Peeking at her escort from under her lashes, she somehow found the courage to ask, “How long have you worked for Mr. Bounds?”
“Pretty much my whole life.” Caldwell had a deep, husky voice — almosttoohusky, like he smoked way too much. She never picked up any traces of smoke in his scent the rare times she was close enough to do so, though, so perhaps it was natural.
“Your whole life?” Her brow furrowed. “What did you do as a kid? Shine his shoes?”
The corner of Caldwell’s lips kicked up as they passed out of the range of the lights and into the long, dark tunnel of the forested path. “Nah. Mainly errands and things. He picked me up off the street when I was thirteen, so I wasn’t good for much.”
Mr. Bounds helped him out when he was just a kid?She tried to imagine the terrifying vampire bringing a boy under his wing and struggled. While he was kind to her the night she broke the rules, Mr. Bounds carried an air of such tightly restrained menace, she wondered how a child didn’t wilt under his gaze.
Zia curled her fingers into her thighs. It took an incredible amount of willpower to restrain her mouth, which wanted to ask a million inappropriate questions about what Caldwell knew of Mr. Bounds, what their relationship was like.
Why have I never thought to ask Caldwell questions about Mr. Bounds before?
A furtive glance at the hard planes of his face in the blue-black, pre-dawn darkness reminded her. Perhaps the reason he didn’t melt under Mr. Bounds’s gaze was because Caldwell also carried that air of… something around him. A dangerous, sinister sort of something.
She didn’t think it was just because they were vampires, either. It was in the way they carried themselves, how they moved, in how their eyes moved around them, missing nothing even when they were focused on her. It was almost like they were always waiting for someone to go for their throats.
It was like theywantedsomeone to try.
Painfully aware of the fact that she was sitting mere inches from a predator, Zia made a small, noncommittal sound in the back of her throat and watched as the path began to open up. Though her curiosity was strong, her sense of self-preservation was stronger.
If that’s really the case,she thought wryly,then why have I spent a year fantasizing about my terrifying boss?
Moreover, why was she so excited to spend time alone with him?
The light of newly installed lamps glowed like a beacon beyond the trees. As they got closer to the patio, Caldwell told her, “Michael will find you after sun-up.”
Her heart was beating so loudly, she almost didn’t hear him. Frowning, she replied, “But the workers aren’t going anywhere near the garden. I don’t think I need a guard anymore.”Or at all.
Those first two days were so unbearably awkward, she still cringed when she thought about them. Not only was she used to working completely alone, but she couldn’t even talk to the people around her if shewantedto. Michael glowered with so much menace that not a single worker dared make conversation with her.
“Non-negotiable, Miss North.” Caldwell pulled the golf cart to a stop by the bisected stairs. Resting his right wrist on the wheel, he turned his body slightly to pin her with an indecipherable look. “I know it’s a change, but it’s the way things are. Mr. Bounds wants you safe — and it’s my job to make sure he gets what he wants.”
Lifting his hand, he made a quick, impatient grabbing gesture with impressive claws. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?” she asked, already handing it over.
Caldwell waited for her to unlock the screen before he began swiping his thumb across the razor thin device. It lit up the hard angles of his face from below, making him look even more sinister. “I’m programming my number, Michael’s number,andMr. Bounds’s number in here. All you need to do is call one of us and we’ll come running.”
Mystified, she could only stare as he programmed one number after another into her contacts. “But…why?”
“If you’re in trouble,” he clarified, handing it back to her. A small, sardonic smile tilted one corner of his lips up. “Call Mr. Bounds first.”
When he handed the phone back, she stuffed it into her pocket. Zia shook her head. Sliding out of the cart, she said, “I never get in trouble.”
And even if she did, she couldn’t imagine calling her intimidating, painfully attractive boss for help. Her first call would be to Patrol. The elves weren’t exactly the warmest people, but they always did their jobs — particularly when it came to protecting their citizens.
Caldwell’s expression darkened. As if he could read her mind, he leaned forward and firmly instructed her, “You only call us, understood? Don’t want to call the boss, then you call me. If you’re in trouble, we’ll be the ones to fix it. Your safety is right up there with the boss’s, Miss North. Number-fucking-one priority.”
Utterly bemused, Zia could only nod. “I… okay?”
Apparently satisfied with that, Caldwell relaxed back into the driver’s seat and flicked his claws in the direction of the stairs. “Go on.”
Right,she thought, shaking herself,Mr. Bounds is waiting for me.
Adjusting her hat again, she turned on her heel and walked away from the golf cart. Caldwell’s eyes lingered on her, raising the hair on the back of her neck, but she tried to push aside her lingering unease. There had to be a good reason for the sudden interest in her safety, but she couldn’t for the life of her guess what it was.
Zia had never thought too hard about why security on the estate was so tight. She just assumed that it was because Mr. Bounds was — presumably, at least — incredibly wealthy. Perhaps there was something going on she couldn’t see, and that was why she was suddenly getting so much attention.
