Hating My Bodyguard

5. A warning

ZURICH

“What in the actual fûck!” Katlyn snapped, the shocked expression on her face quickly turning into one of rage. “What do you think you are?”

“Your bodyguard.” I answered, but my eyes were glued to her hands. The way she held them under the running water and how pink they were as if she had been—

“Get out!” She yelled at me, hiding her hands behind her back.

I lifted my gaze to hers and replied, “I told you not to lock the door.”

I watched as her dark eyes flashed and how she gritted her delicate jaw. “It’s not even a whole day and I’m already tired of you.” I didn’t respond, because I didn’t think she was even worthy of one. As if guessing my line of thoughts her nostrils flared and she took a step toward me. “I am going to tell my father that this is not going to work out.”

“Sure. I was thinking the same.” She faltered at my response. I continued, “We will have to set some rules for someone like you, because obviously you can’t keep your word.”

“You fûcking—”

“Kat? Oh my god, what happened here?” Her friend Jenny slipped by my side and entered the washroom.

“Are you okay, Kat?” Her other friend, the touchy one, Oliver asked as he came to stand beside me.

I watched in fascination as her clenched jaw relaxed and how her eyes widened as if in innocence as she replied to her friends, “Oh, everything is fine. My bodyguard just had a momentarily laps of control when he thought I was in danger.” The way her lips curled up in a smile was a pure form of art which I had never seen before. It was too real to be fake and yet I knew she was faking it from her wide eyes to her pretty smile.

“My bad. I’ll settle it with the authorities.” I said for the benefit of our audience.

“Come on, come out of there.” Oliver waved at the girls. “We don’t have a whole day to stand outside the bathroom stalls, we need to plan a comeback party for Kat.”

“We do!” Emma and another guy joined.

I watched as Kat stepped outside with her friend, Jenny’s arm linked through hers. But the moment she was within reach, Oliver threw his arm around her shoulders and my eyes narrowed on him. When I felt the weight of someone else’s gaze on me, I turned to find Kat glaring at me. Of course, she had no problem with her friend touching her, all her problems were related to me.

It’s not like I was a having a time of my life. Not even a fûcking day and the brat was already testing me with her stubborn attitude and disobeying me like I wouldn’t mind teaching her a lesson in obedience. I took a step back from the line of thoughts my mind was conjuring up and followed her as she got swept away by her friends. I had already filed all their names and told my own guy to do a background checks on all of them to be sure that the stalker wasn’t one of them, because you can’t be too sure, as in most cases the stalker is always someone you already knew. And even though I disliked her, it would be a cold day in hell if I let someone hurt her on my watch.

Thankfully rest of the day went by easily with her surrounded by her friends as they planned a party for her. I didn’t let her know that she won’t be attending any party because I wouldn’t be accompanying her and without me she wasn’t going anywhere. It would be much fun later to ruin her plans. That thought brought a little smile on my face and just then she turned to look at me and ordered, “Let’s go. My classes were already finished, I just wanted to sit with my friends a little longer.”

I felt my eye twitch, but I curbed my response and nodded my head for her to walk in of me. A few steps later, she turned around and said, “Walk beside me.”

“No.”

“Are you always going to walk behind me?”

“Yes.”

She huffed. “I really need to talk to my father.”

“Complaining to Daddy, already?”

She pursed her lips at my words and looked me up and down as she took a step toward me. The students around us paused to stare but she seemed to not care as she said, “Yeah, because if I took care of it myself you won’t be able to handle it.”

I took a step closer to her which brought us toe to toe as I replied with a calm tone, “Try me.”

.

“Let Theo guard me during the day, Daddy, please.” Katlyn pleaded, with that innocent expression and wide eyes that screamed fake but her father obviously couldn't distinguish between real and fake as the old man looked conflicted as he gazed back at his daughter. “Daddy, I promise, I’ll behave.”

I wanted to roll my eyes. The moment I had pulled the car in her parents’ driveway, she had jumped out and made her way straight to her father's office. Without a courtesy knock, like an ill-mannered brat that she was, she had entered and demanded of her father to fire me. But because she couldn't come up with any appropriate reason, now she had resorted to trying to replace me with her old guard, Theo, and suggested that I could guard her bedroom door at night. The audacity of this woman.

“Daddy—”

“Enough, Leena.” Mr Barsetti covered his eyes for a moment, seeming to be tired of his beloved daughter and to be honest I shared the sentiment.

I was standing at her back so I saw how her stance changed as if readying for a fight. “We have already had this discussion, didn’t we? Why are you making this difficult for yourself?”

“Daddy...” I frowned. Because in all the years, two and half to be exact, I hadn’t ever heard her use that tone. “I feel suffocated. He is always walking behind me, he even broke down the door to the washroom.”

Her father’s eyes came to me over her shoulder but I was still focused on her soft trembling voice and something told me she wasn’t faking it this time. “I am not...” She took a breath as if collecting herself as she said, “I would like to have Theo instead of him, at least in college so it wouldn’t be—” This was the third time she had stopped herself from finishing her thought and it didn’t take a genius to understand that it was because of me.

“Leena,” Mr Barsetti’s tone reminded me of the way one talks to a child. “You have known Z for a long time, and I’m sure you’ll become comfortable in his presence too. And about Theo, he’ll accompany you to your new place. You’ll have him there by your side.”

I cleared my throat and had her father’s attention. “I have some stipulations of my own.”

“Now, what is this, Z?” Mr Barsetti sounded like he’d like nothing but to be done with this meeting.

“I signed your contract and agreed to your terms and conditions.” I flicked my gaze to his daughter that we both knew was as obstinate as they come. “But after today, I have my own conditions if I am to keep your daughter safe.”

“What is it?”

“She needs to listen to me and obey my every command when I say it.”

Until now she was standing, facing her father but at my words she whirled around with eyes narrowed in anger. “What the hell did you just say?”

I ignored her as I met her father’s gaze and said, “Today’s incident happened because she didn’t follow a simple order. I told her to keep the door unlocked so I could be available at a moment’s notice without any delay if something happened but she chose to ignore me.”

She let out a scoff. “Like someone’s going to attack me in a fûcking toilet. There is something wrong with this man.”

“He is right, Leena.” With a gasp that seemed horrified and a little hurt, she looked at her father, betrayed. “You need to understand the severity of the situation, Leena. Your mother and I won’t be able to handle it if something happened to you. The last attack was already too much, it’s still giving me nightmares.”

“I understand, Daddy, and I am not telling you to not do what you think is the best. But don’t make me a prisoner, daddy,” A hint of panic entered her voice. “Please, Daddy, you can’t let him have the control of my life.”

“I am not going to control you, I’m going to keep you safe.” I didn't know why I answered but I noticed the difference in her body language. And I knew what it meant. I have seen it before.

“Shut up!” She yelled at me. And grabbed the penholder from the desk, I saw it coming even before she had it in her hand and I ducked down just in time. The wooden holder cracked and fell in pieces on the floor after slamming into the wall behind me.

“Leena!” I watched as Mr Barsetti rounded the desk and quickly hugged her tight.

I wrenched my gaze away as I heard him murmur softly for her ears only but at the back of my mind I went back to another moment in this office, when something similar had happened and later how Mr Barsetti had handed me a file with a warning. I hadn’t opened that file because I didn’t have time or so I told myself. But it seemed I’ll have to.

“Is it okay now?” I heard Mr Barsetti ask. Then, “Good. Now, why don’t you go and spend some time with your mother before you leave. She was already too anxious but now more so when I told her that you’ll be living in your own apartment.”

Kat didn’t glance at me as she left the room but I saw her pale reflection which had me wondering. As the door shut behind her, Mr Barsetti sighed and said, “Look, Z, I understand why you’re asking for her cooperation. I know it’s important for you to do your job. But, please be patient with my daughter. She’ll need time to adjust to your presence, and for her to obey you— even a little bit— depends on her trust in you. If she doesn't trust you she won't listen to you.”

“Then how am I supposed to protect her, if she keeps disregarding my orders and does whatever she wishes?”

“I asked for you because you're good at this, Z. Find a goddamn way, I don't care. I just want her safe.” He looked out of patience and frustrated, I could understand but I didn’t like what he was saying.

“With all due respect, if she’s not going to cooperate how the fûck am I supposed to keep her safe?”

Instead of answering my question, he asked one of his, “Did you read the file I gave you?”

“No. I was busy checking out the apartment and getting background checks done on the residents. I also needed to tie up the loose ends for this job.”

He nodded. “After what happened last time, I am afraid that her stalker had become desperate to have hurt her, because nothing like that had happened before. We need to take extra precautions, and that includes not letting her out of sight. I know my daughter is a little difficult but she’s not bad. I want you to read her file and then hopefully you’ll understand and come up with a solution.”

He swallowed as he met my eyes and said, “You’re allowed to make decisions for her, I’m trusting you with her safety. I’ll tell her to listen to you but, Zurich,” He walked toward me, “Remember your job is only to protect her. Touch her for anything other than to keep her safe and I won't care that you’re Gabriel Wolfe’s childhood friend, I’ll kill you myself even if it meant having him come after me. My daughter is very precious to me, and you’re only here to protect her from every f*****g harm. Not just the stalker but also the world around her.”

He didn’t have to give me that warning, I wouldn’t touch his daughter with a three foot pole.

.

A. Gupta

Three foot pole, huh?

When will he eat his own words?