CHAPTER 20
JORDAN,
IE MOMENT HER GUARDS FLEW BACK I
UP
1SAW THE
“Such as?” she asked, looking at me like I was crazy to think she had anything to do with the assault on my property. But what else was I meant to think? I was no stranger to assassination or kidnapping attempts, but never on my own turf. Nobody was stupid enough to try that.
“Why are people trying to kill you, Melanie?” asked back.
She maintained straight eye contact with me as she answered “I don’t know. How are you sure it wasn’t you they were targeting? How am I sure they weren’t sent by you?” I laughed humorlessly, taking a step towards her.
“If I wanted you dead, little bird, you’d be dead. I’m not stupid enough to do it on my property, and there won’t be as much damage to the house as there is now
My mind flashed back to the broken furniture and bullet–spattered walls of the bungalow and I had to swallow down the anger. I hated when people touched what was mine.
“Really? Then how did you know about it and show up just in time?” she shot back, attempting to cross her arms but remembering one was out of commission. I wasn’t going to tell her there were cameras all over the place, including the bedroom so I shifted my attention to her hand which was already changing the color of the towel I’d given her.
It was a wonder how she was still steady on her feet; she’d been bleeding so much
rooms. I
I cursed myself for being so negligent and took her uninjured arm again, leading her upstairs to one of the guest opened the door and pointed at the bed in a silent command for her to sit, but she just stood there and stared at me.
“If this is how you tell ladies you want to sleep with them then I pity your sex life“, she quipped, managing to shoot me a cheeky grin through her split lip and for one insane moment I wondered what would happen if I leaned in and kissed that bloody smart mouth of hers.
“Is that your way of saying you want to sleep with me, little bird?” I decided to play along and see how far she would take it. To my satisfaction, and just a little disappointment, she backed down almost immediately and went to sit down.
I entered into the bathroom and opened the cabinets under the sink, looking for a first aid box. I was certain there was one in here somewhere, I kept them in every room in case of emergencies.
I finally located it and stepped back into the bedroom to see Melanie on her feet again and moving around, inspecting random things. She stopped in front of a painting, staring at it for far longer than she had at any other thing.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Trying to gauge how much this painting would fetch me if I fenced it“, she replied solemnly and I stiffened.
“If you so much
I was interrupted by her light laughter.
“Would you relax? I’m kidding” she said, turning around and coming back to reclaim her seat.
“Good, because I was about to tell you that if you so much as touched it the alarms would ring and you’d be surrounded in minutes. Game over I replied as I walked over to her.
I crouched down in front of her and opened the first aid box, taking out a pair of tweezers and a bottle of spirit.
“This is going to sting a bit” I warned but she just rolled her eyes in a way that told me it wasn’t her first time.
Watching her, I poured the alcohol over her hand letting the towel soak it up beneath it, but other than a tiny hiss she showed no r
“Why are you so paranoid?” she asked as I set down the bottle, likely in response to my earlier statement about the painting
Tkept my eyes on her hand as I used the tweezers to pluck out the largest piece of glass first. “Don’t you think I have reason enough to be? Especially alter tonight?” Inmurmured.
“Fair enough,” she said in a low tone and I glanced up to see her watching me with something unidentifiable in her eyes. The last time I’d properly looked into those eyes, she’d been wearing contacts
CHAPTER 20
Now I noticed they were a bluish gray, like the color of the sea when a storm was just beginning to gather. The kind of storm that pulled you deep under until you drowned.
Before I could drown. I broke eye contact and went back to carefully picking out the rest of the glass. When that was done I cleaned her hand with a fresh towel, gently applied some balm and wrapped it in gauze.
She broke the silence again. “Do you always take such good care of your employees? It’s no wonder they were willing to die for you.” Her smile was tired, the blood loss and activities of the night finally getting to her.
“What do you mean?” I asked, gently prompting her to move until she lay fully on the bed.
“Earlier, when the assassins came they demanded entry but the staff refused to give it to them until they used force. At first, I thought they were doing it for me, but they don’t even know me, so obviously it was for you.” She rambled in a sleepy
voice.
I paused in the act of covering her with the duvet, then let it rest just below her chin.
One of the things I’d learned early in life was that it was better to inspire loyalty out of respect rather
than fear, as it proved stronger when it really mattered.
I made a mental note to increase their salaries later as I gathered up the materials. By the time I’d chucked the glass and bloodied towel in the bin, rinsed the tweezers under running water, re–assembled the first aid box and came back into the room, she was fast asleep.
I studied her prone figure for a moment, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. She looked so peaceful, like she hadn’t just beaten four men who were bigger than her and delivered their souls to their maker.
I shook my head; the girl was an enigma. One I was determined to solve.
“What are you hiding, little bird?” 1 murmured, standing there for another moment before leaving the room, closing the door quietly behind me.
Lauren stood in the hallway, looking at me with worried eyes. “I heard voices and followed the blood trail” she explained, her eyes roving over me.
“It isn’t mine. We have a guest.”
Of all my domestic staff, Lauren alone knew the darker side of my work. She’d been a nurse before coming to work for me and she was often the one who patched me up whenever I came home bloody, which wasn’t often.
She nodded in understanding and I apologized for the blood trail before wishing her a goodnight for the second time. Back in my room. I placed a call to my investigators and instructed them to resume digging on Melanie and tonight’s escapade. Though she may say otherwise, I was almost certain she knew something about what happened tonight and I was determined to find out.
