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.