Page 129 of The Bodyguard

“She was a crazy fan at the end of the day, Nick,” I said to him.

“I shouldn’t have slept with her. I should have listened to you.” He shuddered. “God, I’m glad you are okay.”

“You can sleep with whoever you like. I was trying to protect my friend from you.” I shook my head.

“Me?”

“Yes. I thought you’d shag her and dump her.”

“I don’t promise women anything,” Nick said.

“Well, she thought she was going to the Golden Globes as your date,” I told him.

“Not because...oh wait, she asked me about that when...well, while we were in the middle of things. You know. I just agreed to...you know.” He held out his hands. “Surely she doesn’t hold a man to whatever he says in the middle of an orgasm.”

Ryder had walked in and growled. “Gina did. And she shot Savannah because of it.”

Nick lifted his brow. “He still here?”

I couldn’t hide my smile. I’m not that good of an actress. “Yes,” I replied.

And thank god he had been. Those few days after the shooting, I was scared and needed him with me.

But Ryder wasn’t here now.

Instead, Marshall was milling around the house, and yesterday Aidan was here. Plus, the two guards on the gate.

But no Ryder.

I feel like the other half of my heart has been ripped away from me.

“Did you really tell them I was your wife?” I asked him the next day while eating one of the bland hospital meals.

His gazed had darkened.

“Yes. But I made sure the hospital knows I lied, and that I was your bodyguard, using it to get past procedures during the emergency.” Ryder told me. “And the Black Hawke Security tech team is keeping a close eye on the media to ensure nothing has been leaked to the media in that regard.”

Oh.

“I wasn’t worried—”

“I know how this works, Savannah. You don’t need to explain,” he’d said.

And from that point onward, he’d been distant.

The way he’d wrapped me in his arms as if he cared, or maybe even more, when I woke up disappeared like smoke.

Briar had arrived a few hours later and then Michelle and even more people. For the next few days, there was a stream of visitors and while Ryder was there, he remained in the background acting only as my bodyguard.

It was only when I woke during the night that I’d find him sitting beside my bed holding my hand, dozing.

I let him brood. I knew he was freaked out about nearly losing me after what had happened to him previously. So I thought we would talk when I got home.

I never got the chance.

Aidan arrived the morning I was released and drove me home. I held back my tears until I was alone in my bedroom. Then let them flow.

I can’t believe he just deserted me.

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