The Bodyguard's Secret

AVA DUVALI staggered out of the club, my arm barely clutching my purse. Someone spiked my drink for the second time this week and I needed to head home as soon as possible — at least before my father got home from his trip. But turning nineteen was something I personally wanted to celebrate, and that was what led me to this twenty one plus party where everybody was either rubbing their sweaty bodies against each other or inhaling smoke from the goddamned pipe. I walked slowly, my heels doing a bad job at keeping me steady. My eyes were drowsy, but I was determined to get home without any ounce of suspicion from my father. I knowingly didn't take my car and now I regretted it. But I was too drugged to drive, and that was why when a car pulled up before me, I yanked it open and threw myself in. “Duval's estate,” I slurred, holding my head, though it did nothing to stop the pounding headache that had resurfaced after popping two pain relief pills in my mouth.Wait?I didn't have any p

AVA DUVAL “Next!” I groaned, peering at the resume. It's been three hours and no one was to my taste. They were either too big, too confident or not to my liking. One came in and I read his name out. “Enzo.” I assessed his profile and strangely it was outstanding. Military experience, ten recommendations and tank? I glanced up, sizing him. His hair was dark and his eyebrows thick. He had dark circles that added to his beauty. “What can you do?” I asked.“Anything you want,” he replied, flexing his muscles.“Anything?”“Yes.”The edge of my lips twitched a little, then I spoke almost in a whisper.“Can you fuck me? Like well enough?” He looked a little bit taken aback, before he smiled, maybe playing along. Maybe not. “If you want that…”“You can leave!” I interrupted rolling my eyes. I had interviewed at least twenty people in three hours and they all sucked. I looked at the list on the table. Five more then I'm done for the day.“Tell them I'll be taking a short break,” I

AVA DUVAL Not one of my so-called friends ever told me someone hovering around them would be so tiring! At breakfast, Mr Ethan watched me like a hawk that I thought I had something stuck in my teeth. When my dressmaker came, she excused herself because his gaze was too intense to handle. Even the cook took a leave, although for a different case, but he was probably one of them. He hovered around me like a vulture around a corpse. Now, I sat with my friends who talked about less interesting things — a party at a new hotel, boys they've used or found disposable.He still watched, paying more attention to their conversation than I did. I glanced over at him taking in his looks. “Is he your bodyguard? I was wondering why he was standing there,” one of my friends, Rosie, said. I twirled my glass before taking a sip of my wine. I turned to face him. “He is. After my attack, Daddy swore to get me one,” I explained. The girls nodded, their faces awed at such greek- gods giving face.

AVA DUVAL When Ethan shut the door behind me, I knew it was time to carry out my plans. That man was like a brick wall — the only obstruction stopping me from leaving the estate. He seemed really tired throughout the day that he ignored all my whining. I pressed my ears against the wooden door hearing his footsteps fade away. Ethan was always there to stop my every attempt to leave. His eyes watched my every move and every decision I made seemed like someone held a gun at my head. But today felt different. It was the day I would finally find freedom from this suffocation. The door to his room clicked shut and my chest loosened all at once, air rushing back into lungs that I had forgotten how to breathe. I carefully took light steps to my bed, because even the creak of the mattress had made him glance up once. I sat down, my mind trying to devise my escape plan. Since I couldn't leave from the main door, and I couldn't reach my car in time before he noticed.“Fuck this,” I curs