Page 58 of Let Me Protect You

Man, do I actually want to keep things the way they are even though she’s in danger? No, I can’t. That would make me a selfish asshole. But she never said she changed her mind or gave me any promises. My heart sinks. I did tell her the one thing I can’t do, and that’s leave Tía Vicki. But if anyone would understand it’s Harmony.

I stop outside the room labeled Conference Room One. I’m right on time. As I’m about to enter, I stop in my tracks. A familiar man with graying hair walks toward me, but I can’t place him. I narrow my eyes at him as I realize he has a hand inside his suit jacket. Pulse thrumming, I reach for my Glock, but as he pulls his hand out, I relax and heave out a sigh of relief. A cigarette. Turning on his heel, he heads toward the side exit with nothing but a nod.

All of this is starting to get to my head.

I push inside, and Victor is already sitting at the large oval table. At least a dozen swivel chairs line it. The room is empty save for him. I half expected him to have bodyguards of his own.

He pushes to his feet. “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Straight to business.” I nod. “I like it. Lay the bad on me.”

“I can’t figure out who is threatening Harmony. I’ve been having my family tailed since finding out, but none is giving me anything.”

I raise a brow. “I’m not sure I’m following.”

Victor gives me a self-depreciating smile. “My mother made it known how she feels about Harmony. She reminds me at least once a week that I’m Victor Barlowe, IT billionaire who can’t hold onto a respectable woman and had to resort to a reality TV show to find a wife who is ‘beneath me.’”

I rear back. “What the fuck did you just say?”

He waves a hand at me like he didn’t just insult the woman I love. Fuck. The woman I love. That’s a thought for a whole other time.

“I’m not saying that. The media is.”

“What’s the good news then?”

Victor opens his briefcase and pulls out a stack of papers. He slides them across the table. “My men successfully found all images of Harmony post wedding, and they have been removed.”

Picking them up, I scan through the photos. Most of them are innocent—except for the fact that anyone looking at them can tell they were taken at a truck stop. I pause when I find the one of us on that first day, fleeing from the ceremony together, and looking a lot more like a couple than the two people who were too hurt to see the truth.

“Whoever is threatening her already knows where she is. So, how is that good?”

“Well, it means the media should take longer to find her, and the paps can really mess with a person’s head.” A dark look crosses Victor’s face before he recovers and pastes his usual smile back on. “Hopefully, by the time they can track her down, the story will be old news, and no one will care.”

I guess we take the small wins when we can. After everything, we don’t need the media coming for her, too. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

“You’re welcome.” He picks up his suitcase and turns to leave, but his light blue eyes harden as he narrows in on me. “One last thing. Were you with Harmony during Everlasting Love?”

I furrow my eyebrows. “No. Before I was assigned to be her bodyguard, I hadn’t seen her in almost five years. And she’s not that kind of woman.”

He nods slowly. “Okay, good. Now, if you want her, you claim her. If you don’t, let her find a man who will.”

A burning sensation sears my chest. Just the thought of someone else having her makes my stomach harden. “I already claim her. She’s had my heart since we were kids.”

Victor comes forward and shakes my hand, a small smile on his face. “Good. A nice girl like her deserves a happy future.”

I turn my head away so he can’t see my flushed cheeks. Getting Harmony’s ex fiancé’s blessing is a strange way to end our meeting. We go our separate ways, and I head directly to my car. I need to check in on Cutesy’s so I can take the rest of the week off to help Victor’s men guard my woman.

My woman. I can get used to that.

Chapter 30

Harmony

After arguing with Victor’s men for thirty minutes, they finally agreed to take me to visit my mother’s grave one town over. It’s about time I make peace with her being gone. I want to be here for Serenity more and be the sister she deserves. And maybe, if Elias agrees, I want to be with him, too. But that doesn’t stop the way my stomach quivers as I shut the car door behind me.

Another vehicle pulls into the parking lot, and I stop mid stride, craning my neck to glance back at them. Two men in Victor’s security uniform climb out.

“You two can go,” one of the new guards says. He’s taller than the rest but not as bulky.