Page 16 of Brooding Bodyguard Summer

"Noemi, no!" Neko shouts after me.

I turn, confused, just in time to see it is not just my father waiting for me. Other men, all in black, faces hidden, wait in the small foyer. They do not just wait though—they're hiding. From me, from Neko. Neko rushes forward, but someone is there, their arm coming down to crash a heavy fist against the back of his head.

"Neko! No!" I echo his words as he crumples to the ground. "Daddy, please, I don't understand...."

I reach for him, but he falls too. It is then I see he was not waiting for me. His eyes were dead for a reason. He is not gone, but he is not all there. Blood trickles down the side of his head as he crumples too. I am standing between to the two men in my life, my two worlds, and I am all alone.

"Lunch with daddy has been moved to a new location."

There is something familiar about the thick brogue of the man staring me down. I do not recognize his face even though his is not hidden. In fact, I think he wants me to see his face. He wants me to recognize him. Too bad for us both, I am looking at a complete stranger.

"Who the hell are you?"

It's a simple question. One I think he should expect after what just went down here. Clearly, he has something in mind for me. I think asking who this man is, what he wants, why he is here now, seems pretty valid.

"You know who I am, babydoll," he murmurs, taking a few steps close to me. I back up, not just to put distance between us—but to block his advance towards Neko.

"No, I really don't. Should I? I mean, have we met before?"

That weird smile on his face twists. It becomes sinister. His dark eyes go soulless. Footsteps pound on the marble floor before he backs me against the closed elevator doors. I cry out when his fingers wrap around my throat, where just moment's ago Neko touched me with such tenderness.

"You know me, Noemi. We... we're meant to be together. How can you pretend not to recognize me. It has been months but...you love me, babydoll. We were meant to be, remember? How could you forget me so fast?"

Blinking, I shake my head. His fingers tighten on my throat. "We...we do not know each other. Did you work for my father?"

"No, babydoll, I worked for you. I took care of you. Protected you. From them and from him," he rambles, pushing closer, pinning me painfully to the elevator doors.

"You will remember. When I take you home, you will remember."

I open my mouth to ask where home is, but a sharp prick in my neck shoots an icy cold straight through me. My cry comes out muffled, as if I’m underwater. My legs give out and I crumple to the floor, crashing beside Neko. I reach for him, but my fingers won't move. Darkness pulls my eyes shut, and my body slips completely out of my control.

"When we get home, you will remember."

Chapter Nine

Neko

I once thought I rather be anywhere else on earth...I was wrong then.

Now, now is when I rather be anywhere else. Because Jesus, it is freezing. My head feels as if it's been shoved inside an ice bath then battered against cement. My hands hurt. It is a pain I am all too familiar with.

Cold iron bites into my wrists when I try to move.

The darkness surrounding me is absolute—thick, heavy, and damn cold. I blink, trying to force my eyes to focus, but there isn't a sliver of light to catch. Panic tries to claw its way up my chest, when I smell lilacs. I know that sweet scent anywhere.

He took her. He took my princess.

"Noemi?" My voice is a raspy whisper, my throat raw.

A quiet, shuddering breath answers me from somewhere to my left. I sit up, pulling at the binding holding my right arm above my head. Taking a shuddering breath, I try to focus. To concentrate. What happened?

We went to her father's offices for lunch. I had his men go ahead of us to scope it out. It's been a few days since we've had any sightings of her stalker, so I was on edge. How the hell did he get inside her father's offices? How did his men fuck this up so badly?

"Noemi, answer me. You good, princess?" I call out, panic wrapping vice tight around my lungs.

"Neko...?" Her voice is thick, slurred, trailing off into a confused murmur. The sound of her shifting against the dirt floor is painfully slow, heavy with the weight of whatever sedative he forced into her system. "It's... so heavy. Why can't I... move anything?"

"Don't try to move," I urge, my voice tight as I try to mask the terror rising in my stomach. "Let me figure out where the hell we are."