Page 10 of The Bodyguard

Sawyer balked. “The boyfriend?”

They didn’t talk about her relationship. Sawyer couldn’t remember how or when he learned the boyfriend existed. Maybe it had been mentioned in Sawyer’s initial safety briefing when he was first assigned to Angela as a security detail for when she left the building. Sawyer couldn’t recall Angela taking phone calls from Paul or sharing stories about the guy. Paul never visited, and if he did, Sawyer wasn’t sure he’d like him. Paul Bane looked like a Washington, DC politician. Sawyer was confident that Paul would think and act like one too.

“I need a man’s perspective,” Angela prodded. “Please, Sawyer. Don’t make me beg for your two cents.” She pouted, and her pleading face made him laugh. “I can do this all day until you agree.”

Sawyer groaned and relented. “Fine. My perspective”—he gestured for to hit him with her question—“I’m ready.”

Her cute, pouty face melted into a grateful smile. “Earlier this week, for two days, he was blowing up my phone.”

All right, so she and the boyfriend had talked and texted. Sawyer scowled.

“But I was absurdly busy and running around to secure a safe house in Libya.”

He nodded, recalling an incident in Tripoli that called upon their team to haul ass across the Mediterranean Sea.

“I told him that I couldn’t respond.”

Sawyer leaned back. “You think he’s upset you blew him off? He’ll get over it.”

“I told him that unless he was dying or something, I’d call back later this week.” Her gaze flicked to his. They both knew that the Libyan safe house issue took only a few hours to figure out. “That sounds harsh. But it’s sort of how we’ve always operated.”

“All right.”

“Don’t judge. Okay?”

“I’m not judging.” Except he was. At least, he was analyzing. Angela, who was completely involved and invested in her friends and work, didn’t blow off conversations. Sawyer lifted his hands. “This is a no-judgment conversation.”

She picked up her phone and scrolled. “Then yesterday happened.”

“That was a hell of a day for you.”

“Yeah, someone tried to kill me, and I thought, ‘Gee, this is something I should tell Paul.’”

Sawyer had spent all day with Angela. She yelled and cried and decided she wouldn’t let the assassination attempt get the better of her. Chelsea and Amanda had huddled with and hugged her. Hagan had organized their teammates and support staff to meet at one of the hotel restaurant bars for a nightcap to top off the crappy day. Sawyer hadn’t seen Angela on her phone.

“I wasn’t dying,” she continued. “But, ya know, one bad shot away from dying. Closer to dying than any other time in recent history.” She didn’t ask a question, but she stared at him expectantly.

He shrugged because what else was he supposed to do? “I’d want to know if someone tried to kill my girlfriend.”

“Exactly.” She forced a laugh. “I tried to get a hold of him. Not like he did the other day with the flood of calls and texts. But I tried, and I made clear it was important.”

“Okay…?”

“I haven’t heard from him.”

Sawyer’s brows furrowed. What did she need that he and Titan hadn’t been able to give her? Then again, there were many things that a boyfriend could give her, even through a long-distance phone call. Pressure ticked in Sawyer’s jaw. “Okay…”

“You’re pausing and thinking a lot before you say anything,” she accused.

“Well… yeah.” He half laughed. “Is this more of a Chelsea or Amanda conversation?”

Her eyebrows reached toward the sky-high ceiling. “Absolutely not.”

His own eyebrows arched. “Because?”

“They each have a lot on their minds, and I don’t want to share my silly burdens. It feels trivial. But I can talk to you about anything. I trust you without reservation.”

He didn’t know what to make of Angela’s choice to avoid her friends. “We’ve never talked about your boyfriend.”

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