committed as I am to find out who’s behind these attacks,” I insisted.

“Sooner or later they will make a mistake, and we will be right there to haul their asses into jail,” Jonathan said on a more positive note.

I didn’t want to ruin the new motivation my team had found, but deep down I couldn’t help but wonder. How many more people will die before we get to do that?

Walking up the stairs to the Pearson mansion, I knew what I had to do. If I had been more observant before the bombing maybe I would have been able to notice that something was different. Maybe I could have destroyed the threat before it injured five students.

I had been distracted by Harmoni. She was lucky she was far enough from the blast to not have received any long-lasting damage. As for her friend Cecilia, she suffered from a concussion and a broken femur. Her cheerleading days were over.

I pushed the door open and walked straight to Mr. Pearson’s office. This had to be done.

Harmoni

When I arrived home, I noticed that the door to my father’s office was ajar. I recognized William’s voice and decided to walk closer to see what they were talking about. I had barely stood there a minute that I was already regretting my decision.

“Well, I would like to thank you again for working with us these past four months, I’m sad to see you go, but I understand your reasons,” I heard my father say.

I must have heard wrong. This couldn’t be happening. He didn’t renew his contract. I knew for a fact that my father had offered him to extend it.

I felt my heart tighten as I gasped loudly. Both of their heads turned to me. My eyes went wide as I realized I had just been caught eavesdropping on their conversation.

Backtracking, I rushed up to my room, ignoring the calls from William.

As soon as I reached my room, I turned to lock it, but I was too late. William had already caught up and interjected his foot in the threshold.

I tried my best to block the door, but as the news of his resignation finally caught up to my brain. I felt the last bit of strength leave my body. Tears rolled down my cheeks and landed on the floor at an increasing rate.

I walked away from the door, I couldn’t face him. I knew he had entered, but I didn’t dare turn around. I kept facing the wall, as my thoughts ran at a hundred miles an hour. Nothing hurt more than the final conclusion I made.

It really wasn’t rocket science.

William was leaving me, just like my mother had, just like my friends had.

“Harmoni?” William tentatively spoke. I guess I couldn’t blame him for being cautious. He probably saw me as an unpredictable wild animal.

“Why?” I whispered. “Is it because of the bombing? Has it all become more trouble than it’s worth?” I was sobbing uncontrollably. Will stayed silent. Perhaps that wasn’t the reason.

“Princess...,” he started again. I didn’t let him finish, so much was going on in my head I’m not sure I actually registered he had spoken. That’s until it hit me. The kisses, us, the growing closeness. He had bluntly rejected me after the first time. Maybe he didn’t want things to become awkward between us after he rejected me permanently.

That must be it. Had I crossed the line, was he disturbed by what I had done? Oh god, he probably despised me now. The tears descended the side of my face like water rushing down a waterfall. I couldn’t stop them no matter how hard I tried.

“Is it us? Because if it is I promise I’ll stop. I’ll stop any flirting or attempts. I’ll keep our relationship completely professional.” Turning around, I looked at him. He seemed pained by my words, yet he didn’t contradict me.

How could I have been so stupid? “Just tell me what you want me to say and I’ll say it. Please, Will, don’t leave me. You promised. You promised you wouldn’t leave,” I finally said as another sob made its way out. I didn’t care that I looked pathetic, all I wanted, no—all I needed—was for him to stay.

I had barely finished talking when William walked up to me. He gently grabbed my head, lifting me to look at him.

Before I could question him, his lips landed on mine. Not in the rough carnal way it did when we were in the hospital. This kiss was soft, sweet, and full of emotions. It took me a while to grasp what was happening. I didn’t understand it fully, but to be honest, I didn’t care.

I kissed him back, silently begging him to stay by my side. My hand made its way around his neck as I not so gently pulled on his hair, earning a groan from Will. One of his hands made its way to my waist, pulling me to him as he walked us backward. I felt the cold wall behind my back as he pressed against me.

Too soon, he lifted his head, breathing heavily. I kept my hand wrapped around his neck, hoping that if push came to shove I could still hold him back.

“Princess. Listen to me, will you,” he smiled softly, still not letting go of my waist. He gently guided me to sit on my bed. I stayed silent, waiting for him to give me an explanation.

“I’m not going to lie to you and deny what you heard, because it’s true, I have decided not to renew my contract as your bodyguard,” I opened my mouth, ready to scream at him for betraying me, but he didn’t let me speak as he continued. “What I will do is explain the rational reason I have behind it.”

I truly hoped he had a good explanation because otherwise, he would just be another name added to the list of people I should have never trusted in the first place.

“When I was in the army, I got involved with one of my teammates. I didn’t know how dangerous it was at the time until our relationship became a distraction, one that cost her her life. I can’t let that happen again and I won’t. I don’t want to question everything I did when an accident happens. I couldn’t stop thinking about the bombing, thinking I had missed something because my attention had been elsewhere. The bombing made me realize this,” he explained. I wasn’t quite sure I was following his reasoning. What did this have to do with me?

“What are you trying to say?” I asked, my voice still rough from my earlier crying and shouting.

“What I’m trying to say is that...,” he took a deep breath before turning his head to look me straight in the eyes. “I like you, Harmoni. I really do, and I don’t want it to become a liability.”

Back up... Did he just...? William Huntz, big shot sergeant, a drop-dead gorgeous man just admitted to liking me. He likes me. My throat tightened as the meaning of his words hit me. The butterflies in my stomach made their appearance once more, threatening to fly out any minute.

“You l-like me?” I stuttered, still stunned by his revelation.

“I thought I had made that rather obvious,” he chuckled, discreetly eying the wall against which we had just made out. I guess, he did.

“I asked your father to hire a different bodyguard and told him I wanted to have a different type of relationship with you if you’d have it,” he added, looking sheepishly at me.

“You asked my father permission to date me?!” This couldn’t be happening, I must be dreaming. Yet, my pounding heart told me otherwise.

“I did,” he smiled proudly. He was braver than I had given him credit for. My ex had never even dared to enter the house when my father was here.

“So you're not disappearing on me?” I asked cautiously, needing to hear him say it.

“No Princess, I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. Didn't I tell you before that if I wasn't your bodyguard anymore, it didn't mean that I wouldn't be a part of your life? Plus, don't you already know you can't get rid of me so easily?” he teased, making me chuckle. I guess my plan to get rid of him wasn't as subtle as I thought.

“Now with that being said, Princess, will you go out on a date with me this weekend?” he asked nervously.

I didn't need to think about my answer.

“Yes,” I smiled like a Cheshire cat, this was a dream come true. From our sitting position on the bed, I reached up and placed my hand on his cheek, grabbing his attention. “And for the record, I like you too,” I added, feeling the flutter in my stomach intensifying.