“I’ll protect you.” I promise him, knowing that I don’t have much of a choice.

His expression changes and his eyes shine like a kid in a candy store. He is way too readable. His smile returns, making his expression much more beautiful. I must put a damper in it before he ends up affecting me.

“I’ll also find out who is out to get you so this contract can be over as quickly as possible.” I also tell him, hating that I must be a bit vulnerable in this situation, “I don’t want to be dealing with you more than I have to. I hope you understand this.”

“You really don’t know who is trying to kill me?” He asks in this soft voice, like he is not too sure about it, “isn’t it weird that you don’t keep a collection of that data?”

I snort, wondering now if he is that much of an idiot, “you already know the answer to that since you had my website hacked yesterday. You weren’t that sneaky, I’m afraid.”

He blushes. Way too readable.

“I’ll pay you.” He clarifies, thinking that it could be the solution to everything, “don’t worry about that.”

I’m more confused than anything, and a little miffed, “what?”

“I’ll pay you for your services.” He explains, raising an eyebrow slightly like I am the stupid one, “if money is the issue, then I have no problem with compensating. You will be doing me a favour.”

I take in a deep breath to stop myself from reacting to his words, “let me make this clear. The only reason that I am offering to help you is because you are blackmailing me. I don’t need your money, nor do I want it. After this is done, I get the video, and we go our separate ways. That’s it. I want you out of my life.”

“Okay.” He nods, not even trying to fight me, “I will draft up a contract.”

“Good.” Is all I can say to start out with.

I start to stand up so I can get out of here. We are done here. Strangely enough, Lennox gets up with me. Is he thinking about following me? I’m going to lay down the law with him.

“I’ll start tomorrow. Until then, don’t stay in places like this.” I give him my best pointed look, letting him see that I’m not kidding, “you could easily get shot and die. I don’t need you screwing everything up more than you already have.”

“Got it.” He whispers, his cheeks turning a little red, “I will do it.”

I walk away from him and head back to the main dining area. I wish that he would leave me alone but of course, he isn’t going to let it happen that way. I must give him some credit; he does have some balls.

“Thanks for everything!” He yells after me, making me feel more and more odd, “I’ll see you later, Silas!”

I sigh. I dread this already.     

Lennox Cambridge is going to be the death of me.

After what feels like forever, I reach the meeting spot in time. Everyone is here, looking at me with confusion because they know that I am never late. I probably have a look of annoyance on my face because right now, I don’t think that I would even be able to hide it with how frustrated I am with Lennox right now. He is lucky that I didn’t just kill him like I wanted to. Holly stands up when she sees me, looking at me with worry now. I know that she has many questions but it’s just going to have to wait until later.

“I won’t be going to the Bahamas with you.” I explain, fixing my suit, “Holly and I will remain behind. Vincent and Mar will take the lead while the rest of you rescue the girls safely after the execution. I trust you enough to get the job done without me. That is all.”

My team is quite prepared, and I trust them more than anything. I have no issues with them doing this one without me. I wish I was going to be there though. I would have enjoyed killing at least one of those bastards. It’s just how it is. We go through the plan again before going our separate ways, making sure that everyone is on the same page. Holly is with me this time, looking at me curiously. We walk out of the meeting spot and head for our cars. I know she has a lot to ask me, I’m prepared for it. I had already sent her the video to examine.

“I couldn’t find any fault in the video.” Holly murmurs, sounding a bit frustrated because she is the top person when it comes to electronics,” is it from one of our recent missions? Why does it show Lennox and you killing him? It could be AI.”

Like Lennox said… Motherfucker.

“It’s Lennox’s security camera video footage.” I explain, wishing that I could just break something.

She pauses, looking up at me with confusion because she probably didn’t expect me to say that, “but you didn’t kill him.”

“No, I didn’t. The fucker found one of his nerds to edit the video.” I growl, really wishing that I would have just killed him when I had the chance, “unfortunately, he has one up on me right now.”

Holly is quiet. I know she is probably looking down on herself for not being able to figure it out. I don’t know why she does that. She is the smartest person I know. Unfortunately, whoever did this must have the brains, too, and are winning when it comes to it. It just happens sometimes and there’s nothing that can be done. It doesn’t matter what I think either way.

“Don’t blame yourself.” I tell her, hating that she is thinking poorly of herself, “Lennox knows what he is doing.”

“Is he blackmailing you with it?” She finally asks, her eyes darkening with anger, “if he is, I’ll-“

“Yes, but the authenticity of the video doesn’t matter.” I cut her off, already knowing what she is going to say, “if the authentic video falls into the hands of law enforcement, I would still be prosecuted for assault with a lethal weapon. I think that he might have figured a way to make me do what he wants.”

“So, what does he want?” Holly wonders, probably trying to figure that out as well.

“Protection.” I mutter, wishing that it isn’t true, “he wants me to be his bodyguard.”

“Seriously?” She is shocked, knowing that I don’t protect anyone, “I didn’t expect that.”

“I will protect him and find out who ordered the hit, then he will give me the video in exchange.” I explain, shaking my head, “he has some balls, I will give him that.”

“I know it is crazy, but I have to admit it is a pretty genius idea.” Holly praises Lennox, making me go still, “I have to give him credit for sticking up to you.”

I glare at her. Don’t say that out loud.

“Did you agree?” She suddenly asks, tilting her head to the side.

Do I have any other options?

“Yes.” I grumble, shaking my head, “I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“When do we start?” She continues, having to ask every damn question. 

“Tomorrow.” I murmur, “we’ll do as he asks… We will also look for ways to destroy the video.”

She nods, sighing wistfully, “damn, I guess I won’t be going to the Bahamas after all.”

“I told you it wasn’t a vacation.” I remind her as she heads to her car.

“I didn’t plan on listening to you.” She yells at me, “I wanted to find a hot man to be with.”

I smile. Of course, she didn’t.

“Goodnight!” She says as she raises her hand above her head and waves at me before getting into her car. 

I watch her drive off before I get into my car, trying to process my feelings. I don’t know quite what I’m feeling right now but with Lennox, it is going to be interesting.

I guess I will see what he is made of.