I craned my neck to look up the staircase that stretched on the left side of the entryway. Jane jumped up and down. “It goes up to the library, private terrace, and solarium!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. To her, this was a very lavish vacation. I wished I could enjoy it like she was. “How do you know that?”
She wiggled her phone in my face. “I looked up the listing online! This place is… everything!”
I swept my hand forward. “Lead the way, then!”
“I thought you would never ask!”
We stepped past the foyer and right into the lavish sitting room that was already furnished. Beige and white, fluffy couches and chairs surrounded a granite coffee table, and just beyond all of that were a few steps that led to glass double doors. Which, of course, overlooked Central Park. To the left was the living room that was also furnished similarly to the sitting area, and to the left, just beyond the wood-burning fireplace, was a hallway.
My stomach bottomed out, and a little gasp escaped my lips. Standing in the doorway was none other than Ivan Cristof. He leaned against the wall with one foot crossed over the other as he watched us take in our new home. I should have freaked out, screamed even, but I knew withouta shadow of a doubt we were safer now than we had been before.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” his deep voice rumbled over me, and I found myself forgetting everything about Donovan Madden.
“What are you doing here?” My voice came out breathless and wanton.
Jane elbowed me in the ribs and raised a brow at me. I was in trouble now.
He straightened from the wall, and with deliberate, sure steps, he ate up the space between us. “I am your new bodyguard.”
He… he was the one his grandmothers wanted to look over me? Of course.Of course.All the guns made sense now. They’d probably called him in long before they tried to make all of this happen. He wasn’t here for no reason; he was here to work for them… work for me.
Jane let out a little giggle. “Do you know which room is mine?”
“Last room at the end of the hall,” he hooked a thumb over his shoulder, and she skipped right out of the room, but not before she shot me the most diabolical look in existence. She was going to make my life miserable until I told hereverything.I just knew it.
“When you accepted the job, did you know it was going to be me? Did you know when everythinghappenedthat you would end up watching over me, or have you been working secretly to watch over me until this moment?”
“I didn’t know anything about you or your family beforeI came to the city for my brother’s wedding stuff. I was simply here because of another job, and then after yesterday’s scare, I couldn’t turn down the contract even if I wanted to.”
Something about the way he said it made the hair on my arms stand on end. “What do you mean?”
He raked his fingers through his hair as he frowned. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here to watch over you and make sure what happened yesterday doesn’t happen again. I’m to be your shadow and your hired gun, that’s all that matters.”
His words were so sad, I wanted to prod, but then the elevators in the foyer dinged open and Ivan shoved me behind him as my brothers came into view.
Ivan let out a small growl that was only loud enough for us to hear. “I need to know everyone who has a keycard to that elevator.”
“We have a maid that will come twice a week,” Jones started, and Ivan held a hand up.
“No.”
“What?” Jacob laughed.
“No, if she wants to come up, she will be let up by the doorman after we approve it. Continue.”
His commanding tone did something to me, and I found my stomach clenching. I fought to press my thighs together.
Jones rolled his eyes. “Okay, Donovan Madden,” Ivan didn’t interrupt for him, but his eyes darkened, and I swore I saw something pop in his jaw. “Both of us and the doorman.”
Ivan nodded. “You aren’t allowed to show up here unannounced again. This is Poppy’s home, not yours.”
Jacob wrinkled his nose. “Excuse me? Who do you think you are?”
“Look, I doubt very much that you would come here in the middle of the night,” he paused and made a face. “I don’t know any of you very well, but in case you decided to, you would be left holier than Swiss cheese. This could also happen at any other time because anyone coming up should be approved first. Have the doorman announce your presence and call up, I don’t care, but if not, you might find yourself a little dead.”
Both of my brothers looked visibly shaken, and if it wasn't for the fact that Ivan was my new bodyguard, I probably would have shoved him into my new bedroom and christened it in every single dirty way I could think of.
