Which didn’t make sense.
The girl who liked to be alone, who preferred the company of her piano over the company of people, was feeling an inexplicable sense of loss without Adrik Volkov beside her.
What was the man doing to me?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Adrik
The next several days passed without incident. I kept mostly to the shadows, doing my best to respect the boundaries that I’d ignored earlier. I was pretty sure the Popovs wouldn’t appreciate me hanging out with Annika and having fun instead of doing my job. It was best to keep my distance from her and protect her from afar. Even though I longed to spend more time with her, I had to stay focused on my job and keeping her safe. I couldn’t do that if I was constantly distracted by her.
If she noticed the way I avoided her, she didn’t comment on it.
Annika kept mostly to herself, spending the majority of her time playing the piano or in her bedroom, only venturing out long enough to fix herself something to eat. She seemed preoccupied, and I guessed she was probably still a little freaked out about the text message and the creepy stalker. I didn’t blame her. This whole situation unnerved me, too.
Tim and I traded off every twelve hours or so and filled each other in, but so far, all was quiet here at the lake house. Efrem called daily to check in and inform us they hadn’t found even a trace of the guy who’d been at the gate. All we could do for now was stay put and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
A few days later, Tim came upon me leaning against the wall outside of the great room as Annika tackled her keyboard from within. The music exploded out into the hallway, the notes harsh and almost haunting. I felt exactly like the music she was playing. Lonely. Misunderstood. Remorseful. Her music was beautiful, and it had a way of tugging at a person’s emotions. It brought forth the mistakes of my past, pushing my grief to the surface. I’d done my best to not think about Damien over the past eight years, but today his memory was fresh in my mind, a dull throb of pain and regret. I missed him more than I wanted to admit.
I straightened away from the wall and cleared my throat as Tim paused beside me.
He didn’t speak for a long moment. He just listened to Annika play.
At last, she stopped, the silence somehow louder than the music had been.
“Damn, she’s good,” Tim observed quietly. “Mesmerizing.”
I bobbed my head in a nod. “Yeah.”
He turned toward me, his gaze serious. “You ever going to let her see your face? You know she probably thinks you’re hiding something from her. And you really can’t blame her. I’ve never seen you so sensitive about your looks around anyone else. Stop hiding, man. Let her see you. She doesn’t know you yet, and she never will if you don’t let her. You’ve been crushing on that girl for years, yet not once have you let her see you. How do you know she won’t feel the same way about you if you don’t ever give her the chance toknowyou?”
I swallowed hard, hanging my head. He was right. Honestly, I missed being close to her. I wanted to go back to that brief time on the piano bench where we’d bonded,connected. But I was just her bodyguard. Here to do a job. Nothing more. Icouldn’tget close to her, no matter how much I wanted to. That would be a terrible mistake and might get me fired.
Even so, I couldn’t deny I desperately wanted her to accept me. To see therealme, not the beast on the outside.
But how could she ever do that if I didn’t let her trulyseeme?
Tim smacked my arm. “She likes you, man. I can tell. She’s curious about you. She always asks me about you when you’re asleep. Don’t be afraid to show her who you really are.”
Words of wisdom from a man who’d been in a relationship with a woman for over five years now. Tim and Evelyn were happy. They truly loved each other, so he knew what he was talking about. I should probably take his words to heart.
“I’ll think about it,” I mumbled, unable to offer any more yet.
“Don’t take too long,” he grumbled. “Once this job is over, you might not get another chance. Seize the moment, dude.”
I thought about Tim’s words over the next few days. He was right. Our time here was limited. We didn’t know when it might end. I should be taking advantage of every opportunity to spend time with Annika, not hiding in the shadows like some creeper.
Because once we returned to L.A., everything would go back to normal, and I would have to watch her from afar.
But dammit, I wasn’t ready yet. I needed more time. Yes, I was stalling, but I couldn’t help it.
As it turned out, Annika was more determined than I gave her credit for. The next day, she forced me into a situation I couldn’t get out of.
It was early afternoon and she was at it again, aggressively attacking her keyboard. Tim was sleeping and I was on duty. I listened while Annika played, the music changing from high, happy notes to low, depressing tones. The woman was an approaching storm, soft and breezy one moment, then violent and harsh the next. Unpredictable. I could almost feel her emotions as she played, but one thing I could never deny was her incredible talent. Transfixed, I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the hallway floor. I had never been a fan of piano music until I’d heard Annika play. Now, it was my favorite.Shewas my favorite.
I sat there on the floor for the next hour or so, closing my eyes, listening to her play, and getting lost in her beautiful music.
I didn’t realize I’d dozed off until something jerked me awake.