I huff. “None of the other girls on campus, taking the exact same classes as me, have some hunky guy following them around carrying their book bags for them.”
His eyes flood with mischief. “Hunky?”
I roll my eyes to hide my embarrassment. “You totally missed the point,” I sigh.
He pushes the front door open for me. “None of those other girls are married to me,” he says calmly, waiting for me to walk past him, but leaving just enough room so that I’m forced to brush against his perfect body. My hormones are in overdrive. My self-control is slipping, and I’m on the verge of embarrassing myself and having him reject me all over again, and I do not want to give him that satisfaction.
I can’t take this anymore.
I walk straight up to my room.
I’m not coming out again tonight. I need a break. I need time alone. I need to clear my thoughts and pull myself together, and Ican’tdo that when he’s around me all the time.
I walk into my bedroom, looking a lot more homey than when I first got here, and slam the door.
Except for the moment the door shuts, I have this overwhelming feeling that I’m being an absolute coward. I’m always telling people to face their fears. To be strong, to learn to grow with the things that bother them instead of hiding from them.
A low, annoyed groan slips from my mouth as I lean my back against the bedroom door.
There has to be a better solution to this problem. And part of studying psychology involves being a problem solver.
Suddenly, it dawns on me. It’s the most obvious solution. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Or maybe I did, but I was reluctant to ask. Because I like having him around. But I like it too much, and it’s not healthy for me.
With the idea set in my mind, I pull my bedroom door open. Kristopher will be in his home office now. He always goes there when we get home so that he can catch up on a few things. I imagine he’ll appreciate my idea. Surely, he’s too busy to be my babysitterandrun an entire city.
I want him to hire me a bodyguard. It’ll be a win-win situation for both of us.
I’m just outside his office when I realize he’s on the phone.
Now is obviously not a good time. I pause outside the door, out of sight. I should come back later or discuss this at dinner.
I turn away, but then I hear him snarl something in anger.
“There is no reason for you to be asking about her. We will sign the documents for the land I traded, and that is the only thing we need to be discussing,” he growls.
My heart skips a beat as I step closer to the door and tilt my head to the side to listen.
“No, Ali, but I'm curious about what connection you have to my father.”
There’s a tense pause. Ali. Ali Koskos. He’s talking to the man who ‘owned me.’ The man who had the power to sell me.
My chest tightens as anxiety knots inside my stomach, churning and twisting.
“It just occurred to me that my father might benefit from me losing that land. Three warehouses, an airstrip, a massive underground bunker…” he says, more calmly than before. I can hear it in his voice, how he’s fighting for control over his anger.
“Yes. My lawyers will contact you.”
The call ends.
I panic for a second, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. With my mind made up in a moment, I bolt down the passage, then stop.
The bodyguard idea can wait, but that doesn’t mean I have to run away.
Right now, my thoughts are swimming from the fact that he traded away a very large portion of land and valuable property to save me from that man. Why would he do that? Why would he give away so much for me?
And what risk does that pose for him? I remember what Jess said about their father wanting to have power overKristopher, even though he’s the one who keeps the businesses running.
Surely this puts him in a very dangerous position with his father?
