Page 53 of Kings of Seduction

Was it my father?

He couldn’t figure out an answer. And that was sending him straight to the worst level of paranoia, to the point that he pulled the curtains open to stare into the yard.

We couldn’t tell if he was thinking about something or just verifying that we weren’t under attack, but the wish to kill blooming in his eyes was making my skin crawl.

‘Why didn’t you call me earlier? These texts are from last night!’ His anger came spilling over us.

We didn’t know exactly who the question was aimed at, but no one seemed to dare to tell him that we slept all the way to noon.

Cole took the initiative of explaining things through. ‘Bea had a shock. We needed to focus on her at that time. Plus, Ferris doubled the guards, so the place is safe.’

‘Deciding on what?’ Brax, the security expert, was severely disturbed that any decision was made without his involvement.

And if I knew him well enough— which I did, that mistake wouldn’t be repeated again.

‘I want to talk to the head of the guards. And Ferris, tell Alfred to prepare me a room. I think it would be best if I were to stay here for a while. You know, so that things like this won’t repeat themselves again.’

At that point, I didn’t know what pissed him off more. The texts or the fact that he didn’t receive a call about them the second I got them.

Maybe we did make a mistake leaving him on the outside, but when it came to mistakes, I was sure the list of his own was endless.

‘Are these the only texts? Or have there been more?’ Brax asked while Ferris had left the room to search for the people he needed to find.

‘Just these. I would have told you last night if there had been more.’ I crossed my arms, peering straight through him. I was visibly annoyed that he came thundering and roaring into the room but didn’t stop for even a second to ask if I was okay.

Which I wasn’t.

I was scared and hurt, but mostly I was unsure about what the future held for us.

He was definitely not making things better as his attitude was getting colder by the minute, haunted by the thought of failure. He blamed himself for leaving a loose end even though he couldn’t tell exactly what he did wrong.

‘I want her guarded 24/7, understood?’ he growled towards Cole like he was the one to blame. ‘And I’m starting to think you should also have a guard, at least until we figure things out.’

‘I don’t need a guard. I’m not five.’ Cole laughed at Brax’s paranoid nature, although things were as serious as it got.

‘If this has something to do with the Governor, you too need a guard. And anyone else involved. Included Nat and Seb.’

Hearing my siblings’ names was only worrying me more. The chances were, if someone came after me, they would try to get me through them. That was making me choose not to oppose even a single word Brax said.

Until we figured out what was happening, personal guards were the best defense in front of the unknown.

‘I agree.’ I couldn’t believe I was saying it out loud, but Brax was right. We needed some kind of protection, not only for us but for the future of Echo City.

‘I’m glad we see eye to eye. Now I will ask you to go talk to Seb and Nat. I need to say something to the guys.’ Brax was sending me away. Apparently, I didn’t belong in their little chit-chat, or worse, I was the main subject that they were going to talk about.

I just agreed with him on something, and he was already ordering me around like he owned me.

‘I thought you said I was free of the deal.’ I put on a frown, trying to figure out how exactly he thought this was going to work.

‘You are, but that doesn’t mean you’re free to commit suicide. You got me into thisruling the citything. Now deal with it. I can’t run my businesses, deal with the elections, and have to worry about everyone in this house. That’s not how things work,’ Brax’s patience was fast reaching the end of the line.

I never put things in that perspective. Probably because he always seemed so powerful that it led me to believe he could juggle everything without much difficulty.

What if I was wrong?

Was I putting too much of a burden on a single man?

And what did he mean bythat’s not how things work?

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