Page 28 of Her Guardian
“Yeah, yeah. Ye two have fun,” Rowan chuckles, glancing at Sarah and back at me. He winks, but she doesn’t notice. “I’ll go see Freddy tomorrow.”
I nod and say hello to other members of the Morandi family before leading Sarah to the elevators. Once we’re inside, she turns to me with a curious look on her face.
“What is it?” I ask, watching the question bubble up.
“Do you have a best friend? Rowan and Massimo are best friends, and Freddy said you were the Four Musketeers… five, when Emilio was around,” she asks.
“Leo,” I say. “Well, used to be. If he hadn’t become a priest, I would have been his bodyguard. We haven’t talked much in recent years.”
“I guess a priest and a Mafia bodyguard wouldn’t have much in common,” she remarks.
“No, the only thing we have in common is memories,” I mutter. “Not all of them are good ones.”
“Because of what happened to his girlfriend?” she asks.
“Something like that.”
The doors open and I hold them for her before stepping off the elevator. I walk a little slower so she can keep up with me and swipe my keycard when we get to her room.
“Wait, they gave you a keycard?” she asks, her eyes widening. “That’s how you got into my room?”
“Yep,” I chuckle, pushing the door open and motioning for her to enter. “I don’t kick them open unless I have to.”
“You’re not going to, like, sneak into my room during the night, are you?” she teases playfully, walking over to the mini-bar and looking at the options. “Want some whiskey? There’s no scotch.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I mutter, closing the door and walking behind her, pointing out the one that looks the most drinkable. “That one.”
Sarah pours the whiskey for me and some water for herself. I guess Freddy loaded her cocktail up, or it took enough of the edge off. I’d need a bottle to do that.
“Alright,” I say, sitting down on the bed she didn’t sleep in and sipping my drink. “Let’s try those notes again.”
We focus on business for a while. Her business, which is my business, because I have to make sure she doesn’t say something that will make someone slit her throat. I help construct her notes, so they are vague and presentable, but more important, don’t contain any names. I fill in some gaps where I can, elaborating on the stories that are safe for her to talk about on a podcast. There’s plenty more I don’t share, but that’s for the best.
“Want another drink?” Sarah asks, motioning to my glass as I drain it.
“Sure,” I say, holding it out to her.
Sarah’s fingers brush against mine as she takes my glass. A current of electricity shoots through me and makes my mind wander for a moment, but I shake it off.
“Maybe I will do a podcast about that asshole,” she muses. “Even if it’s just a public service thing, so other people know to be more careful than I was.”
“Not a bad idea,” I concede.
“But now that I’m done with my notes, and I have a great story about what happened today, I guess I should think about going home,” Sarah says apprehensively while she pours my drink.
My chest clenches in a way I don’t like.
“I thought you had another day, at least,” I say.
“Yeah, but after the last couple of days, I assume I’ll have even more content after spending tomorrow with you.” She walks over and hands me my drink, then sits down and takes a hit of her vape. “I’ll still run everything by you, of course, but I don’t need to be in Las Vegas for that.”
Damn. When Massimo told me I would be babysitting the boss lady’s bratty best friend, I couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Now I don’t want her to leave. I’m in trouble. A lot of fucking trouble.
“You said you were going to make it into a series, right?” I ask. “I’ve still got plenty of stories to tell you myself, and if you’re hanging out with me, you never know what kind of content you might get.”
“Are you asking me to stay longer?” Her eyes flicker with a mixture of curiosity and excitement.
There it is. This was a test—still is. She’s gauging my interest. Treading carefully. I thought the spanking would scare her off. If that wasn’t enough, my rage should have sent her running.
