Page 2 of Bodyguard Wolf Shifter
It was all the same stuff including rhetoric about a woman's weakness when it came to political matters. It stated emphatically that I wasn't the right person for the job. It was hard not to take it personally when they were trying to slander my good name.
Someone had gotten hold of some less-than-flattering photographs from my time during spring break in Miami. Most of them were taken out of context, but they didn't exactly paint me in a good light.
Everyone was young and impulsive once.
Julia had done her best to get ahead of it by making it sound innocent enough despite a candid shot of me naked from the waist up for a split second.
I pulled the chain on the lamp.
The office was completely dark except for the light illumination from the computer screen. One last look at the threat made me hesitant to leave the safety and confines of my private space.
They say bad things come in threes.
Leaking that photograph and the mugging counted as two in my book. It boggled my mind to think about what could be the final straw. Nobody came out and said anything blatant to my face but that didn't mean they didn't have a few choice words to say to me behind closed doors.
There had been a parade of individuals currying favor with me in exchange for a significant amount of money to go toward my campaign expenses. It was a difficult job juggling which ones would be good for my image.
Those that got the cold shoulder felt slighted in some way even though it was nothing personal.
I swung around in the black leather swivel chair with my feet squarely landing in the shoes. They were flat without any heels. The one thing I wasn't going to do was play to the common denominator. Sex could be used as a weapon including wearing short skirts and low-cut blouses.
A statement had to be made. My customary pantsuits did the trick to give my image the polishing it needed.
I stopped outside the office to look at the empty cubicles littered with papers. It was sometimes hard to remember their names, but their contribution was always foremost on my mind.
My mother warned me there would be days like these. She stressed the importance of having good people next to me. Jack had come highly recommended. He had been responsible for several campaign strategies throughout his stellar career. He reminded me how he knew where the bodies were buried metaphorically and possibly literally speaking.
I could never tell with his poker face.
I was almost to the elevator when the fax machine came to life. My curiosity got the best of me. It wasn't like I was expecting anything after hours, but some people worked on their own schedules.
Those same five words repeated over and over again came out of the fax machine. There were five pages in total and all of them had those five words.
Somebody was trying to rattle my chain.
It was a little claustrophobic being in the elevator alone. It felt like forever before I reached the lobby. The guard on duty gave me a dismissive wave.
I didn't know his name, but he had been a staple with the building from the moment the lease was signed for three months. He wasn't much of a deterrent, but he was better than nothing.
I always made sure to park close to the building underneath a light for added protection.
I gripped the handle of my briefcase until my knuckles turned white. The humidity hit me in the face the moment I stepped out onto the sidewalk. Potted plants arranged in a semicircle bent with a gust of wind coming from the west.
A whistle stopped me in my tracks. It took me a moment to recognize the tune. It was familiar and made my legs tremble. My hand released the briefcase until it clattered on the pavement at my feet.
The heavy breathing followed by the shadow looming over me made my heart race a little bit faster than normal. My whole body went stiff with the appearance of two men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas.
I fumbled with my keys until the fob fell on the ground next to my briefcase.
I squealed when I felt a sharp tug on my ponytail.
We were out of sight of the office doors but perfectly visible from the camera. A sharp blade made me focus on the danger. The garlic smell coming off of his breath made my stomach turn.
They didn't say a word, but their hands roamed over my body paying particular attention to my impressive endowment and my long legs. My mind short-circuited and everything I had been taught about self-defense was forgotten.
"What do you want?" I squeaked in protest barely above a whisper.
They didn't answer me but continued to move the knife a few inches below my neck until one of my buttons was cut clean off revealing a little more of my body to their eager gaze.
