Chapter 3: A Tough Decision

Genevieve:

Could he stop staring? It wasn’t that unusual for men to stare, I mean, they usually did especially when they found out what I did for a living, but the way this man, Mr. Bard, was doing so kept me on constant edge. I could feel his eyes follow my every move. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as it was when others stared at me. Like his two coworkers who I completely forget the names of. There was a dark, heated allurement to his gaze that had my heart in a constant quiver.

Luckily, Karoline did most of the talking. I don’t think I could handle all three sets of masculine eyes on me right now. Not while this particular one was already staring me down.

“Thank you again for coming so quickly.” Karoline took a seat next to me on the couch once she had handed one of the men across from me a glass of water.

“We’re sorry we couldn’t get here earlier. We were taking a weekend off from our last client and didn’t get to the office until today,” the man on the right explained after he took a swig of the water.

The two nameless men, I hope I can learn their names soon, sat in two wooden chairs across from the couch while the man that was about to burn a hole through me with his eyes alone, stood behind them. He leaned against the wall with his arms folded. A peek of his wrists and the artistry of tattoos flashed beneath his shirt.

“I’m surprised you came,” Karoline shifted uncomfortably and I understood, “I wasn’t sure you would give us the time of day.”

I said I understood it, not that it didn’t also hurt deep down. Of course I knew why she made the comment. Neither of us thought that the great Wolff Protection company would go out of their way for a woman like me. I couldn’t give them as much cash as their previous, high-end clientele, and I couldn’t give them any media coverage. At least not the good kind. A slum of a scandal? Now that was something that an author of erotica was definitely able to do.

Mr. Bard unfolded his arms which drew my attention back to him. Why was he so perfect? I mean not in the sense of beauty and standards of mainstream media, but with the scars on his neck, leading up to just below his chin, the short-cropped hair, and tight jeans and shirt that show off every rippled muscle as he shifted. A man that could more than likely pick me up...

Nope. Genevieve, don’t go there. No matter how tempting it was to imagine this visceral intensity of a man being the least bit interested in me to pick me up and toss me onto the bed, that was never going to happen. It never did. Hence, I wrote about it. It was the only way to get the images from my mind, the fantasies of being loved and doted on, out of my overwhelmed thoughts.

“We don’t turn away anyone initially,” the man on the right stated. “You deserve the respect and a thorough look into the case.”

Karoline seemed to deflate with relief next to me. It was almost as though she was more stressed about this entire situation than I was. “Thank you.”

She didn’t know all of the nasty comments and vile DM’s I received everyday, so there was no way for her to know how used to all of this I was. Even someone being so brazen as to follow me across the country.

If it hadn’t been for the other night, the terror that had riddled my body with adrenaline and had my mind in a haze of panic I wouldn’t have called their service. What could they do for me anyway that the police couldn’t even do?

The man that had taken a sip of water once more cleared his throat and continued. I wondered if the other two, the mysterious, intense man in the back in particular, were just for show. “Has there been any new contact since your initial voicemail to our company?”

“No, nothing.” Karoline only gave me a quick glance before she answered the question.

Should I have told her? What happened when I got back to the hotel?

My heart quivered as I breathed in, the flashes of memory biting at my skull. Their presence. The darkness that had surrounded them, caked them in an aura that had left me feeling dirty and disgusted with myself. I only saw them from a distance, standing just within the light of a street lamp, a mask and two sets of icy blue eyes glinted in the night.

“That’s not true.” His voice. It drew me from the depths of my darkness. The fear that had slowly crept around my heart, almost tightened in a vice grip, hissed back into its hole as the man in the back of the room stepped forward.

His eyes, the abyss of chocolate orbs, refused to leave me. The nape of my neck tingled, the shiver reverberating down my spine and right into the fire of my need. Why did he affect me like this? I wasn’t usually swayed by a handsome face. But him, he was different.

“W-what are you saying?” Karoline’s thin brow furrowed and she looked back at me this time. “There hasn’t been any contact, right Genny?”

F*ck that name again. Why did she always insist on calling me by that stupid nickname? I couldn’t tell her to stop, either, it had gone on for far too long. I only hoped she didn’t catch my cringe at the sound of it.

She didn’t, as she continued to stare at me expectedly, but Raphael sure did. His thick, lucious lips flicked, a hint of a smile almost etched into his features. In the blink of an eye, though, it was gone. Damn.

“Um,” right, I should say something. Anything. “Actually, I think I,” fuck my stupid throat and it’s need to catch right now, sending me into a coughing fit. Once I had finally regianed control over my angry lungs, I sat back up, my face heated and the edges of my vision blurred with the insane amount of embarrassment that was boiling me from the inside out. “I think I saw him when I got back to the hotel.”

“What?” Karoline gasped.

“So he knows where you’re staying,” the man with the glass of water still in his hands murmured.

He looked back at Raphael and tilted his head. Was Raphael actually in charge? He was quiet and didn’t ask any of the questions, but his presence alone exuded leadership and he had a ‘don’t f*ck with me’ aura.

“He–” shit, no, I shouldn’t say it.

Welp, it was too late now. All four sets of eyes were back on me, and I had to stir in my seat to try and get comfy. Why did I pick this line of work again? Ah, yes, because I thought writing sexy books about women getting railed by big, powerful men would be fun. Oh, and that I wouldn’t have to even show my face. Look how that turned out.

Raphael placed his hands on the back of the chair the other man was in. I tried so f*cking hard not to watch the veins in his hands as they flexed against the material, his fingers digging into the cusion. His muscles rippled as he shifted and they visibly moved up his arm in tandem with one another. God, that was down right sexy. Like it should be illegal.

“What else?” It was all he said, but his voice that seemed to caress the very intimate parts of my body pulled a gasp from my tight chest and I had to swallow it back down before anyone else noticed. Except Raphael of course. He seemed to notice everything in the world.

“When I woke up the next morning there was a package outside my door.”

“Genny, why didn’t you say anything?” Karoline reached out and placed her hand on my arm but it did little to comfort me. I already knew that there was nothing I could do.

And that’s exactly what I told her. “It was nothing. We went to the police station later that day, and they said nothing could be done unless he outright threatened me.”

I didn’t want to remember the box. What was inside it. My stomach churned just thinking about it. To see myself, to–no. I won’t think about it.

“What was inside the box?” the man with the glass of water questions.

Like hell I was going to tell him. I couldn’t even stomach looking at them. I opened my mouth to speak, my vision a complete blur as the tears began to take over, but I wasn’t able to speak.

Raphael straightens, “Gunner, head to the security office and show him your credentials. Look at the security tapes and see who dropped that box off. Gunner, call down to the front desk and find out the identities of the residents on this floor or if any of the rooms are vacant. If they’re vacant, get access to them and see if anything has been touched.”

Both men happened to sit and stare up at him for a moment. Raphael only watched me, and yet here I was unable to even look in his direction.

Though the other men have been asking all of the questions, I now feel the overwhelming pressure from Raphael that he is the real boss here.

“Are you taking the job?” Karoline breathed out, her hand squeezing my arm harder.

Raphael jerked his head toward the door and both men were lithe and smooth as they jumped up and powered up into work mode. They muttered to one another, taking out their phones. As they tapped away on the screens, they exited the room and disappeared into the hallway.

“Why check the rooms and cameras?” Karoline asked.

I already knew though. It wasn’t hard to piece together. Not as Raphael was watching me. His expression was guarded, but his gaze, it was a storm that was brewing. A spark of a fire.

He opened his mouth and even though I knew what he was going to say, my body still went ice cold.

“If he was able to get a package to her in the middle of the night, that means he has inside access and knows her room number.”