Page 89 of Protected

“Oh, sure no problem, Jim,” Darci mumbled. Bradley could tell she was nervous by the way she fiddled with her small clutch. She fucking should be nervous. Bradley swept his gaze back to Jim who was excusing himself to find his table. When he was gone, Bradley turned his full attention to Darci. Stalking toward her, he backed her against a wall.

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“YOU are in so muchfuckingtrouble when we get home,” Bradley whispered through clenched teeth. Darci was up against the back wall of the grand ballroom, He flattened his palms against the wall on either side of her as his cold, angry gaze locked on hers.

She tried to shrink away from him, but she was trapped by his arms and his angry glare. She couldn’t remember him ever being this angry before.Shit,she thought to herself.How do I get out of this one?

“I’m sorry, Bradley. I don’t know what you want me to say. I had to get out of there. It was important.”

“Nothing is more important than your safety,” he hissed. “We’ll discuss this at home. Now smile and kiss me. We have an appearance to keep up. But you, young lady, are on my shit list right now.”

His fingers trailed tenderly down her cheek until his hand reached her neck and he slipped it into her hair. To onlookers, they looked like a couple canoodling in the corner. Only Darci could see his anger and feel the pain as he pulled her hair. She did as she was told and smiled even though her insides trembled. He was furious.

When she leaned up to kiss his cheek, she winced. His hand still had a tight grip on her hair.

“I’m sorry, please don’t be angry with me.” Her voice trembled as she tried to hold back tears. For a moment, his grip tightened. But he didn’t say anything else, and she knew he wouldn’t until they got home. It was going to be a long night.

Why did her boss have to say anything to him about her little field trip today? But Jim didn’t know about their dynamic yet, so his comments seemed harmless.Fuck, fuck, fuck. She cursed herself. Bradley put her arm through his and led them to their dinner table. They still had at least three hours to be here. That might be enough time for him to calm down

They made it through dinner without incident, though she could still feel his anger every time he looked at her. She tried to apologize with her eyes, but it didn’t seem to be affecting him. As the dessert plates were being cleared, she excused herself to the ladies’ room.

“I’ll escort you,” Bradley said, rising from his seat. To the guests at their table his smile was genuine, but Darci could tell it didn’t reach his eyes. She wanted to object but decided against it until they were away from the table.

“I don’t need an escort to the bathroom, Bradley.”

“From where I stand, you can’t be trusted to go anywhere on your own.” His tone was harsh, and she sighed. He was not any less angry. This was not going well. He left her at the bathroom door, though it wouldn’t have surprised her if he’d tried to go in with her. When she finished, she opened the door and could hear Bradley’s voice.

“How the fuck did you let her get past you? I’m paying you to fucking protect her. Why didn’t you call me the second you knew she was gone?”

She cringed. She didn’t mean for the guard to get in trouble. He was apologizing as she walked up to them.

“Please don’t yell at him, Bradley. I’m the one who left them.”

“Stay out of this, Darci. You’re in enough trouble as it is. It’s their job to keep tabs on you.”

It was probably best not to say anything else right now. “I’ll be inside talking to Senator Stills’ chief of staff.” Turning, she headed back into the ballroom.

It was already transitioning into a dance party. On any other night, she would have had a drink or two and pulled Bradley onto the dance floor. Maybe she still could. At first, he would resist, but she could be convincing. She was just about to head to the bar for a drink when she felt him behind her.

“Let’s dance,” he said, turning her to face him.

“I thought you were mad at me.”

“I am, but we can still dance. If we have to be here, we might as well enjoy it.” Relaxing just a bit, she followed him to the dance floor.

They danced for a little while, and Darci was grateful for his ability to put aside his anger and enjoy spending time with her. She had a feeling she was still in trouble but tried not to think about it. Earlier, his anger reminded her of Damion, and it made her nauseous. She hoped her fuck-up didn’t bring out a bad side of Bradley that she didn’t know was there.

They did a little more mingling, and Darci got her opportunity to chat with Senator Atleigh. True to his word, Bradley let her approach him unsupervised. She was polite but had no problem letting him know she thought his proposed legislation was ridiculous.

Even though she wanted to, she didn’t say anything about the other bill Bradley had warned her was coming. Not only did she not want to get Bradley fired, she figured she was already in enough trouble with him later. The senator didn’t have much to say, but he seemed to be following his handlers’ script for once, so it wasn’t an unpleasant conversation. After a few minutes, she moved on.

Michael asked her to dance, and while they were circling the dance floor, he asked her how things were going with Bradley. Unsure of the answer herself, she just told him things were good and changed the subject, asking about Adara. The question made her friend blush.

“Oh my god, you really like her,” she exclaimed. He nodded and spun her out to twirl her under his arm.

“I’m not ready to talk about it, but yes, I like her.” She squealed and threw her arms around him. He laughed. “Get out of here, I’m sure your man is looking for you.”

With a grin, she left him to go find someone else to talk to, not quite ready to seek Bradley out again.

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