The Bodyguard

Chapter 10: The Parents

“Hannah?!” Before I can say another word, she took both of her arms and hugged me as tight as she could.

“You’re alive! Oh my god!”

She sobbed into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Hi, Hannah.”

“I missed you so much! When you stopped responding, I was so scared! What happened? And why does everyone think you’re dead?!”

An awkward silence filled the room until my dad finally spoke up. “Let’s take this conversation into the living room, shall we?”

“Your father’s right. I can have the maids prepare some coffee and an early lunch if you’d like.”

Warren looked at me confusedly when my mother said “maids”. I shrugged and smiled.

“Some food sounds nice actually. We’ve been trying to keep a low profile for a while, specifically me. We didn’t have anywhere to stop for food.”

“Is Adam coming here?” Hannah asked concernedly.

I try and rack my brain how to truthfully answer her question. I glance at Warren and he shakes his head.

“Hannah, we should give her some space. She got here a few minutes before you did.” My father gestures towards the living room. “Shall we?”

When we sit down, Warren sits next to me and I look at Hannah. “So... what exactly are you doing here?”

“When they heard the news that you were declared dead, I didn’t want to be alone. I know you haven’t spoken to them in a long time, but I knew that they needed the support.”

“Well, we are very grateful for you, Hannah. You’ve been a good help for Richard and I.”

I looked at Hannah and raised my eyebrows. “She has?”

My mother nodded. “She brought over two casseroles for us and our favorite apple pie.”

“And... she also caught us up on some things.”

By the look on my father’s face, I knew he had something on his mind.

“Richard, not now,” my mother shook her head.

“Umm... what exactly did she tell you?”

“Nothing personal, Charlotte. Only the things that we both hate about Adam.”

“Like his mistress who you knew about for a while, or the way that he treats you like a piece of garbage rather than with respect. We raised you to have higher standards than that, Charlotte!”

My father’s voice grew louder and angrier.

“Richard, stop it! She’ll leave us again if you don’t keep your mouth shut.”

The way my mother looked at him completely shut him up and nodded.

“Look dad, I’m sorry. I never should’ve left you guys in the first place. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Losing my relationship with you guys has really hurt me and I know that it’s all my fault.”

“Oh sweetie, you know it’s not your fault, I...”

I scowled. “It is my fault. If I didn’t have Hannah, I would’ve completely lost my mind.”

“We’re sorry for even making you choose in the first place. We just figured you would stay.”

“Mom, I think we should get off of this topic now.”

She nodded. “Of course. You’re here now and that’s all that matters, so why don’t you share with us how this all happened.”

*20 minutes later: After I finished my story from start to end, both of my parents became angry and worried. It take multiple attempts for Warren and I to tell them that I was perfectly safe with him until Hannah spoke up.

“Do you think Adam has anything to do with these shenanigans?”

Warren looked at Hannah and scowled. “What?”

“Come on, you can’t tell me that you haven’t considered that? The moment I found out about all of the threats, I had an intuition that Adam could have been involved.”

“But, why would he...”

“He’s an asshole, Charlotte. You and I both know that. He’s a lying, cheating, heartless scum bag.”

“As much as I hate him, I doubt he’d be part of this just to get rid of Charlotte. All he has to do is simply file for a divorce.”

“It’s way more complicated than that, mom.”

“What about your phone? Maybe that could have been the situation.”

“Oh my god.” Hannah gasped. “I sent you those messages when you were away, I could’ve caused this!”

Yes. She probably did, but I couldn’t tell her that. “Han, don’t worry. Warren umm... took care of that.”

“What? How?”

I looked at Warren and he couldn’t help but smirk. “He snapped my phone in half and burnt the remains right in front of me.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s so hot.”

“Hannah!”

“Can he break my phone too?”

“Stop it!”

She laughed. “It sure takes a lot of strength to do that.”

Strong enough for us to break a couch too.

My mother cleared her throat to change the topic. “Hannah, when you ran into Adam a couple of days ago, did you see anyone suspicious who could’ve followed him?”

“Y-you spoke to him?”

“Barely. He wouldn’t say a single word to me, especially once he saw me.”

“What was he doing?”

“He was on a date with Olivia Banks from that annoying ass TV show. But the second he saw me, he got out of the restaurant as quickly as he could, leaving Olivia to pay for the bill.”

“This Olivia seems pretty suspicious. I think I might be able to have one of my buddies who’s a cop to do a little investigating to see if there’s any valuable information regarding the threats. It sure as hell seems like Adam hasn’t done anything to help.”

“I agree,” Warren said, nodding.

Hearing his voice reminded me that he’s been quiet 95% of the day.

“Good. Consider it done. I’ll give them a call now.”

“Oh yeah! That reminds me, I need to cancel your memorial service.”

“My what?!”

“Hello, Charlotte? You died, remember?”

“I never thought about that. What are you going to tell them?”

“That your parents are still upset and that they can’t handle a service right now.”

Once Hannah stands up, I follow suit and feel Warren’s breath on my neck as he trails close behind me.

“Hey mom, do you mind if Warren and I drop off our things in one of the spare bedrooms?”

“You guys are... sleeping together?”

“Mom, I’m twenty five years old. Of course we are.”

She sighed before saying, “Top floor, second door on the right.”

I nodded and went into the mudroom to grab our bags. This is going to be a long stay.

As I walked up the steps, my mom followed me into the bedroom. “You know mom, you really didn’t have to come up here with us.”

“Nonsense! What kind of host would I be without changing the sheets?”

“You could’ve just told me where you keep them.”

She smiled and hugged me. “I’ll let you two settle in. If you need me, my cell number is written on a sticky note on the fridge.”

“Where are you going?”

“The store since Hannah dropped all of the bags. I’ll be gone for an hour but if you want more than that, text me!”

“More time for what?”

“Oh, you know.”

“Mom!”

“You kids have fun.”

As she shut the bedroom door, Warren looked at me and raised his eyebrows. “What.”

“Wow.”

I laughed. “I know.”

“Your family seems... nice.”

“Oh my god, that was so awkward of her to say that in front of you.”

“Well, maybe we should take extra time to do, you know.”

“How about I take you for a tour first?”

He nodded. “Alright.”

“Follow me.”

The first place we went was outside. “So, this is my pool.”

“Wow, it’s huge.”

“It seemed bigger when I was younger. I used to spend so much time in it, my parents tried to put a padlock on the door to keep me out when they weren’t home. After the third time of me breaking in, they finally gave up and hired a lifeguard.” I laugh at the memory and I hear Warren chuckle.

“I guess that makes sense.”

“What does?”

“I thought you were only stubborn with me, but it looks like you’ve been stubborn all your life.”

I jokingly nudged him. “Come on now, I have more to show.”

We walked to another set of doors and I said, “This is where we’d go to watch movies on family movie night.”

He looked around the room in awe, his eyes looking at every detail. When he sees the popcorn machine, his eyes light up. “You got to make your own popcorn, too? God, I would’ve killed for this when I was younger. I probably would’ve spent days in this room.”

“I sure did.”

“How often did you have family night?”

“Once a month. They worked a lot, but they tried the best they could to find time to spend as a family. At the time, it irritated me that they were rarely home at night. It’s nice to have all these material things, but after a while, it gets lonely.”

“You were lonely as a kid?”

As I met his gaze, I shrugged.

“Are you lonely now?”

“If you’d asked me that a few weeks ago, I would’ve said yes. I’ve kept a lot to myself over the years, despite Hannah being around. It took a huge toll on me.”

His fingers tilt my chin up. “Are things different now?”

I give him a warm, teasing smile. “Everything is different now.” I take a step back to put some distance between us. “There’s one more room I’d like to show you. I think you’ll like it.” I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Well, lead the way.”

As we entered another room, I said, “This is my parents’ private spa.”

As he eyed the room in curiosity, he looked at the loungers and the pool. “I’ve never been in one of these before.”

“They’re really relaxing.”

“It looks it.”

“Would you like to try it out?”

“What? Like right now?”

I grin and he glances over his shoulder. “Nobody’s home, Mr. Garcia.”

He gives me a devious smile. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

“Who said anything about bathing suits?” I start undressing while he stares at me in hunger. When I’m standing in just my bra and underwear, I wink at him and walk over to one of the loungers. I flip the switch to the heater and feel his eyes following my every move. “Are you planning on watching or joining me?”

“Can you blame me?”

“Not at all.” He quietly closed the door and locked it before taking his pants off and shirt, leaving him in only his black boxers.

God, how does a single look at him shirtless turn me on so much?

He lingers at the doorway for a while, folding our clothes. My eyes travel down the length of his body and see the visible bulge in his boxers.

He catches me glancing and smirks. “Are you planning on watching?” He mocks my words from earlier and I thank God the steam has already begun filling the room. Otherwise he’d be able to see what he’s doing to me.

“I wasn’t watching.”

“Yes, you were.”

I suddenly feel a hand on my ankle. I sit up on my elbows to look at him and make out his sexy figure. His hand slowly trails up my leg and stops when he reaches my panties. I hold my breath, wondering what he’ll do next. “Something wrong?”

“Why would you think that?”

“You’ve become very tense. Is it something I did?” His fingers play with the lining of my panties and I force myself to remain still as much as I wanted to latch myself to him and let him take control of me.

“I don’t know what would give you that idea.” His hand starts to move again, and the teasing touch of his fingers sets my body on fire.

Without my intention, a low moan slips out of my lips when I feel his lips press down on my inner thigh. “Warren…”

“Yes?” His hand slips under my bra, and soon after, I’m moving closer and closer to him.

“Please…”

“Please what, baby?”

I sigh instead of answering. His lips continue the tortuous path up my legs until I feel his warm breath between my thighs. His finger brushes over my c**t, and I have to hold back the shudder of pleasure that follows. He kisses me once, then twice, flicking his tongue in a steady rhythm while his other hand grips my hip to stop me from moving. Beads of sweat drip down my neck as the temperature in the room increases. He slides his fingers into my panties and down my legs until they’re on the floor.

“Sit up.”

I do as he says and sit up to face him. He reaches behind my back, undoing the clasp of my bra. “You’re so beautiful.” He gently kisses my neck before picking me up and putting me on his lap. I moan at the contact of his hardening erection between my thighs. “I want you to ride me.”

I bite my lip at his words but hesitate.

“You’ve never done it before?”

I shake my head.

“Good.” He smirks as he pulls his boxers down his legs and rubs himself against me, teasing me.

I moan and grab onto his shoulders. Without warning, he pushes me down and the pleasure racks down my body. My scream is muffle as I bite into his shoulder while he continues to move me up and down on top of him. “Warren,” I moan his name, and he pushes me even deeper. It shocks me how in sync we are.

When I want it rougher and faster, he obeys by punishing me with his tempo. His lips go where I need them, his hands caress every part he can reach.

The steam from the heater is mixing with the sweat of our bodies and the combination only makes it more pleasurable. It isn’t long before I feel myself orgasm, and he continues to f**k me harder and faster with each stroke.

When he hears my drowned out moans, he presses his mouth against my neck and moans while picking up the pace. He grips my hips tighter when he finishes inside me, and we collapse onto the seat, both of us breathing harder than ever before. He passes me my underwear and puts his own back on.

“That was so… amazing.”

“It really was. You sure are something, Charlotte.” He lightly kisses me and wraps his arms around me.

“We really need a shower, don’t we?”

“After you, gorgeous.” We head upstairs and go into the large bathroom, lock the door and feel the hot water run down our skin and I feel how hard he is.

“Again?”

He laughed. “Yeah, but I’ll wait til later, I..” He stops as I lean over the railing, allowing him to enter me again. “You sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive.”

“You’ll be sore.” He whispers.

“I don’t care, I need you.” After another session, we finish up the shower and he smacks my ass as I grab a towel.

“Hey!” He smirks and goes to the bedroom. That man is simply amazing. Once we both got dressed, he walked out of the bathroom, looking fine as hell. “Wow. You look beautiful in that dress.”

I couldn’t help but blush. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“I’m worried about Hannah,” he said as he was changing.

“What?”

“I just can’t tell if I can trust her.”

“Wait, you don’t trust her?”

“I don’t know who to trust, besides you. But babe, can you tell me you 100% trust her?”

“I don’t even know. I sometimes have doubts, but it’s simply because I can’t trust people easily.”

He sighs. “I feel like I’m three steps behind the person who’s in charge of this, and I don’t like it. Telling your family already feels too risky. What if we made a mistake by including her?”

“I appreciate your concern but Charlotte and I have known each other for years.”

Warren and I turn around to find her standing in the doorway. “I love her with everything in me. She’s the only family I have. There wouldn’t be anything to gain from her death except grief and pain.”

“What about her husband?”

She makes a disgusted face. “That asshole?”

“You could be jealous of Charlotte.”

“Jealous that she’s married to a cheating prick?”

“She told me how you pushed her to divorce him. Maybe you want her out of the way so you can steal him.”

Hannah scowled. “If you think that’s the kind of friend that I am, go find a new one.”

Warren glares at her and she scowls directly at him. An awkward silence settles as I break the silence.

“Hannah, I know you’d never do that. You’re just trying to look out for me so Warren, please don’t blame her for this situation with Adam. She’s worried for me.”

“I’m sorry.” Warren said, sighing. “I shouldn’t have accused you.”

“I appreciate the apology but you have nothing to fear from me. I would never push her to do anything to put her life at stake.”

“I believe you.”

“You do?” I ask him in shock.

He turns to me but doesn’t meet my gaze. “I’m going to check out the rest of the house. I’ll be back soon if you need me.”

As he walks past me and out the door, Hannah comes to stand next to me. “He really cares about you, Char. I’m glad you guys found each other.”

“What? I thought you didn’t like him.”

“Call me nuts, but I can see how happy you are whenever you’re with him. There’s a sparkle in your eyes that I haven’t seen in a long time. I’ve missed seeing you happy rather than miserable with that selfish, arrogant, cheating prick.”

She’s right. Adam has treated me like s**t for years, and never appreciated me. Warren is the complete opposite. He started off very professional but once I got him to crack a little, his true colors came out. He’s made me the happiest I’ve been in a long ass time. Before I can say anything, she wraps her arms around me.

“I booked a flight home for tomorrow morning. I want to stay longer, but if i miss any more work, my boss will fire my ass.”

“I wish you didn’t have to either but we both know how badly you need this job Han.”

She puts a hand to her heart as if she’s offended. “Are you calling me poor?”

“No! But what would I do without all of your interesting stories?”

“True.” Hannah said as she smiled. “Which reminds me, remember Mrs. Larson?”

“The hypochondriac?” We spent the afternoon laughing and catching up.

A few hours later, my dad finally comes home. Hannah, Warren, my mother and I all sit in the living room when he bursts in. “You’ll never believe what I found out!”

“What is it?” I ask wondrously.

“My buddies down at the station know one of the men who work in Adam’s office, and they got in contact with him. Apparently, the threatening letter continued to come to his office for two days after Charlotte’s disappearance which I assume is when you hid with Warren?”

“Yes. So what your saying is that Adam didn’t do it?”

“It definitely looks that way. However, he’s a clever bastard. It’s possible he’s gone this far to plan things out.”

“But that would mean he sent the letters to himself and continued to mail them to cover his tracks. Doesn’t that make him an unlikely culprit?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Guys, I still don’t trust him.” Hannah said, with concern.

“Something about this still doesn’t feel right. Like why did he keep Charlotte in the dark during this?”

“She has a point. Although it’s unlike Adam to not keep me updated.”

Warren looks over at the papers my father put on the table. “These are the threats?”

“Yes, we got them faxed over from the guy at Adam’s office. His secretary has been keeping them in her desk since this all happened.”

“The secretary he’s banging?”

“Excuse me?” Her father asked, in shock.

“Tina or whatever the hell her name is has been sleeping with my husband. I’ve walked in on them many times.”

“Charlotte, you let him keep her as a secretary?!” My father asked. 

“Richard...calm down.”

“Helen, this isn’t right.”

Warren hands a sheet of paper back to my father. “This was pretty interesting. It turns out none of the other senators have been getting threats like this. Whoever’s behind this must really have it in for Adam.”

“Or me.”

“Adam told me it’s normal for senators to receive these.”

“He’s a smug bastard, Warren. But why in the hell would he lie?”

“He was trying to convince me to agree to a bodyguard.” I glance at Warren. “I wasn’t really into the idea at first.” “This information makes things more dangerous for you. Your father is right Charlotte. They’re specifically targeting Adam, and we have no way of knowing when this will end.”

“Well, Adam does have a lot of enemies.” Warren turns to my father, his expression serious.

“I promise you, sir, no matter what happens, I’m going to protect your daughter. I swear on my life.”

My father rubs his chin. “And why is that?”

Warren blinks several times. “I don’t understand the question.”

“Is it because it’s your job or because you’re in love with my daughter?”