Page 19 of Guarding the Billionaire

Teresa tugged me along beside her. “It helps when you’ve had a shock.”

When we got to the kitchen I smelled food, reminding me that I’d put something into the oven. I had no idea what it even was, I’d just grabbed the next two pre-prepared meals off the shelf in the fridge and slid them in the oven.

“Sit.”

Teresa helped me get into a chair, then hustled around making tea with an electric kettle I didn’t even know we had. She’d clearly searched the house thoroughly in the short time she’d been here. The kettle whistled, and she brought over two steaming cups of tea.

“It’s chamomile,” Teresa said, nodding towards my cup. “Very good for the nervous system.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping our tea and waiting for the Sapphic Security team to arrive.

“What happens when your team gets here?” I asked.

“They’ll review surveillance footage. Check your house again for bugs or other hazards. Interview the security team. Try to trace the flowers.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the tea or the way she matter-of-factly ticked off the steps her team would go through to investigate what happened, but my heart rate finally slowed down and I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time since I pried open the lid of that box.

“This is the first time there’s been something besides the note,” I said.

She nodded. “He’s escalating.”

The oven timer dinged, and without a word Teresa got up, removed the dishes, and covered them with foil. My phone rang, alerting me of our ‘guests’.

“Let them through please. And… they will want to review security footage.”

Whichever guard I was speaking to started to protest, but I hardened my voice.

“Give them full access to whatever they want,” I told him. “We’ve had a serious security breach, and I need to understand what happened.”

“Yes ma’am.”

A few minutes later the doorbell rang. I stayed at the table, letting Teresa take care of it. It wasn’t like me to be passive, but I had to admit, I was shaken. Even after what happened to my parents, part of me believed that there was some other explanation for my brakes going out last week. I’d convinced myself it was just a weird accident, and that my godfather was being too overly cautious insisting that I add additional security.

Now I knew he was right. Someone was definitely trying to kill me. But why? Was it about my money or something else?

“Are you okay?”

I looked up as Teresa came back into the kitchen.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got two people checking the house and the yard, and another one interviewing your guards and looking at footage. They took the… um, package with them. They’ll dust for prints or other clues.”

“Sounds good,” I answered.

“You should eat something,” she said. “It’ll take a while for them to check things out.”

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”

Teresa knelt next to me, taking my hand in hers. A little current arced between our fingers as I met those icy blue eyes.

“I know you’re upset, but you’re safe. I will keep you safe, I swear it. But I need you to keep your strength up, okay?”

I nodded. We both stilled, staring into each other’s eyes, the air between us heavy. When I chanced a glance down, I could see Teresa’s fangs descending again.

“Why does that happen?” I asked softly. “Your teeth?”

She hesitated and I thought she wouldn’t answer, but then Teresa said, “Our fangs descend when we’re in danger or we feel strong emotion. Fear. Aggression.”

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