Page 18 of Guarding the Billionaire

“You were barely moving on that elliptical,” I said, stepping off the treadmill.

I dropped to the floor a few feet away from her and started doing push-ups – on my toes, thank you very much.

Flora pushed up to seated, and from the corner of my eye I could see her watching me as I busted out twenty-five push-ups before lowering down into child’s pose to stretch my back.

“You need to do some cardio and strength work,” I said, rolling over to sit next to her and lifting her arm. “You have weak little spaghetti arms.”

Flora rolled her eyes. “I hate the elliptical.”

“Okay then, we’ll keep trying until we find something you like to do that gets your heart rate up.”

Her eyes flared and I knew she was thinking of something we could do together to increase her heart rate. My vampire was one hundred percent on board with that idea. I reminded her that I was Flora’s bodyguard, but even the threat of Lois getting mad at us didn’t make her settle down.

Speaking of Lois…

“I need to check in with my boss,” I said, popping up to my feet and reaching out a hand to help her up.

“I’ll put some food in the oven,” she said. “Let’s meet in the kitchen in an hour.”

I nodded in acknowledgment. “If anything weird happens, anything at all, scream. I’ll hear you.”

A little while later I was finishing a call with Lois when I heard Flora make a loud squeaking noise, followed by her bellowing, “Teresa!”

“I gotta go,” I told Lois, disconnecting the call and shoving the phone into my pocket as I raced downstairs.

Flora was standing in the entryway, staring down at a long, narrow box encased in bright red wrapping paper. It looked like the kind of box they used to send roses.

“What happened?”

She just pointed at the box. I squatted down, grabbing my knife from my ankle holster and using the tip to pry up the lid. I revealed the long, thorny stems you’d expect on roses, but as I lifted the lid more, I realized the flowers were dead.

That’s when I noticed the card tucked inside, with a message written in big, blocky letters.

You will be as dead as these flowers soon.

Flora

Istared over Teresa’s shoulder, the message no less frightening the second time I read it. Still squatting down by the box, my bodyguard pulled out her phone and pressed a button.

“Lois, yeah I’m going to need a team here.”

She paused, then added, “Dead flowers and a note.”

Another pause, then she looked over her shoulder.

“How did you get this? Was it left at the gate?”

I nodded. “Security called to say I had a delivery. I told them to bring it back.”

“Who brought it?”

“Um, I think his name is Tim? He’s the red-haired guard.”

“You got that, boss?” Teresa asked. “Okay, I’ll see you guys soon. Thanks.”

She stood up, grabbing my elbow in a grip that was surprisingly gentle. “Let’s get some tea.”

“Tea?” I repeated in confusion.

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