Page 15 of Flirtatious

After my second refreshing gulp, I hear voices and know my precious peace and quiet is soon ending. Unfortunately, I don’t sneak away back up to my room fast enough to avoid hearing my mother and Liam having some discussion about security at the house here, and it doesn’t take more than a few words to make me see red.

“I think the changes I’ve started to make to the security here at the estate will be a big improvement,” he says with so much confidence that I want to charge out into the living room and ask the obvious question.

Why the hell do we have to change anything? What was wrong with the security the way it’s always been here?

My mother, of course, loves the idea of changing the security. She probably has him devising plans to see if a large wall around the property or a moat would be a good idea. Anything to keep me in where she can have her always-watchful eye on me.

“I appreciate you taking the time to assess the situation and make improvements, Liam. I knew Jonah made a good choice the first time I saw you,” she gushes.

Cool your jets, Mom. He’s half your age and has a perfect life to go home to, unlike the nightmare we have here.

Her fawning all over him sets my teeth on edge, and it’s not long before I march out to confront both of them. I find my mother reclining on the white tuxedo sofa like some woman in a painting waiting for someone to come by with a large palm and start fanning her. Liam’s standing a few feet away smiling at her like anything happening right now could be considered amusing.

How nice that both Javier and my mother have been on the receiving end of his happy smiles today.

When the two of them see me, all smiles disappear. Nice.

“You know, those people are professionals,” I say to him, not bothering to discuss this with my mother. It isn’t her money who pays everyone here.

“What makes you think you should be telling them how to do their jobs? Will you be instructing me on how to sing next?” I snap.

Liam looks dumbfounded for a few seconds. When he finally speaks, I get the sense that he’s not talking to me but to the room in general.

“Because we’re all working toward the same goal,” he says calmly, but that casual tone is forced. He likely wants to bark his opinion at me.

“Whatever I can do to help them I will, and they need to do whatever they can do to help me,” he continues explaining.

It all sounds very logical, but I hate it.

“What was wrong with what they were doing before?” I ask, silently adding to myself that Michael had no issues with anything the people here did when he was my chief of security.

Of course, my mother has to jump in and try to help Liam, her new favorite person around here. “Mia, he’s only trying to make sure you’re the safest you can be. That’s what we all want.”

By the time she gets to her second comment, I know it’s not only to help him. She’s trying to handle me. God, I hate being handled.

I throw her a look that tells her I’m not in the mood for what she’s trying to do, but Liam answers my question. “Nothing a little tightening can’t fix. There’s nothing wrong with making good even better.”

Now he’s trying to handle me too. I have to give him credit. He’s a quick learner. It only took him just over a week to figure out how to do that.

Except I’m not playing that game today.

I take a few steps closer to him and stop dead when he glares down at me. Flustered, I snap, “You’re trying to make my home a fortress to keep me trapped. I won’t let you do that.”

Once again, my mother tries to soothe my ruffled feathers, but I’m done playing nice with her today too. Spinning around to face her, I yell, “I ran away because I felt trapped. Why can’t you understand that? I’m like a prisoner in my own home, and now you think more security is a good idea? Did anyone ever think to ask me how I feel about that? About anything?”

My outburst shocks my mother into silence, but not Liam. Behind me, he says, “Regardless of why you did it, running away put you in danger. It’s my job to protect you, so there will be no more running. If you want to go somewhere, I’ll be with you from now on.”

Every word out of his mouth sounds more and more oppressive, so by the time I spin back around to face him, I don’t even try to stop myself from getting in his face. I’m a foot shorter than he is, so it’s not exactly like I’m in his face, but the intention is the same and he understands immediately, if the surprised look in his eyes is any indication.

Pointing my finger up at him, I square my shoulders and say, “I am not a child. I do not need you with me whenever I want to go anywhere. I am not the President’s daughter, and you are not my Secret Service detail. If I want to go somewhere and I don’t want you hanging on me, I’ll decide what’s going to happen, not you. You can follow behind where no one can see you so I can live my life as I please. That’s how it will be from now on, Liam. If you don’t like that, then don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”

I don’t know why, but once I finish laying down the law for him, I don’t storm out like I should since I can feel the tears welling up inside me, threatening to spill out all over the place and make me look like some overwrought teenage girl. Instead, I stand there staring up at him, unable to move.

For his part, he doesn’t flinch either. We’re like two enemy soldiers on the field of battle, neither of us willing to back down. Of course, the field of battle is my living room in my house and on my estate, so if I wanted to, I could simply have him removed from the premises.

Why I don’t do that is something I truly don’t understand. Let him go back to his perfect life with his perfect girlfriend who loves him because he’s big, strong, and protective. I should just send him packing.

But I don’t.

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