Page 26 of Bossy Bodyguard

I let out a loud laugh. I was about to snort too when I noticed his serious expression. “Oh? I thought you were joking…” I rubbed my neck.

Cillian hummed and kept staring at me with a look that screamed ‘I don’t joke.’

“I broke up with my boyfriend of one year and three months yesterday,” I said, clearing my throat and twiddled with my thumbs on my lap. “No other romantic relationship before that.”

“I don’t want to prod, but… was it a bad breakup?” His voice had turned softer and I hated that he was giving me pity. I wasn’t someone to be pitied, so I raised my chin and met his gaze. “Was he violent?”

My mouth fell apart, “Violent? He’d never… Cal would never do that.” Caleb could be a player, and he was sometimes dumb about people’s feelings, but he was never violent towards me or anyone. Heck, he was the one who’d cry every time a pet died in movies, and I had to console him. “Why are you asking me that question? You think my boy—ex-boyfriend did this?”

He was rubbing his chin and I was finding it a bit hard to focus. “Well, most of the stalking cases are committed by exes. And women are most likely to be stalked by a current or former intimate partner during the rela—”

“Stalking?” I stood up, cutting him off, “You think I’m being stalked?”

“There’s a thirty percent chance that you are. For now.”

“What do you mean, for now?”

“This person sent you a text, gave you a so-called present, invading your privacy. And there is a huge chance that they would do this again.” Cillian looked at me and I didn’t like the way he sighed and added, “This is why I asked you about your ex—”

“Emma!”

I jumped hearing my name called and relaxed knowing who it was. “You want to talk to my ex? He’s here. You can interrogate him all you want.”

“Emma! Where the fuck are my car keys?” Caleb yelled, storming upstairs and I could hear his heavy footsteps going past the guest room towards my room.

I opened the door and called him, “Caleb, come here. Someone wants to talk to you.”

I heard Cillian mutter, “Caleb?”

Caleb looked haggard in our school’s uniform, his shirt half untucked, tie rumpled and eyes red. He looked like he had partied all night with drugs and alcohol. Yet I couldn’t stop the feeling of sharp pain between my ribs. I had seen him with someone else on my bed.

I looked away and let him enter the room, crossing my arms. “This is my ex, Caleb Chang. Cal, this is—”

“Dad? What the fuck are you doing here?”

My mouth fell apart when I looked between the two men. Caleb looked angry and guilty while Cillian looked shocked. And it was the first time I saw his cool and calm expression break.

What the fuck?

I don’t know if you’re keeping a count, but that’s twice I’ve been surprised in less than twenty-four hours.

17

WHAT DID I MISS?

CILLIAN

There have been a few times in forty years of life that I wished I wasn’t present in a particular situation and instead lock myself in a room, bury myself in huge blankets, and never ever meet another person again. Most of the time, it was during a life-threatening situation where I had to save a comrade who had been shot, when Olivia went into labor, and when I found her dead.

Apparently, standing in the guest room of my son’s ex-girlfriend, whose damp hair was wetting her tee shirt, was one of those situations. Mostly because I was the one between her soft thighs last entire night.

Jesus Christ. Did I fucking sleep with…

“Dad? What the fuck are you doing here?”

My eyes twitched—which was never a good sign—looking at Caleb and Emma. He looked like he was ready for school in his very rumpled uniform and tousled hair.

“This is work,” I said, trying to keep my voice emotionless. Because I had slept with my son’s ex. Emma. “I thought you were Emma Grant,” I added, tilting my head at her, who looked equally shocked, if not more, by the entire ordeal.

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