Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Is the school going to be okay with that?”
“They will if I tell them to be. Besides, I’m sure you won’t be the only girl who’s ever required a bodyguard. Some of the wealthiest families in the tristate area send their kids to that school. I’d frankly be surprised if you were the only one with a detail.”
Sure, but I’ll probably be the only one who threw herself at her bodyguard and ended up crying herself to sleep that night and for a week after. I can barely look at Zeke—now, I’m supposed to let him shadow me everywhere I go at this new school? “He’s not going to live with me in the dorm, is he?”
Dad scowls. “You’re an intelligent girl, Mia. Where is all this coming from?”
“Is he going to be living with me?”
“Well, I’m not going to have you living alone, am I?” He blurts out a laugh like this is hilarious rather than a nightmare.
“Couldn’t I share a place with another girl? Isn’t that usually how it’s done?”
He scowls, and right away, I know that was a stupid question. “Why would you want to share a home with a stranger? Wouldn’t you rather live with someone you know you can trust?” He picks up his knife and fork, shaking his head. “Like I would let my daughter live with just anyone.”
There’s no point in reminding him how he just got done telling me about the higher quality of people I’ll meet at this school. Why is it okay for me to go to class with these people, but God forbid I live with any of them?
Why would he rather have me live with Zeke, a man, than another girl my age? “So it would just be the two of us?”
“Yes, it’s a two-bedroom condo not far from campus. There’s a security guard in the lobby, and an alarm system is going to be installed shortly.” He sounds very pleased with himself. “I’ll rest better at night knowing you’re safe.”
I’m glad he’ll sleep easy. Me, on the other hand? Then again, it’s pretty obvious I don’t have a say in any of this. Why would it matter how I feel about the decisions being made regarding my life?
I have to push food around on my plate for a while to make it look like I’m eating before excusing myself from the table. All I want is to be alone. For him not to see what this is doing to me.
Not so fast, though. “Mia. Are you… that is, has Zeke…?”
My heart threatens to burst out of my chest, and I realize I’m holding my breath. “Yes, Dad?”
“Has he done anything he shouldn’t have? Has he been inappropriate with you?”
“No! Of course not.” What does he know? How much does he know? I wish I didn’t feel so guilty. “He’s always professional. I just don’t think… he likes me very much.”
His smile hardens a little. “He’s not supposed to like you. He’s supposed to protect you and keep you safe. So far, he’s done that job well.”
“Yes, he has.”
“And that’s why he’s the only person I would trust with the thing that’s most precious to me in the world.” Funny, but shouldn’t that make me feel good? All warm and fuzzy inside? Instead, I feel the way I always feel when he says things like that: like I’m an object. Hardly even a person. One more of his possessions.
Still, I manage a little smile before leaving the dining room and going up the stairs. Here I was, finally getting used to living here even if I can’t shake the feeling of being in a cage, and now I find out I’m being transferred to a new cage.
And my keeper is coming with me.
Of all people.
It doesn’t hit me until I’m halfway up the wide staircase that I could have given my father a different answer down there. I could have told him Zeke tried to seduce me or something, and I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this anymore. I would never even have to see him again. I wouldn’t have to be humiliated every time he looks at me with that little smirk of his. Like he remembers what a fool I made of myself and thinks it’s funny. Like my humiliation is worth laughing about.
At least here, at home, I know he’ll keep it to himself. He wouldn’t want Dad to know we were ever in that kind of situation together. He would end up getting blamed for it even though I was the one who made a move. Sure, I might get grounded for a little while or something, but Zeke would lose his job.
At least. I don’t know what my dad does for a living or how he earned all this money in the first place, but there are times when I can’t help wondering if everything he does is legal. It’s enough to make me wonder what would really happen to somebody who crossed the great Bruno Morelli.