Page 17 of Selling Innocence

Hayden nodded. “Good. We don’t want things getting complicated because someone tries to rescue you without understanding the situation.”

“So I’m supposed to just stay here?”

“We paid ten million for you,” Char reminded me. “I suggest you start pulling your weight to make that worth it.”

I flinched, scooting farther away from Char on the couch.

“Stop scaring her,” Hayden snapped. “And yes, for now, you’ll stay here where we can keep an eye on you. If you have to go anywhere, you’ll go with a guard. We’ll get another room set up for you today, so you can have your own space. Once we figure out why he wants you, we can use that to draw him out.”

“And if you manage that? If you get what you want? What happens to me, then?”

Hayden shrugged. “We let you go back to your life. We don’t want to own a person. When we get what we want, you’re free.”

“And Lorien?”

“This doesn’t end in any way other than his brains spilled all over the concrete.”

So much for thinking Hayden is the nice one…

Chapter Four

Hayden

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Kenz’s question made me realize that I had, in fact, been staring.

“I’m guarding you, aren’t I? That means I have to watch you.”

She pressed her lips together, the action seeming to hold back whatever else she’d wanted to say. Her having things in her head that she didn’t share annoyed me.

It made me continue speaking when I otherwise wouldn’t have. “You look around like you’re checking for danger.”

“Doesn’t everyone do that?”

“No. I’ve guarded a lot of people over the years, and most who need guarding have no idea what threats are out there. They live perfect lives, and my job has always been to make sure they don’t need to know about the risks.”

She glanced at me, her expression tentative, the face of someone smart enough to think things through. “So you do bodyguard work?”

I nodded as we walked, her matching my pace. We had no reason to lie to her—when this was over, she could tell her story to anyone she wanted. We wouldn’t be around to worry about it. “Yeah. I spent time in the military but decided I liked protection work. I did work on my own at first, then started my own security firm. Most people who hire me—rich folks—don’t have any idea about the dangers around them. You look around like you do, though. You check down each alleyway, you take note of people who pass by. You aren’t paranoid, but you notice. Those are skills taught to professionals.”

Kenz shrugged before she wrapped her arms around herself. She still wore Tor’s button-up shirt, but we’d traded his boxers for a pair of Char’s pajama pants. They were still loose, but since Char was the smallest of us, she’d been able to pull the waist tight enough to make them work.

Not that Char hadn’t complained. Then again, after five years of dealing with him, I was used to his complaining. It drifted into background noise anymore.

“Maybe I’m just careful.”

“In my experience, rich spoiled princesses aren’t careful. If you don’t want to tell me who taught you—I won’t push it. Don’t think that I can’t spot a lie from you, though. If I had to guess, I’d say it was a bodyguard you had before.”

Her gaze dropped to the sidewalk just after a wave of sadness slid over her delicate features. It tightened my chest, made me want to reassure her.

I shook away that feeling. It was just a holdover from my work as a bodyguard, from my desire to take care of a client. It wasn’t just my job to keep them alive—I had to care for their wellbeing also. That attention to detail was probably why I’d done so well, why my company was considered one of the best in the country.

However, she wasn’t a client. She was a tool, and I needed to remember that.

“I’m surprised you’re taking me to the store,” she said as though to fill the quiet and break the tension from before.

“You need things. You’ll be with us for a while, so we can’t have you walking around in borrowed clothing.”

“I figured you’d make a list because it was too dangerous to take me out. Aren’t you worried we’ll get caught? Or that I’ll run?” The corner of her mouth tucked up, a sign that the girl had a mischievous side to her.

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