The Perfectly Loyal Bodyguard

A dagger was pressed to my throat, the blade resting right against the artery in my neck. One more inch from Julian Sinclair, and I'd bleed out on the spot.

"Miss Ward, Amber didn't mean it. She wandered into the study by accident — she had no idea those were the Ward family's core confidential files!"

Julian's eyes were bloodshot. He kept the trembling woman shielded behind him, staring at me like I'd broken his heart.

"Why are you always so hard on her? Do you have to cut off her hand to be satisfied?"

Behind him, Amber Tate wept prettily, clutching at his sleeve. "Julian, don't fight with Miss Ward over me. This is all my fault — I'll give her my hand myself..."

"Don't be afraid, Amber. I'm here. Nobody's laying a finger on you today." Julian's voice went soft as melting butter when he spoke to her, but the instant he turned back to me, his eyes went cold.

"Miss Ward, you're too cold-blooded. Even if she made a mistake, throwing her out would have been enough. Did you have to be this vicious?"

I looked down at the blade against my throat and almost laughed.

Ten years of investment, and all I'd raised was an ungrateful dog that had turned around and bitten its owner.

"Julian." I didn't even blink. My voice stayed even. "Did I ever teach you what happens to the Head of the Ward family Guard when he points a blade at the head of the family?"

Something flickered across Julian's face — a flash of hesitation. But he felt Amber trembling behind him, and his grip on the hilt tightened again.

"Miss Ward, you gave me this life. If it comes to it, I'll give it back to you. But today, I'm taking Amber with me."

He lifted his chin, wearing that righteous, martyred look of his.

He thought I'd fold the way I always had — too attached to his skill, too sentimental about ten years of loyalty to actually go through with it.

Too bad. He'd miscalculated.

I stayed quiet for a long moment, then let out a short, cold laugh.

"Fine."

I stepped back, out of the blade's reach, and lifted my hand to snap my fingers, almost lazily.

Sixteen shadows peeled off the walls around the hall like ghosts and surrounded Julian and Amber in an instant.

They were the Ward family's elite Guard — every one of them a man who had once served under Julian.

Julian's face went white. He finally understood something was wrong. "Miss Ward, you—"

"If he wants to play knight in shining armor for her so badly, then he can return everything the Ward family ever gave him."

I looked at him the way I'd look at something already dead. "Do it. Cut the tendons in his hands and feet. Strip him of everything."

Overhead, the comment feed exploded.

[Somebody help, Celeste Ward has gone too far! Julian protected her for ten years, and the one time he didn't put her first, she's going to ruin him?]

[This is the kind of love that terrifies me — if she can't have him, she'd rather destroy him. What did Julian even do wrong, trying to save the woman he loves?]

[Typical cold-blooded heiress. So what if the files were confidential? Is that worth someone's hand?]

[Run, Julian! A viper like her doesn't deserve your loyalty. Go to Amber — she's the one who can actually save you!]

"Celeste Ward! Have you lost your mind!" Julian roared, disbelieving.

But he had no room left to fight back. Busy shielding Amber, hands and feet tangled up in protecting her, he went down in under three exchanges, pinned to his knees by two of the Guard.

A scream tore through the room.

Amber's shriek rang out, sharp and piercing, followed by the dull, wet sound of a blade slicing through flesh and tendon.

Julian let out a strangled cry, curled up in agony on the floor, his limbs twitching helplessly.