Free Joseph Fallen (The Estate Series) by M.S. Willis Page B

  Throwing up her
hands, she marched again in the direction of her suite and she couldn’t be
sure, but she thought she heard a soft chuckle behind her.
    Throwing open the doors, she quickly strode into the living
room of her suite, flinging the doors closed behind her.   Not hearing the familiar click of metal
against metal, the pound of the wooden doors reverberating through the walls,
she turned to find the man standing in the doorway, one door held open in each
hand, and no expression in the emerald green eyes that shown brilliantly
against his tanned skin.
    “Am I not allowed to be in my own apartment by myself?!”
    She found the man’s ability to appear motionless
disturbing.   Her heart raced with
anger and resentment, and her eyes remained locked to his face, searching for
any outward sign that would betray his thoughts.   
    When he didn’t speak, didn’t move, didn’t so much as flinch
a muscle in response to her question, she backed into the kitchen and reached
behind her to find and move a chair out from the table so that she could sit
down.   She kept her eyes trained on
the man.   A few minutes passed,
crystal blue staring into emerald green, the man finally stepped forward,
softly clicking the doors shut behind him, before leaning back against the
wood.
    The silence between them was thick, aggravating in its
duration, but when his lips moved and his voice softly brushed across her
senses, she flinched, not expecting the sudden sound.
    “Are you afraid of me?”
    An odd question.   Of course she was afraid of him.   Not even twenty-four hours before, she’d watched him come into the woods
dressed in shadow, had seen how easily he removed a man’s head without so much
as a struggle.
    It was only because she forced strength into her voice that
she was able to speak.   “Yes.   I’d prefer that you leave.”
    Almost apologetically, he responded, “I can’t leave.   I’ve been ordered to watch over you.”
    “Why?”
    Silence again.   His eyes closing slowly, the black night of his lashes barely covering
the light of his forest green eyes before opening again as he answered, “I’ve
been asked by your husband to protect you.   To ensure that no person can attempt to harm you again.   He is … concerned … for your welfare.”
    Laughter shook her shoulders, the hysterical type that had
no footing in actual humor, but sprang forth from anger, resentment and
fear.   “Is he really concerned for
my welfare?   Or is he concerned that
I’ll leave him, seek shelter in a home not overrun by criminals?”   She grew quiet for a moment, her head
falling into her hands but then lifted again to look indignantly into the face
of the man.   “Are you a criminal as
well?   One of the men that corrupted
a good man, convinced him to lie to his wife?”
    “I was hired by Joseph after The Estate had already
become…what it is.   My specialty is
in security and defense.”
    “Death – that’s what you mean, that is your specialty .    I saw what you did, how
easily…”   Her sobs choked out her
words, the honey blonde of her hair falling forward as she hid her face in her
hands.
    Finally when she’d pushed past the threatened tears in her
eyes, she looked up again.   The
cobalt blue twinkling from a mixture of the lights in the room reflecting
across the unshed tears.   Slowly,
methodically, she spoke.   “He told
me you would watch me to make sure I cannot leave.   If I were to try, would you…”
    “I’d prevent you from leaving.   It wouldn’t be safe, but for more
reasons than you assume.   Your
husband loves you.”
    “My HUSBAND does not LOVE me!   If he loved me, he’d be here by my
side.   There wouldn’t be any need
for your protection and for his continued absence.   We were fine before we came to this
place – HAPPY.   But now… now
he’s lost to something that I cannot even fully comprehend.   What is he supporting?   Drugs?   Murder?