AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Bringing my phone in front of me, I quickly hit Rossi’s contact and bring it to my ear.
“You headed back, Hercules?” he answers. “Did you get your hair all fancied up, too, beefcake?”
Ignoring him, I cut to the chase. “Ms. James has asked to do some sightseeing,” I say into the phone and look in the mirror, seeing her head quickly turn to face me again. No doubt questioning what the fuck I’m doing. “So, I guess I’m wondering what you suggest I do about that.”
He’s silent for a few seconds, no doubt pondering what the hell to tell me. “Well, Enzo is out of town for a few days.” He pauses, sighing, and I can almost see him dragging his hand down his face. “I don’t want to piss the boss off or anything, but … he never said she couldn’t do shit like that. Only that one of us should always be with her when she leaves the complex … so go ahead, I guess?” He stops. “Just be smart, Hercules. Don’t get yourself in any fucked-up situations. I’m not in the mood to bail you out today.”
“Copy that,” I mutter before ending the call.
“Are you planning on kidnapping me or …” rushes from her mouth the second I put my phone down. “I didn’t ask to go sightseeing.”
“All right then. I’ll take you back to the crew complex, and you can sit in your room all day,” I deadpan. “Or perhaps attempt to do more snooping.”
That shuts her up. For a second anyway before she defends herself. “I was not snooping.” She clears her throat. “And sightseeing sounds fun and all, but forgive me for not trusting your intentions. I don’t really feel like—I don’t know—say, dying today.”
“Why would you think sightseeing with me for the day would involve you dying, Dove?” I mumble, keeping my voice low and unimpressed. “Quite the opposite really.”
“I just … don’t know you,” she whispers. “But as long as Enzo is okay with it, I’d love to go sightseeing.” She nods. “That sounds … really good.”
I hate that she is worried about if that fuckstick is okay with it. He shouldn’t get one motherfucking say in what she does or who she’s with. But I know he basically owns her now. She’s his toy that he can pick up and take places or leave behind when he doesn’t want it.
And why the hell does that piss me off so bad?
Being here, acting like one of his minions, is killing me inside. If I wasn’t stuck being fucking undercover, I would have put a bullet between his eyes long ago. But that won’t solve this case. He can’t lead us to what we’re looking for if he’s dead.
“All right then. It’s decided.” I fight the urge to smile because she doesn’t need to know how eager I am to spend the day with her. “We’re going sightseeing.”
So many of the people I’ve worked for as a bodyguard while I’ve been undercover are overprivileged individuals who don’t appreciate a damn thing because they are so used to everything being given to them.
Not this girl though. She looks at everything with absolute awe, taking a few extra minutes to just … take it all in. Just watching her, I can plainly see that she has never had the privilege of traveling much. Now that Beckett is marrying her off to someone, she gets to see the world.
What a waste it all is. To give such a beautiful creature to an undeserving man.
The way she gazes at the world around her, I watch her the same way, completely intrigued. She gives a small smile to every person who passes by her. If she feels like she’s in someone’s way, she quickly steps aside and murmurs an apology.
Her childhood—losing both of her parents to drugs—could have hardened her. Made her cold and mean. But somehow, for some crazy reason … it didn’t.
She’s the sweetest, most delicate creature on the planet. So, why the fuck is she here, brought into this fucking mess?
“I can’t believe I’m in Rome,” she whispers, gazing up at the Colosseum. And though there’s awe in her expression, there’s sadness too. And the sadness overtakes anything else when the next words come from her pretty lips. “My brother would love this. I wish he were here right now.”
I’m not the guy who knows what to say to things like that. For six years now, I’ve made it a point to not give a shit about people’s feelings. Because, to be honest, I can’t even face my own. So, I do my job, work out, and sleep. That’s about the extent of it.
So, if Briar James is looking for a shoulder to cry on, I’m not it. What I did outside of that hair salon was strictly because I felt like a giant dickhead after driving her to get her hair colored. It has nothing to do with her, and it’s not because I don’t like to see her sad.
No. Not at all.
“That knucklehead would probably be searching for the closest ice area,” I say, nudging her lightly. “He’d be all, Fuck the sightseeing. Where’s my sweet hockey stick?”
That earns me a small giggle, and she nods. “You know Walker well, I take it?” Her expression turns a little more serious. “It’s weird, you know. You’ve traveled with Walker and Beckett, but I hadn’t met you before I came to Italy.”
“I’ve met him a few times, yes,” I answer. “All I really gathered from our time together was two things. One, he loves hockey. And, two, he fucking hates your uncle.”
I’ll admit, it’s kind of strange that she and I had never met before this job. But as bad as I feel to think this, I know that until Beckett convinced Briar to marry into the Romano family, he really didn’t give a fuck about her. Hell, he’s even said shit in the past, implying so. Walker, on the other hand, is going places with the NHL. Being a pro athlete in the United States? That’s no small thing. Beckett’s always known this. And that’s one thousand percent why he used to spend more time with Walker than he did with Briar. Not like it mattered. Walker James can’t stand his uncle.
That makes two of us.
This time, she laughs a little harder, covering her mouth. “That is all very true. Walker, he’s smart. And he’s also been through a lot of pain in life. I think him closing Beckett out is a way to protect himself from being hurt again.”
