‘What happened? Where was she? And where was Jared, more to the point?’ My chest tightens.
Jared’s new to the family and his approach is what some might describe as a little lacking. Personally, I’d call it lazy. When your only job is to protect a person, you do it with everything you’ve got.
Ryan removes his phone from his pocket, unlocks the screen and hands it to me.
An image of Victoria Sexton smattered with more blood than anyone could survive losing, glares back in technicoloured glory. Crimson stains the front of the ivory-coloured dress which has slipped down off her shoulder, revealing inch upon inch of creamy skin. She’s on her knees in what looks like a nightclub. A man with hair the colour of blazing fire sprawls lifelessly on his back on the floor beside her. Sheer horror is etched into every minute crease of her face.
It doesn’t take a doctor to work out he’s dead.
‘What the fuck?’ My stomach jolts like it’s been thumped.
‘Bad word!’ Bella shouts from across the lawn. Little legs power across the grass, the palm of her hand upturned in a silent demand.
‘Is she okay?’ My fingers locate another crisp note in my back pocket. I hand it over without taking my eyes from the photo.
‘She’s insisting she’s fine, but how can she be?’ Sasha pats Bella’s head and asks her to pick some daisies to make a chain. Anything to get her out of earshot.
Ryan coughs. ‘The thing is, Archie, I had to fire Jared. He’s supposed to be within five feet of her at all times. Instead, it turns out he was outside playing fucking Tetris on his phone.’
My blood boils and my facial muscles fight to keep their composure.
‘Anything could have happened to her.’ Sasha’s voice cracks as she clutches her chest. ‘I wish she’d just come home.’
She won’t. Not until she’s a fully qualified doctor. Maybe not even then.
Three things I’ve learnt about Victoria Sexton during her fleeting visits home over the years is that:
1. She’s hell bent on pursuing a career saving people.
2. She’s stubborn as fuck.
3. She’s never forgiven me for not taking the position as her bodyguard all those years ago.
Point three causes the proverbial penny to drop.
Victoria needs a new bodyguard. Again.
Ryan gauges my reaction tentatively.
I take a step back, sucking in a mouthful of air. I can’t do it. I couldn’t before, and nothing has changed. In fact, if anything, my attraction to Victoria has only heightened over the years. How can I watch her back when I can’t stop imagining her lying on it?
‘We need to know she’s safe.’ Ryan’s earnest eyes gaze into mine. ‘We need someone we can trust. She only has another six months until graduation. Hopefully, then she’ll come home. And so can you.’ He points at my cabin. My home. My sanctuary.
Would Ryan and Sasha want me anywhere near the place if they had any inkling I’m borderline obsessed with their little sister? To the point I haven’t even tried to date anyone else in over two years.
Then again, will they want me here if something happens to her because I refused to do my job and protect her? My grip on the phone tightens as I search the picturesque horizon I’ve come to love for some sort of inspiration that might justify my eschewal. ‘Ryan, I…’
‘Please, Archie,’ Sasha begs, a pleading hand palming my shirt. ‘You and Victoria used to get on so well. I don’t know what happened, but maybe you could put your differences aside for a few months? You might be the only person she’ll listen to.’
Doubtful. Very doubtful.
My gaze falls to the bloodbath in the picture again, and a weary sigh slips from my lips.
For fuck’s sake.
‘Please?’ Sasha asks again.
How can I say no when they’ve been so good to me? When they’ve become the family I never had. I was at the lowest point in my life when Jayden and Ryan gave me not only a ridiculously well-paid job, but a reason for living when all I wanted to do was curl up and die.
