บททั้งหมดของ THE POPSTAR’S BODYGUARD : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

Where You Go, I GONEOThe door slammed before I even realized Daniel was moving. One second he was standing there, jaw clenched, eyes cutting through me like he was trying to hold himself together, and the next… he was gone. Just gone.The echo of it rippled through the house and straight through my chest.For a moment I couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe.I clutched the fork so hard it almost broke. Anne said something about posting the pictures she took on Instagram, but I didn’t care. My head was a mess. All I could hear was my own pulse thundering in my ears and the ghost of his voice when he muttered that stiff, broken “I’ll be back.”He left because of me. Probably because of what almost happened in the kitchen last night.I swallowed and pushed back from the table. My throat felt tight, like someone’s hand was still around it—his hand—and the memory hit so hard my breath stuttered.“You can carry on. I have something to work on in my room,” I said to Anne as I wiped my lips with

Don’t Tempt MeNEOI couldn’t breathe.The second Anne’s door shut behind her, silence flooded the penthouse—tightening around my lungs. My head was still stuck on those photos. The angle. The comments. The way the entire internet somehow saw something I’ve been clawing at myself not to see..Close to my bodyguard.Why do they look like that?Some of the comments kept replaying in my head. People said Daniel and I looked like lovers while others said we seemed close.I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, trying to crush the thoughts out of my skull. Stupid. All of it was stupid. Just photos. Just rumors. Just people projecting.Except my hands were still shaking. It wasn't about the photos in general. It was about me. The thought of Daniel and me becoming that close scared me. And every time I blinked, all I saw was Daniel’s face when he took the phone from me. Calm. Cold. Controlled. Like he was swallowing a storm whole.I hated how safe that made me feel.I pushed up from t

The Side He HidesDANIELKissing Neo was the last thing I had expected to happen. I didn’t even know how it had happened. One second I was warning him, the next my body had already decided for me.Now I stood there, staring at the door after the way he had looked at me, those eyes.Regret slammed into my chest. He probably hated me, right?It felt like a dream, except I didn’t want it to be. And he was gone. Just gone. The sound echoed in my chest, bouncing around my ribs like it was trying to break something. My hand lingered near the knob. Part of me wanted to reach out, while the other part of me wanted to stay back.I stepped back, pressing my palm against the bedpost, trying to breathe. My chest pounded, my hands shook. I could still feel him, his heat, his weight, the ghost of his lips on mine. Every nerve ending still lit, every muscle remembered.I wanted him. There was no denial now. Not because it was wrong. It wasn’t. That’s what made it worse. I had spent my life in contro

HopeNEODaniel took the next turn without a word, the street narrower than the last, unfamiliar. My stomach clenched. I glanced at the rearview mirror, half-expecting the blue car to reappear. But it had disappeared as we went further. The unfamiliar route made my chest tighten more, every sense sharp, every muscle on edge.He drove deliberately, hands firm on the wheel, jaw set. I watched the way his eyes scanned intersections, how his fingers flexed subtly with the turns, how quiet control radiated from him. It was so fucking attractive, and I knew I shouldn’t be thinking like that right now, but I couldn’t help it. Each movement was precise, almost rehearsed, and I couldn’t stop the panic fluttering in my chest.“Just… calm,” I muttered under my breath, more to myself than to him.Daniel’s hand rested lightly near mine on the console, almost brushing it, and my pulse jumped. I tried to steady my breathing, but the tremor in my fingers wouldn’t quit. My chest ached under the weight

The EnvelopeDANIELI got back to the penthouse around four in the morning. Everything was dark and quiet. I checked the locks, the windows, the feeds. Habit. Then I stopped outside Neo’s door. It was open just a crack. I could hear him breathing, deep and steady. Safe. I stood there longer than I should have, then made myself walk away.I didn’t sleep much. Maybe two hours on the couch.When the light started coming through the windows, I got up and headed to the kitchen. The refrigerator was always stocked, so I pulled out eggs, bacon, and some vegetables. I tied on an apron, black, plain, nothing special, and started cooking. The sizzle of bacon filled the quiet. It felt normal. I needed that after last night.Neo came in around eight. He was rubbing sleep from his eyes, hair sticking up in every direction, wearing loose gray sweats and a faded band tee that hung off one shoulder. He stopped in the doorway when he saw me.“Morning,” I said, keeping my voice even.He blinked. “You’r