5|Bad Princess

~Benny~

Twilight blanketed the city of Granada when I reached the capital. My feet hurt. Sweat dribbled down my spine, but I still had to find a place to stay for the night.

Taking the road and hitching a ride was off the table. That’s where Kai would look for me first, so I endured the five-mile walk from the convenience store to town.

It’s an advantage that I know my way around the city. Before the night deepened, I fixed a change of clothing for tomorrow, a place to stay, awaiting dinner while the lavender-scented bubble bath alleviated my aching muscles.

White foam oozing surrounded me like clouds above water. I rested my head on the bath pillow and stared at the cream-colored ceiling, warm overhead lights casting an intimate atmosphere in the bathroom.

I sighed, concentrating on my next step instead of the pinching sensation in my chest. Dwelling with my pain is on the back end of my priorities. I might not have to deal with it if I end up dead. I have to get off of everyone’s radar. My mother, Tony, my father and brother, and that annoying bodyguard.

Everyone is looking for me. I cannot go back to my apartment in Paris, and I cannot stay with any of my friends.

Nothing familiar. It’s the first rule Tony said to me when he revealed why he had to keep me safe in his mansion. I left everything behind because I foolishly believed his words. My friend, my work, my career. Thinking about what I’d give up because I wanted to be with him makes me sick. To add to the concoction of my pain and regrets, my mother was in it with him. She told me that Markus and Klaus Martinelli wanted me dead. That I am a weak spot in their mafia. But from what I witnessed, they didn’t mean me any harm; they even wanted me safe. But I’m not trusting anyone anymore. I can only trust myself.

I reached for my phone, searching for a place close to Granada that was not likely to be where I am. First, I have to get my passport. That one is tricky, since Tony knows the location of the getaway bag he prepared for me. In the bag were my IDs and bundle of cash to get me through a month without needing to find a job in any country.

I learned a thing or two from him about hiding and surviving in this kind of situation. I hate that I am still clinging to what he taught me, but that is my ticket out of this country... to freedom.

Going through the map of Scotland, the doorbell rang. Water sloshed as I stepped out of the tub. My feet left dripping footprints on the marbled tiled floor. I put on a bathrobe, not bothering to dry my body since I plan on returning to my bath.

I pulled open the door and froze when I saw my annoying bodyguard conversing with the hotel staff. He slipped a tip on the lanky guy’s hands, taking the food tray inside my suite.

“How the fuck did you find me?” I groaned. The door closed with an obedient hiss.

He changed his clothes. The remnants of the fight in the mansion can no longer be seen on him. Honestly, while we were inside the car, the stench of blood on his shirt bothered me more than it should have .

He looks good dressed in a casual gray shirt, tight dark jeans, and loafers. His dark chestnut hair sticks in all directions as though he’d been raking it to perfection. The purple blotch on his face darkened considerably. I think that’s the reason he gives me those daggered glares from the mansion, or the fact that he has to ‘babysit’ me. His words, not mine.

Heading straight to the bed, he set the tray and sat as though he didn’t hear a word I spoke. He lifted the cloche from the tray, scanning the food I ordered. He took a croqueta from the plate, tossed the entire finger-sized food to his mouth, and moaned.

I bit my lip. My lady parts unconsciously came to life at the sound of his manly groan.

I crossed my arms over my chest, narrowing my eyes at him. “Hey, I asked you a question.”

His eyes flickered in my direction, two pools crossed between black and clouds, speaking thousands of emotions I couldn’t even comprehend. “I know.”

My blood simmered. I clenched my fist. “Leave my room, now.”

Feigning he didn’t hear me, he poured a glass of orange juice and languidly drank it. “You don’t want to ‘babysit’ me, so we should go separate ways now. I don’t need your protection.”

“Can you see that?” he tilted his head towards the bedside table where three guns rested.

My brows creased. I’m sure they weren’t there before. Tony taught me how to shoot, but I still hated guns. In fact, I hated violence entirely. “What about those?”

He lifted the bowl of albondigas, taking a spoonful, moaning again. I rub my thighs together, aware that my center is becoming wetter by the minute and not just because I ignored using the towel before stepping out of the bathroom.

I hate feeling like this around this guy. At the back of my head, I could still feel his hands around my waist, possessive and domineering.

“I got the Sig from the guy at the coffee shop where you bought a latte. A little tip. You avoid coffee after you jog five miles, bratty. Your heart is already pumping and adding caffeine into the mix,” he shook his head, “bad Princess.”

I bit my tongue. I knew it was a bad idea, but I had already walked through the city, and my heart rate had slowed to normal by then. His lecture was the least of my focus. It’s the fact that he knew I jogged to the city and had been following me. Plus, bratty? Princess? He already had nicknames for me when he didn’t even know me! Jerk.

“I got the second one in the thrift shop and the third one in the hallway,” he said, setting the empty bowl of my dinner on the tray.

Tongue-tied, I eyed the three guns on the table. It hasn’t been twenty hours, and people are already coming after me. Gooseflesh blanketed my skin. I unfolded my arms and rubbed a hand on either side of me.

How did my life end up like this? All I did was love some asshole who used me to manipulate my biological father. I didn’t want any of this.

“Yes,” Kai’s voice broke my inner monologue. “I hate babysitting, but Klaus assigned me to protect you, and I am doing my job, princess. Run away again, and I swear, you will not like the consequences.” His tone was calm, but the threat beneath his voice sent my insides fluttering. “I can keep you safe. Don’t make my job harder than it already is. Think before you do a dangerous stunt like that again, yeah?”