Page 20 of Finding My Bodyguard

“My mind has been at war. On one hand, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, but on the other, I feel guilty. Marrying to strengthen my family is something I always knew I had to do. I looked forward to it until I didn’t.”

I understood exactly where she was coming from. It was the same way I had felt when I chose to leave the cartel and become a surgeon.

“As a kid, I wanted nothing more than to follow in my father’s footsteps. He was this big, powerful man that everyone feared, and I wanted that… wanted to be just like him… wanted to fulfill my duties as the son of a cartel boss.”

“What changed that for you?”

“My mom overdosed, and my brother was murdered in the name of this glorified business. I decided that I didn’t want to glorify it anymore.” I stared out at the water as I spoke.

“You still benefit from being associated with the cartel, though. That ever makes you feel guilty… like you didn’t earn it cause you not living up to your part?”

I nodded my head. That was something that plagued me often. No matter how much I accomplished… how much I distanced myself from my family business, I would always be known as London’s son—heir to the London Cartel.

“Every damn day.”

“How do you find peace with that?” She turned her body toward me. The sun glistened in her brown eyes.

“I find my peace in knowing that every day I wake up, I’m living the life I chose and breaking the toxic cycle I don’t care to be a part of.”

“I’m never going back,” she mumbled to herself. It sounded as if she was trying to speak it into existence. She nodded her head as she returned her attention to the water. I touched her exposed thigh, and we sat there for a minute, watching the ocean. Deciding to free herself from the toxic cycle was huge. I wanted to find a way to reassure her that she had made the right choice.

“I was thinking…” I interrupted our silence. “We should celebrate your breakup and independence.”

“Celebrate?” she questioned. Her eyes said she wasn’t sure where I was going with this.

“Yeah, I want to plan something special for you.” She deserved it for all she had endured.

“Like a date?” Her voice rose an octave as the realization of what I was asking set in.

“No, like two friends celebrating one friend’s breakup from a lame ass nigga,” I replied, making her laugh and roll her eyes at the same time.

“A date.” She reiterated. I shrugged. It was a date, but my willingness to keep us platonic was strong.

“Whatever you want to call it, Monroe. Are you down?”

She turned her head away from me and tapped her pointer finger on her jaw as if she was in deep thought.

“Oh, you gotta think that damn hard?” I tossed a handful of sand at her. Monroe burst into laughter as she returned the sentiment. We stayed that way for a minute, tossing sand back and forth at each other like elementary school kids, sharing laughter.

“Okay, okay.” She held up her arms in surrender. “I would love to go on a date with you, London.”

“Be ready at six,” I informed her as I stood from the sand. I had a special night to plan for a special woman.

London

“What’s the update?” I questioned Meechie as I waited for Monroe to come downstairs for our date. Meechie had eyes and ears on Monroe’s dad, as well as Kashus, so we could stay one step ahead of them. I had a plan, but there were a lot of moving parts and things that needed to fall into place for it to go well.

“Nothing, nobody suspects anything yet. I had her security do a few check-ins from his phone. He has been telling whoever calls that she’s not in the mood to talk since she’s recovering from surgery. Anybody that would be concerned thinks she’s sleeping and just doesn’t want to be bothered or some shit.”

I sighed in relief. Monroe’s disappearance being undiscovered meant I didn’t have to rush back to Miami and start damage control. I wanted to spend as much time with Monroe as possible. Being around her was peaceful as fuck, and I wanted that feeling for as long as I could have it.

“Perfect,” I replied as I glanced at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t a pretty nigga. I knew a nigga was handsome, and I knew how to dress, but this date with Monroe had me so nervous. I couldn’t stop checking my appearance in the mirror.

“Everything good on your end, nigga? She good?” Meechie asked.

“Yeah, she is good. I took her by Aunt Vanessa’s this morning.” I waited to see what he was going to say. Like Aunt Vanessa had said earlier, I didn’t bring women to meet her much. Cuba was my safe space, literally. This villa had been meant to be my safe house. It was where I was supposed to disappear in case things ever went left. I never wanted to bring a woman here and risk my peace and safety. I wasn’t an active member of the cartel anymore but that didn’t mean I was free and clear. As London’s son, I was still a target. Being born into the cartel was something that would haunt me forever. The decision to bring Monroe here wasn’t made lightly. I trusted her, and it made sense to take her to my safe space so she could have safety.

“Oh shit, you took her to meet Auntie Nessa before she met me? Then Polo met her already, too. Nigga, I'm jealous!” Meechie shouted into the phone. I smirked as I made my way over to the couch and took a seat.

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