Page 51 of Daddy's Bodyguard

“Are you fucking crazy?” I whisper. “What the hell are you doing moving around?”

“Looking for you,” she whispers. “I heard the shots and thought—” She huffs, and her eyes fill with tears. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Oh, Carissa. I don’t deserve your tears,” I reply, wiping her face. “I kissed Jasper.”

“Yeah… I figured. You were both in that supply closet for a minute.”

I chance a glance outside, but there’s no activity. It makes me even more worried than if there were still bullets flying around. The anticipation makes my body tight with tension.

“You’re in trouble, aren’t you?” Carissa says.

I nod. “Courtesy of daddy dearest. His sins are coming back to haunt me, too.”

“And Jasper?”

“He’s somewhat of a bodyguard, I guess. We’ve been living in a safehouse for a few weeks.” But nothing happened between us,” I quickly say when she frowns. “Not until today.”

The sudden blaring of gunshots cuts Carissa’s reply, and she grabs my shirt. “I don’t want to die, Sofia!”

“I promise you won’t,” I reply, sounding way more confident than I feel. Where the hell is Jasper?”

As if on cue, he suddenly appears in front of us, making us both gasp. “Come on,” he says, taking my arm. “I got him, but there’s more coming.”

“No, no, no! You can’t leave us here like this!” Carissa says, panting. “They’ll kill us all!”

“No. They want her, not you guys. They won’t bother you once she’s gone. But you still need to clear out, just in case,” Jasper says. “Got it?”

Carissa nods, and Jasper pulls me out a second later. I glimpse a body on the floor, the blond, spiked hair filling me with relief as Jasper guides me down the stairs, one hand clutching his gun.

“Where’s Daisy?” I ask, almost tripping on the first landing.

“I left her in an office. Told her to leave when the smoke gets cleared.”

“What?” Alarmed, I twist to face him. His expression seems calm, which adds confusion to the list of emotions I’m facing right now. “Why would you leave her there?”

He twists me around again, guiding me forward. “Because it’s safer in there than with us. They’re after you, remember?”

Of course, it makes perfect sense. But I’m not thinking straight right now. So much has happened in half an hour, leaving me whirling from it all. Jasper’s kiss. Carissa’s hurt. The bullets that would have taken my life if Jasper wasn’t there. It makes me sick to my stomach, yet I’m so grateful.

“Thank you,” I say to him when we reach the ground floor. All seems quiet. Please, God, let it stay that way.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Jasper mumbles, pulling me out the back door behind him.

His head swivels as he leads me to a pickup truck, caging me against it. Again, he scans the area, his arms positioned forward. His body tenses, then he crouches down to face me and cocks his head towards the front wheel. Understanding right away, I shift down to it, careful to keep low. Jasper edges around to the front, his hands curled around the gun. I hear a crack and a thud, then Jasper returns for my hand, and we start running.

After half a block, he picks me up, throws me over his shoulder and sprints the rest of the way. I clutch his torso to keep my upper body from banging against his back, my eyes dazzling as the buildings zip by. Damn, he’s fast. And he’s barely blowing a breath.

Jasper slows down and soon lets me down beside an SUV. Using his elbow, he quickly breaks the glass on the passenger side. I hear the crack of a gunshot as he opens the front door, and he chucks me in so hard my body sails over to the driver’s side. I hurry to reposition myself as he joins me, taking off with such speed the tires screech.

I pant as I look out the back window. “Fucking hell.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll lose them soon enough.”

I drop my head on the back of the seat with an anguished whimper. “Oh, my God. The guys at work. What if they got hurt? How will I face any of them again?”

“The guys are fine, Sofia,” he grunts. “Keep your head down, and don’t look out the windows.”

For the first time, I don’t feel like arguing. I obediently sink down and curl into a ball. Holy fuck, it’s sinking in. Someone is actually trying to kill me. Me, not just my dad. And all this time … I could have gotten Carissa hurt. I could have gotten so many people … A sob pulls from my throat.

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