After a few minutes of catching up, his real purpose finally made itself known. “Where were you last night? Rome called,saying you weren’t home and asked me where you had wandered off to.”
I sighed. Rome had worked for Will in Oregon for a few years before coming here. Rome didn’t talk about his time there. I wasn't sure why. He had an understanding of how Bly Enterprises worked because of the affiliation, but it also meant he was close enough to my brother to feel comfortable calling him, and thus ratting me out. “I went out with a friend, and don’t worry, Rome found me.”
“You were out with Alexandra?” Will asked. He knew I had exactly one friend and had even vetted her when we first met.
“Yes, it was a lot of fun, by the way. Thank you for asking,” I quipped. “Figured I deserved a break.”
“I have a feeling I’ll see pictures of it in the tabloids today,” he remarked flippantly.
Every time I stepped out with Alexandra, our faces were painted all over every tabloid in every metropolitan city. The majority of my fame and recognition came from being her friend.
“You’re probably right. Anyway, I’m sorry to worry you. I’m still not used to having a bodyguard follow me around all the time. It just slipped my mind to tell him.” It was a bald-faced lie. I knew when I left, that I was going to make Rome angry. I knew I should have told him, but I just needed a night to myself—a night to be a normal 29-year-old woman.
“Promise me you’re being safe?” Will asked.
“Cross my heart.”
I heard him sigh, and I geared up for a lecture from the professor—aka the most overbearing older brother. But the sound of Jackie in the background of the phone call must have caught my brother's attention, because in a flash, he was saying his goodbyes and hung up the call.
Who would have thought having a sister came with perks like that? The idea that Jackie was now my sister, or sister-in-law, was still hard to wrap my head around. For so long, it had only been my mom, Will, and me. Even when my parents were still married, they had hardly interacted with one another. When my dad was home, his attention was on my brother. The only time I did get his attention as a child was when he wanted to hurt my brother… by hurting me.
Mine and Will’s relationship was strained because of these dynamics. We did our best to be close, but I could see his guilt for leaving. He hadn’t admitted it, but I knew it ate at him to know that he left me in that household on my own. We were trying to be better and mend our relationship, but after all that our father had done, it was a long and rocky road.
I shook away the thoughts of my unnecessarily depressing childhood and focused on the work I had in front of me.
Chapter Five
ROME
It was almost my twin sisters’ birthday. The first birthday I had been around for since I was eighteen years old. That was sixteen years ago. They had just turned six, and we had a princess-themed party. My mom had somehow convinced me to dress up as a prince for the event, and my sisters still teased me over the costume I was forced to wear. The twins, Luna and Livia, barely remembered me living at home, but they did remember that party.
They were now twenty-two, living here in New York City, in our childhood home with the rest of the family—our sisters, our mom, and their dad.
And now me.
They were the reason I had asked Will, my former boss, to transfer me from the security detail of his wife in Oregon to the security detail of his sister here in the city. I wanted to spend more time with my family. I had five younger sisters who were now adults to keep an eye on, and I truly wanted to be a part of their lives.
While we always remained close during my various deployments and stations, I wasn’t able to show up for their important moments. I missed every single high school graduation, a cooking school graduation for one of them, and all of their proms. While they understood why I wasn’t there and that the Army kept me away, I wanted to be there now.
They were thrilled when I told them I was coming home… my mom more than anyone. According to her husband, Mateo, she had cried tears of joy for almost a week. I had enlisted in the Army at eighteen years old and was shipped to a base in Texas immediately. I hadn’t lived in the same state as her since.
I have only been here for a few months, but she has told me every day that it’s the greatest time in her life, because all six of her kids are under one roof again.
I had missed life with my family. There was never a quiet moment in our house, and most meals were spent together. They brought joy to my life that was incomprehensible. I was happy to be home, even if that meant working with Bec and dealing with her countless eye rolls each day.
After last night, I was starting to see her in a different light. I was glad she had forgotten about our conversation, but only because she would have been horrendously embarrassed. For selfish reasons, I did wish she had remembered, because Iwanted to get to know that Bec, the real Bec… not the facade she put on for the rest of the world.
When I asked Will to transfer me here and he had explained the job would be his sister's security detail—essentially her full-time bodyguard—I had assumed that it would be a rather stress-free job. From what I knew, she was a workaholic with little to no social life.
I had assumed she was a lot like her brother: grumpy toward everyone, but with a soft spot. I had assumed wrong. She was instead a walking ball of stress, ready to snap at any moment. The issue was that I was always a step behind her, meaning when she did snap, it was usually at me. She also seemed to have a bit of an issue understanding why she needed security.
As acting CEO of a major conglomerate, she received multiple death threats a week, had at least one stalker at any given time, and was always the target of her competitors. She was damned good at her job, which meant countless people would benefit from removing her from the competition. There was also the entire reason I was hired to keep her safe.
Will had taken over her security in the past year, a job previously handled by their father. When he did, he noticed a concerning lack of security for Bec. There were countless times when she was sent to events with no backup, and was harassed and bombarded by the press, fans, and crazed individuals. She seemed to think it was normal, having dealt with it like this for years.
Neither Will nor I could understand why her father had allocated so few security reinforcements to Bec… but I was here now.
Luckily for Bec, I was damned good at my job, too, and she remained safe. It also meant I had turned into a glorified babysitter.
