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Chapter 20: What the Trees Held
publish date:
2026-07-08 05:59:17
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THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 28: Across Town
Nobody moved for a moment after Marcus said it. “Together,” Ethan repeated slowly. “My father and Richard Hale. In the same hotel.” “Same floor, according to the front desk log Reyes pulled a few minutes ago,” Marcus said, glancing toward the doorway where Reyes now stood, phone still in hand. “Adjoining rooms.” “That’s not a coincidence,” Reyes said. “Two men who supposedly haven’t spoken in eighteen years don’t end up in adjoining hotel rooms by accident, especially not on the same day Lillian meets with a witness who names one of them standing over Eleanor Sterling’s body.”I felt something cold move through me. “You think they’re working together.” “I think it’s possible they always were,” Reyes said carefully. “Grief doesn’t rule out complicity. Richard could be genuinely mourning his sister and still be protecting himself, or protecting Daniel, for reasons we don’t understand yet.”Ethan was already pulling his jacket back on, jaw set. “I want to see them. Tonight.” “That’s not
THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 27: The Weight of a Name
I don’t remember standing up from the booth. I don’t remember Frank leaving, though he must have, because by the time Reyes reached me I was alone at the table, the coffee gone cold, my hands pressed flat against the formica like it was the only solid thing left in the room.“Lillian.” Reyes slid into the seat across from me, her voice low, controlled, the same voice she must have used on soldiers going into shock. “Talk to me.” “He said the Knights.” My own voice sounded distant to me. “Not Ethan. Not directly. But—” “I heard the whole thing through your earpiece,” she said gently. “I know what he said.” “Then you know what it means.” “I know what it could mean. There’s a difference, and right now we don’t have enough to close that gap.”Outside, I saw Marcus’s car pull up to the curb, and a moment later Ethan was moving through the diner door, scanning the room until he found me, crossing the distance in a few quick strides. Whatever he saw on my face made him slow down, some of the
THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 25: The Caller
“Who is this,” I said again, my voice steadier than I felt. Ethan was already watching me, alert to the shift in my posture, and I put the phone on speaker without needing to ask.“My name doesn’t matter yet,” the voice said. Male, older, careful in a way that suggested caution rather than menace. “What matters is that I was in your gardens two nights ago. I imagine your security team is still trying to figure out who.” Ethan’s whole body went rigid beside me. “You were the one in the tree line,” he said, leaning toward the phone. “Ethan Knight,” the man said, not quite surprised. “I wondered if you’d be with her when I finally called.” “Who are you.” “Someone who used to work security for Aldridge Holdings, before it dissolved. Someone who got paid very well, for a long time, to make sure certain things stayed buried. I’ve spent the last several years trying to decide whether I could live with that silence forever. I’ve decided I can’t.”I gripped Ethan’s hand tighter. “You were watc
THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 25: The Caller
“Who is this,” I said again, my voice steadier than I felt. Ethan was already watching me, alert to the shift in my posture, and I put the phone on speaker without needing to ask.“My name doesn’t matter yet,” the voice said. Male, older, careful in a way that suggested caution rather than menace. “What matters is that I was in your gardens two nights ago. I imagine your security team is still trying to figure out who.” Ethan’s whole body went rigid beside me. “You were the one in the tree line,” he said, leaning toward the phone. “Ethan Knight,” the man said, not quite surprised. “I wondered if you’d be with her when I finally called.” “Who are you.” “Someone who used to work security for Aldridge Holdings, before it dissolved. Someone who got paid very well, for a long time, to make sure certain things stayed buried. I’ve spent the last several years trying to decide whether I could live with that silence forever. I’ve decided I can’t.”I gripped Ethan’s hand tighter. “You were watc
THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 24: Ordinary Things
We didn’t talk about the kiss again right away — not because either of us regretted it, but because something about naming it too quickly felt like it might make it smaller than it was. Instead, for the rest of that morning, we existed in a strange, comfortable orbit around each other, finding excuses to be in the same room without needing a reason.I found him in the library after lunch, and instead of leaving him to whatever he was reading, I sat across from him with a book of my own, and we stayed like that for over an hour, saying nothing, occasionally glancing up to find the other already looking. It was, I realized, the first entirely unremarkable afternoon I’d had since the ballroom, and I hadn’t known how much I needed one until it was already happening.“You’re staring,” he said eventually, not looking up from his page. “So are you.” “I’m allowed. You’re the one supposed to be reading.” “I am reading.” “You’ve been on the same page for twenty minutes.” I closed the book, caug
THE BODYGUARD’S HIDDEN TRUTH Chapter 23: The Chef Is Gone
I came downstairs the next morning to find the kitchen in a state of quiet chaos — flour dusted across the counter, a pan smoking faintly on the stove, and Ethan standing in the middle of it all looking more lost than I’d ever seen him in the face of an actual armed threat.“What happened in here,” I asked, trying not to laugh. “The chef quit.” “The chef quit.” “This morning. Apparently the tree line incident was the last straw. She said something about being paid to cook, not survive a siege, and left before anyone could stop her.” He turned off the burner, grimacing at whatever was inside the pan. “Marcus is dealing with her replacement. In the meantime, I offered to make breakfast.” “You cook?” “I said I offered. I didn’t say I was good at it.”I peered into the pan and found something that had once, optimistically, been intended as eggs. “Ethan.” “Don’t.” “I wasn’t going to say anything.” “You were absolutely going to say something.” “It’s very… rustic.” “It’s inedible and we both
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