Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
ISAAK
Kira looks nothing like herself once the make-up artist is done with her.
It’s like the lady recontoured her face to make her look like a total stranger. All the freckles are gone. Her nose is straighter. Her lips are bigger.
She looks like every other Barbie in Dallas now, with her straight, flat hair.
And the dress they put her in… I mean, sure, she’s beautiful. But the look she flashes me as she tugs at the lace collar that’s buttoned with a million little pearl buttons up to her neck tells me she feels all but strangled in the damn thing. It’s some form-fitted beige lace thing that suctions to her body on the top and poofs out like a princess gown on the bottom. Beautiful, sure, if you’re into that untouchable ice-princess kinda thing.
And anyone who’s met Kira for even an afternoon would know it’s nothing like her.
Kira paces nervously back and forth in the room after the make-up artist packs up, leaving just me and her.
“Hey,” I say. “It’s going to go great. You look beautiful.”
She whips around and glares at me. “I look like a doll my mother dressed up.”
I shrug. “That too.”
She breathes out. “Good. Radical honesty, remember?”
“Well, if I’m being radically honest, you look uncomfortable and nervous but very nice. You’re strong, and your mom can’t corner you once you get out to dinner with all those people around you, right?”
She nods, fidgeting her hands together nervously. “That’s the hope.”
I walk to the window and peek out the front shade. “Everyone’s arriving, so she’ll be busy with them.” I’ve been looking out every so often, and it’s been a constant flow, first with all the catering trucks and now with folks as fancy-looking as Kira in her ballgown.
Kira breathes out again. “Okay. Okay. She likes to play happy family when other people are around. And she hasn’t tried to kick you out again, so Dad must have talked her down.”
I walk up behind her and squeeze her shoulders. “It’s going to be fine. Just try to stay calm, or as calm as possible with that shrew around. And after it’s all done, we can move into the hotel suite tonight. You’ll have a bed all to yourself.” I try to put a smirk in my voice. “Though I will miss waking up to you snuggling me.”
She whips around and smacks me on the chest, which has me grinning.
“What? I bet you’ll miss it, too.”
“I will miss no such thing.” It’s hard to tell through the pounds of make-up and something the make-up artist called bronzer, but I think she’s blushing. Never had so much fun making a woman blush. Though, now that I know how much fun it is, my mind immediately jumps to a thousand more inventive ways to make it happen.
I take a step back from her, but our gazes are still locked. Something about the way she’s looking back at me makes me think she’s reading my mind. Heat crackles between us. Damn, I haven’t had this much chemistry with a woman since, I don’t know when.
Just when I’m tempted to take a step forward and ruin some of that lipstick the make-up artist so carefully painted on, the door bangs open.
“Kira! Honey, I’ve missed you.”
Kira spins, and her face lights up. She grabs her gown and starts running—and I literally mean running—toward the door and the man standing there in a polished gray suit.
“Drew!”
My gut sours. Drew? This is the fiancé she has the understanding with?
She throws herself into his arms. While she’s hugging him, his eyes meet mine over her shoulder.
Because I’m an immature asshole who can’t act my age, I give him a smug smile and a little wave.
His eyes narrow. But then he’s too busy with Kira pulling back and chattering away at him. I’m a little too far away to hear what she’s saying, which is probably for the best. Somehow in all the activity of today, my dopey ass went and forgot what the big event tonight was all about.
Her engagement dinner party.
Because she’s about to get married. To this little limp dick of a man.
But isn’t that the way it always goes? Rich people marry other rich people.
It’s literally the point of all this. So Kira can get access to her inheritance, right? It’s all gross as shit if you ask me, but then again, no one has. And maybe that’s easy for me to say, never having had anything my whole life. Maybe if I had, I’d be a little more precious about not wanting to lose it.
Either way, it’s shit biscuits watching Kira and Drew’s heads go together as they chat intimately.
But then I frown. ’Cause yeah, they hugged when he came in, and Kira’s smiling wide at him as they both talk rapidly like they’re finishing each other’s sentences. But they haven’t kissed once.
And where the hell has he been while she’s been dealing with this motherfucking stalker? Was he out of town? Could he not have come back to comfort his fiancée ? Nothing would have kept me away if my fiancée walked in on the fucked up scene Kira and I did.
Finally, Kira turns and gestures at me to come over.
I hop to it. This is one introduction I don’t want to miss.
I stride forward and hold my hand out as Kira says, “Drew, this is Isaak, my bodyguard.” She looks embarrassed. “Oh, sorry. My personal protection officer,” she amends.
“I’m her bodyguard,” I say, barely stopping myself from putting emphasis on body.
She smiles up at me. “Isaak, Drew.”
Drew reaches his hand out and grasps mine as if he’s trying to crush my bones when we shake. I smirk as he smiles genially.
So he’s one of those. I could show him a real bone-crunching grip, but my latent maturity finally hits, and I let him think he’s got the upper hand for Kira’s sake.
In my experience, men who try to play these kinds of intimidation games with other men have small dicks.
“The legendary Drew. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Oh?” he says smoothly, finally releasing me with a smirk. “I haven’t heard anything about you. Although, I wouldn’t think you and Kira would need to talk much. Aren’t security supposed to be the strong, silent types? Seen but not heard?”
“You’re thinking of what they used to say about children about a hundred years ago. Everything’s a little more organic these days, both with raising kids from what I hear and in security.”
“Ah. I’m surprised you’re still in security at your age, though. No offense, bro.”
I smile wide at the little shit. “To quote a classic, ‘It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.’”
“Well, they have all sorts of procedures for those kinds of things these days.” He slaps me on the back. “Don’t be too proud just because you’re a man.”
He looks back at Kira and holds out his arm to her. “Shall we, love?”
“I-Uh-” She looks back at me with a little bit of an apologetic look, then takes his arm. That introduction definitely didn’t go the way she thought it would.
Apparently, she’s not aware she’s marrying a piss-ant. Plenty of women make the same mistake. I’d be happy to tell her, but I get the feeling it’s the sort of thing you have to recognize yourself.
I hope she does before it’s too late.
Now’s not the time anyway since Drew’s pulling open the door and starting down the hallway that has an open balcony on one side. The chatter of people and piano music below swirls up.
Ahead of me, I hear Drew reassuring Kira that she’s the most beautiful woman here and that everything’s going to be okay. At least the piss-ant knows how to do one thing right.
When they get to the top of the stairs, the pianist starts a dramatic new song that has everyone in the room hushing.
Then I hear the pinging of a spoon against a glass. “Welcome, welcome, my friends!” Carol’s voice is musical now, barely recognizable from the harridan she was earlier in the bedroom when she was berating her daughter.
“I’m so blessed to invite you to one of the most exciting days in any parent’s life—the celebration of Bill’s and my beautiful daughter Kira’s engagement to a worthy young man. We’ve loved Drew’s family forever and couldn’t be more excited that these two love birds are about to tie the knot. Thank you all for coming to celebrate the union of true love.”
Everyone starts to clap.
“I now present to you the future Mr. and Mrs. Underwood.”
More clapping as Kira and Drew start down the stairs, arm in arm. I hang back like I know I’m supposed to, but only as far as I can while keeping Kira in view. A peek over the balustrade shows that the room downstairs is packed. Any one of those men could be the stalker, using tonight as an opportunity to get close to her.
I wait until Kira and Drew are at the bottom of the stairs and being received by guests before making my way quietly and efficiently down, hanging back against the wall. My eyes stay on Kira as her mother directs her with a hand firmly at the small of her back. I see the way Kira immediately stiffens at the gesture.
Like a beauty pageant contestant, Kira’s smiling with all her teeth. It looks like it hurts her face. She’s pinned in by Drew on one side and her mother on the other.
Now I’m really wishing we’d worked out a sign ahead of time that she could flash me if she needed to cut and run at any point. I don’t care what any of these fancy farts think of me. I’d be happy to hustle her out of here and back to the Mercedez. The chauffeur wasn’t that buff, so I know I could take him to get the keys, and we could be on our way in no time.
But she just stands there like a plastic doll while a receiving line works its way past them, each person stopping to give their well wishes and have a chat. From where I’m standing by the wall, I can hear the friendly tones in Kira’s voice. She’s doing her best to make each person who stops by feel welcomed and warm, giving them special attention. Especially the older folks. It’s also clear who Drew’s parents are because she especially gushes over them.
Finally, almost forty-five minutes later, dinner is announced.
Her mother tries to move Kira along with that iron hand she’s had at her back the entire night, but Kira stops and turns around, eyes obviously searching. I step forward into her line of sight.
Her exhausted, panicky look relaxes when she sees me.
I’m right here , I want to say. But there’s no chance before her mother and Drew whisk her off. She only has time for one more desperate look over her shoulder before they’ve got her around the corner.
Goddammit, I hate this shit.
I haul ass, not wanting to lose sight of her for a second.