by Anna Kendra
“You go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute,” Sia told the man with the clipboard and then waited ‘till he was gone before turning to the others. “Leo, honey, go ahead and sit in the VIP section. Millan’s there and Julian has assigned someone to go with you.”
Seeing the torn expression on Sia’s face, Julian quickly said, “Don’t worry, my men will watch after him.”
She hesitated at first but then nodded her head in defeat. With a hug and a few kisses, she finally let Leo go, leaving her and Julian alone in the dressing van.
“And where’s mine?” Julian said with a raised eyebrow. He expected to receive a heated glare or a gritted out insult. Hell, he even expected to get slapped across the face.
However, Sia suddenly pulled him down by the collar of his jacket and kissed the sense out of him. Her lips were soft and they tasted of strawberries that Julian had learned was the flavor of her favorite lip balm. Julian gave into the kiss, wrapping one arm around her delicate neck while he used the other to hold her hips and bring her closer. There was an urgency in her kiss, a vulnerability that left him feeling helpless.
He was sending her into the woods hoping to lure out the wolf and even though he’d be watching from the side, she will be left vulnerable for a while in the hopes that the wolf will show up and take the bait. And that’s what he’d been scared of for a while now, he realized. With this kiss, Sia was telling him just how nervous she was as well.
He accepted it all. He accepted her fear, the anxiety, and the pain she felt for having to relive old memories. And he gave back as much comfort as he could. When they finally pulled back, Sia couldn’t help but crack up at the sight of Julian’s lips. They were stained a bright red which matched his shirt.
Julian frowned and turned to look into the mirror behind him. Upon seeing the red across his lips, he folded a few tissues and wiped them across his lips vigorously, but a light stain still remained.
“Careful,” Sia said as he brought the tissues to his lips again. “You’re going to hurt yourself trying to get that off. Here, let me help.”
Sia tipped her makeup remover into a fresh tissue and lightly dabbed it on Julian’s lips, effectively clearing it of all the stain. “There, all done.”
“Thanks.” Julian turned to face Sia once she’d disposed the tissues. “You’re scared.”
“No, I’m terrified.” Sia admitted to him. This was Julian, her bodyguard and the man who had stolen her heart. “I know this is important, but I don’t want to put myself out there. And it’s not just because of Arthur, it’s—”
“You feel that being in front of a crowd will make you a real person to them, someone they can now openly criticize and judge.” Julian finished for her, tracing his fingers down her cheeks softly, and Sia leaned into the touch. “If I could, I’d never let you go through something like this again. But we have no other choice.”
“I understand that.” And she did; she just wasn’t happy about it.
Sia knew she’d just crossed a boundary with Julian, one that she couldn’t back out of now. She hadn’t meant to, but she was slowly becoming a nervous wreck, and being around Julian always helped settle her nerves. The undercurrent of sensuality between them hadn’t faded since the day they’d first kissed. If anything, the sparks had grown in magnitude and it now threatened to burn them both. But true to his word, Julian kept his promise, keeping his hands off but still staying extra close. Sia had nodoubt in her mind that he had every intention of courting her after he had taken care of Arthur Stone permanently.
“Let’s go before that kid comes back with his clipboard.” Julian held his hand out for Sia and helped her out of the van and into the building where the show was to commence, all the while keeping an eye out for any danger.
And for good reason. The events that were to come to them will need all their vigilance and caution.
***
The first reality check that Sia got was when she entered the green room, where the models were getting ready. One of the models from another designer’s section suddenly came running towards them and flung herself at Julian.
“Oh baby! It’s been ages since I last saw you! Why didn’t you ever come visit me?” The blond woman, who must have starved herself so she’d look like a skeleton, purred in Julian’s ear, clinging to him like a lizard does to a wall. She wore the most ridiculous dress Sia had ever seen. What are designers coming to these days?
Sia cringed. Of course Julian had dated her. Even though she was a fake blonde and was skinnier than a bamboo pole, the girl had a pretty face and sharp features to boot. She was beautiful in her own unique way. But Sia couldn’t stop the pang of jealousy in her gut that made her want to peel the lizard off of Julian with bare claws . . . or sharply manicured nails.
Julian’s response not only surprised her, it also made the other girls, and a few menalmost laugh outand give him hopeful looks.
“Err . . . do I know you?” Julian said awkwardly as he pried himself away from the woman’s clutches and hid behind Sia for protection.
This caused Sia to look at Julian with raised eyebrows and a smirk. The girl’s mouth, however, hung open like a fish thrown out of the water.
“How can you forget me? You said that we’ll date after your mission was over! You said you would come back!” She stomped one heeled foot on the carpet like a four-year-old being denied candy.
Thank God Leo wasn’t like that as a kid, Sia said in a silent prayer.
“Look, Miss,” Julian said sternly. “I don’t know what I said or when I said it, but you really need to leave right now. The show is about to start, and you’re wasting both of our time.”
The girl, probably in her early twenties, closed her mouth and huffed at both of them before stomping over to her stall, back to an angry designer.
“That went well,” Sia joked, the knots in her chest untangling, easing her back to comfort.
“I didn’t sleep with her, I swear!” Julian whisper yelled at her desperately, even though Sia hadn’t asked for an explanation. He knew he hadn’t exactly been poster boy for good behavior, but he didn’t want his past interfering with what he wanted to have with Sia: a future.
“You remember the people you slept with?” Sia asked and was surprised to hear the anger in her voice. She knew that she had no right to be angry but she could never keep her actions in check whenever she was near Julian. Just because she has never had a normal life didn’t mean that she could blame or resent him for once being a horny teenager like a million others. In fact, she could almost picture him as a jock in high school with cheerleaders flocking around him like lawyers at a crime scene.
“It’s not like that, Sia. I wish I could explain to you, but now is not the time,” he said with eyes dark with determination. “This discussion is far from over, and we will talk about this.”
Their eyes met and held. Sia’s breath caught in her throat when she saw the promise in his eyes. There was no escaping him now, no way of skirting around the topic. She found that she didn’t want to either.
“I have to go,” Sia said through a throat gone dry. And then she turned to attend to her models for her show.
Chapter 18
Julian’s eyes followed her every move. He had made immense progress with Sia, and he was glad that the woman who had thrown herself at him a few moments ago hadn’t hampered that.
The past three weeks, he had worked extra hard to make her notice him. He had stayed so close until he was already breathing down her neck. He had to remind himself that he had to give her some space as well. He’d found that he couldn’t help it. Sia was slowly becoming his little brand of addiction, and he didn’t want to stay away from her. He couldn’t even if he tried.
He’d also learned a great deal about Sia from Leo. He had told him stories of how Sia had coped with taking care of him and studying in college at the same time. He had also told him about some of Sia’s likes and dislikes. Julian had already noticed some of them on his own. Li
ke how she would rather chew on a pin than her nails when she was stressed, or how she liked to pull her hair up on top of her head when she was working. There were several tiny details he’d noticed about her and, contrary to how he usually lost interest after knowing a woman for a certain while, Julian felt like he could study Sia forever and still not get bored.
He wanted to discover more of them slowly, those tiny habits she had, and savor them. Sia was like a gift that he wanted to unravel bit by slow bit. Too fast would scare her away, because his Sia bore scars so deep. He didn’t even havethe slightest idea about how to reach them, or if he ever will.
His Sia.
He tasted the word over and over in his head. Instead of panic, he felt possessive. That was a first because Julian Turner never felt possessive. The reason women often called him Lucifer was because of his nature to easily disconnect himself completely from them when he was working. He never had any attachments. Yes, he was a passionate lover, but that was all he’d been able to give ‘till now—his body. With Sia, he was demanded of his mind, his soul, and his heart.
But strangely, the idea had never felt more right.
After about twenty minutes of mingling with the models, doing last minute adjustments to their clothes and makeup, Sia returned to Julian’s side, her spine stiff and her face set in hard lines.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, noticing just how nervous she looked and how she kept on wiping her palms on her dress.
“Yes.” She gave a slight nod, her shoulders square in anxiety. “They will begin soon. The anchor just went on stage.”
“Everything will be fine.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and brought her closer while the green room began to empty out. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right up front where I can keep an eye on you at all times.”
“And now ladies and gentlemen . . .” the anchor’s voice boomed across the venue.
“It’s started.” Sia took in a shuddering breath. Julian moved his hand to her nape and pulled her in for a scorching kiss.
When he released her, Sia’s lips were deliciously swollen from his kiss, and her eyes were dazed. He decided that he liked that look on her, and he would have savored the moment further had they had enough time on their hands.
“Did that help?” Julian asked, a slight smile on his lips, as Sia finally snapped out of her daze and looked up at Julian with her wide innocent eyes.
“Yes,” Sia said a little breathlessly as his smile grew. “And your lips got stained again.”
“Who’s first?”
“Nina Pavlov. That model from earlier is going to walk the ramp for her,” Sia said with a frown, remembering how the model had flung herself at Julian.
Julian let out a husky laugh and planted a kiss on her cheek, causing her to blush a deep red. “And I have no idea who either of them is. I do know Sia Milton, and I know that she’s going to slay this show.”
“Julian, I . . .” Sia opened her mouth to say something more, but then shook her head and smiled at him, “thank you.”
Sia and Julian both waited backstage while the models walked the runway, some wearing beautifully designed clothes while others wore literally piles of trash. Sia was still nervous, but the kiss had worked. She was no longer on the verge of a panic attack, and the feeling of Julian’s body pressed against hers helped her relax in ways that no one had ever made her feel before. He had his hand around her waist, giving her constant support while she leaned on his chest. But they had to be discreet in case a reporter sneaked backstage. Sia didn’t want a scandal on her very first public appearance.
They stood like that for almost half an hour until all of the models had walked the ramp, and it was Sia’s turn to walk along with her showstopper model, Sienna Wickham. Julian let her go reluctantly but kept his eye out for any disturbance in the crowd.
As Sia waited to walk the stage, he finally got a call from Abhay who wanted to talk urgently. He gave him the coordinates of his location and watched as Sia began her walk down the runway, escorted by Sienna, a small smile on her face as the audience burst into applause.
One by one, the rest of the models joined her on stage. Sia bowed to the audience, thanking them for being here and posing for a few photographs. Julian’s eyes went to the crowd, scanning all the rows before locking eyes with some of his men. All of them shook their heads; they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary and they hadn’t spotted Arthur either. His phone vibrated in his pocket then. After picking it up, he told Abhay to come into the main auditorium. But Abhay wanted to speak to him somewhere quiet so he called him to the back of the auditorium, near the exit. It had a clear view of the stage, so he could keep watch on Sia and talk with Abhay all at once. And besides, Sia was to go change in her private van. He could easily move out the door and have a clear view of the dressing van.
He motioned for a security personnel to keep a tight watch on Sia, since she was still on the podium, and walked out to toward the exit. Unknown to all of them, danger was already lurking nearby in the shadows.
Chapter 19
Julian went to the exit door and met Abhay at the back of the auditorium. He had already warned all his men inside the auditorium to keep their eyes glued to Sia since he was only going to step out for a moment to check on the men he had situated at any possible point of entry and exit within the area. As soon as he reached Abhay after doing a perimeter sweep, he earned a whistle from the other devil.
“Not bad, Lucifer. The designer seems to be doing a good job on your fashion sense,” Abhay mocked while giving Julian a once-over.
“You’re not bad yourself, Beelzi.” Julian smirked as Abhay made a face at the nickname.
Since the two of them were known as troublemakers, their team liked to call them with special nicknames. If Julian was Lucifer, then Abhay was Beelzebub. The bad boys from hell. Although Abhay didn’t have quite a reputation as Julian, he had earned the nickname because of his close friendship with Julian. But nicknames aside, Abhay looked nice in a deep green full sleeve sweater and faded blue jeans. Julian was positive a lot of the women in the room were eyeing them up like they were fresh slabs of meat.
“You think that might help me get lucky tonight?” Abhay smirked back.
“You wish,” Julian said, earning a laugh from his friend, then turned back to serious matters. “Now, why did you want to meet me this urgently?”
“I found some more emails in Arthur’s accounts.” Abhay’s voice turned serious as well.
“But you said they had all been scrubbed clean,” Julian said.
“I did, and they were.” Abhay paused. “But did you know that Arthur’s middle name is Theodor? It’s hardly mentioned anywhere, but I sniffed out one article where his full name was used. And from there, I searched for his email IDs with that name”.
“You found something.” It was more of statement than a question.
“I don’t know exactly what I found Julian, but the bankruptcy of Milton Incorporated . . . wasn’t normal. He was giving instructions to someone to rob the Miltons which I could pretty much figure out because he sent short—but clear—instructions. And then there was a sudden booking of a flight to Australia and renting of an apartment under the name of Brandon Tucker. I checked out all of Milton Incorporated’s previous employees and found no one by that name, so I had to find Tucker’s ID from Australia’s database. Tucker matched a guy named Brad Millar who used to work for the Miltons. Millar was sent to Australia a few days before Arthur himself came in the picture with the marriage proposal.”
Dread settled over both of them, but it was Julian who spoke next, his words fuelled by anger. “Bastard planned it! He wanted to get his filthy hands on her!” he gritted out.
Right then the whole auditorium thundered with applause, and both men turned to watch Sia bow to the crowd while all ten of her models stood around her clapping. Julian had never seen Sia smile so happily, and it made his chest tighten with feelings he didn’t knew he was capa
ble of feeling toward another person. Fierce pride and adoration were the first emotions that filled his mind . . . along with love. At that moment, Julian experienced, for the first time, what being in love actually felt like. And it was also the first time that Julian didn’t shy away from what he felt toward a woman.
***
Sia could not have been happier at that instant. She had finally given people a face to go with her name, and everyone had appreciated that. She knew she was making herself vulnerable, but after everything she had faced, she knew how her vulnerabilities can be turned into strengths.
She looked at the five hundred guests who were applauding her work, and she felt immense joy at everything she had accomplished. Her father had thought she was a burden to the family, and Arthur had diminished her to a mere sex slave.
But this?
This was what she was. This was who she was meant to be. And no man had ever truly understood her passion . . . except Julian. She had even heard some of her male employees talking behind her back, telling people what need a woman had of running a company when she could just find herself a rich husband and enjoy her life. But Julian wasn’t like any of them. He had never once told her that she could only amount to anything if she secured herself a wealthy husband. Rather, he had taken care of her while she worked long hours for tonight’s show. She realized she owed a large part of tonight’s success to Julian as well. He’d taken care of Sia when she didn’t have the time to take care of herself.
She tried to look behind her to see Julian but found him missing. Shrugging it off as a bathroom emergency, she walked out of the backstage area and moved toward the paparazzi panel, giving several autographs, handshakes and accepting flower bouquets as she made her way. Leo was standing in the first row with two guards beside him. Sia managed to sneak him a hug and a kiss before she was stirred to a different direction.
Backstage, she had managed to ask one of the guards on duty about Julian, but even he wasn’t sure. She tried not to let her worry and exhaustion show on her face. All her nerves were now turning against her, but she kept her head high in front of the media as she took her seat along with five other designers. The worst part was just beginning.