Page 9 of Guarding the Billionaire

“Oh no!”

Teresa was immediately on alert. “What’s the matter?”

“I broke a nail. I must have snagged it when I tripped earlier. I hope I can smooth it down, there’s no way my manicurist will be able to fit me in this week, she’s very in demand.”

My bodyguard gave me a look of distaste. “Can we focus, please? I want to hear about the threats.”

“My parents were always paranoid about security,” I started. “At least I thought they were paranoid. I only learned as an adult that someone tried to kidnap me when I was a baby,” I explained. “We’ve always had a small security team at the house here and at our office, but when I was a teenager my parents started insisting that I have someone follow me around all the time when I wasn’t at home. I refused, and it was a huge battle that I thought I’d won, but I later learned they were just more covert.”

“How so?”

“When I went away to college, I got suspicious that my dorm roommate was in every single class with me. I finally worked out that they were a bodyguard pretending to be a student. I confronted my parents, and that’s when they told me about the incident when I was a baby, but even still, I thought they were being ridiculous.”

Teresa nodded. “When did you start to think it wasn’t just paranoia?”

“When they were murdered.”

I coughed then took a long drink of water to clear the lump in my throat.

“What happened?” Teresa’s voice was suddenly gentle.

“I was supposed to be with them that night,” I said quietly. “They were going to a big event at the Seattle Art Museum, and we wereall listed as co-chairs for the event. Except the night it happened I was in the middle of a really bad period – I have endometriosis and get pretty sick sometimes – so I stayed home. The police said they slipped on black ice, but I don’t believe it.”

“What do you believe?” I asked.

“Someone was chasing them.”

Teresa

The pain in Flora’s eyes made my chest hurt, which was really weird because clients telling me terrible stories didn’t usually affect me.

It’s because she’s your mate,the voice inside me pointed out. I ignored it.

“So the police said it was an accident, you think it wasn’t…”

“Iknowit wasn’t,” Flora interjected.

I nodded. “What’s happened since then?”

“After my parents died, the board of directors named me the CEO of Meyer Beauty. There was some grumbling of course, butI’ve worked at the company since I was a kid. I’ve worked in every department in the company, and eventually I worked my way up to chief operating officer, the position I held before my father died.”

Flora paused before adding, “There’s no doubt that I benefitted from this being my family’s company, but I also worked very hard to get where I am, at the expense of a lot of other things in my life.”

I liked this version of Flora, strong and sure of herself. It was different from the way she’d been acting when I first got here. Then I remembered the shelves of make-up and skincare products in her ‘dressing room’ and felt a little less impressed.

“Tell me about the grumbling.”

“It was the usual stuff. I’m a nepo baby. I didn’t earn my position. I didn’t take any of it seriously. The fact that I own eighty-five percent of the company isn’t enough. I was grieving the loss of my family and trying to learn a new job. But then the letters started.”

“What kind of letters.”

“Like something out of a detective show.Step down now or you’ll be sorryorQuit now, that kind of thing.”

“I thought you didn’t watch TV,” I said, recalling what she’d said in the bedroom.

Flora frowned like she didn’t appreciate my questioning her.

“I said I don’t watch much TV, not that I’ve never watched TV,” she corrected. “Anyway, I thought they were just harmless attempts to scare me until the car accident. I was driving home, and my brakes went out while I was going downhill. I managed to avoid other cars and steer my way into a park, where I drove into some bushes to stop the car. Later I found out my brake lines were cut.”

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