Unexpected

Chapter 13

A/N: I've attached a picture of Alex's villa, it's too perfect for him! Thanks for reading! S

“Oh my God, it’s like a little castle, how appropriate!” I squealed when we got within eyesight of Alex’s villa.

“I know, apparently the staff person that handles booking all our vacation has a much better sense of humor than I gave her credit for, this place is ridiculous. The majority of the places I’ve seen have been more like yours -- classic beach villas, but she had to book me the one place that look it would be right at home in England. We’d discussed booking my great aunt’s former home here -- it’s called Les Jolies Eaux, and it a bit farther south, but it seemed too large for just me. Although maybe I should have pushed for her place instead, after seeing this. Its name is Oceanus, how’s that for regal?” He laughed, “I’m sure it was chosen because of its size and location primarily but I’m having a hard time believing that its appearance didn’t play into why I’m staying here. My protection officers got a good laugh out of this place when we arrived.”

“About that, how many guards do you have with you? And...exactly how close are they to you at all times?” I asked, certain I was blushing. Alex paused before going into his house, rightly guessing that I wouldn’t want to have this conversation when the guards were right there.

“I have four with me here on the island. And there are typically two or three around me at any given time; they were within eyesight when I was on the beach or in other public areas. But they’re there for my safety and the safety of those I’m with, not to eavesdrop or interfere with anything in my private life. They always keep a respectful difference when I’m with others so when I stayed that night at your villa, I would hazard a guess that they were spread out throughout the property to make sure no one else entered but stayed far enough away not to hear anything.”

“Did they do a background check on me?”

“I think they probably did a cursory look at everyone that was staying on the island before we arrived, but yes, I imagine that when we started talking the other day, the likely looked into your background a little more closely. I apologize for the invasion of your privacy but it would strictly be information that is public record, I don’t think they got your grades or credit card score or anything.”

“Hm. Well, even if they had, both are exemplary so I have nothing to hide.”

“I would have expected nothing less from you. Anything else you’d like to confess, though?”

“Nothing that would show up on a background check -- I’m a rule follower, as a rule,” I joked. “I did once get caught drinking in the dorms in undergrad, but I gave a fake name, so I’m pretty safe unless they’re searching under my pseudonym.”

“Which is?”

“Mimi McFarland -- I’m kidding, I have no idea what I used, that was ages ago. Actually, I think I used my best friend from high school’s name, I wanted to be sure it was a name I could say with confidence. I’m not a particularly good liar.”

“That’s a good thing in my book,” he said. “You ready to go in now?”

“Almost,” I said, then brought his face down to mine so I could give him a soft kiss. “There, now I’m good.”

He took my hand in his and squeezed it, opening the door to his villa and letting me walk in before him.

Inside, two tall but not particularly large men were waiting for us in the living room, one of which was the man that had caught me before I collapsed earlier that day. Alex introduced them to me as Robert and Josh. I thanked Robert for his quick save and he laughed, saying he was happy to help. Shortly after that, the other two guards came in -- I hadn’t even thought about it, but they must have been following us on our walk over to Alex’s villa. It was very strange to think that there were always people around, even when I couldn’t see them.