by J. Nathan
“Sing?” He laughed. “Not even a little. But it could be fun to watch other people.”
I hadn’t anticipated a second location when I told Marco where we were going. Tristan was not going to like it. But it wasn’t about him. It was about me. And I was having a nice time with Chris, so I wouldn’t allow it to end just because I was scared of what my bodyguard would say. “Sure.”
Chris opened the car door for me and once I slipped into the backseat, he followed me in.
“Tristan?” I said, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “We’re thinking of heading to an open mic night.”
His eyes narrowed, pissed at the unexpected change in plans. He looked at Chris. “Where is it?”
“Just down the road a couple miles,” Chris explained, rattling off a few directions.
Tristan started the engine and followed Chris’ directions. I could tell he was mad, and I couldn’t stop the guilt from creeping inside me.
“Why’d you need to ask him?” Chris asked. “Doesn’t he just drive wherever you tell him to?”
I could sense Tristan’s eyes on me, so I avoided that rearview mirror. “Just common courtesy.”
Chris nodded, my response a good enough answer for him.
We arrived at the bar where the open mic night was. Through the glass windows, it appeared dark inside but the bright neon signs in the windows practically lit up the block.
“Just give me a minute,” Tristan said, as he stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind him, clearly not happy about having to check the place out first.
“What does that mean?” Chris asked me.
“He’s probably just checking that it’s not too crowded before he leaves us here,” I said, trying to brush it off as normal. “So, if you can’t sing, maybe you can get up there and recite some poetry or maybe do a magic trick. What do you think?”
He laughed. “I think I can’t do either. But, I can balance a spoon on my nose for a really long time.”
I laughed. “Oh yeah? A real show stopper, no doubt.”
“Absolutely. It’s a can’t miss.”
We laughed, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing as me. We got along really well.
Tristan yanked open my door and I jumped in surprise. He unexpectedly took my hand and helped me out of the car. Unwarranted tingles raced up my arm. Dammit. He didn’t release my hand as he leaned in and whispered, “Next time, I’ll say no.”
A shudder rushed through me as his crisp scent invaded my senses. We’d never been that close before and the intensity was daunting.
He released my hand and returned to the driver’s seat.
I balled my hand into a fist at my side, feeling oddly bereft now that he’d released it.
Chris stepped up beside me. “Is that your friend’s brother?” he asked, clearly just recognizing Tristan from the party.
I snapped out of the sudden haze I found myself in. “Oh…yeah.”
I was such a liar.
Tristan
Kresley’s date was a complete tool. I couldn’t believe she agreed to go out with a frat guy. That seemed so out of character for her. What the fuck was I saying? I didn’t know what was or wasn’t out of character for her. I protected her from threats. My job wasn’t to analyze who she was and why she did what she did.
I pulled up to the front of her dorm after the bar and threw the car into park. Oh, the kiss goodnight was gonna be fun.
“Well, I had a nice time,” Kresley said to the tool, turning to face him in the backseat.
“When are we doing it again?” he asked.
“Text me.”
He pulled out his phone as if to text her that moment.
She laughed at the lame joke.
“Wait here,” he said, before stepping out of his door and rounded the back of the car, opening Kresley’s door and helping her out like I had at the bar. Only, he was trying to get a good night kiss while I was putting her in her place. She knew we set protocols in place for a reason. She went rogue by asking me to veer from the plan. And, if Marco found out, I’d have to hear it from him.
I watched out the window as the tool walked her toward the door and leaned in for a kiss. Kresley turned her head so his lips brushed her cheek instead of her lips. Classic dis.
Why hadn’t she kissed him? They seemed to hit it off. She was giving off all the signs that she was into the guy.
He stepped away from her with a smile and said something before turning and disappearing into the darkness.
I expected Kresley to rush into the building, trying to avoid me after she knew we shouldn’t have gone anywhere after the restaurant, but she didn’t. She stood on the sidewalk as if waiting for me.
I stepped out of the car.
Her face was slanted up at the dark night sky. “It’s too bad we can’t always see them,” she said.
“See what?” I asked.
“The stars. The lights always ruin the view.”
“You know where there are no lights?”
She tore her eyes away from the sky and looked to me.
“The quad.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“You should have your boyfriend take you up there sometime,” I said, making it clear that I wasn’t asking her to go up there with me.
Disappointment flashed across her face but she recovered. “Yeah, right. It would totally kill the mood to have you and Marco lurking in the shadows.”
That guy had no game, therefore, there would be no mood-killing going on. “Oh, believe me. We don’t watch.”
“Like you weren’t just watching him try to kiss me.”
“Why would I want to see that?”
She shrugged, remaining silent for a long stretch. “Thank you for tonight. I know it takes a lot of planning and effort to secure a place. And, I’m sorry I threw you that open mic night curveball. I just didn’t want to be rude and turn him down.”
Holy fuck. I stood shocked by her candor.
“You can pick your jaw up off the ground,” she said. “I just wanted you to know I appreciate all you do for me.”
I wasn’t expecting that.
She turned toward the entrance of her dorm and walked toward it.
“I need to go park the car,” I said.
She spun back around, her brows drawn in question.
“Come with me.”
Her eyes widened, caught off guard by my request.
That makes two of us. “Maybe you’ll get a better view of the stars,” I explained, hating myself for every word coming out of my mouth. I could have easily walked her upstairs then parked the car in the lot.
Her lips tipped up in the corners, and even in the darkness, her blue eyes twinkled. She stepped away from the door and walked over to the car, opening the front passenger door and sliding inside.
I walked back to the driver’s side and got in, not bothering to say anything about her sitting in the front seat. I was breaking all the rules anyway.
“It must be boring for you,” she said, staring out her window as I drove toward the parking lot.
“What?”
“Having to drive me around, follow me around, sit around.”
I shrugged. It had its benefits. There was a lot of down time, little interaction with people, and always the threat of danger.
“Thanks for sitting outside my door,” she said, turning to look at me. “I know you’ve been there every night.”
“You’ve slept,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Well, you’re less of a bitch.”
Laughter burst out of her, filling the car with the unfamiliar sound. “I am, aren’t I?”
I pulled the car into the parking lot and found a spot. “I was just joking. You don’t text to use the bathroom in the middle of the night anymore,” I explained as I switched off the engine and turned to look at her. “And, I don’t hear footsteps, so I assume you’re sleeping.”
“After what happened in Fran
ce,” she began, “I had trouble falling asleep. I’d hear his voice taunting me as he pressed his filthy body to mine.”
I let her talk, knowing she probably needed to.
“He called me le fou de fortune. Fortune’s fool. And I’d hear that phrase every time I closed my eyes…My mom started staying in my room. I didn’t ask her to, but I think it just made her feel better knowing I was safe. Then, I stopped hearing his voice. I guess I didn’t realize until I got here that I needed someone nearby to keep him away.”
I’d be lying if I said the knowledge didn’t make me regret some of my annoyance with her.
She laughed. “I bet you’re thinking, ‘Thank God, she didn’t ask me to sleep in bed with her’.”
“That would definitely be a new one,” I agreed, taking that moment to open my door and get out.
Kresley stepped out and looked over the hood of the car at me. “If you’re trying to remain stoic to appear tough, I give you permission to smile.”
“What?”
She rounded the car until she stood beside me. “I mean, I know I’m funny, so it must be difficult to stop yourself from smiling when you’re around me.”
“You think you’re funny?” I asked.
She smirked. “No, I know I’m funny.”
A comfortable silence passed between us as we stood there leaned against the side of the car.
“You were right,” she said.
I looked to her but her face was slanted toward the sky. I followed her gaze. The dark parking lot allowed for an almost panoramic view of the sky, and all the stars and constellations were visible. It was truly a sight.
“It amazes me that people don’t take the time to appreciate the beauty around them. There are so many things we take for granted, and after that night, I swore I wouldn’t anymore. I remember being pushed against that wall and knowing he was going to rape me, and all I could do was pray to whoever would listen that if I got a second chance, I’d do things differently. I’d do them right.”
I prided myself on being a tough son of a bitch, but I wasn’t cold. I was capable of feelings. And the vision of her against that wall—so vulnerable and terrified—fearing for her life, created a pit in my gut. “I’m sure you were a good person before that happened,” I said, feeling like I needed to say something after such an honest admission.
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
I shrugged, though I knew her eyes were on the sky. “I’m good at reading people.”
“And what—”
My phone rang, interrupting our conversation. I slipped it from my pocket and lifted it to my ear. “Yeah?”
“She with you?” Marco asked, rushed and almost nervous.
“Yeah.”
“Where are you?”
“Just about to head back from the parking lot,” I explained.
“Get her back to her room. There’s been another development and we need to figure out how to proceed.”
“Be there in five minutes.”
“Stay alert,” he warned before hanging up.
Kresley’s eyes were trained on mine as I started toward her dorm. “What’s wrong?” she asked, following alongside me.
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
I picked up the pace as I assessed the surrounding area, unsure what Marco had to tell me once we returned. We’d already received word from our forensics team that there’d been no fingerprints on the package or the perfume bottle. There’d also been no way to trace where it had come from. The fuckers who’d sent it went to great lengths, bypassing all the major delivery services, to have that package delivered untraceably. That told us two things. This wasn’t over. And the people behind it knew what they were doing.
Marco and I couldn’t let our guards down even for a second.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Kresley said as we neared her dorm. “Should I be worried?”
“You know the threat is always there. But that’s why you have security. So, you’ve got nothing to be worried about.”
“This world is so messed-up,” she said, shaking her head.
“Not telling me something I don’t already know.”
“When did it become a bad thing for a man to make money from a company he built from the ground up? Why does he now have to worry about people threatening his family to get money they didn’t earn?”
“I guess it’s the risk of being wealthy,” I said.
“Yeah, but I’m not the rich one. I didn’t ask for this life.”
“Unfortunately, it is your life,” I said.
We stepped up to the back door of her dorm—the entrance I preferred to use when I was returning from the parking lot. The door unlocked and I pulled it open, checking the empty basement stairwell—only hearing the sound of washing machines running in the laundry room.
As we climbed the steps, I rounded each corner with my eyes open and my hand on my gun at my hip—trying not to give Kresley reason to worry any more than she already was.
“Well, someday, I’m going to live on a small island all by myself,” she said as she followed me. “And the only way to get on the island will be by plane or boat. Then I’ll always know when someone’s coming.”
“Sounds like a fairy tale,” I said as we stepped out onto our floor.
“Yeah, well, it’s my fairy tale,” she said as we reached her door.
A small knot formed in my gut. For the first time, I understood. She’d actually rather be alone on some island so she always knew what threats were coming rather than to live her life the way she was living it. I entered her room, giving it a quick sweep while she waited in the hallway. I stepped back out. “All set.” I made to walk to Marco’s room.
“Good night, Tristan,” Kresley called.
I stopped outside Marco’s room and glanced to her. The tool had been right about one thing. She did look beautiful in her red dress. “Night.”
Kresley
After slipping into my pajamas, I crawled into bed. Even though it was late, I grabbed my phone and called my mom, needing to know what was going on. Tristan may have been staying tight-lipped, but something was definitely up.
The phone rang twice before she answered. “Kresley?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Sweetie, how are you?” she sounded relieved to hear my voice.
“Good. But I need you to tell me something.”
“Okay?” She sounded skeptical.
“Did something else happen that I need to know about?”
“Not that I know of,” she said, though something about the way she said it told me she was hiding something. And, since everyone had walked on eggshells with me over the last six months, I had a feeling she didn’t want to worry me.
“How’d your date go?” she asked, swiftly changing the subject.
“Chris is nice.”
“Just nice?” my mother asked.
“Really nice?”
“But?” My mother was always able to read between the lines.
I sighed. “Why’d you hire Tristan?”
“Ahhhh, Tristan,” my mother said, like she’d been waiting for me to say something about him. “He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
“Mom, you know he is.”
“I wondered if that would be a problem,” she said.
“We actually don’t get along most of the time.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“It’s a long story. But then sometimes…”
“Sometimes what?” she asked.
“Sometimes…he surprises me.”
“What does that mean?”
“He’s been sitting outside my door so I can sleep.”
There was silence on my mom’s end.
“Mom?”
“I’m here.”
“That’s pretty amazing, right?” I said, knowing what a wonderful thing he was doing for me.
“Yes, I’d say it is,” she agreed.
I think I needed to hear my mom’s reactio
n to know what I already knew. He couldn’t be all bad if he was doing something so nice for me.
We said our goodbyes a few minutes later, right around the time I saw a familiar shadow under my door.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kresley
Marco had been on me like a bee to honey all day Saturday while I studied for an upcoming accounting test in the library. Something was up, but I just didn’t know what it was.
“Anything you need to tell me Marco?” I asked as I struggled with an accounting problem.
“Not that I can think of, ma’am,” he replied, much to my annoyance.
The girls stopped by the library later that night delivering me homemade chocolate chip cookies they’d baked in the kitchen in the basement of our dorm. Who knew there was a kitchen in our dorm or that they could bake? But the cookies were good. Though, I had to kick them out after a little while because there was no way I was getting studying done with them there.
On Sunday, Marco was waiting outside my door when I stepped out. A tinge of disappointment formed in my stomach that it wasn’t Tristan—who I hadn’t seen since Friday night. Had he gotten reamed out for taking Chris and me to open mic night?
Marco and I made our way downstairs.
“Anything you need to tell me Marco?” I asked, trying again.
“Not that I can think of, ma’am,” he replied.
We stepped outside. The car was parked at the sidewalk with Tristan in the driver’s seat. My disappointment morphed into something else—something light and eager. Marco pulled open the back door, and I slipped into the backseat. “Thanks, Marco,” I said before he shut the door, closing me inside. “Hey Tristan.”
“Hey.”
It felt strange seeing him after Friday night. After hearing my mom’s reaction to him staying outside my room.
He started the car and a rock song by Savage Beasts blared from the speakers. He quickly lowered it.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I love that song.”
He turned it back up and we drove through the streets of SoCal to the sound of the incomparable—and not to mention gorgeous—Kozart Savage. I’d met lots of celebrities over the years, but none made me as tongue-tied as Kozart had.
“Can you turn that down?” I asked Tristan once the song ended.