Free The Principal's Daughter by Zak Hardacre Page A

looking men in suits had taken a table just one away from Richard’s. They screamed out security detail to him. Looking nervously around, they were checking the diners out. Now, Richard knew why the British had such a good reputation for security work. They were never obtrusive, at least the ones who worked for reputable companies were not.
    He turned his attention back to Hank, who was now giving his order to the waiter. As the waiter passed Richard, he stopped him and asked what his client had ordered. After receiving the answer, he picked the next item down from it, this being not so expensive. It was a benefit for personal protection officers to dine well when with their clients. The unspoken rule was you never overstepped the mark, and ordered the most expensive thing on the menu.
    Hanks order came to the table and the party began to dig in. Richard sipped on his water, waiting for his meal to be served. Within minutes, his starter was placed in front of him. It looked and smelled gorgeous. He thanked the waiter, picked up his utensils and rapidly devoured the contents of the plate. One of the things he had learned was that a good close protection officer, should always be one course ahead of his principal. This was to ensure he was ready to leave prior to his client finishing his meal.
    The meeting took almost two hours, and Pandora was getting a little loud, due to the amount of wine, she had consumed. She may have been the apple of her father's eye, but he politely admonished her for her behaviour. The meal was soon over and the group rose to leave. As they did so, Rob and the others left the restaurant, having already paid for their meal. Richard waited for the handshakes and goodbyes to be said and done, and followed closely behind Hank, heading for the exit.
    The journey back had been uneventful, except for the chastisement that Hank had given Pandora for her actions earlier. It was apparent from what Richard heard that it was not the first time this had occurred. She obviously was a bit of a wild child, as he knew all too well.

Chapter Seven
     
    The remainder of the week was occupied with escorting Hank to his office at the Embassy. There were no other meetings planned outside of this. The next big job would be the Embassy party on the coming Friday. This meant that Richard spent a lot of his time hanging around the Embassy building. The duties of a close protection officer or bodyguard were not as glamourous as the movies seemed to depict. Unlike the movie The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner, red carpet events were few and far between. This was not to say they did not have to deal with crowds that might endanger their clients. Luckily for Richard, his client had very few enemies, apart of course from the threat from Middle Eastern militant.
    Rob had been keeping in touch with the anti-terrorist team at Scotland Yard. They had a team keeping the three Hezbollah militants under surveillance. Their intentions were unknown, but the precaution of surveillance made sense. This relieved some of the pressure from the security detail, but they remained on a high alert. It was not uncommon for terrorists to slip through the net.
    Pandora had continued her teasing of Richard over the past three days, but no sexual activity had taken place. He had noticed a marked change in Clarissa, though. She had taken a stake in her daughter's attentions towards him. He hoped for his own sake that this was her just being protective of her stepdaughter. She had grown up without the guiding hand of a mother, and Clarissa had made it her mission to rectify that. At least that is how Richard perceived it.
    At least while Richard was at the Embassy he was out of harm's way, un tempted to repeat the events of the other night. There was enough eye candy for him to marvel at in the building. He spent most of his time wandering around getting used to the layout of the complex. Going through his head the various scenarios and responses if the