Chapter 29 Sebastian
Marfil fell asleep twenty minutes into the movie, but I sat there, enjoying the feel of her body next to mine as thousands of unconnected thoughts battled it out in my brain.
I stared at her for the entire two hours and ten minutes that the ridiculous movie went on, captivated by how pretty she was.
In reality, the word pretty came up short, but I’d learned over the last several weeks that it wasn’t her appearance alone that made me lose my head; it was the whole package.
Her sweetness, her interest in helping others, even her angry outbursts, but most of all, her way of seeing the world, like it could be kind in return, even after everything it had taken from her.
She’d been hurt; she’d been treated like a simple object; she had been forced to endure her own father turning her over to a man whom he knew to be capable of anything, who had forced himself on his daughter.
And yet Marfil Cortés was still able to smile.
Still able to believe in kindness, in hope, in love, even if she gave it to someone unworthy of it.
I knew I was entering dangerous territory, that the consequences of being with Marfil could cost us both dearly.
It scared me think about it, but I felt a strong urge to protect her, well beyond my job description as her bodyguard.
Those of us in this line of work knew we could end up giving our lives to save the people we protected.
That aspect of the job had always given me pause.
But with Marfil, I didn’t even question it.
There was no other possibility: If I had to take a bullet to save her, I would do it without hesitation. And I’d die happy.
That was worrying.
When the movie ended, I carried her to her bedroom. She was light as a feather, and I couldn’t help but think it would do her good to add a few pounds to her thin dancer’s frame, but I had learned she didn’t place much importance on food.
Suddenly awake, she leaned her head back as we passed through her doorway. “Are you practicing what you learned from Kevin Costner?” She yawned, holding tightly to my neck.
“Shh,” I said, hoping she would go back to sleep. Alone, in her dark bedroom, things could get out of hand.
I deposited her on her bed, but she didn’t let go of me.
She tugged at my neck until my face was mere inches from hers. “Sleep with me,” she asked, her lips so close to mine that I could smell her exquisite, natural fragrance, feel her breath against my mouth, and most of all, an intense desire to bite down hard on her lower lip.
“Marfil—” I began, but she interrupted me.
“I just want to sleep, truly.”
Maybe so, but the problem is me, not you, I thought to myself.
“No.” I took her hands and peeled them off me. I needed to get away from her, to clear my head, get my thoughts in order…
I left her room, unaware of what I was missing out on. If I could go back in time to that instant, not a single person would’ve been able to get me out of that room.
I woke up early, like always, and went for a run, taking advantage of the fact that Marfil was still asleep, checking on her through the app that let me view the cameras inside the apartment.
Central Park was full of early risers like me, people who wanted to take advantage of the first hours of the day before the park got too full.
I had taken Rico with me. The dog seemed to be recovering nicely and was full of energy, which was to be expected given the vet had said he was a little over a year old.
I stopped to play with him, throwing the ball as I thought about everything that had happened with Marcus Kozel.
Momentarily blinded by rage, the ball flew much farther than I’d intended it to.
Rico took off like a bullet, and I had to run to keep from losing sight of him.
The last thing I needed was to lose Marfil’s dog.
I was returning to the apartment when I saw an Audi—pretty much identical to the one Cortés had given me—parked outside the entrance to the building. Just then, my cell phone started ringing. It was Marcus. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself before answering the call.
“Moore?” he asked calmly over the background noise of what sounded like a bar. “I don’t have much time. I’m just calling to inform you that from now on, you’ll have another two men working with you to guard Marfil.”
Shit.
“I don’t think that’s necessary—”
“It doesn’t matter what you think,” he cut me off. “I’m in charge here, remember? And that girl is worth too much to let anyone do anything to her.”
I clenched my jaw at the sight of two men in nice suits climbing out of the Audi.
“And Sebastian,” he said, now in a different tone, “I assume Cortés has brought you up to speed on the changes. If you fuck it up… I’ll kill you.”
I gripped my cell phone so tightly, I was surprised it didn’t snap in half.