Page 7 of Bound to the Mafia Guard

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, rolling my eyes at the way this kid ran hot and cold. Flirting one second and then sulking the next. I really had no idea how this was going to go, but I could already tell it was gonna be a long semester.

"We both have roles to play here, Rowan. I’ll focus on keeping you safe, and you just focus on graduating."

"So, you already have a best friend so you can’t be friendly to me at all?” Rowan leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I get that you’re only here for the money, but we might as well make the most of it. We’re gonna be sleeping together anyway.”

I sighed and looked at him again.

His eyes were already glued to mine, challenging and intense as he tried to bait me.

"Look, Rowan, I get it. You're young and attractive and probably used to always getting what you want. But this isn't a game. Andro hired me to keep you safe, not to be your latest conquest."

Rowan laughed. "Is that what you think I’m looking for? An alpha conquest?"

"Isn't it?" I countered, turning onto the highway that led straight to the university.

Rowan was quiet, and I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. When he spoke again, his voice was softer and more vulnerable. "I don’t think so. I'm just tired of being someone who has to be protected all the time. What happened to me was serious and bad. It sucked. But it’s over now. If I can’t be trusted to be an adult and have adult needs and desires, then I might as well be back with Van."

His words hit me harder than I expected, but I couldn't afford to let my guard down, no matter how tempting it might be. "I see you, Rowan." I watched him to make sure he was listening as I poured my heart out. "I’ll do my best to give you space, but my job is to protect you. Me doing my job doesn’t mean you aren’t trusted."

“But it does mean I need to keep my hands and thoughts to myself.” He turned and stared out the window. “Ten-four, alpha.”

4

ROWAN

As soon as I stepped onto campus, my heart lightened for the first time in weeks. Freedom. Well, as much freedom as I could get with Trev shadowing my every move. But after being cooped up in the mansion, even the cramped dorm room felt like a luxury hotel. Which seemed insane. My dorm was ancient, cramped, and had at least ten layers of cheap paint on the walls. A far cry from the set-up I had at Andro’s house. But it was mine, and I could do whatever I wanted there. Mostly.

"You know where you’re going?" Trev's gravelly voice floated from behind me. "Wouldn't want you getting lost on your first day back."

I rolled my eyes, hitching my backpack up higher. "I think I can manage."

But as we hurried to my first class, everything felt both familiar and strange, like putting on an old sweater that didn't quite fit anymore. Students bustled around me, oblivious to the turmoil I’d experienced over the past few months. They had actual friends with them rather than a bodyguard paid to follow them around.

Friendships never came easily for me. I had some acquaintances from shared classes, though they had probably all graduated by now while I was out.

I slid into a seat near the back of the lecture hall while Trev took up his protective position by the door. As soon as the professor's lecture began, I lost myself in the routine of note-taking and academic discussion.

It was nice to be back.

But by the afternoon, my great plan of taking back-to-back classes didn’t seem like such a great idea after all. I was exhausted when I stumbled out of my last lecture, with a sore hand from furiously scribbling notes because I hated typing them. Not to mention, my brain had been replaced by jello, sloshing around in my head.

Trev reached for my backpack as we walked back to the dorm. "You look like you've been through the wringer."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." I didn’t like to admit my weaknesses, but letting him carry even a few pounds of books felt like a much bigger relief than it should have. "I forgot how intense it can be when everything's crammed together like this." Perhaps I should have been working out my brain the past few weeks rather than binge-watching television.

That night, we ordered Chinese food, and I did my best to get caught up on everything I had missed while I was out. It wasn’t easy to focus on anything with such strong alpha pheromones in my little room.

In between reading sections of my text book, I would pepper Trev with questions.

“Do you have an omega out there who’s going to be pissed off that you’re spending your nights with me?”

“No.”

“Got any exciting weekend plans for when you aren’t on babysitting duty?”

“No.”

With each one-word answer, I grew more frustrated. Couldn’t we just be friendly? Or maybe I was being too pushy? I was just trying to make conversation.

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