Aiden

Jenna's world blurred as she was wheeled into the emergency room, her bodyguard Nimi by her side, her parents following close behind, their faces filled with worry and fear. The pain was excruciating, but Jenna tried her best to stay conscious, knowing she needed to assure her father that Nimi wasn't to blame.

As the medical staff rushed around her, trying to stabilize Jenna's condition, Franco, could barely contain his emotions.

He glared at Nimi, his anger and grief threatening to erupt. Nimi, standing tall and composed, understood the father's concern, as he was hired to protect Jenna from harm.

Before Franco could utter a word, Jenna weakly raised her hand to signal him to stop.

"Dad, please, it wasn't Nimi's fault. He did everything he could to protect me," she managed to say, wincing in pain.

Nimi slowly took his eyes off Jenna as he turned as he turned to Franco,

"I know now how important the situation is, I promise this is never going to happen again,"

"I'll put my life on the line if I have to," he said, Jenna eyes rolled over to Nimi, him promising to put his life on the line for her sounded like music to her ears, it was his job yes, but she still felt funny emotions hearing him say that.

Franco sighed deeply, his anger starting to subside,

"Just... just make sure nothing like this happens again. Please."

"I swear it, Franco," Nimi replied, his voice steady and sincere.

"I'll learn from this and strengthen our security measures. Jenna's safety is my top priority."

"Better!"

The medical team worked tirelessly to remove the bullet and stabilize Jenna. Her mother, held her unaffected hand, whispering comforting words as Jenna's pain slowly eased.

Nimi stepped out of the room to give them some privacy but remained vigilant, scanning the surroundings for any potential threats. He couldn't help but feel responsible for the incident, he immediately brought out his phone and dialled a number.

"Really?! You'd do that??" He gritted lowly as the person at the other end picked up the call.

"I'd do anything to get what I want!"

"You shouldn't drag an innocent person into this!" He snapped his voice getting tenser and more annoyed.

"I won't have you yell at me! I raised you Nimi, you're not any different!"

"Don't be ungrateful, do your damned job!" The receiver growled and ended the call.

A string of profanities escaped his lips as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket, he knew definitely that his real boss wasn't bluffing, if he wants to protect Jenna from both her father and his boss then he needed to do better.

After a tense and agonizing operation, Jenna was in stable condition; the bullet had been successfully removed, and her vital signs were improving. The relief on her parents' faces was palpable, especially on Franco's.

Jenna took a deep breath, gathering her strength, and turned to her father remorse evident in her eyes,

"Dad, I'm so sorry for being stubborn and refusing to see the need to get a bodyguard."

" I understand now how important it is for my safety. I promise I won't fight you on this anymore."

Franco looked down at her where she laid, his heart content that he finally got the upper.

And he didn't mind that they had to go through this route for her to accept her new normal, but still he very much was going to give Aiden a piece of his mind, this might have worked in his favour, but the next time might be awfully bad.

He placed a hand gently on her arm and said,

"Thank you for understanding, Jenna. I'm sure you know now, I had your best interest at heart"

"I know, Dad, Nimi proved himself today, and I'm grateful you decided to hire him even without my consent"

Feeling a bit relieved after their heartfelt exchange, Jenna hesitated for a moment before asking,

"Dad, do you have any idea who could have shot me? I don't think it a random attack?"

Franco's face turned serious, "Jenna, right now, the most important thing is your recovery."

"We'll let the authorities handle the investigation." He said knowing fully well who was behind and that the authorities wouldn't find any single thing

" Don't worry about it for now. Just focus on getting better."

"In all I'm happy you're better," Elizabeth said with a small smile and Jenna nodded.

"As much we'd like to stay with you, we have to leave," Franco said.

"I want to have a word with the police in charge of this case," he said, she nodded slowly.

"That's fine,"

"Take care, we love you," Franco said as they headed for the door, Jenna nodded with the first genuine smile that ever crossed her lips to her dad in the past few days, finally being able to relate with that statement.

"Love you too,"

Shortly after her parents walked out, the door went open and she turned to see Nimi walk into the room.

He took a deep breath and said with a playful grin, "You know, if you had listened to me earlier about that quiet time in the park, things might have turned out differently."

Jenna chuckled weakly, trying to hide the pain.

"Oh really? So, you think I have a problem with listening, huh?" she replied teasingly, her eyes shining with mischief.

"Well, well, I'm not even saying anything," he replied playfully, leaning against the doorframe, she bursted out laughing as she tried to sit up on her bed, he quickly rushed to her and helped her up.

"You know, Jenna, I've come to realize that listening to you will lead me on quite an adventure. And I must say, I don't mind it at all."

Jenna turned to him with a playful glint in her eyes. "Oh, is that so? Should I be flattered or worried about where my leadings might take you next?"

Nimi chuckled, staring down at her face as he sat by her bed

"Definitely flattered. You have an uncanny ability to lead me to places I never knew I wanted to go and you don't even know it" He replied, she could see a spark of stern seriousness immediately he said that but she pushed that thought aside as soon as it came.

Jenna smirked and leaned in closer, lowering her voice. "Well, maybe I enjoy the company of someone who's willing to follow me blindly."

"You know what I think?!" He asked, she shook her head in reply.

"Maybe we should practice listening to each other more often, you know, to avoid any more near-death experiences."

Jenna laughed, wincing slightly, "That works!"

Meanwhile ....

Somewhere in Ontario ...

"Aiden relax!"

He slowly turned to face the source of that voice,

Aiden stood at an impressive six feet one, He was tall and broad-shouldered, he was in his late forties but he seemed like he was in his thirties he had a chiseled jawline and piercing ocean blue eyes that seemed to scan the room with authority.

His brown hair was styled neatly his confident stride suggested that he was comfortable in any situation.

"How can you even tell me to relax Scott,"

"Do you think he'll fall in love with her?!" He asked as he took his seat and placed his right legs against his left.

"Ofcourse not, you trained him right?! He knows better than to fall in love on a mission,"

"He has done this before, he's doing it again, just playing his games to get the job done!" Scott consoled.

"It had better be that!" He murmured