The work station in Sia’s house was almost similar to her office. A table and a chair were placed in one corner near the windows,which allow natural light in. Numerous materials lined the shelves in a cupboard with a glass door, a few mannequins with partly styled clothes hung on them and numerous fashion magazines were strewn all over the room. The only odd ones out were the two bean bags in front of the lit fireplace and a huge bookshelf with a hundred or so novels piled in it.
Sia sat in one of the beanbags in front of the fireplace, a glass of red wine in hand, and looked unblinking at the fire. It wasn’t winter yet, so the fire was only there more as a source of light rather than warmth, but it had rained earlier in the evening so the weather was a bit chilly. The fire gave enough warmth to beat off the chill.
“You wanted to say something?” Julian asked, not wanting to interrupt Sia but also curious as to what she had to say.
Sia didn’t turn to look at him and just stared at the fire. She was wearing a dark green t-shirt and blue jeans, her hair wet from a shower she’d taken right after reaching home. The glow of the fire cast a golden hue on her profile, making her look angelic. Julian could hardly blink. His heart seemed to be on overdrive.
He thought Sia hadn’t heard him when she didn’t reply. He was about to ask again when Sia finally looked up at him. She looked troubled. Her eyes were glossed over, and her lips trembled slightly. Julian wanted desperately to comfort her, to run his fingers through her wet hair, and to kiss those luscious pink lips. He balled his hands into fists at his side to control himself from doing something that could get him fired. But he needed to be near her.
“Do you want some beer?” she asked in a small voice.
Julian shook his head, and some of his dark locks fell onto his forehead. Sia’s eye followed their movement. She looked away quickly before she got carried away and motioned for him to sit next to her. Sia’s action didn’t escape Julian, however, but he controlled his expression and came to sit next to her.
“Julian, the things that I’m about to say . . . are . . . personal.” Sia began as soon as he had sat himself comfortably. “I don’t really want to do this, but for Leo . . . I have to. Just know that I can’t . . . repeat anything I say, ever again. I . . . just . . .”
Julian was instantly alert. He knew something was wrong. He knew that whatever he would hear today would change everything he knew about Sia, which wasn’t much, he thought to himself. He sat on the edge of his bean bag, their knees touching, and he wished that Sia didn’t have to go through this.
“Go on,” was all he could say. Sia nodded and drank the rest of her wine in one go before she narrated her tale.
“I was sixteen when I got married.”
Julian sucked in a harsh breath. Sia continued, now glancing at the fire.
“I was homeschooled. I never got to know what school life was about, what it was like having friends. I never even had a crush in my entire life, and I had never dated. My father was a businessman; he inherited Grandpa’s company. But he was nothing like my grandfather. . . and soon, his prodigal spending brought the company to bankruptcy. It was then that he decided to use me as bait. He always wanted a son, and I was his biggest failure. Mom couldn’t have any more children; she was too weak. So, he decided to put me to good use.”
Sia felt Julian’s hand giving a light squeeze to her knee. She turned to look at him and realized that she had started crying. She lifted her hand to wipe the tears away, but Julian beat her to it. He wiped her cheeks with tender fingers, his other hand still on her knee. After he was done, he nodded encouragingly at her, and Sia looked back at the fire once again.
“His name was Arthur Stone. He bought father’s company—for how much I have no idea—but it was enough that they can live their entire life luxuriously. Arthur wanted to marry me as soon as he laid eyes on me. I would be his trophy bride. I was given no choice. The fact that Arthur was twelve years older than me didn’t matter to my parents.” Julian’s grip tightened on Sia’s leg.
“He was . . . he . . . did . . . didn’t . . .” Sia broke down, and Julian immediately wrapped her in his arms.
“Shhh . . . It’s okay. It’s over.Shhh . . .” Julian repeated over and over in her ears as Sia’s little frame shook with the force of her sobs.
He was at a loss. He seriously wanted to kill the bastard who had hurt a sixteen-year-old girl. He knew he was going against his work ethics, but he couldn’t let Sia go. She had suffered so much. Julian felt her shivering and pulled her even closer. He didn’t want Sia to remember all these but knew that she had to get it out.
“I-I gave birth to Leo . . . wh-when I was eighteen. After that, I made it my sole purpose to only look after my son. This made Arthur angry, and he got violent. He . . . he would force himself on me . . . hit me . . . he . . .” Sia closed her eyes and buried her face in Julian’s chest. She didn’t care what consequences her actions might have. Right now, this felt like the right thing to do. With Julian, she felt safe.
“My parents wouldn’t believe me.They didn’t care, so I went to my grandparents. They believed me. They were the ones who took me to court and got me a divorce. Arthur was sent to jail for domestic violence and torture and also for marrying a minor. It’s where he has been for the last eleven years. I came to stay with my grandparents after the divorce was settled, then completed my college and started my own company. I haven’t spoken to my parents ever since.”
Julian stroked her hair lightly. His mind filled with everything Sia had just said. He was stunned. He had never thought that she had faced such hardships in her life. His respect for her increased a thousandfold in the past hour. He was right about what he had thought at the beginning: tonight was going to completely change how he viewed Sia.
But now, he had a bigger concern to deal with. And if his gut feeling was right, he was dealing with someone who wasn’t just out to get Sia but also wanted to make sure she paid for what she had done to him. He couldn’t tell Sia his concerns yet, not when she was in this state. But he knew he had to be a hundred percent sure about his assumption before he told her. But he never got a chance to investigate further that night.
Still wrapped in each other’s arms, they both fell asleep before the fireplace, unaware of what the future held for them.
Sia had a huge headache. That was the first thing she thought when she woke up. The next thing was that she wasn’t in her bedroom.Events from the previous night came back to her mind, intensifying the headache she was already having. Groaning, she sat up, surprised to find a blanket draped over her body and herself lying not in the bean bag anymore but on the comfortable sofa in one corner of her work station.Her face heated up when she remembered how Julian had held her in his strong arms as she cried,how he had made her feel comfortable. She could still feel a tingle in her earlobes from when his warm breath had fanned her face. But the good memories stopped there. She wrapped her arms around herself as she felt the past whisper in her ears, trying to haul her back into the darkness that she couldn’t seem to leave behind. But she shook her head, refusing to feed the demons, and stood up from the sofa.The clock on the wall read 11:23 AM. She sigh
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 J
“Did any outside party help him?” Julian asked Selena as they stared at their own copies of the blueprint of the Central Prison.“Nope.” Selena shook her head, her long black wavyhair pulled back into a ponytail. “Any friends he’d made were inside the prison. In fact, he even escaped like a rat, through the sewer system.”“How?” Julian asked as Selena went over the map to show him the details.Selena was wearing her usual outfit of dark jeans paired with a black company T-shirt and a black leather jacket over it. Not only did she prefer to dress like a badass, but she was also one in real life too—even if she just appeared on a screen on his laptop like right now. No one could question her efficiency.Now she pointed her finger, its nail painted bright red, at a cell near the back of the prison. “This is where he had been kept for the last two years. In fact, this entire area is reserved fo
He found sleep hard to come by.Especially when he could feel the warmth of her body to his very bones. Her fragrance filled his lungs as he took shallow breaths, trying not to indulge in the fresh cherry blossom of her scent. His heartbeat was a tattoo against his ribcage.Sometime during the night, Sia had moved even closer to him for warmth, her small hands placed gently on his shoulder and her face inches from his. Her dark hair spilled onto the pillow like liquid dark ink, making his fingers itch.He looked down at her and wondered if she could feel his heartbeat, hear it thundering against his chest. He placed his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes, refusing to give into the temptation of Sia Milton. But fuck it! He was a man who appreciated women, and Sia was his biggest temptation to date. And until this moment, he had never had to suppress his urges for a woman he had wanted. And he wanted Sia with a passion.But after wha
Gasping for breath, Sia forced her eyes open, the memory still fresh in her mind.Julian’s concerned face was the first thing she saw, andshe didn’t waste any time jumping into his open arms.“It’s okay. I’m here. Nothing will happen to you,” Julian said and kept repeating the words to her as she clung to him for dear life, her entire body trembling. Her quiet sobs raked through his body like a thousand knives to his heart.It was then, with Sia in his arms, that he realized that he would do anything for her—no matter what the cost. Love was a strong emotion, and Julian didn’t know if it was love he felt, but he did like her—a lot. And there was definitely physical attraction. Most of all, he knew that he’d barrel headfirst into any situation to ensure her safety.Sia didn’t know how much time had passed, but she slowly began to relax in Julian’s comforting embrace. His scent was a co
The bright morning light coming through the window woke Sia up the next morning. But with consciousness also came the feeling of warmth and comfort. She’d never experienced such feelings before. It felt oddly safe to be sleeping next to her bodyguard.She turned her head to the side and saw Julian’s peaceful sleeping face. Warmth flooded her cheeks when she remembered the events of the previous night. She had liked kissing him and loved that he had kissed her back with the same fervor. His lips had been so, so soft yet firm and experienced.She turned towards the clock to see that it was only 6:30 in the morning, so she turned back to look at Julian. She noticed how his long dark lashes fell and cast a shadow on his cheeks. His midnight black hair spread on his forehead like liquid silk. His lips were pink and full and now, she knew they were just as soft as they looked. Beautiful yet manly. There was no denying the raw strength that he emitted even when he
Ring! Ring! Rin—“Yes?” Julian snapped without looking at his phone. It was nearly ten in the morning and he had already found Sia working in her home office, so he’d left her to work in peace while he went through his daily routine.“Whoa! What crawled up your ass and died?”“Abhay,” Julian greeted his best friend with a laugh. “When did you get back?”“Been ages man!” Abhay joked. “I came back this morning and saw you were gone. Christian seemed worried though. Heard you got shot yesterday.”“Yeah.” Julian sighed. He’d managed to send in his report last night via email, directly to his brother, before he’d gone to Sia’s room. However, he’d left his phone in his room after that and when he’d gone back to take a quick shower a few minutes ago, he’d discovered nearly fifteen missed calls from his brother. Chris
“We can’t . . . I can’t do this.”Julian frowned. “Can’t do what exactly?”“This whole thing . . .” she said and trailed off, pointing vaguely between the two of them. “Whatever happened last night . . . was a mistake, Julian. It can never happen again. I can’t let it. Both of us have very different priorities. So please, let’s just forget that anything ever happened last night and move on.”“And what exactly happened last night?” Julian said a little too harshly, causing Sia to flinch. He wanted to apologize, but his pride was hurt badly. “We kissed, that’s it. It’s not as serious as you’re making it out to be.”Sia had thought that Julian might respond in such way since he was known to pass from woman to woman without a backward glance. But what she felt was anything far from relief. Angry? Yes. Jealous? Yes. Disappointed? Hell, ye