Page 47 of Bossy Bodyguard

Just for a while. Keep it together, Emma.

I eyed Cillian’s broad back when he opened the double doors of one of the many study rooms, but it made my gut churn because it was the same study…

Stay calm. You are safe, Em. Cillian is here. Damon too, and even if he is an asshole, he won’t let anything happen to you.

“You took your time,” my brother said, taking a seat on the couch. My eyes averted to the empty shelves and closed windows. The musty smell of dust and something dark clung to the air.

I took a deep breath, and it seeped into my body, slowly at first, then all at once. I couldn’t walk. Couldn’t move. I felt frozen and bound by invisible hands that had once, many years ago, touched me without my consent. Made me feel uncomfortable with their exploration and coaxing gnarly voice with and twisted laughter when I couldn’t escape.

“Doll,” a soft whisper on my right made me snap out of my thoughts, and I blinked at Cillian’s piercing eyes. Unlike other times, they seemed soft and concerned.

“Take a seat, Emma,” the same gnarly voice, now deeper and more twisted, rang in my ears as I met his disgusting dull eyes. They were roving over my body, and I let him have his fill. He patted the empty seat beside him as his assistant, a young girl in her early twenties, shifted on the armchair. I noticed her lipstick was smudged and her stocking had a hole on one knee.

“Start the reading. I don’t have much time,” I said, my voice cold as I sat on another armchair. No one had dared to sit at the desk and chair where our mother used to sit, looking out to the floor to ceiling French doors that led to a private garden.

“Still such a hasty child,” he laughed, his teeth, some yellow, gleaming in the dim light.

“She’s nineteen,” Cillian said, sitting beside my brother. “Not a child.”

Damon flickered his gray eyes from him to our private, dirty lawyer and motioned him to go on.

My hand tightened on my dress, and I held my breath.

The lawyer, Lincoln, cleared his throat and said, “You should leave. This is a private will—”

“Cillian is staying,” I said, raising my voice a little. “Just tell us about the will.”

“He is not a family—”

Damon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Neither is your assistant. We don’t care. I’ve a meeting with an architect after this, so hurry.”

For once, I agreed with Damon. I didn’t know why mom would give her will to such a lousy lawyer, anyway.

He opened the briefcase his assistant handed to him, and tension hovered in the air when he leafed out a paper and started speaking.

Each word rang through the study, echoing in my ears. As seconds passed, my breathing increased, and tears burned my eyes. Damon’s face was devoid of any emotion, but I could see his jaw tick as he flicked his eyes at me.

“Likewise, the manor in Coral Springs and all belongings therein I leave to my daughter, Emma Moore.” He finished reading the will and looked at me and Damon.

“A-are you sure it’s…” I stood up, snatching the paper from him and reading it. “It can’t be.”

I felt another presence close to me and a hand on my back, making me stiffen. “But it is.” The voice was scratchy, and I scrunched the paper in my hand. “You own Dorothy’s entire makeup company, the royalties from all her films, her shares and all her properties, little Emma.”

Little Emma…

“Of course she does,” Damon chuckled, standing up. “I knew she wouldn’t leave me anything.”

The hand on my back started lowering, and I wanted to move. Wanted to fight. But I stayed frozen. I couldn’t do anything. Even though my eyes burned.

“Take your hand off of her before I fucking break it,” a deep, warm voice said, the hand on my back leaving and the sound of Lincoln yelping in pain flowing in my ears.

I watched with cold distant eyes when Cillian twisted it, the lawyer’s assistant scrambling away when his face turned red and he started screaming.

“What the fuck are you doing, Cillian?” Damon asked, his eyes wide with surprise and shock.

“What the fuck am I doing?” he asked, staring at my brother and pinning his eyes on me. “Look at your own fucking sister for a moment, you dumb fuck. She has been shaking since she saw this asshole. Her eyes are wet with tears, not because her mom left her everything, but because of this jerk—Did I tell you to move? No. I didn’t.” I covered my mouth when Cillian kicked him, painfully twisting his hand over his back.

“Where was I? Oh, yes, this perv has been trying to grope your sister and you want to throw a fit because your rich mommy didn’t leave you any money.” His face was full of anger when he pulled away from Lincoln, his chest heaving and nose flaring. His hand closed around my wrist. “Rich people like you disgust me, Damon. If this asshole comes near her again, I’ll do more than just break a few ribs or his hand.”

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