Page 45 of Provoke You

“You don’t believe me?” I cringed at the whine in my voice. He did this to me. Every time I tried to be more, be better, he’d talk in circles around me and make me doubt myself. “I’m telling you someone tried to kill me.”

“Ela, you drink so much that sometimes it’s hard to tell what is true and what isn’t.”

“It is true.” Matt stepped closer, pursing his lips.

To Dad’s credit, his cheeks turned red. When he glanced at me again, there was true pity in his eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

“You have to call off the deal on the Baroness. I don’t know. I think your investors are getting a bit over zealous.”

Dad let out a long sigh. “What does one thing have to do with the other. Ela, listen to yourself.”

“Why else would someone come after me?”

“I’ve told you. All your Instagram antics would somehow come back to hurt the family. I’m sure one of your followers got a little too carried away.”

“This has nothing to do with social media, Dad.”

“Enough.” He glanced at Matt, who had decided this was the perfect time not to speak up. “You impressed me. Anyone else would’ve ran out the door after a few days with Ela. I know the thirty days are not over, but if you still want it, the security job is yours. Jennifer will assign someone else to Ela’s security detail.”

The thought of not seeing Matt again blurred my vision. My heart raced. I stared at Matt and waited for him to say something. If it hadn’t been for him, I’d be at the bottom of that lake. Why would Dad want to take him away from me? But everything Matt did was because of this job Dad dangled over his head. Matt had exactly what he’d come for.

“I appreciate the offer, sir. But I’m afraid I can’t accept. I’m required elsewhere.” Matt laced his hands behind his back. His tone was so calm and so final.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Good people are hard to find. Ela, stay at the house tonight. I’ll have Jennifer send your new bodyguard there.”

“You know what? Save it. I liked you better when you weren’t pretending to care.” I stormed out of the office and went straight to the stairs. A big part of me had hoped Dad would hold me and tell me he believed me, that he would cancel the deal. The other smaller part of me knew that was never going happen.

I went down three floors, then stopped at the landing. What was my next move? Matt turned Dad down, but did that mean he’d stay with me? I turned around to go back and find him but ran into a massive chest instead.

My legs froze when long fingers gripped my arms. The pain shot up my sore shoulder and panic set in. Matt’s words spiraled in my head. Don’t hesitate. I pretended the guy’s stomach was a sofa cushion and punched as hard as I could. Another set of arms grabbed me from behind and pulled me away.

“Ela, stop. It’s us.” Matt’s voice turned my legs to jelly. I slipped down his body. He held me in place but let me sit on the floor. “You’re okay.”

“That’s a hell of a punch.” Chase glanced down on me. Not mad, but also not smiling.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

“No worries. I saw you run out. I had to check on you.” He understood why I was so jumpy. When would this feeling go away?

“We’ll meet you out front.” Matt exchanged a look with Chase before he turned to me, while the “we” rang loud in my head. “Well, you were right.”

“About what?”

“I lost my job.”

“More like you gave it up. Gosh, this was such a waste of time. I’m sorry.” I brought my knees in and stuffed both hands in my hair. Matt sat next to me and rubbed my arm until I stopped crying. Was patience part of his training? “Do you believe him? Do you think I made all this up to get him to stop the deal on my hotel?”

“Of course not. I was there. Those guys were not your regular social media groupies. They were sloppy in their planning, but they definitely had some sort of training.”

I swallowed my tears. Just knowing Matt believed me made me feel less alone, less crazy. “Chase is still here doing his marine thing. Does that mean…are you leaving? Are you leaving me?”

The door below us slammed open, and Jennifer rushed in, cheeks red and sweaty, like she’d run up and down the stairs to catch up to me. “No questions. Here.” She shoved a sticky note in my hand. “Find Ben.”

“What is this?”

“Just find him. And be careful.” She hugged me tight before she ran up the steps.

“Jennifer, wait. What does he know?” I twisted my body in place to project my voice, but she’d already gone through the door on Dad’s level.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a waste of time after all.” Matt shot to his feet and offered me his hand. “Yes, I’m staying with you. If you want me to.”

“I need you.” My legs quivered when I stood, but he supported me until I found my footing. I handed him the piece of paper that was obviously written for him.

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