The Heiress & The Halfblood

Chapter Eight: The Bodyguard

Jessica’s POV

The afternoon sun filtered through the stained-glass dome above the great hall, casting pools of colored light across the marble floor.

Jessica stood beside her mother near the central staircase, posture poised, expression neutral — the perfect heiress mask.

But her stomach churned.

“You’re being dramatic,” Lillian said smoothly, adjusting the cuff of her tailored robe. “You need protection. It’s not weakness, it’s strategy.”

Jessica sighed. “I never said I wouldn’t accept them. I just said it feels… excessive.”

Lillian’s eyes flicked to her, cool and unreadable. “You were nearly murdered three days ago.”

Point taken.

Footsteps echoed through the corridor as the two chosen guards entered the hall. The first was tall and broad-shouldered, with a shaved head and military precision in his movements. She recognized him — Marcus Graye. Former special ops, a warlord with reflexes like steel.

The second man stepped in quietly behind him, and Jessica froze.

Tall. Athletic. Dressed in fitted black. Curls slightly tousled. And those eyes — stormy grey, sharp and watchful, like he saw everything and revealed nothing.

Her heart stumbled.

It’s him.

The stranger.

He’s standing in my hallway.

“Luca Morningside,” Lillian said, gesturing to the newcomer. “Second-in-command of your personal security team. He excelled in every trial.”

Jessica swallowed hard. “Have we… met before?”

Luca met her gaze evenly. No flicker of recognition, no grin, no smirk. Just calm professionalism.

“I don’t believe so, Miss Ravenshade.”

Her brows lifted slightly. “Strange. You look familiar.”

He said nothing. Just offered a crisp nod.

Liar.

But smooth. Too smooth.

“Your father handpicked the final candidates,” Lillian added. “Luca scored highest in every test. He’s yours, whether you feel you need a bodyguard or not.”

Jessica turned to Luca, forcing herself to match his calm.

“I trust you know how to follow orders.”

“I prefer to anticipate them,” he said simply.

Jessica almost smiled — almost. “Good". Then anticipate this: I don’t like being followed. I value my privacy. So don’t hover, understood?”

“I understand.”

He didn’t blink. Didn’t look away. Didn’t flinch.

But there was something… charged in the air between them. Like static waiting for a storm.

She turned sharply and started up the stairs.

“I’m going for a walk. Alone.”

Lillian’s voice was immediate. “No, you’re not.”

Jessica kept walking. “Then let him follow.”

Lillian gave Luca a sharp nod, signaling him to move.

She heard Luca’s soft steps fall into rhythm behind her, perfectly silent.

Luca’s POV

She knew.

Not everything — not his name, not what he was — but enough to sense something wasn’t right. He could see it in the stiffness of her shoulders, the way she kept glancing back when she thought he wasn’t watching.

She was testing him.

They moved through the south wing, out into the gardens laced with old wards and perfumed vines. The air carried the faint sweetness of roses, mingling with the salt of the distant sea. Jessica stopped near a sundial and faced him directly.

“You saved me,” she said.

Luca’s face stayed neutral. “I don’t know what you mean.”

She stepped closer, eyes searching his. “Three nights ago. By the cliffs. The man with the silver eyes — that was you.”

He said nothing.

“I’m not stupid.”

“No,” he replied quietly. “You’re not.”

Her gaze softened, just a little. “Why?”

He looked past her — toward the sea glittering beneath the sun.

“I was passing through. Wrong place, right time.”

“Convenient.”

He met her eyes again, and for a second something unspoken passed between them. A flicker of truth. Of recognition.

Jessica took a slow breath. “I don’t know who sent those men. I don’t know what they wanted. But if you hadn’t shown up…”

She didn’t finish.

“I would’ve done the same for anyone,” he said.

She smiled faintly. “Really? Why don’t I believe you?”

For a moment, just a moment, his lips twitched. The beginning of a smirk — the ghost of something more human than he intended.

Jessica stepped back, arms crossed. “Well. Since you’re my shadow now, you might as well walk with me.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be followed.”

“I changed my mind.”

She started down the garden path. Luca followed.

Quiet. Silent. But for the first time in years — curious