Chapter 4

• EVANTHE’s POV.
• I chug down the third glass of vodka and I let out a little sigh as my eyes drift back to the dance floor. Ladies are rolling and shaking their waists to the music from the background. This is not my usual crowd, I wouldn’t come here on a good day myself but what I didn’t expect is that my bodyguard frequents a place like this. The bartender has given us free drinks on the house because of Adir and he seems to be enjoying what’s going on. He has a small smile on his lips as he continues to stare at the ladies on the dance floor.
• “Another glass?” The bartender asks and I almost nod but Adir tells him off.
• “You have had enough to drink ma’am” he says and I scoff. Well, he isn’t the one who lost a multi billion dollar deal who’s father is going to make his life a living hell when gets home. That’s why I didn’t go home yet, I want to get drunk so I won’t be bothered about what my father would say, he sure won’t let me off the hood and I am definitely not ready for that.
• “I am not drunk” I tell him, “I am perfectly fine and I am in my senses”
• “Really?” He scoffs, “your words are slurry and that signifies that you are drunk. I brought you here because you wanted to take your mind off what’s going on not to get drunk”
• “It's not you who has this much weight on your shoulders, Adir!” I tell him, “maybe one day, you will understand what’s going on when you have your own business and everything”
• “Was it that important to you?” He asks after a while, his gaze on me, “you can always get another deal. Must it be this one?”
• “You don’t understand, Adir!” I blurt out, “I am not incompetent, I am my father’s daughter and I need to keep up that name. I need to make sure everyone knows that the Festilios do not joke when it comes to their work. I am going to be taking over that company, I need to be able to secure a simple deal like this. What the heck am I going to tell the press when they ask? What will I fucking tell them when……
• “Hey!” He gently cups my face, putting a stop to my speech, “you have said enough, “let’s get you home or your father might get me fired for negligence on the first day itself. I wouldn’t want that”
• “Like he can” I roll my eyes, “he feels a little intimidated by you”
• He scoffs, picking up his glass of scotch again, “I highly doubt that, that’s Festilio we are talking about”
• “Didn’t you see the way he was looking at you earlier, he doesn’t like you”
• “Well, I do not like him too” he shrugs, “but I wouldn’t want to lose my job so let’s get you home okay?”
• I watch him pull his body off the chair and hold out his hand. For a while, I continue looking at him without saying anything or taking his hand. Fuck, this man is fine!! So fucking fine and I know he knows it. The way he talks, the way he behaves, the way he does everything. I don’t know if it’s because I have been out of my marriage for five months now, I feel a kind of attraction towards this man in a very weird way.
• “Make me!” The words slur out of my mouth before I think of stopping myself and I feel his lips tilt into a tiny smile before he snakes one of his hands around my waist and pulls me up. I fall into his embrace and place my hands against his chest, so fucking hot.
• I let out a little whimper, why the heck am I drooling over him?
• “Shall we?” His deep baritone rings in my head and I find myself nodding.
• “Good girl!”
• Without warning, he scoops me off the ground into his arms and my mouth hangs open in amazement, he didn’t even give me a heads up and he just…
• Adir makes his way out of the club and a few minutes later, I am seated at the back of his maybach while he zooms off the premises.
• “Take some rest” he says, “you should feel sober when I get you home. You wouldn’t want Zoe to see you in such a state. At the mention of my daughter, all my senses seem to come back. It’s past 8PM already and I am the one who always puts her to sleep and it’s almost time for that.
• “Can you drive a little faster?” I ask him, “please”
• “Sure ma’am” he gathers speed while I close my eyes. Right now I feel like a fucking failure and I don’t know what to do, I don’t even know how I am going to face my father after letting him down.
• ****
• A few minutes later, Adir pulls up in the driveway and from the corner of my eyes, I can see my father standing on the porch holding a glass.
• “Come, I will take you in”
• “Maybe you should just leave, I…..
• “I am not scared of your father, Ma’am” he gently cuts me off, “I am your bodyguard so I will do what i should do regardless” He opens the car door for me and I step out, he leads me towards the porch where my father is standing.
• “Good evening, Mr Festilio” he greets.
• “Dinner was supposed to be over two hours ago. Where did you take my daughter?”
• “Dad….
• “I am not talking to you young lady” he cuts me off with a glare”
• “I took her out for a drink. She…
• “Since when do bodyguards take their employers for a drink? You only started work today and now you are acting like you have known her all your life”
• “Dad, you are embarrassing me” I cut him off, “it’s not like I am a child and I can do what I want. Adir!” I turn to me, her face red and full of anger, “you can go home”
• “Yes ma’am”
• Without another word to my father, he turns around and walks away. The two of us remain silent until his maybach disappears out of the premises before I finally turn to my father.
• “What was the meaning of what you did, dad?” Anger washes over me, “how could you embarrass me in that manner?”
• “Frolicking with your bodyguard on the first day of his job is uncalled for, Evanthe!” He growls, “how could you stoop so low?”
• “What?” I scoff, “now you will choose who I mingle with?”
• “Everyone has their eye on you, waiting for you to make a mistake and they will turn you into a laughing stock, you know that right?”
• “And what does that have to do with Adir!”
• “It has everything to do with him. I do not like that face”
• “And that’s none of my business!” I flare up, “he is my bodyguard now so you have to deal with that. You chose him. Right now, I want to focus on reacquiring X-gaming so please dad”
• “Pull out of the X-gaming project” he angrily cuts me off, “I will handle it myself”
• “What do you mean?”
• “You heard me, young lady. I will handle that myself. Focus on something else and stay away from your bodyguard”
• With that, he turns around and makes his way into the house leaving me standing more frustrated than I have ever been. Fuck!!! He is trying to tell me that he still owns the company and I am just his representative.
• “I am going to head that project!” I call after him, “I am not letting you handle it”
• “There is something going on in the pack house, I need you to go check on that. You leave first thing in the morning”
• I scoff, this man! He doesn’t even care, he just wants me to always do as he says. As much as I love staying under his wing, it is becoming upsetting.
• “I am not going anywhere until I secure that deal”
• “Then let that bodyguard go!” He finally halts, “you…
• “I think it’s about time you stop acting like I can’t make a decision myself, dad. I am keeping my bodyguard and I am keeping my space at the company”
• “Are you trying to challenge me?”
• My lips tilt as I cover the distance between us, “are you scared?”
• He remains silent, his gaze hardening with each passing moment, “don’t forget who I am father, I know all of your secrets, let’s not become enemies of ourselves”Clenching my jaw together, I turn around and make my way upstairs to my daughter’s room.