Chapter 8

• It had been an amazing lunch date with her son and her
• bodyguard. And yes, all Julian was to her was a bodyguard. He had promised to
• keep her and her son safe. But did it change the fact that she was physically
• attracted to him? No, it didn’t. But she’d be damned if she decided to act on
• it. Last night was a moment of weakness, but she’ll make sure it never happened
• again.
• Sia decided to focus on things other than the six-foot-something
• impeccable man that was her bodyguard. She hadn’t been able to take time off
• from work due to immense pressure, but she had finally decided she needed time
• with her son—her family. And she didn’t regret the decision of skipping work
• for lunch. The only problem was even the amazing food in front of her didn’t
• help curb the jealousy that she felt when a waitress would give Julian flirty
• looks or when they would bend down a little more than necessary just to give him
• a peek of their cleavage. Good thing Julian hadn’t paid any attention to their
• desperate behavior.
• Julian had waited back to take a call so she’d walked on
• ahead to her car with Leo. Once she reached her car, she told Leo to sit in the
• backseat and buckle up while she waited for Julian. Though he wasn’t speaking
• to the phone, he looked stressed and angry, running his hands through his
• midnight black hair and messing it up even further.
• She was about to go over to ask him what was wrong when she
• heard a sudden screech of tires diverting her attention to the speeding Volvo
• at the exit of the restaurant. Something about the car felt awfully familiar
• and made a chill of fear trickle down her spine, rooting her to the spot.
• She watched, transfixed in horror, as the tinted glass
• window of the Volvo went down low enough so that the barrel of a gun could poke
• out of it. And that was when she saw the trigger being pulled, the sound of the
• gunshot loud in the air as she felt deaf to any other noise around her.
• *           *           *
• Everything happened so fast that it felt surreal. Sia
• was standing stiff as a board. Her feet felt like boulders as her thoughts went
• to her son who was now safely inside the car. She thought, this was it.
• This was how she was going to go. She only had time to look back into her son’s
• eyes for a single piercing instant. But the next instant, she felt her back
• roughly hit a car door and pain explode in her forehead.
• It took a minute to register what had happened as her
• heart hammered inside her chest like a machine gun. She was pressed up against
• her own car, while Julian shielded her with his body. She could already see a
• deep gash on his shoulder as blood spilled onto his white T-shirt, staining it
• red. Julian had saved her at the last minute, pushing her out of the way and
• taking the hit himself. He took out a small gun from his back and pointed it at
• the Volvo.
• “Leo, keep your head down and stay away from the
• windows!” Julian yelled, making Sia wince at the loud noise as Julian fired at
• the wheels of the Volvo which was now speeding away.
• He then turned to her and noticed the gash she’d gotten
• when her head hit the side of the car. “Keep your head down and get inside, okay?
• And give me the keys,” he told her urgently while reaching out and opening the
• backseat door.
• Sia felt like she was unable to move. Her feet felt like
• lead, and her body went numb with fear, but her concern for Leo was far
• stronger than hers, and somehow from that truth, she found her strength to
• move. She kept her head down and got in.
• By that time, a large group of security guards had
• gathered around the entrance. Julian made eye contact with them, asking them if
• the coast was clear. The guards nodded, and Julian walked over to inform them regarding
• what had happened and also show his ID. But he was soon back, sliding into the
• driver’s seat. As the engine roared to life, he looked back at mother and son
• cuddled in the backseat and yelled, “Hold on tight!” before moving full speed
• ahead.
• He didn’t make any stops, but he was alert, watching the
• road for any cars that might be tailing them. He reached the Milton house
• within record time and locked the main gate with the new security code he’d
• installed last night.
• He parked in front of the entrance and got out before
• pulling the back door open. Never in his life had he ever felt scared for
• anyone like the way he did now for Sia. She had a death grip on her son, but
• she was fading in and out of consciousness. Leo, too, had his arms tight around
• his mother and was shaking like a leaf.
• Julian pried Sia’s arms off her son, and as soon as he
• pulled her closer to his chest, she passed out. The gash on her forehead wasn’t
• deep, and the blood had dried, but he knew it was more than the physical injury
• that had caused her to lose consciousness.
• “Get inside, Leo! Quick!” Julian shouted his orders. He
• knew that the boy was scared, but right now, the only thing on Julian’s mind
• was keeping them safe.
• “B-but Mom?” Leo asked helplessly, tears glistering in
• his light amethyst eyes.
• Julian felt bad for the boy. He had probably never
• played action games in his life. Such gentleness was his nature, and here he
• was, witnessing a live-action shoot-out. “Go,” he said, this time gentler. “I’ll
• take care of your mother. And tell Martha to prepare the first aid box.”
• Leo nodded and left the car while Julian pulled out his
• phone and contacted the security guards at the gate, giving them orders not to
• let anyone in unless he said it was safe. He placed his phone inside his pocket
• and got an unconscious Sia out of the car, carrying her inside the house.
• As expected, Martha was standing at the doorstep, with a
• large white box in her hands, pale as a ghost as she watched Sia’s numb body in
• Julian’s arm.
• “This way,” Martha said, climbing up the stairs to Sia’s
• room without wasting time on the how's and what's. Julian followed behind her,
• carrying Sia as if she weighed no more than a feather.
• Julian laid Sia down on the bed when they entered her
• room. Martha immediately started cleaning and bandaging her wounds.
• “Julian, will you step outside, please?” Martha asked
• sternly. “I need to change her.”
• Julian nodded, and with great willpower, stepped outside
• the door. The thought of anything happening to Sia left him horrified. However,
• he soon spotted Leo not too far from him, sitting on the floor with his knees
• pulled up to his chest and his arms tightly wrapped around them.
• “Hey!” Julian called out before walking over to him and
• taking a seat next to him. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
• Leo shook his head, but he was rocking back and forth from
• anxiety and panic. Julian put his arm around the boy’s shoulder and pulled him
• close to his chest. “It’s all right, kid. Your mom’s gonna be fine, and today
• will feel like it never happened.”
• Leo nodded against his chest, unable to speak, but he
• clutched Julian’s shirt in his hands for comfort, and his shivering receded
• considerably.
• Martha came out after a while and gave them the okay
• sign. Leo had calmed down by then, but he had also fallen fast asleep. He
• motioned for Martha to point out the boy’s room and then carried Leo and placed
• him on his bed. Since there weren’t any physical injuries on him, Martha just
• took off his shoes and socks and pulled the covers over him to let him rest.
• “Here.” Martha handed Julian the first aid box. “For
• your shoulder,” she said when Julian gave her a confused stare.
• Only then did Julian remember taking the shot for Sia
• and the wound on his shoulder. He’d gotten injured before while performing his
• duties, but never in a state of preoccupation. Never in his life had he been
• distracted by a charge, not even the ones he was fucking. He hadn’t even
• touched Sia but here he was, uncharacteristically out of focus
• “Thank you,” he told the elderly woman.
• “No problem. Today has been a rough day for you all,”
• Martha said solemnly before making her way to the door. “Call if you need
• anything. I’ll be downstairs. And do tell if you need stitches. I’ve never
• stitched a person before, but I’ve helped Sia stitch garments.”
• “I guess that qualifies.” Julian chuckled, shaking his
• head, as Martha turned her back to go out of the room.
• But then, she stopped in her tracks just before she went
• out the door and turned to face Julian. “Just don’t hurt her,” she said warily,
• closing the door on Julian’s shocked expression.
• Did she know he
• had feelings for Sia? That was the first thought in his mind, as he stood
• beside the bed, alone with Leo.
• But as he looked at the first aid box in his hands, the
• only thought he had was to keep both mother and son safe from a psychopath who
• had somehow managed to escape from prison and was now after their life. This was
• no longer a game to harm Sia. This was an all-out kill strike, and Julian will
• find the bastard before he managed to do more harm.