Free The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 2 by Kristina Blake Page A

the house and at the police station. He wasn’t allowed to rest, to go search for his brother; he was held in the interrogation room until the detectives had the entire story. He answered their endless questions, feeling as though they were covering the same subjects again and again, wasting time when they could be out there searching.
                  His thoughts frequently returned to her, to Alex. Was she all right? He knew that the paramedics had taken her to the hospital, but no one had given him an update on her condition. Why should they? he thought. It wasn’t as though he were family. He wanted to be with her, put his arms around her and pull her close to him, where he would know that she was safe and warm, protected from any danger. But he didn’t know if she would ever want to even see him again, when she found out his secret, that he knew exactly what was going on, and why she had been kidnapped.
                  In the end, after the story had come out, she had somehow forgiven him for keeping it from her. He was amazed that she actually wanted to speak to him again, after all she had been through, but she had even convinced her father to keep him on as her bodyguard. She understood, holding his hand as he told her the story of his life, and how she became a part of it at the hands of his mentally unstable brother. More than that, she had accepted his apologies, welcoming him back into her warm arms, her embrace comforting him after he had been cold to her for so long.
                  He smiled as he turned into the parking lot of his favorite pizza place, able to ignore, if only for a moment, that they were still in danger, and just enjoy the fact that he had such a wonderful, powerful, vibrant woman in his life. He wished that things were different, and that they could have a real chance at happiness.

Chapter Ten
                  Fucker.
                  Jake watched as his brother walked out of her office and headed to his car, his jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth, his stomach churning with rage at the smug smile on Rick’s face. He had taken her, stolen her right out of his bed. Jake would never forgive him, for taking what he deserved, trying to keep her all for himself.
                  He couldn’t deal with this. The others were screaming, raging that he had lost her. He needed to get her back, even if it meant killing his own brother to do so.
                  Turning the key in the ignition of the old car, Jake gazed up at her window one last time before pulling out into traffic, heading downtown. He needed to make some final preparations before putting his plan into motion. It was going to work this time. It had to. It was perfect.

Chapter Eleven
                  “Oh my god,” said Alex, throwing her bags on the floor in the living room before kicking her shoes off her feet. It had been a ridiculous day, meetings after meetings after phone calls after emails, until she was ready to scream at the top of her lungs. Having Rick there didn’t make the situation any easier. Though she enjoyed his company, and truly felt safe with him around, she constantly worried that he was dying of boredom, stuck sitting in her office for hours with absolutely nothing to do. She didn’t have time to entertain him, let alone converse with him; the project had fallen way behind schedule in her absence, and they desperately needed to make up some time.
                  Rick stepped in behind her, locking the deadbolt on the door, and went to check each of the windows, as he did every time that they returned to make sure that their security had not been compromised. Once he was satisfied, he went to the refrigerator, pulling the door open and staring inside.
                  “Hey,” he said, turning toward the bedroom door, Alex standing just inside it, pulling the tight-fitting blouse that she