by Anna Kendra
Copyright © 2019 by Anna Kendra
All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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ISBN:978-1-64434-064-6
DISCLAIMER
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While references might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
BODYGUARD
ANNA KENDRA
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
To all the women who dream of having that perfect partner.
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Chapter 1
Julian Turner stared at his older brother in shock.
“You’ll kick me out of my own company?” he asked the golden-haired, green-eyed man who towered over him by five inches.
Anyone who’dlay eyes on Christian and Julian can immediately tell that the two weren’t related. And they wouldn’t be wrong in saying so, for they weren’t.
Christian Turner was the legitimate son and heir to their late parents, Cecelia and Damien Turner, founders of Turner Security and James Bay Medical Center in Canada. While Christian had fair skin and a lean built, Julian had a slight olive complexion that hinted of an Italian ancestry,bulging muscles, and a body most women fall for.
Where Christian had blond hair and emerald eyes, Julianhad midnight black hair and electric blue eyes. There was one thing about the older brother, however, that stood out more than his intimidating height. It was the scar on one side of his face,which hehad acquired during a battle in Afghanistan when he was still in the army.
“Your reputation will be the end of you and this company,” his brother said instead. “I’m not going to let our parents’ hard work go to ruins because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”
Julian gritted his teeth. Yes, he knew he was a bit of a player, but it’s not like he forced anyone. Everyone he had slept with came to him at their own free will,and no one ever complained about it when it was time for him to leave. He wanted to say that to Christian, come up with some excuse that he was capable of becoming the CEO, just like his parents had wanted him to be. But he couldn’t,not when he hadn’t had a single case in the last two months.
“Give me one last chance,” he said with his hands clenched at his sides. “I swear I’ll be worth it. I will prove that my skills are—and still—of value.”
Christian sighed, rubbing at his temples. “I never doubted your skills as a bodyguard, Julian. You know this isn’t about that. But I’m willing to give you one last chance.” His emerald eyes met Julian’s electric blue ones, making sure that his little brother understood his point. “But this is it, Julian, no more second chances. You fail this one,and you lose the company.”
Julian’s face was all hard lines, skin taut over his cheekbones, as he nodded in understanding. “I won’t disappoint you.”
Christian hoped that for his own sake, Julian better not.
***
Julian looked at his watch for the nth time before turning his gaze towards the closed door. He’d been at Magenta Fashion for nearly three hours now,and he could feel all the sympathetic stares directed at him by the employees. Apparently, Sia Milton went into these sudden “creative sprees” and would lock herself up in her office for hours on end. No one had any idea when she was coming out, but Julian couldn’t just up and leave either. He needed this job desperately,and he’ll wait the entire day if he had to.
Besides, he couldn’t imagine a fifty-something-year-old woman cooped up in her office all day; she’ll need to come out eventually.This client particularly liked to keep to herself as Julian had never seen Sia Milton even though she was close to being a celebrity with her popularity. She shies away from the media and even avoids coming to her own fashion shows. He had a vague idea that her secrecy was exactly the reason he had been called to her office.Now, he’ll need to find out the reason behind it, so he could protect her from future harm.
Julian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. If he weren’t so desperate, he wouldn’t be here in the first place, waiting for a woman who ran a fashion house who had so much ego but no respect for a person’s time. And on top of that, it was Ms. Milton herself who had made the appointment.
The promise he’d made to Christian ran through his mind as he sat outside Sia Milton’s office. It wasn’t his abilities that Julian doubted. No, far from it. He was the best in his field with a hundred percent job completion rate. It was his character, or rather the lack of it, he feared. He knew he had fucked up in the past, and he wasn’t going to blame it on anyone.He was who he was. He’d committed no crimes, but people have now become wary of him.
He couldn’t help it, though. He’d definitely hit all the right genes in the looks department: tall, over 6’1”, and a muscular built. Strong and lethal, he drew attention from miles away. But it was a shame that he always found himself involved with either his client’s daughter or his wife. This was also why he hadn’t yet had the opportunity of guarding a woman until now. Businesswomen and female celebrities steered clear of him,and married men have stopped hiring him entirely. If this kept up, Turner Security would soon be slammed.
But he was interested to know why Sia was hiring him despite his reputation. She was the head of Magenta Fashion, a medium-sized fashion house which had gained popularity over the last eight years for its quality for a decent price. Their products were known for their durable materials, as well as their casual, wearable designs which flatter not only those from the upper class—like most of the fashion houses liked to focus on—but also people from the middle-class society. Why someone was after her life rather than ruining the fashion house was mind-boggling.
Such attempts often happen when one party starts to get more profit and recognition,and another (or several others) tries to brin
g it down. But they usually try to sabotage the company, not the owner,not to mention to attemptan abduction of her thirteen-year-old son. He was cycling his way back from school on a rainy day, and the streets were pretty much deserted. That was all the detail he had been given upon arriving at Magenta this morning,and he hadsince then, read the file a hundred times over.
Julian let his eyes wander the room. Purple couches lined the wall opposite to the boss’s room and a few potted flowering plants hung from the ceiling. A decent-sized bamboo plant was placed on either side of the entrance door to the office. The walls were painted in bright-colored patterns juxtaposed with the calm colors from a painting of a Victorian ballroom, drawing all the attention to it.
A little further in the office, a sexy brunette secretary in a pink pencil skirt, white shirt,andpink killer high heels was giving him some serious come-hither looks. And as inviting as she may be, for once, Julian found himself more intrigued by the boss than her secretary.
He was about to stand up to get a coffee from the canteen downstairs when the phone on the secretary’s desk began to ring. She picked it up hastily and started answering with quick “Yes, Ma’ams.” If Julian weren’t so stressed, he would have laughed at the startled expression on her face.
He raised one dark eyebrow at the secretary once she had finished her phone call, who in turn blushed and pointed him to the door. “Go straight in,” she told him.
It’s time, he thought to himself as he straightened his jacket and picked up the file in his hand. Then, he walked to the door and entered the room that would decide his future.
Chapter 2
The room was fair-sized when one took the number of things scattered here and there into consideration. A few couches lined the wall to the right,anda slanting table to the left piled with sketchbooks and pencils and every other drawing equipment possible to mankind. That must be where Sia jotted down her ideas, Julian guessed.
The room itself was painted in a soothing green color mixed with light accents of purple and blue polygonal designs placed at odd points in the wall rather than in a straight line. Julian didn’t know much about fashion, but even he had to approve of the clever designs.
There were small potted plants here and there as well—all natural—which seemed to be the theme of the office. The plants had tiny white flowers that kept the room naturally fragrant. Julian took a moment to take in his surroundings before finally looking straight ahead in the direction of the woman who had hired him. And felt his eyes widen in surprise at the sight.
In the far corner of the room was the main attraction: a wedding dress made of pure white silk and a lace train. The dress was studded with several pearls of different sizes and shapes. It looked like a dress fit for a queen. He didn’t know why, but standing right there, he had a vision of him standing at the altar and a woman with a warm smile standing beside him wearing that dress.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Julian’s attention snapped back to the present,and he shook his head in disbelief. How much lower could he get? Being tagged a “manwhore” was already a massive blow to his reputation and now he was having dreams of marriage? He was only 28, for God’s sake,and he was nowhere near ready to settle down! But thanks to the voice, he was finally able to focus on the woman who had spoken to him,and for the second time, in a span of a few minutes, he felt his eyes widen in disbelief.
Julian’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the only other human inhabitant of the room. The woman who sat behind the desk looked somewhat tired and messy, but that did not subdue her natural beauty: the piercing gaze of those bright emerald eyes, the dark shade of brown hair that framed her heart-shaped face with its delicate curls, the rest of her hair pinned to the back of her head in a ponytail. She wore simple clothes; he could see as much from his current position right next to the closed door. But she had a certain intensity to her soft, delicate features, something that made his heart hammer against his chest and his body to send a fresh wave of lust rise to the surface.
No! He gritted his teeth to stop his mind from wandering into dangerous territories. He’d promised his brother he wouldn’t let him down. For his own sake, he couldn’t. She is just like every other woman, he reminded himself. Like them, she would soon lust after him,and when it was over, he’d have another bunch of rumors that will the final nail in his coffin. He’d lose both his job and the company.
He had no idea how long he stood there staring at her, but it must have been quite some time, since she had already arched a perfect eyebrow in his direction, one side of her lips tugging up in a smirk. And he realized, for the first time, how young she really was. Fifties? Sia Milton looked like she was in her early thirties, if not even less. How can she be the mother of a thirteen-year-old boy?
“Please, have a seat,Mr. Turner,” said the beautifully melodic voice of Sia Milton. It sent shivers down his spine.
Oh, what had he gotten himself into?
Julian strode over to the desk with all the dignity he had left after being caught staring at his soon-to-be-employer and sat himself down easily on one of the chairs in front of the desk.
He’d never before been taken by surprise in his life. Women fell at his feet as soon as they saw him. They worshiped his aura of raw masculinity and the very ground he walked on. But this woman seemed to be mocking him with her half smile and arched eyebrows. She was definitely immune to his charms. That was supposed to be a plus to his goal, wasn’t it? This would make it easy for him to keep it in his pants since he never went after unwilling women.
But why did Sia Milton make him feel like he couldn’t rest until he’d win her over?
Focus, Julian! he thought to himself. You are here for a job, not to ruin your already ruined reputation further!
If there was anything left to ruin, his conscience butted in.
Wrenching his wandering mind back into focus, he focused on the task he was here for. Julian never mixed work with pleasure, and Sia needed him to do his job.
***
Sia looked at the man sitting on the other side of the desk. On the outside, she appeared perfectly calm, but on the inside, she was far from it; she was scared out of her skin. Someone was after her life and out to get her son. Sia couldn’t care less about what might happen to her. But she just couldn’t stand the thought of her little boy getting hurt.
That was why she was forced to contact Turner Agency and hire their best, no matter how much everyone had warned her about his reputation. Julian Turner had rightfully earned the title of Lucifer, firstly, because of his unerring abilities displayed in his missions and, secondly, because of his maddening skills in bed. The latter she didn’t have to worry about; she had written men off from her life ten years ago. Now the only man in her life was her own flesh and blood. It was her son’s life she was concerned about, so she needed nothing but the best for the job.
Julian was the perfect bodyguard as most of her friends and acquaintances had told her. For this job, she was willing to overlook his scandalous behavior. If she weren’t so desperate, she would’ve chosen someone else. But there was no one who could compare to Julian in his line of work.
So, let’s get the show started, Sia thought to herself as she held her head high and began her interview.
This was going to be an interesting day.
Chapter 3
Sia motioned for the file in his hands, and Julian obediently passed it to her. Sia went through it quietly, comparing it with the one she had in her hand, then closed the folder and passed them both back to him.
“Mr. Turner, your success rate is quite impressive. You have never failed a mission before, and your records are clean . . . except for a few client complaints.” Sia finished with a raised eyebrow.
She didn’t need to see his file to know that about him; she had done her research. He wasn’t too old, either. He even appeared a few years younger than her. Twenty-nine, maybe? But that was good. Youth meant strength and stamina,very e
ssential qualities in a bodyguard, among several others.
“I’m aware of the things that may trouble you, Mrs. Milton—”
“Miss.” Sia immediately put a stop to that sentence.
Julian nodded, wondering why that made him feel oddly satisfied. He had never taken married women to his bed, no matter what rumors Sia might have heard. That was one vow he’d never break.
“Right,” he continued, “I have to let you know that all the ‘complaints’ were consensual. I did not force myself on them. And also, as you may already know, that didn’t affect my work or my concentration. It was just a favor that was asked of me. No one got hurt,” he replied with a straight face. It was a little defensive, but his tone was respectful and calm.
“True. After all, no one can resist willing candidates.” Sia couldn’t help but mock him a bit even as she made her statement clear: she wasn’t in the market.
Julian gritted his teeth. No one has ever dared mock him before. They have been too affected by his charm to utter anything other than a moan. And if they had a complaint against him, it would only be on his quick dismissal of them.” But with Sia, he couldn’t say why, but she was different. He seemed to be the one under her spell while she remained unaffected. Julian had never dated older women before either.
Wait, “date”? Where the hell did that thought come from? He didn’t do dates. He only sleeps with willing women. The only memory of a date he had was during his freshmen year of high school.
“So I hope you know how serious my case is?” Sia asked finally, snapping him out of his trance.
“I know that there had been two attempts on your life, and one was probably to scare you. First, there was the elevator power cutoff,and you were stuck in there for almost an hour . . . alone with decreasing oxygen levels. If my guess is right, you’re claustrophobic.