“I didn’t know complaining was a part of yours.” Dylan was used to dealing with clients who
weren’t so terrified they hardly moved, let alone spoke, but Flora was a force of her own. Not only that
but this was also an entirely different case. He was only guarding. He was to prevent danger from all angles. Typically, he was the danger, and the change of pace was welcomed. For now, this line of work
would be enough. Granted, nothing had happened yet; he could see a future in this career path.
A male figure dashed down the hall at full speed toward Flora. Dylan didn’t wait to see if he
could recognize the man as an employee or friend of Flora’s. He reached for the unknown man’s covered neck. A dark fog of a tall figure was all he could see. The man’s body was slammed against the nearest wall, and Flora’s gasp brought Dylan back from his haze.
“Dylan, let him go now.” If Flora was mad earlier, she was pissed now. Dylan could now see it
was Michael, a fashion intern dressed in a black ensemble with a hood on covering his tear-stained face. Dylan had received a picture book of all employees of Flora’s thanks to her personal assistant Willow. Though he wasn’t sure he could trust her, it was the best information he could get at the time.
“Michael, what’s wrong?” Flora’s hand guided Dylan’s arm away from the intern’s neck, and she stepped between the two men. Taking a step back, his focus switched to Flora.
“Nothing really, harsh critique from superiors and all.”
“Critique or insults? From whom?” Flora asked, tilting her head slightly. Dylan could see her shoulders tense, and her fingers gripped the intern’s jacket. The man began to stumble over his words, and his face flushed a deeper red.
“Jessica.” He mumbled. Unable to make eye contact, he tried to slip away, but Dylan moved to block the intern in. That earned Dylan a flinch from the man and a glare from Flora.
“Interesting, have a better day Michael,” Flora said. She let the man go and continued
toward her meeting, for which she was now very late for.
Dylan began to see that her company was her baby, and discipline was not exempt from her parenting style. Dylan was sitting in one of three meeting rooms. He wasn’t fully listening to her as she went over her company policies on behavior and the consequences of not following them. Dylan was stuck on what had happened in the hallway with Michael. He felt bad for hurting the kid, but Michael could be Flora’s stalker. Just as much as her assistant Willow could be. He wasn’t ruling out anyone just yet.
Still, the kid was having a bad day, and he made it a thousand times worse. God, this civilian shit was hard. On his assignments, everyone outside his team was free game. It was only his first day, and being a bodyguard was significantly harder than being an assassin.
He looked toward Flora, back to the windows, then to each person’s face. He’d continue to learn about every employee who walked these halls. If someone were planning to harm Flora, he’d know. He’d… protect her. That was his job here. To protect. He wouldn’t kill them, but what would he do if he found the stalker? Then what? He’d have to do some more research to find out. Maybe the guys at the club would know. Dylan would ask during his shift tonight. He wasn’t too sure how to proceed with guarding Flora full-time with his shifts at Lust Lane. Did he bring her with him? Drop her off at the pack house? Hell no, she wouldn’t stay there. She’d probably sneak off, and then he’d have to track her ass down.
He had time to figure out how he’d proceed, at least. His first shift at the club wasn’t till Thursday. For now, he’d have to take it one day at a time.
5
FLORA
“Stop, it’s not safe,” Dylan ground out, placing his hands over Flora’s shoulders and maneuvering to walk in front of her. Ideally, a client would have a bodyguard in front and behind them, but Dylan was only one person, so standing in front was the best option in his mind. If something came flying at them, he’d be able to block it with his body.
With this potential stalker mess, Flora was on ten, her tension running high and her anxiety even higher. Having Dylan following her every move nearly every day for the past two weeks had been more stressful than what seemed helpful at first. She found herself constantly worried about him. Every night, he checked the alarms and slept in his car in the parking lot. Even though she offered her couch to him, he didn’t want to push their boundaries.
When they walked around the Dainty Rebel office, everyone stared. Flora got stares before Dylan arrived but now it felt as if the stares had intensified. Dylan said he didn't mind but was he saying that just so she wouldn’t worry about it? She constantly thought about him. Was he okay? Was he comfortable? It was getting ridiculous. Dylan was the bodyguard, not her.
“Look, I feel more comfortable and secure walking in front of you. I need someone literally watching my back,” Flora explained, trying to get back in front of Dylan, who was using his wide stance to block her.
“Well, that’s too bad sinceIfeel more comfortable and secure walking in front ofyou.” Dylan's snide voice fed Flora’s growing annoyance.
“How about you just do as I say?” Flora tried. She shoved her hands on his shoulders so she could move him. Didn't he ever see celebrities walking with their own security team? The guards were behind them — actually, there were usually bodyguards in front and behindandon the sides of the client. Damn that was a lot of guards. Only humans needed that many; she had Dylan, and he was an assassin, for Pete’s sake. He was more than enough.
Trying to understand Dylan’s reasoning was the first step in trying to get her way, but that soon turned into arguing because he seemed to only want to speak to her when they were arguing.
“How about you do whatIsay?”
“Stop using my words against me, Dylan. It's not funny. Isn’t it your job to make me feel safe?” Flora complained.
“Nope.”
