9. Sage
9
SAGE
T he glass shattered, Sage shrieked, and Leo bellowed, “Get down!” Leo literally hurled his body in front of Sage and pushed her behind him, reaching for a weapon in the back of his pants and cursing quietly. The sound of screeching tires followed after a heartbeat.
Was her heart beating wildly because of the adrenaline? Was it because of the piercing noise of brick hitting glass? Was it thundering in her chest because Leo stood inches away from her, his broad shoulders shielding her from the danger? Was she struggling to breathe because she was scared or because of something…else?
No. It was definitely just the loud noise that spiked her adrenaline, not his large hands pulling her firmly, yet gently, behind him and shielding her from another incoming attack.
Most definitely the loud noise.
She straightened, trying to put on her logical “I’m not afraid” face.
She supposed the one good thing about having a bodyguard (other than the large hands and broad shoulders that could act as the occasional wall) was the fact that he acted like a personal assistant when things went south. He was the one who called the police and informed them of the brick going through her window. He was the one that chased a car down the street—barefoot, in his slacks and sweater, which was hilarious—and got a partial license plate number. He also coordinated getting a tow truck for her car.
The police took their sweet time coming over, surveyed the scene, took photos, drank some hot chocolate Leo had offered them, and spent hours taking her statement then Leo’s. The paperwork was tedious and she was reminded that she had done this song and dance just a few months ago. Couldn’t they simply copy that report and change the dates?
After a moment of silence, Sage surveyed the broken glass strewn across the living room. Sage went to work cleaning up the mess, locating the brick that smashed the window—“Get out” written in red letters because what was a brick through a window without a threatening message on it? She cleaned while Leo used the guest bath to wash his muddy feet.
A glance at the clock told her it was nearing five in the morning. “Merry Christmas to me,” she muttered to herself.
Leo emerged from the bathroom looking haggard and tired. “Everything looks to be in order. You know, other than the busted window and smashed mailbox they hit.”
“Fantastic. Glad to know the Agency is doing a bang-up job of?—”
“Who do you think threw it?” Leo asked.
“I don’t know!” Sage snapped. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes as she talked. What on earth is happening? “Isn’t that what you’re here for?”
“I am here to protect you, not to be your private investigator.”
“Surely one of your cameras picked up on what happened.”
Leo was already flipping through his phone, probably an app or something that held all the security footage.
“That’s what’s strange.” Leo slammed the phone down. “I already explained it to the cops but the camera picked up nothing. It was like it was a ghost. No flicker, nothing. Just a still camera. The wind must have moved it. Or it shifted with the sagging gutters because the camera was showing a very clear video feed of the sky. I told the cop as much.”
What good was having security if it didn’t actually secure anything?
“How does it taste?” Sage asked.
“What?”
“The taste of failure.”
“Disgusting.” He seemed to mean it. Or maybe his mouth always puckered that way.
“Huh. Very fancy cameras. So fun that you interrupted my day to set them up and they didn’t even work.” Sage’s heart was thundering despite the hours gone by. She tried to play it cool. She was fairly certain she failed when her voice quivered on the last word.
“They work,” Leo said, letting go of a long breath. “They are all working fine except the one we needed.”
How had the evening gotten away from them? Had they really been up all night dealing with this?
“Pity.” Sage poured herself a steaming mug of something full of chamomile and all the good “calm your nerve” herbs. “Well, as you can see, I am fine. You're fine. We’re all fine. Police have the report. You can go.” She just wanted to be alone to deal with this, not have this guy scrutinizing her every move. Not like she would sleep though but it would be fun trying until the anxiety crept in and made her pace in circles.
Leo let out a bark of a laugh and it startled Sage. She jumped and spilled her tea. “That’s your laugh? You sound like a seal. You should give people a warning so they don’t jump out of their skin.” She glared daggers at Leo.
“Very hypocritical of you to say considering your shrill voice could burst an eardrum. And you’re not fine.”
“I am not shrill!” Sage said shrilly.
Leo made a show of wincing at her. “Oh look, you called the rat with that whistle of a voice.”
Sage gasped and sloshed the rest of her tea over the mug as she sprinted to the couch where Squash was determined to tumble down and look more like her name. “Caught her just in time,” Sage said.
“Should have just let her fall. Put her out of her misery. ”
“Vet says she’s fine. It’s all just cosmetic, uh, issues.” Among other problems, but he didn’t need to know that.
“The word you are looking for is damage. Cosmetic damage. Disfigurement.”
“She’s always looked like this.” Sage pet Squash and she let out another small squelch.
Leo looked at the animal with a mix of pity and wonder, which, to be fair, was acceptable considering by all accounts the pup should have crossed the rainbow bridge years ago.
Leo tapped the counter like he had just come to some sort of major resolution. “Tuck the animal in for the rest of the morning. You and I are going out for breakfast.”
“No thank you.” Some resolution.
“My treat. Christmas brunch?—”
“At five in the morning?”
“Whatever. We can call it a business meeting then. We have things to discuss and I have a feeling you will be better behaved in a public space.” He clapped his hands together, making a show of finding his keys “I’m thinking of the Country club my family has a membership to. They always had the best Christmas brunch. Their pancakes were to die for and I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to the restaurant. And hell, my clubs are still in a locker. We could hit some balls.”
“I said no.”
“I said this is a mandated meeting. As per rule number eleven.”
“This isn’t a security risk.”
Leo bent and picked up the brick from the floor. “Hi,” he said in a high-pitched cartoonish voice, shaking the brick. “My name is Major. Major Security Risk.”
She could feel her face going purple. “You are the worst!”
“See?” Leo said. “I highly doubt you would use a tone like that at The Valley Club. You’d hate to draw so much attention to yourself…which is ironic considering your streaming habit.”
“The Valley?” So maybe he had found a bone to throw her. She hated that she sounded so eager but this was an elite cub just twenty minutes out of town where all the big cheeses went. You couldn’t even eat there unless you were a member and that probably cost more than her grocery budget for the year.
Leo nodded. “I love that place. Our family has a membership. Put on some clothes and let’s go.” He paused and stared her down. “Real clothes. No sweatpants. No jeans. This is Christmas after all. It’s a nice place. Let’s see if you can play the part.”
“Of all the?—”
“They have a tea collection that will blow your mind.”
Sage snapped her mouth shut. “Fine.” She stomped up the stairs and went through some mental gymnastics trying to figure out what to wear. She didn’t want to go in overdressed or too underdressed. She supposed she would try to match Leo in his attire. He said he came from a Christmas Eve party last night when he picked her up. She still couldn’t believe she’d been up all night with Leo Camaro.
This was not how she imagined her first “sleepover” with a boy to go .
She opted for black skirt, tights, and a pair of very practical waterproof boots. A Christmas sweater paired with a raincoat also seemed reasonable. She tied her hair back with a clip into a faux updo. It looked like a mess but it was intentional. The girls would get it. Leo wouldn’t but she didn’t care. Her stomach grumbled.
“Wow, she does own more than just pajamas,” Leo said.
She stomped down the porch steps, rolling her eyes at Leo as she went. “Just unlock your car.”
“It’s a 4Runner,” Leo mumbled. “Because there is a difference between the little jalopy that looks inches from death, just like the rat, and my SUV.”
“Whatever. Just show me how the heated seats work.” Sage didn’t even slam the door behind her, even though she was tempted to.
They rode to The Valley Club in silence.
Okay, so maybe— just maybe —breakfast was a good idea. As Sage ate another plate of pancakes (What? They were sourdough pancakes so they were healthy, maybe…) she felt herself relax a little.
“Okay so now that you are looking more human,” Leo said. Sage gave him her best glare. “Never mind,” Leo said, taking a drink of his fourth (fourth!) coffee. “You still look like a gremlin despite actually wearing real clothes for once, but you have food in your belly so I suppose I can begin my interrogation.”
Sage scoffed, shifting under his eyes scanning her from head to toe. “Knew you were Jekyll and Hyde. Good cop and bad cop.”
“Exactly.” She hated the self-satisfied smile he wore .
“Carry on,” Sage said, refilling her cup of peppermint tea. They were actually not the first people in the massive dining room despite the outrageously early hour. Apparently Christmas golf was popular and the hostess had squeezed them into a little table near a window overlooking the course after Leo sweet-talked her a bit. “I am probably going to have the same answers I gave to the cop, which I assume you already know due to all your research.”
Leo shrugged. “I’d like to hear it from you. And I ask different questions.”
“Whatever you say Mr. Cop-Wannabe.”
Clearly that irritated him. He bristled and his jaw clenched. “Who do you think is behind this?”
“Of all the questions,” Sage grumbled. She sipped her tea unnecessarily loud and long. “I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer. Give me your best guess.”
“Lily thinks it’s someone not wanting me at the gaming competition.”
“Okay let’s start there. Explain the competition to me.”
Sage rolled her eyes. She had to stop doing that, it was giving her a headache. But she couldn’t help it. The macho turd in front of her had something about him that induced excessive eye-rolling and there was nothing she could do about it. She would send him the bill for her migraine treatment later. “I’m sure it was in the file sent over to you. Or you can do your job and do a quick Google search to figure out that answer.”
Leo stabbed at his bacon with unnecessary force. “I know what it is. But I’d like to hear it from your mouth. You have a unique perspective. The competition is being marketed as the top 2 5 ranked players fighting it out from ground zero for first place.”
Sage scoffed. “In the most simplified terms, yes.”
“So, simplify it in your own words.”
“ Welkin Wall wasn’t that popular. It’s been on the market for several years, but there were some glitches and bugs that people were too annoyed to deal with. And it’s actually pretty hard. Most experienced gamers struggle with the mechanics at first. It’s not a very beginner-friendly game, so yeah, the top players, really the top players in anything, are gonna be really good. Like playing professionally for years kind of good.”
“And then there’s you.”
“I guess. I kind of came on the scene randomly. I found the game and really fell in love with it. I mostly liked cozy games, still do, but this one is just so fun and I got obsessed with it and before I knew it, I was ranking, which was apparently a big deal.”
“Why was it a big deal?”
“Because the top people playing the game had been the top-ranked for years. It was strange. Normally there is movement and whatnot but not this game. The top ten rarely changed, and then I accidentally burst in there and my small gaming channel exploded, and in came this whole new influx of players to this game.”
“You shook it up.”
“I guess. I was just having fun. George liked to watch me play. Even tried it a few times.” Sage couldn’t tell if the lump in her throat was from fond laughter or tears she was holding back. Either way, she didn’t want to show any kind of emotion to Leo. It felt too personal, and she wanted nothing more than to keep him at a distance.
She needed to get a grip.
What she really needed were more pancakes.
“How did those top ten players react when you busted through the ranks?”
Sage shrugged. “Like normal sore losers, I guess. Like it ignited a new passion for the game, which only made me enjoy it more. I like competition in that way. So, the ranks were constantly changing and I was having a great time. I guess a lot of people were having fun watching too because the biggest gaming host created this event and I was invited along with everyone else.”
“Any particular player you think could be a threat?”
Sage laughed. “They’re all men with a decent platform. They all scare me.”
“Elaborate.”
“They can insinuate a lot about me and their fans will believe it. I don’t have that kind of power over guys.”
“Okay…” Leo looked completely confused. Typical boy. Was she going to have to spell it out for him?
“Okay, so if a nude leaked of me and a nude leaked of Rizzo, I’d be forced to make a public apology because someone else violated my privacy and stole my images, but Rizzo would be applauded for his boldness, he’d be able to laugh it off.”
“Do you have nudes floating around out there?”
“No!” Sage shuddered. “But the fact that you just assumed I did is some of the prejudice female players are hit with, especially with the new wave of AI fakes. ”
“I don’t need all those looks. I am a feminist, women deserve equal pay and opportunity and you’ve got it.”
“Yes, but I get sexually harassed every time I try to do my job.”
That made Leo shut up. “Yeah, I did see that.”
“See what?” Sage asked, suddenly embarrassed.
“I watched your stream the other night. Some of the comments were…intense.”
“And vile, disgusting, and rude.”
“Yeah,” Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I have some moderators that jump into the chat and can remove those comments when I can’t, but some still slip through.”
“But they are just comments. Stupid people. Stupid guys who live in their mother’s basement with nothing better to do. Is there someone out there that you think could take it further?”
Sage thought for a long minute. “Crickets might. I mean, he is all talk, because, well, that’s all he can do through a computer screen I guess, but he’s the most vulgar. He’s also been accused of cheating so I guess he has a lot to prove during this competition.”
“But he doesn’t know where you live?” Leo asked.
“Theoretically, no one should.”
Leo sighed. “And yet a brick went through your window. Twice.”
Sage gripped her mug. It still sent shivers down her spine. Someone was outside her window. It was creepy. “Yeah. So, what went wrong with the cameras?” Time to turn the tables.
“Regular technical issues. It was only one camera, unfortunately, it was the one we needed. Nothing fishy other than high winds and unfortunate timing.” Despite his nonchalant words, his shoulders tensed, his lips thinned, and a crease formed between the eyebrows.
“So, you aren’t an iPad kid after all?” Sage laughed more at herself than anything but she had been quite annoyed that the first ten minutes of their breakfast consisted of Leo just fiddling with a tablet. Not that she wanted to talk but good grief the tech addiction really did span all generations now. Then she had to laugh at herself because she probably spent more time in online worlds than in real life.
Still, it was rude at breakfast.
He pursed his lips and clenched his jaw again. Maybe that’s why it had always looked so chiseled. Leo Camaro had been a very angry teenager. Made sense he was equally frustrated as an adult. People don’t just stumble into peace. “Let me do my job so you can do yours. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Wouldn’t that be in the file too?”
“People lie.”
“I don’t lie,” Sage lied.
“If you want to sell it, you have to use your eyes. Don’t look away. Actually believing your lie would help too.”
“Ugh, whatever. No boyfriend. Just a bunch of friends. Some local, some at the college like an hour away.” She made sure to keep eye contact this time because she wasn’t totally lying. There was a guy. Jason. He was a quick fling that never went anywhere because they connected online and did not have any chemistry in the real-life setting. He didn’t take the hint very well and it took a very strong phone call from Sage basically saying “Dude, there’s no way I can go out with you again” for him to stop calling her. But even now he still hit her up.
Leo had ordered more bacon and eggs and Sage followed suit and decided to see if she could stuff in a few more pancakes. Leo looked cool despite his disheveled appearance. An effortless sort of style with slightly messy hair, clothes tailored to him but with an undone quality, like the top two buttons of his shirt popped open—What? She wasn’t looking, they were right at eye level, was she not supposed to notice the base of his neck or something? —and leather shoes that were sure to cost more than a month’s wages but simple and classic. Sage couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. She had dark circles under her eyes that could make a raccoon jealous.
They ate in silence and when Leo paid (“I insisted we go here”) he decided to take a small detour to the driving range. Moments later a basket of golf balls and his clubs were delivered to their spot.
“What are we doing here?” Sage said, looking out at the green rolling hills. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you just gonna hit some balls or something?”
“That is precisely what I am afraid of. I have decided for this next conversation, instead of giving you the urge to whack away at my, uh, bits, I figured I’d give you a different target.” He handed her a golf club. “It’s called a club. People use it for hitting golf balls, not would-be intruders.”
Sage blushed, remembering how she must have looked running down the stairs with the club acting like it was a sword. “I don’t really want to hit things right now.” Other than your stupid smirk on that stupid face that has no right looking so nice this early in the morning.
“We have more to discuss and I figure it would be safer for me to give you a target to swing at instead of just me.”
So he could read minds now? “What are we talking about that makes you think I need some sort of violent outlet?”
“First off, golfing should not be violent. It’s an art. Second, it’s time to go over some rules. Get a plan in order,” Leo said.
Sage’s stomach dropped. She didn’t want things to change. She took the club and swung at a ball, missed, tried again, missed, and finally hit it about two feet in front of her. “Carry on,” she said through gritted teeth, already lining up another ball for what was likely going to be a sad sort of slaughter. Why was this so hard?
“First thing’s first,” Leo said, clearing his throat and taking on a more serious tone—and three giant steps backward. “Things are going to change.”
“What are you talking about?”
Whack. Miss. Whack. Miss. Whack. Whack. Whack.
“Try putting your hands closer together,” he said. “Quit holding the club like a baseball bat.”
Whack. Miss. Whack. Hit. Wow, at least a few feet of distance this time. Pretty good considering she thought she might have dislocated a shoulder because she was swinging so hard. Maybe Leo had been on to something. It was much easier to tackle uncomfortable topics when she could hit something at the same time .
“Nice,” Leo said. “How do you feel about four-star hotels?”
Panic gripped Sage’s stomach. “What do you mean?” Whack. Whack. She tried to ignore the stares of other actual golfers.
“I mean we need to get you out of the house for a while, maybe even town. Let things cool off.”
Whack. Hit. “I’m not leaving my home.”
“Be reasonable.”
“I am!” Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Why wasn’t she hitting anything?!
“Quit abusing the poor club and use your words. Tell me why you are so gung-ho about staying put,” Leo said.
“You can’t be ‘gung-ho’ about something if you want to stay put.”
Leo just stared. “When I told you to use your words, I should have been more specific and told you that I wanted you to be useful with your words.”
“Ugh!” Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Kick. She faced Leo. “I just lost someone who was pretty much my only family and I can’t just pack up and decide to live out of a hotel for a few months. Look, it’s taken me years to feel comfortable anywhere . We moved around a lot as kids. Literally a new place every few months. Usually left town when the rent couldn’t be paid type of thing. This is the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. I’m just not ready to let that go.”
Leo took in a deep breath, pausing for a moment and just as Sage turned to obliterate another golf ball he whispered, “I’m sorry for what I did.”
It stopped Sage cold .
“No. No, you’re not,” she said. Whack. She didn’t want to give him room to talk. She faced him again, vowing not to break eye contact. “You’re only feeling guilty right now because I gave you a sliver of honesty and you didn’t like what you heard because you realized you might have something to do with my problems. Save your apologies for when you mean it.” Whack. Whack. Hit. Whack. Hit. That memory haunted her and he was just a living reminder. And now he wanted a free pass? A reason to “forgive and forget” and move on? Absolutely not.
“Sage I?—”
“Don’t.” Sage’s voice gave no room for argument. She was low and firm and that one word was all it took for Leo to shed his false concern and go back into business mode.
“Alright, well, I can see why you don’t want to move. Plus, I assume your gaming setup isn’t exactly mobile. And I don’t know if there is a hotel around that would allow a rat to come with us.”
“She is a dog! She’s just been through some stuff.” At least they could at least go back to arguing like normal.
He ignored her. “I’ll follow up on the plates of the unknown car. I’ll get more cameras by the driveway, the company will be happy to sign off on that. Oh, and I’m moving in.”
Sage thought she handled the news brilliantly because she only screamed “Like hell you are!” instead of picking up the bucket of golf balls and hurling them at him like she wanted to.
“What is wrong with you?” Leo hissed, making a polite “I’m sorry this woman is unhinged” gesture to the few golfers staring .
“What is wrong with me?” Sage scoffed. “What is wrong with you? How can you think that I would accept that? How can you think that I would appreciate having my space invaded, especially you.”
“Still holding grudges?” Leo rolled his eyes. “Your safety is on the line. Grow up!”
“You’re the one with the fake apology!”
“Look, I said I was sorry, what more do you want?”
“For you to actually mean it! Now leave me alone.”
“What are you doing?” Leo asked, stepping in front of her, but the phone was already to her ear.
“Calling Lily.”
“She isn’t going to do anything. There is literally no one else that is available to do this job at the company.”
“Of course, you would say that. At least let me hear it from Lily’s mouth.”
And Lily let her have it. Itt was rude to call early Christmas morning complaining about the fact that Lily had hired the “best agency out there” and she told Sage under no uncertain terms that she was not to give the agency a hard time. “They are the best, Sage, and I will not allow you to walk around with a target on your back. End of discussion.”
Sage hung up the phone, defeated. Still, maybe she could win this war of attrition with Leo. “Please,” she said. “I’ll follow your rules perfectly. Please. I don’t want you in my space.”
Leo considered this for a moment. “Every rule? Perfectly?” He ran a hand through his perfectly messy hair, starting to look as exasperated as Sage felt. It was a small comfort to know he was a human capable of emotions and not a total sociopath.
Sage nodded. “Everything.”
“Then fine. I won’t stay at your place?—”
“Thank you?—”
“But if there is another incident of any other kind, then I will be forced to move in. It’s not up to me, it is the company’s protocol and I’m not about to get fired to spare your feelings.”
“Good to know some things never change,” Sage mumbled.
“Yeah, I can see that. Do we have a deal?”
“Deal.”
Unfortunately, part of that deal was allowing Leo access to her home anyway, but at least it was just to set up certain security measures and patrol. She was exhausted and as soon as she got home she bid Leo farewell and went up to her room to try and sleep, ignoring Leo’s cry of “I’m still going to be around today you know, to set up the cameras, so don’t attack me with a stick.”
How dare he accuse her of holding a grudge? The wound was old and scarred over now. So why did it feel like she was starting to bleed?