Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

“Okay. Okay,” he said. “Everyone take a breath. I think we can all agree that she means something to both of you.” He snapped his fingers. “Let’s keep this conversation moving forward.”

Johnson tore his gaze away first and did it talking. “Apollo isn’t a threat. He’s an asshole. But he’s nothing to worry about. The problem is he lingers. It scares the fuck out of Rhion.”

“He lingers?” I asked for clarification.

“If Rhion walks out of her home, Apollo is somewhere nearby. She’s seen him. I can usually tag him before we exit the door. He doesn’t approach. He doesn’t say anything. He’s just there, screwing with her head.”

“Have you tried to make contact with him? Call the cops? He’s a con, for fuck’s sake. Have them pick him up?”

“We tried that when it first started happening. They picked him up but eventually let him go. He hasn’t really done anything wrong,” he said casually.

But there was nothing casual about the vise compressing my ribs.

“Yet, anyway!” I burst up out of my chair. “He’s stalking her! I’d say that’s something.”

“Yeah, well, until he makes a move, there isn’t shit we can do. Right now, they peacefully coexist in a city together. It’s our job to make sure, when he does make that move, he doesn’t touch her.”

“They aren’t coexisting if she’s locked up in her apartment, afraid to leave without a full guard.”

“I agree. But, when we’ve tried to confront him, it makes things worse. About a year ago, I caught him lurking outside the building and had a chat with him.”

Leo chuckled. “I’m not sure it can be considered a chat when you came back wearing a couple pints of his blood.”

Johnson shrugged and kept talking. “It was right before Christmas, and we had plans to head to New York so she could spend it with Pete and Sandy. I was hoping to put him out of commission long enough to get her out of town. But that stupid motherfucker showed up at the airport looking like a goddamn zombie, freaked Rhion out so bad she refused to get out of the car. We spent Christmas huddled around a Charlie Brown tree in her apartment, eating Chinese takeout. He turned up his efforts after that. Started calling her name when we’d go out so she knew where he was. It was at least three months before he went back to hiding in the shadows. So trust me. For Rhion’s sake, it’s best to ignore him. Be vigilant. But leave him alone.”

Fuck. Why did that feel like someone had just beaten the piss out of me? I sighed and grabbed the back of my neck. “And this is why you two are so tight? She won’t go anywhere without you.”

“Yep. Well, that and I’ve known her since she was a teen.”

My eyebrows shot up.

“Before he died, I worked for her father,” he stated, rising to his feet. “For five years, I was his personal guard. The man who escorted him to Rhion’s horse shows and softball games when she was in high school. The one who pulled her off his lifeless body when he had a heart attack the day she graduated college.” He rose from his chair and stabbed a finger to my chest. “And I was the man who stood at her side the day you tried to fight your way in to see her at the hospital.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s safe to say, after that bullshit, I’m not your biggest fan by a long shot, Jude.”

“I…” I started. And, for the first time since I’d met him, our fucked-up relationship made sense. “I wanted to tell her I was sorry.”

He smirked. “And that’s the only reason we’re standing here, having this conversation, instead of me hiding your body.”

Leo’s hand landed on my shoulder. “That file folder has all the information you’ll need about Apollo, including pictures and his usual MO. As of last night, you are officially assigned to Rhion Park. She is not just your girlfriend, Levitt. Rhion Park is my number-one client. She pays for round-the-clock surveillance inside her apartment and a full-time guard. If Johnson isn’t here, there’s always a man in the office in case she needs something. You just became that man. Permanently.”

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed. “Inside her apartment?”

Johnson barked a laugh. “There’s been a whole lot of eye bleach passed around the security room since your little appearance last weekend. Don’t worry. I deleted that shit.”

“And for God’s sake,” Leo said. “See what you can do about getting her out of the apartment more. She’s family here at Guardian. I worry about her being alone so much.” He grabbed a bunch of paperwork and a cup of coffee off his desk before heading to the door.

I caught his arm before he had a chance to leave. “Don’t you think this is a conflict of interest? She and I are—”

“Oh, absolutely,” he stated. “But she doesn’t fully trust any of the other guys, so we’re gonna have to work with what we got. And, right now, you, son, are all I got.”

“Jesus. Christ. This is not a good idea.”

“Funny,” Leo said. “Those were my exact thoughts when I watched the miracle of her walking out to your car last night. But you know what? Judging by that hickey on your neck, that worked out fine for everyone involved, now didn’t it?”

I slapped a hand up to my neck and searched around as if I could feel it, causing both of them to laugh.

Johnson followed him to the door. “Take the day and memorize every page of that file. You skim one fucking word, I will rip your eyeballs from your head and make you manually read it.”

I glared and muttered, “Right.”

“Right,” he parroted, and then, seconds later, he and Leo were gone.

What the hell was going on? Rhion was one step away from being a recluse. I was her new bodyguard and her boyfriend. And, if I factored in that our relationship was only days old, this was a recipe for disaster. Leo had officially lost his mind.

Unfortunately, as I tore that folder open and started reading, it appeared I had too.





My body ached—the sweet agony of a night spent with a man between my legs. It was a new feeling for me. I hadn’t been with anyone since college, and that had been before the fire, before scars had covered most of my upper body, and before I’d turned myself into a human canvas to cover them. I’d never been a burn victim who was ashamed of my scars. I didn’t want to hide them. I wanted them to be beautiful.

I’d survived. And, for the first few months after the fire, I hadn’t been sure I would.

Those scars were my trophies.

And so was that ache between my legs. It was my blissful reward for having been strong enough to follow my heart and not allow my mind to keep me locked up inside the fortress of my apartment.