Page 45 of The Marriage Negotiation

"I was kind of hoping to get someone for Zaq," Patrick said. "I'm more worried about him than I am about me. Peter sees me as insignificant. He won't bother with me. It's Zaq that he is after."

Alejandro nodded before standing. He pulled out his cell phone as he walked to the far side of the room and began speaking. He was only on the phone for a couple of minutes before he hung up and came back.

"Do you have a spare bedroom?" he asked.

"We do," Patrick replied, "but it's not furnished at the moment. Why?"

"One of my employees will be here before you leave the building. He'll need a place to sleep during his off hours."

"We can pick up some bedroom furniture on the way home," I stated. I'd hate to make the guy protecting me sleep on the floor. Seemed kind of rude.

"His name is Jackson. He's very well trained. Until further notice, he will follow Zaq everywhere, keep him safe, and report anything out of the ordinary to you and to me. If he needs backup, it's only a phone call away."

"He doesn't follow me into the bathroom, does he?" The mere thought made me shudder.

"At home, no," Alejandro stated. "In a public place, he'll check the bathroom first before you go in. Jackson is not there to stop you from doing things. He's just there to make sure you are safe while doing them."

I suppose that was a compromise of sorts. As long as no one was watching me on the toilet I could deal with anything.

It was going to weird having someone follow me around.

"Do you really think Peter is crazy enough to do something to me?" I couldn't help asking.

"Yes," came the reply from several people in the room.

"Peter doesn't like being told no, Zaq," Patrick said. "He loathes not being in control of everyone and everything. Not only have you told him no, but you're not being obedient to him. That's going to piss him off."

I groaned as I sat back in my seat, rubbing my hands over my face. "How did I not know this about him?"

I felt as if I had been blind or stupid the entire time I'd known Peter. How could I not see that he was a complete loon?

"Peter is very good at hiding that side of himself," Patrick explained. "He's been doing it his entire life. No matter what he does, no matter how bad his actions are, he's able to spin a tale for our parents that they buy hook, line, and sinker."

I grimaced as I glanced at my husband. "That had to suck for you."

Patrick shrugged. "It's one of the reasons I went to the university that I did. Peter couldn't get accepted which meant he wasn't there to fuck with me."

"Yeah, but that's still a lot of years at home having to deal with him."

"I'm not sure you remember, but I was involved in a lot of after school activities. Not only did it keep me from having to be home to deal with him, but it looked great on my university application."

I did remember. I had joined one or two of the clubs Patrick had belonged to. I wasn't ready to admit I had joined them because of Patrick, but maybe someday I'd tell him.

"I feel like an idiot," I admitted instead.

"Hey, look at it this way," Patrick said. "At least you didn't marry him."

There was that.

We all went silent when Delancy's cell phone rang. He quickly answered it, but then looked at me.

"What?"

"Give me your cell phone," Delancy demanded as he held out his hand.

I frowned, but did as the man said. I thought he was going to look through it or something, but instead he held it out to Jake and said, "Midnight protocol."

Jake immediately got up and walked over to his desk. He opened one off the drawers and pulled a black metal box out. When he brought it over, Delancy placed my cell phone inside and Jake closed the lid.

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