The Bodyguard

Unwelcome Guests

(Been a while! But I am back loves! I also redid the ending to one of my least favorite chapters in Beneath Our Disguises, so hopefully you like it! This one is finally getting into some real action so sit back, grab some popcorn, and keep reading!)

Emilia, not wanting to seem suspicious by turning around to blatantly stare at the people that had just walked inside, she watches Alexander's reaction instead. If anything, it made her all the more nervous than if she had looked, as she could see his hand on the gun inconspicuously, as he leans on the table with his other elbow to hide the action. 

She can't help but tense up, sipping at her water through the straw eagerly to disguise the thick atmosphere. There was clearly something wrong, the only problem was she didn't know what. These guys had showed up out of nowhere, and though she was straining her ears to hear them, their conversation was so whispered that she couldn't hear a thing.

A few brief words from one of them to the waiter and they were suddenly sitting almost directly behind her at one of the floor tables, and very noticeably between them and the door. 

Very nervously, probably from the tense silence in the room, the poor waiter sets their food in front of them, giving a small smile as Emilia's dry throat doesn't allow her to thank the man, only give him a nod and the tiniest smile as Alexander ignores them completely.

Unsure of what else to do, and still having a very hungry stomach, she picks up one of her kebabs, attempting to be dainty as she pulls off a piece of the chicken with her teeth and chews it slowly, savoring the delicious sauce they had smothered it in. Only when it she had swallowed and the piece felt lodged in her tight throat did she glance up at him again.

Alexander still hadn't moved, his hand on the gun as his other rests on the table, ignoring the very pizza like creation sitting before him. His eyes had yet to leave the strangers who were conversing in hushed tones about what could be anything from this distance. 

Moving slowly to not startle him, she places a hand gently on top of his to try and get his attention without alerting the entire room.

What she hadn't expected was for his hand to flip, grabbing her wrist, and pinning it to the table with nothing more than very quiet thump as his eyes flicker to her instead, his focus very clearly still on the men. Trying not to show how scared he was making her from his reaction to her simple touch, she brings her eyebrows together and mouths to him silently, 'Is everything ok?', trying not to make her concern too much more obvious than she was sure it already was.

Slowly, barely noticeable, he shakes his head back and forth in a no gesture, still holding rather tightly to her wrist, keeping her completely still as adrenaline races through her body for the second time that day. If he thought something was wrong, then it was, and these unwelcome guests were dangerous.

Swallowing hard, Emilia tries to pull her hand from his grasp, her nerves making her want to curl into the smallest of balls and crawl beneath the table until they left and never came back. His grip increases slightly in pressure, seeming to reassure himself that she was there, in his grasp. And however sweet the gesture may have started, and however excited she was for this single date with him, it had turned into the worst one of her life.

The only thing that seemed to register in her mind was their previous conversation, the conversation about how if anyone found out that she knew anything, he would be dead, and she would disappear. But what was the possibility that anyone would find out? 

Unless, it wasn't Mr. Delmont, what if it was an enemy, someone that wished him harm? But how would they find her and her connection to him?

Then it hit her, the magazine, that stupid tabloid that had caused her determination to figure everything out, that confrontation of how drawing attention to herself is dangerous. It wasn't just to preserve his prestigious name, it was to preserve her, and keep her out of trouble.