by Brook Wilder
I got to my feet somehow, and he kept his arm around my waist as he moved me toward the exit door.
“You’re fine. I will keep you safe,” he repeated as we joined the crowd pushing toward the exit. “Nothing will happen to you.”
I chose to believe him, not uttering a breath until we were outside along with the rest of the party goers. Sirens blared in the distance, but I clung to Fox, inhaling his spicy scent in an attempt to calm my frazzled nerves.
I wasn’t safe anywhere.
**
Fox finally got me home an hour later, once the cops had deemed us not to be the threat they were looking for. I opened the door to the car and stepped out of it wearily, wanting nothing more than to take my dress off and crawl into my bed, where I would be safe.
“Are you alright?” Fox asked quietly, staying near the car.
I pushed my hair out of my face.
“No, not really.”
I mean, it had been my ice sculpture that had exploded. Fox had quietly filled me in on the way home, careful with his words… I guess, so that I wouldn’t freak out. My sculpture, which had ended up being covered by blood… That was enough to freak anyone out. Someone was truly out to get me, and I hadn’t truly realized it until now.
Someone wanted me dead.
He started toward me, then stopped, running a hand roughly through his hair.
“I’m going to tell your father about this. Maybe you need someone else, someone more professional.”
I shook my head.
“No, I want you and you only, Adam.”
His lip lifted into a grin.
“You gonna call me that now?”
“Maybe,” I said, finding my own smile. “Thank you for tonight, for everything.”
He gave me a nod.
“You’re welcome, Nat. Go on in, get some rest.”
I blew out a breath, torn between needing to go inside and the need to kiss Fox. The moment had been there earlier, before the mess that ensued, and I was scared shitless that I had actually been enjoying myself with him. With Bryan, there was a mutual understanding between us, but nothing else. We could carry on a conversation, have sex, but it lacked that sizzle that I had experienced with Fox.
“Nat,” he said quietly, pushing away from the car. “Go inside.”
“Yeah, okay, goodnight,” I said quickly, walking toward the house before I changed my mind.
I was confused, scared, and no longer sure about what was right and what was wrong. I didn’t feel like myself at all.
Instead, I felt vulnerable.
Chapter 6
Fox
The next morning, I pulled up in front of the mansion with a renewed interest in the person or people that were attempting to kill Nataliya. At first, when I took this job, I thought that maybe her father was blowing this shit out of proportion, overreacting, but after last night, I no longer thought that way.
Someone was trying to spook her, and I wanted to know why.
I was also trying to sort out this pull she had with me, even managing to get my real name out of me in a moment of weakness. I was attracted to her, not only because of her beauty; there was something she was hiding about herself, for some reason, behind this façade and I wanted to get to know that woman.
I was in deep shit.
Walking up to the door, I didn’t even bother to knock, waving the card in front of the reader positioned by the door. When I had left with Nat last night for the charity thing, she had pressed a card in my hand, stating that her bodyguard needed the same access that she had to her own house. It would give me access to anywhere in the house, including her own private suite.
I had no intentions of gracing that doorway. That would only bring trouble, and tons of it.
The light flickered green, and the door lock clicked open, allowing me to step inside the mansion. The cool air was a welcome relief from the heat of the morning, cooling the sweat that was already rolling down my back from the bike-ride over. I had gone back to my customary attire this morning, partly to rile Nat up, and partly to show her that she didn’t own me. I didn’t anticipate her throwing me out either, though I had given her the out last night.
She needed professionals, not a two-bit motorcycle gang member like me.
But she wanted me, and I wasn’t gonna lie – it felt damn good. Someone like her, wanting someone like me at her side. It would have been really smart of me, to have remembered my past with a woman like her and not to repeat it.
The sound of arguing filled the air the closer I got to the kitchen, and I went on high alert, checking to ensure that my gun was in my waistband. I also had a knife tucked in my boot, something that I preferred to use over the gun any day. Jack had shown me how to use many different weapons, and I had taken to the knife like a fish to water.
Nat’s voice rose a notch, and I moved quickly, finding her and Bryan standing in the kitchen near the counter.
“I told you!” she was saying, her hands flying in front of her face. “I told you that someone was trying to kill me, and you didn’t believe me.”
“I believe you,” he growled, his face red with anger. “But you wanted to hire some asshole instead of letting me protect you. I am to be your husband, for Christ’s sake!”
“I don’t need you to protect me,” she answered, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t need you at all.”
Her fiancé took a step toward her, and I cleared my throat, causing them both to look over at me.
“Morning.”
Bryan’s eyes narrowed.
“This is a private conversation.”
I motioned toward Nat.
“You want me to leave?”
She shook her head, her hair falling around her shoulders.
“No.”
Bryan looked as if he wanted to object, his face growing redder, but he stalked toward the doorway, where I was standing.
“Remember, asshole,” he started in a low voice. “She’s mine, and when we get married you will be out of the picture. You got that?”
“Loud and clear,” I answered, moving toward Nat. “You okay?”
She blew out a breath, running a hand through her long hair.
“Yes of course. We are… He’s just… It’s the wedding. We are all a bit high strung.”
I didn’t see it that way, but if she wanted to put it like that, then I wasn’t going to drag it out.
“What’s on the agenda today?”
She slumped against the counter. “I don’t know.”
I looked at Nat, saw the dark circles under her eyes, the leggings and baggy-shirt combo that hid her gorgeous body, and I knew something was wrong with her.
“What happened?” I asked softly, taking a step toward her. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
She looked up at me.
“I… Nothing happened. I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
She was lying.
“Have you eaten breakfast?”
Her eyes widened at the change of subject. “W-what?”
“Breakfast, like eggs and bacon?” I asked, a hint of humor in my voice.
Nat looked away, biting her lip.
“I-I had something.”
My hands itched to touch her chin to force her to look at me.
“Well I haven’t. Grab your shoes.”
To my surprise, she didn’t argue, finding some slip-on shoes and her purse. Apparently, she wanted out of this house just as badly as I did.
I led her to the front door and down the steps, reaching for the helmet that was strapped to the bike.
“Here,” I said, handing it to her. “Put this on.”
She frowned.
“We are not taking this.”
“We are taking this,” I answered, turning my hat backwards.
“Sorry, Princess, but your driving nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday. I’d rather die at my own hands, on something manly, than be killed in your fancy car.”
“And you think your driving is any better?” she countered, taking the helmet from me.
I chuckled.
“It’s got to be.”
Nat stared at the helmet before sliding it on her own head.
“I guess I don’t have much of a choice, then.”
I didn’t answer, slinging my leg over the bike and firing it up. Nat climbed on, and before I realized it she was sliding her arms around my waist, her body pressed up against my back.
I sucked in a breath as a raging lust tore through me, nearly groaning aloud as she shifted against me.
“Don’t kill me Adam.”
“No ma’am,” I said, knocking up the kickstand and peeling out of the driveway.
She was going to kill me instead.
**
Thirty minutes later, we slid into a booth at a local diner. Nat picked up the menu and frowned.
“All this stuff… I can’t eat any of it.”
I looked at her.
“You are gonna eat something off that menu, even if I had to hand-feed you.”
She was far too skinny to begin with.
She arched a perfectly sculpted brow.
“That could be interesting.”
I felt that look all the way to my groin.
“You are trouble, Nataliya.”
She lifted her lips in a grin.
“Maybe a little. But I can’t eat this stuff. My mother would have a cow if she knew I was eating bacon before the wedding.”
I gave her a grin.
“Well I won’t tell her if you don’t.”
She sighed as the waitress came over to the table, ordering a big platter of breakfast and a coffee, black. I did the same, grinning at her as she handed over her menu.
“That’s a good girl.”
Nat fiddled with the napkin on the table.
“You do know I have to fit in a wedding dress in a few weeks.”
“I think you can afford the extra calories,” I answered, settling back onto the hard bench. “Now, tell me, who would want to do harm to you. Who are your enemies?”
Her smile died.
“I’ve already told you. It could be anyone in this town.”
That wasn’t helping.
“They all might be jealous of you, but it doesn’t mean they want to kill you.”
Nat’s eyes flashed with anger.
“How do you know that? Are you some sort of psychic?”
I shook my head.
“I have a lot of enemies myself, but it comes with the job. There aren’t many that would want to kill me, though.”
She burst into laughter.
“I doubt that. You don’t carry that gun around for nothing.”
I grinned.
“Maybe not. Okay, let’s start over. Who are your friends, then?”
Nat’s smile died.
“I-I don’t have many friends.”
I arched a brow. Damn I hadn’t realized how lonely she was in that big mansion.
“No one?”
“Alice,” she said quietly. “Alice is probably a friend.”
“Probably,” I repeated.
“What do you want from me?” she asked as our food arrived. “All my secrets? All my desires?”
I leaned forward, looking directly in her eye.
“I just want to know if you have any friends.”
She sighed, picking up her coffee cup.
“Fine. Alice is my only friend. Sad isn’t it? All those people at the parties, my own bridesmaids… None of them are my friends. You know what? My mother wouldn’t even let Alice be a bridesmaid because she didn’t fit the mold of what they should look like. It’s my wedding, and she’s dictating it.”
I picked up my fork, cutting into my sausage link. “So, why do you follow her wishes instead of yours? It’s your wedding.”
She laughed, blowing on her coffee.
“You haven’t met my mother yet. No one tells her anything different than what she wants to do. Not even my father.”
I gave a shrug.
“So? What’s the worst thing she could do to you?”
It already looked like Nat was pretty miserable under her mother’s thumb anyway.
She tapped on her mug, a light appearing in her eyes.
“You’re right. I should at least have one person on my side when I tie the knot. I’ll tell Alice later on. She will be ecstatic to get one over on my mother.”
“Not a fan?” I laughed before taking a bite of my sausage.
That brought a smile on her lips.
“Not at all.”
I pointed to her untouched breakfast.
“Finish that plate off. I want to take you somewhere.”
**
Nat was quiet as I pulled into the parking lot, shutting off the engine. Taking my advice, she had eaten the entire plate of breakfast, finishing off two cups of coffee, before I dragged her out of the booth.
“Why are we at the hospital?” she asked, pulling off the helmet as I climbed off the bike.
“Visiting someone,” I answered gruffly, taking off my cap to run a hand through my hair. “If you don’t want to...”
“No,” she said, combing her fingers through her hair. “I’m game.”
I nodded, wondering why the hell I was even bringing her here in the first place. I should take her home, back to her glittering mansion, and not drag her into my personal life.
But there was something about Nat that made me want to draw out the other side of her, the side that no one else saw.
We walked into the hospital, taking a familiar route to the second floor and to a particular room on that floor. As I walked in, my father was asleep in the chair beside the bed, his snores filling the air. My oldest brother was seated on the other side of the bed, his eyes straying to the woman behind me with some interest.
“Adam. Didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I was on this side of town,” I explained as I approached the bed. “Hey, Mama. How you feeling?”
My mother’s green eyes opened and fixed on my face.
“Adam, baby, what are you doing here? Is it Tuesday already?”
I shook my head, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
“No, Mama. I’m just early.”
She reached up and touched my cheek, giving me a tired smile in return.
“Well I’m glad to see you anyway. Guess what? The doctor said he can start the treatments next week, after I get some blood and fluids in me. They have poked and prodded me today.”
“A round of tests,” my brother Graham added, his eyes on Nat. “To prepare her for the treatment. You made that call, didn’t you?”
I nodded, leaning away from the bed. The moment I had taken the job to protect Nat, I had called the doctor and told him to start the treatments, that we had found the money. I hadn’t told my family, not wanting the round of questions as to where I had gotten the money from. They all knew it was illegal money, and my brothers didn’t care for what I did to begin with.
“Does it matter?”
“No,” Graham said softly, looking at our mom. “I guess it doesn’t.”
I motioned for Nat to come to the bedside.
“Mama, I want you to meet someone. This is Nataliya.”
“Nice to meet you,” Nat replied, reaching for my mom’s outstretched hand, clasping it in hers. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“All good things, I hope,” my mom said weakly, offering up a smile.
“Of course,” Nat smiled, looking up at me. “He’s pretty insistent you are the reason he’s such a good guy.”
Surprised by her admission, I gave her a smile. I didn’t know how Nat would take meeting my mom, but I wanted her to see that her money was going for something good and not just being blown on shit. I wanted her to see that I would see this to the end for the sake of my mom and keep her safe in the process.
“Are you Adam’s girlfriend?” my mom asked suddenly, look
ing up at me. “Is this the girl you were telling me about sweetie?”