Page 52 of Bodyguard My Heart

“Breathe. She’s her crazy self.” Aliza patted me on the arm as she brushed past me. I smirked as I pushed open the hospitalroom door. Samara’s eyes immediately found mine, and we stared at each other for a minute.

“You’re here,” she said. “And on a scooter, wow.”

“Where else would I be?” I moved closer to her.

She cracked a smile at me, and my nerves were immediately gone. Slowly, I pushed up to her bedside. My hands found hers, and I wasted no time kissing her lips.

“I thought I had lost you,” I said.

“I thought I was dead,” she replied as we embraced. Words couldn’t express how happy I was to see her alive and well. When I thought she wouldn’t make it, my ass couldn’t even fucking breathe. I kissed her again, and she jerked, making me jump in fear I’d hurt her.

“What’s wrong?” I questioned.

“I just thought about my dad. He… is he…”

Her words trailed off the moment my head lowered. I didn’t want to be the one to tell her. Royale had received a call a few days ago, confirming that Julez’s plan to kill his father had gone through. They found him dead in his jail cell. The news had taken a back seat to Samara’s health, but it placed a gray cloud over our heads. Mr. London was a fucked-up man, but he’d been an influential part of our lives, whether good or bad.

“He’s gone,” I confirmed. Her head lowered in sadness, but no tears fell. I didn’t blame her for not crying. Samara’s relationship with her dad was nonexistent. I hated she would never be able to get closure now, but that was the way shit went sometimes. We sat in silence for a minute. I didn’t know what to say.

“They said I can be discharged in a few days.” She broke the silence between us.

“I already found us a house. I figured my place was a no, and yours is too damn small.”

“A new place?” She sounded hesitant. We’d discussed this in Haiti and agreed to go at her pace but after everything that had happened, it was a no-brainer now. I needed Samara in a place where I could keep her safe. A nigga was scared to let her out of his sight. Her facial expressions changed, and I knew she was about to say some shit that was gon’ piss me off.

“I don’t want to stay in Miami.”

“I know. That’s why I found us a house in Coral Springs.”

“No, like I don’t want to live in Florida at all. I want to get as far away from here as possible. Like somewhere people don’t know me as a London.”

I stared at her. I ain’t want to say the wrong thing. Fabian’s words were echoing in my ear. I couldn’t make her do anything. Instead of telling her we were moving into the house in Coral Springs, and that was that, I tried something different. Just listening.

“Tell me what’s going in that pretty head of yours?”

“What if they come back?” she whispered. The fear in her eyes had me ready to retrieve Ashton and Julez’s bodies from the ocean and kill their asses again. I squeezed her hands tighter.

“They gone, Samara. They not coming back either. I made sure of that.”

“But someone else will be plotting on us and looking for your weaknesses. People think our lives are perfect when we are just as fucked up as everybody else.”

She had valid concerns. Samara never wanted to be involved in this lifestyle. Now she’d been kidnapped and shot due to it. I was the man with all the answers, but I struggled to find the right thing to say to ease her mind.

“Baby girl, whatever I got to do to make you feel safe again, I’ll do it.” I was willing to do anything. I’d blow this motherfucking city up if I had to.

“Leave the cartel.”

Not that,I thought.

“We’ll increase security around you. Move as far away as workable, but leave the cartel, Samara. That’s unrealistic you know that.”

“Why? You said yourself you never wanted to be Capo. Move away with me. We can start a new life. A regular life.”

I stared at Samara. I wanted to scoop her up out of this hospital bed and run away with her, but shit wasn’t that simple.

“Samara, it ain’t that easy. The cartel is weak right now from all this bullshit. I have to work around the clock to get everything back on track. I can’t just leave.”

She stared at me, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her chest was caving in from her sporadic breathing.

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