"How old are you, Hollis." I wondered aloud as we walked into a den. "This is where the guards hang out when they’re not working," he explained. The space had everything to keep overgrown children entertained. A stocked kitchen, ping-pong and pool table, a big screen Television, and a wall of movies and video games. It also had patio doors that opened up onto a pool outside. "Are you avoiding my question on purpose?" I put to him. "What. Oh, I’m thirty," he answered, distracted. We made our way down another hallway. "Some of the night guards sleep in here," he whispered, pointing at the bedroom doors that were closed. I could hear off-tempo snoring and wheezing through the door. At the end of the hall was a room, housing a fully equipped gym with windows that looked out onto the pool. There were two men in the middle of the room and a large opened box next to them. "It’s a high-speed treadmill," Hollis announced. "I had the the room fixed up as a gym and some of the extra equip

There were other guards lined in the trees. I saw heads popping through other trees every once in a while. "Is this what you do all day. Stand here?" I asked swatting mosquitoes away and rubbing my arms. It was getting a bit chilly and buggy in the shade that I looked back at the warm, bug-free house with longing. Standing in front of the porch was Alessia, straight face with phone in placed on her ear, obviously answering a call. "Oh, no." Hugh exclaimed and pointed at a head that popped out about thirty feet away. "Sometimes I get to stand over there too." In my head, I was trying run a math division. The approximate size of the property divided by the thirty feet that separated each guard would equal the number of big men with guns that I had to worry about and then I remembered that my math skills were barely amazing. "How many of you are there?" "There’s just one of me, Ugo." He told me, wiggling his eyebrows. "But if you mean other guards, I don’t know. It varies from

UGO Hollis turned his bare back to me. The strong back was crisscrossed with scars. Old scars, faded to nearly his sikin tone with age. What the hell had happened to him. There was a tattoo on his upper arm that I spotted as he started to turn back to face me, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was. Then, well, then there was the whole front of him to see. I knew he was strongly built, but I don’t think I was fully prepared for just how well built he was under that black suit of his. This was my first ever time to have a slow, up-close and careful look at his body. Taking it all in. He had a lean build, but his six-pack brick steel body was some thing that could make any woman cry for joy. And the best part of it, his Adonis belt, the one and only feature I see in a man and I'll desire to eat ice cream off his body. That deeply-etched V that disappears into the waistband of his pants, that was the kind of thing that graced the covers of men’s fitness magazines. I didn’t want to

"This whole thing is a mess, Maxine. I don't think I want this." He shrugged. "Your words aren't laced with certainty. You're still thinking. So......" "Hollis fucking gave me a ring!" I let out with quivering lips, bringing out the gorgeous beauty from the pocket of my pants. Maxine stared at the ring, refusing to touch it even when I pushed it towards him. "He gave you that ring?" I nodded. "Wow! That belongs to my family." He appeared speechless for a while. "Maybe he wants everything to look more convincing." He finally said. "That can be the only reason." "Don't say that." I told him and he nodded. "We should get back to training." Maxine, a man of few words said and this time, I nodded, becoming the speechless one among us. We spent hours practicing together, focusing on assault and defense techniques that pushed my limits and expanded my repertoire of moves. Maxine's instructions were precise and demanding, 'free your mind, channel all that feeling into each move.'

"Are​ you ready?" Rocco knocked gently on the bedroom door and waited for an answer We were now out of the walk-in closet and Alessia was applying finishing touches to my hair. "Almost." She replied and we heard Rocco's retracing steps. ​When I was sure we were quite done, I signaled for Alessia to open the door. The moment I stepped outside the door, I was met with three pairs of eyes staring at me, each more beautiful than the last until they fell on Hollis, whose gorgeous eyes were glued to my legs. His gaze lingered a little before wandering up the rest of my body meeting mine. His lips were turned in a frown, but his eyes were filled with lust. "Good morning," I threw a greeting meant for the men in the room. "Good morning U," Maxine replied. Rocco gave a bow and Hollis kept staring dumbfounded or something. "Am I late?" I asked as kindly and brightly as possible. "No, just thinking you’re so beautiful this morning," Hollis complimented trying to take my hand, he br