Chapter 3

• Sia motioned for the file in his hands, and Julian
• obediently passed it to her. Sia went through it quietly, comparing it with the
• one she had in her hand, then closed the folder and passed them both back to
• him.
• “Mr. Turner, your success rate is quite impressive. You
• have never failed a mission before, and your records are clean . . .  except for a few client complaints.” Sia
• finished with a raised eyebrow.
• She didn’t need to see his file to know that about him; she
• had done her research. He wasn’t too old, either. He even appeared a few years
• younger than her. Twenty-nine, maybe? But that was good. Youth meant strength
• and stamina, very essential qualities in a bodyguard, among several others.
• “I’m aware of the things that may trouble you, Mrs.
• Milton—”
• “Miss.” Sia immediately put a stop to that sentence.
• Julian nodded, wondering why that made him feel oddly
• satisfied. He had never taken married women to his bed, no matter what rumors
• Sia might have heard. That was one vow he’d never break.
• “Right,” he continued, “I have to let you know that all
• the ‘complaints’ were consensual. I did not force myself on them. And also, as
• you may already know, that didn’t affect my work or my concentration. It was
• just a favor that was asked of me. No one got hurt,” he replied with a straight
• face. It was a little defensive, but his tone was respectful and calm.
• “True. After all, no one can resist willing candidates.”
• Sia couldn’t help but mock him a bit even as she made her statement clear: she wasn’t in the market.
• Julian gritted his teeth. No one has ever dared mock him
• before. They have been too affected by his charm to utter anything other than a moan. And if they had a complaint against him,
• it would only be on his quick dismissal of them.” But with Sia, he
• couldn’t say why, but she was different. He seemed to be the one under her
• spell while she remained unaffected. Julian had never dated older women before
• either.
• Wait, “date”? Where
• the hell did that thought come from? He didn’t do dates. He only sleeps
• with willing women. The only memory of a date he had was during his freshmen
• year of high school.
• “So I hope you know how serious my case is?” Sia asked
• finally, snapping him out of his trance.
• “I know that there had been two attempts on your life,
• and one was probably to scare you. First, there was the elevator power
• cutoff, and you were stuck in there for almost an hour . . . alone with
• decreasing oxygen levels. If my guess is right, you’re claustrophobic.
• “The second was a supposed burglary attempt, except that
• nothing was stolen and he made enough noise to wake you up. And when you tried
• to stop him from escaping, he stabbed you, missing any vital organs but hitting
• your arm nonetheless, a superficial wound. You made a narrow escape before the
• police arrived.
• “The third was the short circuit in your office which
• failed because the night guard became the victim when he went to turn off the
• lights. Last but not the least, there was the kidnapping attempt on your son, from
• which he was able to escape since he was on his bike. Those are all the
• attempts that have been made so far.” Julian finished, watching her grimace at
• every event he mentioned.
• “I was lucky, I guess.” Sia rubbed her temples. “I hate
• elevators, but I have to ride it up here to the seventh floor. People in the
• office know about my claustrophobia, so I was rescued right on time. The thief
• missed because I fell on the ground just as he was about to stab me, and I feel
• really sorry for the watchman. He shouldn’t be in the hospital right now. It
• should’ve been me,” Sia said sadly.
• Did he hear things
• right? She should be happy she’s alive, and not want to take another man’s
• place! He didn’t think showing humanity was part of the character of the high-class
• society. Sia Milton seemed to be the exact opposite of the class stereotypes
• he’d been working for till date.
• A thought struck him.
• “It has to be someone you know! Someone who is family or
• even a friend?” he asked quickly. All evidence pointed to just that. Or how would the person intent on harming
• her know about her schedules or her phobias?
• “Friends? Family! Goodness, no! Why would anyone—”
• “Think about it,” he cut her off, “You are
• claustrophobic. That is the exact reason you were trapped in the elevator. That
• thief wanted to kill you, and the circuit was meant for you, so that when you
• switch on something in the morning, you will get electrocuted, and the kidnap
• attempt on your son was also meant to hurt you. As a mother, you’d be
• devastated if something were to happen to your son. Whoever it is, they want to
• hurt you physically or mentally, any chance they get,” Julian concluded,
• feeling a ripple of pain in his heart as he talked about the relationship
• between a mother and her child. His birth mother hadn’t cared, and he could do
• nothing to change that, but Cecelia Turner had more than made up for his
• loveless childhood. It was from her that Julian had learned what having a
• mother felt like.
• Sia was stunned into silence. Never in her wildest
• dreams would she have gotten to this conclusion. Her friends or family! God help her, she was about to faint!
• Talking to Julian had given her a whole lot more to think about. “Mr. Turner,
• there are things I’d like to discuss with you in private. I believe my office
• is no longer safe for having such conversations anymore,” Sia said slowly,
• calming her nerves even as her eyes roamed the length of the room, searching
• for the red light of a camera. “Please report on duty tomorrow morning at my
• house. Your accommodation and meals will be taken care of.”
• Julian smiled in satisfaction. He knew what he was
• capable of, yet every time a client officially hires him, he’d always feel a
• surge of relief. “I promise you won’t regret it, Ma’am,” he said firmly as he
• stood and extended his hand to Sia.
• “I hope so too.” Sia, too, stood from her seat, and for
• the first time, he saw that she was wearing a white pencil skirt under her
• cotton shirt, and she looked fine in them. He noted that she was also
• very tall. Five-eight, maybe? A wonderful height for a woman, he
• remarked to himself.
• But as soon as her hands touched his, Sia felt a surge
• of electricity pass through her skin, and she broke the handshake prematurely.
• “Good day, Mr. Turner, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said hastily.
• “Looking forward to it,” Julian said with a small smile
• as he walked out of the room.
• Oh, he was looking forward to it all right! He knew Sia
• had felt that surge of electricity that had passed between them and, judging by
• the hastiness with which she’d pulled her hand free, he knew she wasn’t as
• unaffected by him as she had pretended to be.
• But as he walked out of her office, Julian wondered why
• he was so eager to get a reaction out of Sia when his entire career depended
• upon his full attention on this mission.