Page 24 of Big Bodyguard
I push back my chair, the scrape loud in the tense silence. “Excuse me,” I mutter.
“Steele,” my boss snaps, his voice sharp. “We’re not finished here.”
“Yes, we are.” My tone leaves no room for argument. I stand, already heading for the door, my blood pounding like a war drum in my ears.
He calls after me, but I don’t slow down. I can’t. Because nothing…no job, no code, no rule is worth a life without her.
I’m done fighting myself. I’m done pretending I can live without her.
It’s time to get my princess back.
I drive like a man possessed, my grip tight on the wheel, every thought circling back to the same thing. Charlie.
I’ve never second-guessed myself this much in my life. I’m a man who makes decisions, sticks to them, and never looks back. But her? She makes me reckless. Unpredictable. Hell, if anyone else saw me now, they wouldn’t recognize me.
But I don’t give a damn. Not anymore.
By the time I pull into the Freeman estate, the place looks like a goddamn anthill that’s just been kicked over. Men in black suits swarm the property, barking orders into radios, running in and out of the house. My stomach drops.
I step out of the car, already bracing myself.
One of the men spots me. “Mr. Steele.”
“What’s going on?” I snap, my voice harder than I intend.
He swallows, shifting nervously. “Miss Charlie is missing, sir.”
Ice floods my veins. “Missing?”
“She slipped away about twenty minutes ago. We’ve got men combing the property.”
“Specifics,” I bite out, my patience hanging by a thread.
“She was last seen near the west gardens. Her phone’s still active, but we haven’t been able to—”
That’s all I need. I don’t wait for him to finish. I pull out my phone, link to her tracker—of course I still have it—and pull up the map.
A small blinking dot appears just beyond the perimeter.
Jesus, Charlie…
I take off at a sprint, the men shouting after me, but I ignore them. My boots pound against the stone paths until I see her.
She’s climbing the wrought-iron fence, hair flying, fingers gripping tight as she hauls herself up with a determination that makes my chest ache. She looks like something out of a damn spy movie, straining, slipping, stubbornly trying again.
And I do something I haven’t done in years.
I laugh.
It’s a low, surprised rumble in my chest, growing louder with all the relief and fierce devotion I feel in this moment. Because of course this is her. Reckless, wild, untamable. The very fire that drew me in from the start.
“Going somewhere, princess?”
Her head whips around so fast she nearly loses her balance. “Jack?”
She drops down, cheeks flushed, brushing off her hands like I didn’t just catch her red-handed trying to jump over a sky-high fence. “I was just…getting some fresh air.”
I arch a brow, smirking. “Over a fence?”
