“I’ll leave you to rest,” he said and rose to his feet.
“Have a safe trip, Papa,” I muttered.
He bent down and kissed the top of my head. Then he took his leave.
When the door closed quietly behind him, I lifted my head and stared at it. Then I wiped the tears away from my face. I simply couldn’t believe the turn my life had taken.
Chapter 20
Angelo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCuMWrfXG4E
-Uptown Girl-
I stood in the corridor by the window where I had a clear view of her bedroom door and her balcony, basically both her exits. Beneath, Pedro, one of the gardeners, was carefully tending to the Japanese garden. He seemed to gently rake the white pebbles so they would look like a piece of art to anyone looking down from these upstairs windows.
Up ahead, one of the security guards was patrolling the grounds with Roman the Rottweiler in tow. The sleek, tightly muscled body of the dog gleamed in the morning sunlight. The guard spotted me at the window and waved.
I nodded in return.
I heard her bedroom door open and turned towards it.
Her father came out and started walking briskly towards me. “As you already know, I am away for three days. Make sure she is never out of your sight.”
I nodded.
“Are you sure you don’t want a partner? It will make things easier. I think she learned her lesson last night, but she is young, and freedom is a beautiful thing. She might try something again.”
“Do as you wish, but I generally work better on my own.”
His eyes narrowed. “So your preference is to work alone?”
“Always.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “I like having total control. Never having to worry what the other guy might do in a stressful situation.”
“Fine. I don’t want to lock her up, so I’m counting on you to keep her safe.
I nodded.
“Right. I’ll see you when I get back, but keep me updated every night. You have my number. Call me day or night if anything happens.”
I nodded again.
He turned to walk away, then he turned back and smiled. “Thank you for what you did last night. There’ll be a nice bonus in your paycheck.”
“Have a safe trip,” I said.
For a second I saw a flash of anger and surprise that I didn’t seem grateful for the ‘nice’ bonus in my paycheck, then it was gone. “Thank you,” he said quietly and walked away.
I went back to watching her empty balcony. An image of her wet, angry and breathtakingly beautiful popped into my head. A fiery burst of lust flared up in my loins. My cock hardened.
I pushed the image out of my head instantly. I hadn’t wanted to be assigned to be her bodyguard. I knew exactly what that meant. It meant fucking cold showers every day. And it also meant distraction from my goal. My goal was to train my body to become the best fighter in the world. Already, she had begun to affect my concentration.
I had to find a way to resist the call of her body. It was like a siren. Calling to me. No woman had ever had this effect on me. And as of yet, I’d been unwilling to examine it, but I knew she was big trouble. I had known it from the first moment our eyes met in the pool. But until yesterday, she’d been like an itch. Annoying, but still bearable and I knew not to touch it.
Or I’d end up scratching myself raw.
I told myself she was just a job. I had my dreams and they didn’t include any entanglement with the only daughter of a Mafia family. I was no pushover. I could resist one rich, spoilt brat, no matter how beautiful she was …
But when I saw her, tied up and bruised in the van yesterday, my guts twisted and clenched like a hard fist. Hell, I felt so furious with those thugs, death wasn’t good enough for them. I wanted to burn them alive and watch their agonized, horrified screams melt their lips. Even now just thinking about it, made my heart beat faster.
Outside, Juan, another gardener, came to join Pedro. He wore a large sombrero. They sat on the grass and shared a cigarette in the sun. They gestured with their hands as they talked. Then they parted ways and Pedro went back to his task of making art with pebbles.
I stood at my post watching Pedro until about fifteen minutes later, when a sound came from near her bedroom door. I turned to watch. Her door opened and she emerged dressed in a pink tracksuit. It hugged her full breasts and flaring hips in the most distracting way possible.
Hips swaying, she sauntered towards me. This was going to be damn hard.
I could feel her gaze on the darkened bruises across my cheekbones. Then she shocked me. She spread her arms, lifted herself on the tip of her toes and embraced me. She smelled of ripe fruit, flowers, and something forbidden. Her voluptuous curves fitted beautifully against my body. My hands itched to grab her and press her scented flesh tighter against me.