Page 2 of The Bodyguard

My whole world is Strohamden. I love my country, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do for it in the name of duty.

I have a degree in economics and political science. I studied anthropology, art, and history. I devoted every minute of my life to educating myself, and I can walk a straight line with a stack of books balancing on my head too.

I can converse with heads of state over a variety of topics, and I can do so in my demure, un-flashy dresses and sensible shoes. I’m the right amount of passion, realism, and logic. But my father thinks I am not enough because I’m a girl. Sometimes I think even he realizes it’s a weak argument.

The only other person who understands me is my Uncle Neil, my mother’s older brother. My champion in the absence of my mother, Uncle Neil is my biggest supporter and campaigns my cause to my father. He touts the successes I have accomplished and makes impressive speeches to my father on why I should rule, but clearly to no avail.

In this instance, my father’s word is law.

“Hey,” Keira says, wrapping her arms around me at the sight of my tears ready to spill onto my cheeks. “It’s okay,” she soothes. She understands some of the pressures I’m facing, and I’m grateful I have her as my friend.

“It’s not okay,” I say wretchedly, drawing back. “It’s never going to be okay if I don’t do this.”

This being my mission to lose my virginity.

I shake my head. I’m not a heavy drinker. A princess has no more than one glass of champagne as a social gesture and not a drop more. What Keira gave me to drink tasted vile and seemed to be pure liquor disguised as something pretty, and now the alcohol has latched on to my blood. A warm, thick, fuzzy feeling flows through me, feeding me bouts of liquid courage.

I can’t be that person. I can’t live that life my father has chosen for me. But most importantly, I won’t disappoint my mother. This was what she nurtured me to be from the moment she first held me in her arms.

I am meant to be a queen. I thought my father would welcome that. He is a modern man, and he listened to me and respected my ideas and my knowledge. My mother had warned me. In the end, he reverts to tradition.

I brush my hair back but quickly realize I’m wearing a wig.

“I’m doing this,” I say with profound determination. I have to do this. For my mother. For my little sister, Lia, so she can grow up in a country that won’t discriminate against her because she’s female. I have to stand up to my father and upset his tight hold on antiquated traditions that should no longer apply in this day and age. And yet his sudden fixation on it seems out of place. It makes me wonder if something else is wrong.

But the only way I can secure my future is by losing my virginity.

I scan the private lounge area. The men playing poker are older. The other guys seem to have girlfriends. Okay then.

I silently vow that the first unattached and available man I see when I reach the last step of the staircase is the man I’m going to sleep with.

This time it’s me dragging Keira along. My step is confident and powerful. I’m Princess Sophia of Strohamden, and I won’t back down.

Until I reach the last step of the staircase.

My breath drops out of my body, leaving me instantly staggered, confused, and hot all over.

A six-foot-four frame of maleness blocks my path.

I know who he is. My body knows who he is. But my brain takes control, and I’m at once even more furious.

So my dad has sent his special weapon to take care of me.

The same man who continually denies my existence.

Kayne Langley.

---