Page 25 of Her Bossy Bodyguards

“Don’t cast stones when you live in a glass house,” the stranger interrupted. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Bolin? I can already tell that you’re one of those men who think they’re so different from me, even though we’re the same. We both like to get what we want, don’t we? We both like to get what we’re owed?”

“Barca,” I said his name like a statement of fact.

He lightly chuckled on the other end. “Well done, Mr. Bolin. Now, are you going to make me come get Ms. Hanson myself? Or would you like to schedule a painless rendezvous?”

“You can go fuck yourself.”

“So it’s going to be the former then.” Barca sighed. “I’ll be seeing you shortly, Mr. Bolin.”

“Where are we going?”Natalie asked as she frantically packed up one of her bags. “King, what’s going on?”

I’d interrupted Zeke and Natalie’s post-sex cuddle session with the news that we needed to leave the cabin ASAP. And while a tinge of jealousy threatened to make its way through my brain, I easily suppressed it as I brought my focus back to the task at hand.

“We’ve been compromised.” I kept my voice steady as I answered, not letting any panic show through my tone. “He just called me. And I don’t know how long we have until he and his men show up here.”

“How do you know we’ve been compromised for sure?” Zeke asked, adjusting the gun that hung from his side. “You sure he’s not just playing mind games?”

“He’s not just playing mind games,” I answered. “He…mentioned something about the nature of our relationship.”

“The nature of our relationship?”

“He knew that we both…that all of us have beenintimatewith each other.” I struggled to find the right words. “He asked if Natalie was my girlfriend or yours.”

“Fuck” was all Zeke said before he headed for the door. “I’ll get the van ready.”

“Be careful,” Natalie murmured.

Zeke stopped in the doorway to offer her a bright smile. “I’m always careful, princess.”

Natalie beamed right back at him, her hands still pulling clothes and notebooks into her bag.

And the sting of jealously returned. I hated that I couldn’t just be glad for Zeke in the moment, happy that he’d finally found someone who had the ability to keep him grounded, who would keep his eyes from wandering to every woman who walked the globe. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I wanted Natalie, too, that I wanted to pull her close and comfort her as Zeke finished getting the car ready.

But I once again suppressed the urge.

“Do you think I should have a weapon?” Natalie asked, looking up at me. “Just in case?”

“That depends,” I answered. “Do you have any firearms training?”

“No, because my dad never let me go out to the shooting range with him,” she replied. “He always said he didn’t want me to ever have to resort to that kind of violence, that if something that bad ever happened, he’d be the one to take care of it—”

Natalie cut herself off mid-sentence and changed the direction of the conversation. “Wait. Is my dad okay? You don’t think that Barca can get to him, do you?”

“Honestly, Natalie, I don’t think Barca’s that interested in your father right now,” I admitted. “It seems like he’s more interested in you, which is why we need to move—”

Suddenly, every light snapped off inside the cabin. It didn’t sound like a natural loss of electricity, more like every bulb had exploded into a million pieces, their remnants scattering across the floor.

And then there was someone’s boot at my back. The kick had lined up perfectly with the base of my spine, sending me spiraling to the floor. And when I tried to rise back up to my feet, a heavy boot came down on me again, this time angled toward the back of my neck, the side of my head.

“Kingston? Kingston!” I heard Natalie crying out in the darkness before her cries turned muffled, then cut off.

And as my body radiated pain, I tried to reach out to her, still wanting to offer her comfort, still wanting to be the one who told her that everything was going to be okay.

That same boot came crashing down on my outstretched hand.

Chapter 13

Zeke

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