Olivia’s POV
I stared at Kira in complete disbelief, my mouth hanging open. "Please tell you’re joking."
"I’m not," she said matter-of-factly, "I’m going to be working for Damien Wellington."
What the fuck! "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
Kira’s eyebrows raised at my reaction. "Liv, what’s wrong with you? It’s just a job."
"Just a job? Kira, this is ridiculous! What if we both end up in jail? What if Maxwell recognizes you from today?"
She rolled her eyes, "Olivia, calm down. I’m protecting Damien, not Maxwell. And I seriously doubt Maxwell will pay much attention to his brother’s bodyguard. Rich people like that barely notice the help."
"But what does Damien even need protection from anyway?" I asked, sitting down. "He’s not as evil as his brother, right? So why would anyone want to hurt him?"
Kira shrugged. "According to the rumors I heard, it was actually Maxwell who convinced his brother to get security because of so assault he faced recently. Apparently, soone tried to attack him, and now the whole family is paranoid."
Shit. The blood drained from my face as I realized what was happening. I’d successfully dug the grave for both and my best friend. My mysterious stranger was going after Maxwell, and now Kira was going to be caught in the middle of whatever he was planning.
"Kira, listen to ," I said urgently, grabbing her hands. "You can’t take this job. You can bodyguard soone else - anyone else - but not Damien Wellington."
She studied my face for a long mont, already looking concerned. "Liv, what aren’t you telling ? You’re acting really weird about this."
I wanted to tell her everything - about my stranger, about what I’d asked him to do - and the fact that I hadn’t encountered him since then. But I couldn’t.
"I just... I have a bad feeling about it, okay? Please, trust on this."
Kira squeezed my hands gently. "Okay," she said simply. "If it ans that much to you, I won’t take the job."
Relief flooded through so intensely. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
*******
I woke up the next morning feeling better. Despite my emotional exhaustion yesterday, I’d gotten the most beautiful night’s rest I’d had in weeks.
I checked my phone groggily. 12 PM. Holy shit. That was the longest I’d ever slept in my entire life. Maxwell was really sothing - he’d managed to drain every ounce of energy from my body and soul.
I stretched lazily, feeling energized despite the fact that I was starving as hell. My stomach was practically eating itself.
Walking out to the kitchen, I noticed that the apartnt was eerily empty and quiet. "Kira?" I called out, but got no response.
That’s when I spotted the note on the kitchen counter, written in Kira’s handwriting:
Gone to work. Wish luck on my first day! - K
I squeezed the paper hard and let out a long, frustrated sigh. I should’ve known Kira wouldn’t listen. She’d given in so easily last night, I should’ve suspected sothing. Now she’d gone ahead with the Wellington job?
We were absolutely dood. Utterly, totally, and completely dood.
I got down to preparing breakfast - well, lunch really. Food first, then Kira’s situation later.
Just as I was buttering my bread, my phone buzzed with a notification. It was from Alex. The ssage contained a digital invitation card for his engagent party that evening, complete with venue details and address. Underneath was a personal note from Alex: See you there 😉
I sighed again, deeper this ti. It seed like I was locked in for the night whether I wanted to be or not. The last thing I wanted was to be at that party, but I’d already given my word. And this invitation ant Maxwell hadn’t circulated my criminal act yet.
Before I could even set the phone down, another text ca through. This one was from David, and just seeing his na made my skin crawl.
Hey beautiful! I’m back in town and can’t wait to et up with you. When are you free? I have so many things planned for us... 😘
My stomach turned. The thought of spending a second with that dougebag made want to crawl back into bed and never erge. But then I remberd I’d not returned his money from yesterday.
Shit! How did I forget sothing so important? Now David will think he owned because he bailed out.
I quickly typed back: Sorry, I had to travel to my hotown to recuperate from the whole jail drama. I’m unavailable for the foreseeable future. Please send your account number so I can refund your money.
There. Clean and simple. I wasn’t eting up with that man. Not for anything. Not if he was the last man on earth and the survival of humanity depended on it.
*******
By evening, I’d managed to pull myself together enough to start getting ready for Alex’s event. I’d chosen a simple black suit. It was one of the cheap corporate wears I’d gotten for work - but who would notice? Definitely no one.
As I stared at myself in the mirror, a wave of anxiety hit . What if sothing happens at the party and soone sees through my disguise? Was the disguise even strong enough. Will it last through the night?
God, I really hope Julian would be present. His presence would an a lot to .
Just then, an idea struck .
I locked up the apartnt imdiately, and headed downstairs to hail a cab. Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside Nikita’s salon - where it’d all started.
The bell chid as I pushed through the door, and Nikita looked up from her station with a surprised smile.
"Olivia! What a pleasant surprise, darling. What brings you back to my little sanctuary?"
I took a deep breath. "I need your help again, Nikita. I have an event tonight, and I’m going to be eting a lot of people. I need my disguise to be perfect - I want to look every bit like a man."
Her eyes lit up with excitent. "Say no more, darling. I’m going to make you the most handso man at whatever event you’re attending tonight."
Reviews
All reviews (0)