But this was just a job, and I was just a check. His standing up for me was nothing but a part of his contract. Though I would have been lying to say it wasn’t affecting me entirely too much. My panties were easily soaked through. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Have you swept the house for cameras or microphones?” Ivan asked my brothers, and they shook their heads. Ivan’s smile was grim as he yanked cords and what looked to be tiny cameras out of both of his pockets. “Then I presume these don’t belong to either of you?”
They shook their heads again and Ivan dumped the stuff on the floor before he began stomping on it all. “I’ll do another sweep, and of course, a sweep after the housekeeper comes each time, too.”
My brothers looked at each other with unreadable expressions before they nodded once. “I see we have our sisters in good hands.”
Jones crossed his arms over his chest. “We would like to speak to our sister in private.”
Ivan was gone in seconds.
I mirrored my brothers’ stances. “Yes?”
“We only wanted to make sure you were settling in well and had met the help.”
I wanted nothing more than to point out that Ivan’s family wasn’t only much richer than ours, but they were also working with my brothers in some kind of capacity. I wouldn’t risk that if I were them, but I knew better than to open my mouth. I didn’t want any more problems, and I knew if I talked back, they would only make this situation much worse. I didn’t think it could get any worse, but… I wouldn’t put it past my brothers, especially since they were using Jane against me.
I nodded once.
“Good,” Jones continued. “Don’t fuck this up, Poppy. Do you hear me? Don’t go fucking your bodyguard, don’t go fucking anyone else, and do not piss off Donovan Madden.”
“Okay,” I said slowly but what I really wanted to say wasduh.
“Okay, what?” Jacob seethed quietly.
“Okay, I won’t sleep with my bodyguard or anyone else. I’ll mind my manners.”
“Fantastic.” Jacob stalked across the room to look out across to Central Park. “We will have weekly check-ins. Donovan Madden doesn’t want to wait.”
“What does that mean?” I scowled.
Jones let out an exasperated sigh. “It means that he would like to announce your impending engagement soon, but he can’t do that until you’ve both been seen togetherpublicly.You have to do a couple soft launches before the big one.”
“Are you expecting me to sleep with him?” I didn’t want to discuss any of these things with them, but I knew if I didn’t, I would only make them mad, and it would get taken out on Jane. I wanted nothing more than to ship her off somewhere they couldn’t touch her.
“No,” Jacob said at the same time Jones said, “Yes.”
“Which is it?” My eyes rolled to the ceiling.
“No,” Jacob repeated while he frowned at Jones. “You will save yourself for your wedding night like you’ve been doing all this time. He wants a virgin, and that’s what he’s going to get.”
“How do you know I’m a virgin?” I laughed, almost incredulously.The audacity.
“You’ve never been on a date, you’ve never really looked at the guys in our circles, and,” Jacob stopped as if he was unsure of giving away more details, but Jones was quick to fill inthe gaps.
“And your friends are rather chatty. They think you’re a prude.”
I snorted this time. “What’s new, I guess?” Amelia was the closest thing I had to a friend, and I wondered if she was the one who gave them this information. She loved to wine and dine rich men in her free time. She told everyone it was one of her hobbies and how she gained information.
“So keep saving yourself, don’t make us regret hiring a Cristof to come live in your home and…” Jones clenched his jaw. “Don’t tell Donovan that a Cristof is living here. Ivan has changed enough from university and boarding school days to be mostly unrecognizable, but the moment he finds out a Cristof is living under this roof, he might change his mind. We have to be careful about information.”
I nodded. If he wanted to dig into who was watching over me, he could do it himself. I wouldn’t trust or want anyone else in my home. I wouldn’t be the one to screw this up.
Jacob clapped once and rubbed his palms together. “We will see you next week, then?”
They were gone just as quickly as they came, and I let out a deep breath. I hated them. It hadn’t always been that way, but now that I was in all this mess, I didn’t want anything to do with them ever again. I wanted to run away with Jane and never look back, but I knew they would find us. They would spend their entire fortune to make sure I paid for it.
I sank down onto one of the couch cushions and buriedmy face in my hands. What the hell was I supposed to do? How did I even tell Ivan? Did it even matter?
