My Bad Boy's Secret: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (188 page)

"This is Ava," I said as cold as I could on the phone.

"Ava, I am so glad you're safe," he said calm and quietly.

"I don't have time for chit chat, just tell me what's going on. Why did you send this man to protect me? How did the men working for - you know who- find me? How did you find me?” I said rambling on with question after question as I grew angrier and angrier at my father.

"I am sorry Ava, you have to believe that. I've tried to stay away from you, to protect you. But it seems with technology, and everything on the internet it is easier to track people down than it used to be when you were a kid. They have found you. And my contacts here at the agency alerted me of this. As soon as I saw that these particular men had booked flights to Hawaii, I knew that they were going after you. So through my contacts I hired the most skilled bodyguard that I could find, Zak Flynn. You can trust him. I vetted him myself, and he is registered with the agency.”

“So that's it, they found me. He found me through the internet. But I am so careful. I don't use social media. I never post photos of myself. How is it possible?"

"I looked into it myself, and I found a page from the University's website. Your name comes up in a few class activities and such. I guess they had somebody scouring the database."

As soon as he said it I knew exactly what he was talking about. A few times per semester our papers and essays were published online for our fellow students in each class. But I assumed it was a closed system; just for students with their own encrypted access and login information. But I guess a skilled hacker could find it if they were specifically looking for my name. I felt stupid for not using a different name when I registered for college but it wasn't exactly easy to come up with a whole new identity.

"So now what? What can I do?” I asked feeling hopeless for the first time in a long time.

"You'll have to come here. It is the safest place. My agency can protect you. But being so far away I could only send Zak to protect you,” My father said into the phone as I heard him shuffling papers on the other end of the line.

"No I can't leave I have school. I've worked too hard to abandon my life."

"But the semester’s almost over isn't it?"

"Yes it is, a few more days. I guess I could miss those last days as long as I take the exams, I can fake a family emergency."

"Yes that's a good plan I can get documents for a family emergency from the hospital sent to the dean."

"I guess that's the plan then. I can't believe that you know who- is still alive after all this time. Why is he still looking for me? Why can't he just let me live my life?"

"Because law-enforcement is cracking down on his case. There's been more evidence that has surfaced to his crimes, and you dear Ava, are the only witness. So he wants to eliminate you. And he won't stop at anything to save his own skin. "

"I hate him," I said is I started to cry on the phone. I couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"Just hang in there, stick close to Zak. Never leave his side. Promise me that? Until you are here at the agency where you will be protected."

"I promise."

"We should get off the phone now if we stay on any longer it will be a traceable call."

"OK bye father."

"By Ava, I will see you soon."

I hung up the phone and burst into tears letting my back slide against the wall until I was sitting on the floor of the bathroom. Then Zak opened the door, he said nothing, he only came to sit next to me and hold me while I cried in his arms. There was nothing to be sad. I just needed comfort, and he was providing it.

That night I cried myself to sleep, with Zak's arms wrapped around me. We didn't say much of anything. I didn't want to talk about anything. The next morning when I woke his arms were still wrapped around me, it only made me want him more and more. But he was being allusive and strange so I didn't press him to tell me why he was acting the way he was. I looked at the clock and jumped up out of the sleeping bag.

"Zak, wake up! I need to get to class. Today is our field trip and I am the lead on it. I cannot miss it. I need to be at the entrance of Volcano Park in two hours."

"OK, but we're not leaving this apartment until you put on the disguise. You don't have to wear it in class. Just until we are further away from this place. I have to remain at your side."

"I really doubt that I can explain having someone with me on the trails with me…"

"Then I will follow close behind you, it is a public park after all. I’ll just pretend like I don't know you."

When the words left his mouth, I realized that we really didn't know each other. He didn't know much of anything about me. And I didn't know anything at all about him. We were strangers the two of us, yet so much of our lives were dependent on each other. I was his assignment, which seemed to be very important to him. And he was my protector. Our lives were intertwined in a life-and-death situation, yet we were strangers.

"OK I'll put on the disguise. We just need to hurry. I cannot be late. In fact I would like to be early. I need to go over my notes. I feel very unprepared for this. I should've been spending the last few days, studying. But instead I was running for my life."

"Well at least you weren't stranded on a deserted island."

"Fair enough."

I grabbed the items of my disguise and took them to the bathroom. I pulled on the blonde wig. It was a cute bob with bangs and it actually looked fairly good. I pulled on my short shorts, knee socks, and hiking boots. I tucked in my tight tank top. Then I pulled a button up shirt over it and tied it at the waist. Then I headed out into the main room. Zak turned around and looked at me. He almost froze in his tracks. I wondered what he was thinking.

"What do you think? Is it convincing? Doesn't look like me?" I said is I did a slight twirl in front of him.

He hesitated before he answered, then he quietly said, "It'll do. Now don't go barging out there. Let me check it out first. You wait right here,” he said as he grabbed his hat and glasses and walked out the door.

Well that was very cold, but not new. I sighed as I tried to come to terms with the fact that this is the way it would be. He’d be cradling me in his arms as I cried at night, or making love to me in a sensual passionate way, or he would just be flat out cold and on assignment. I don't know what my father had told him, but obviously the two of them have been in contact quite frequently. I'm sure that my father would not approve that the man he hired had become involved romantically with this little girl, even when he had abandoned me. But was that the only reason for Zak's coldness towards me, I’m sure. I feel like there could be more to it than that. What was he hiding from me? I was deep in the spot when he opened the door and said, "Ready?"

"Yes," I said as I grab my backpack and belongings and push the hat on my head over the wig along with the giant sunglasses. Then he stopped me at the door and said, "I want you to hold my hand and be the loving girlfriend, really play your part. They are looking for a single woman alone, the more you act casual and like nothing is wrong, and that you are my woman, the less suspicious we will look. Their eyes will gaze right over us if they appear."

I nodded my head as he held his hand out to me, the long way he looked at me in a soft and gentle way gave me chills. Touching his warm hand had an effect on me, just as it had these last few days. My whole body awakened when he touched me, even in a simple manner, even when we were supposed to be faking it. We walked out of the building quietly and casually just as he instructed. And although I looked calm on the outside I was a bundle of nerves on the inside.

ZAK

I had lost my head. I have lost my heart. This was bad. This was very bad. What I had hoped would not happen, indeed had happened. I was falling for my assignment. I had become intimate, and I had broken the number one rule; no client and assignment relations. It caused too many problems. This is why it was a rule in the first place, and I had broken it before. I promised myself I would never do it again, but it is hard when you are sent to protect someone, and they turned out to be an amazing and gorgeous woman like Ava. Because of this I would lose my judgment in crucial times, when all my focus was needed. I would be making decisions with my heart and not with my mind. This was bad. This was very bad. Now she had heard from the one man that that had it not only assigned me to her, but specifically told me not to become involved with her. He knew my background, and he was my one chance to reclaim my position as a Navy Seal, and to clear my name. Now I have broken my promise to him, and it was the end of my career as I knew it.

In a few days we would be departing to Washington DC where her father lived, and I had to protect her until this is all over. He would know then, he would know just by the look on my face. I wouldn't be able to hide it, that's if we made it that far. Ava Klein was safe for now in my arms from the thugs that were chasing her, that's if the stubborn woman would listen to me. However she wasn't safe for me, I had to try to be cold hearted, But the look on her face when I acted that way only pierced my heart. I don't know how long I can keep that up. After the words her father told her she cried like a baby. I made a decision with my heart and my mind and cradled her in my arms for comfort. It is what a lover would do, and not a hired protector. Here I was mixing them up one more time. But I had to, I couldn't let the poor girl deal with what she was dealing with and cry on the floor while I sat in the living room staring out the window. It just wouldn't be right. I did what I had to do.

Then when she came out of the room and in her disguise, I froze. She looked gorgeous. It was like a sexual game of dress up. I had to snap out of it. I had to remember what we were doing here. So instead I was cold, and maybe a little bit mean, "It'll do. Now don't go barging out there. Let me check it out first. You wait here." Then I walked out the door immediately. I had to. I couldn’t stand there just looking at her another second in private. I would jump on her.

I went outside and checked out the premises, it was clear. I went back inside with the plan, or was it a plan to help us easily get out of here, or was it because I wanted to touch her? "Ready."

"Yes," she said. Then I told her my plan, "I want you to hold my hand and be the loving girlfriend, really play your part. They are looking for a single woman alone, the more you act casual and like nothing is wrong, and that you are my woman, the less suspicious we will look. Their eyes will gaze right over us if they appear."

She nodded her head and then we were out the door. I took her hand in mine. It was warm. As soon as I touched her I felt things that I should not be feeling. I tried to focus. I had to remember I was working. I scanned the buildings and I scanned the sidewalk, searching for the men that were hunting her. I would never know if they were watching.

We made it to my truck safely. I slowly and cautiously pulled out of the apartment building and we were on our way to the Volcano Park. She was silent but I could feel her gaze landing on me every now and then. It was as if there was a question on the end of her tongue. I know what that question was, and I was afraid that she was going to ask it. I turned on the radio and turned up the volume to drown it out, and drown out my thoughts. But it didn't work. Her hand reached over and turn the volume down. She looked at me and said, "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

I pressed my lips sternly and my jaw set in a hard line. "No, we won't talk about that. Let's just focus."

"That is not acceptable to me. You fucked me and then you were cold to me. You have to tell me why! I deserve to know."

I was shocked by her words. I was not expecting her to be so blunt, but then I remembered whom I was talking to. She did what she wanted when she wanted. Her life of running away from her past had made her a tough woman. She spoke her mind. I was impressed by it. She was right I did owe her an answer. "I can't tell you why. It's part of my past. All I can tell you is that I shouldn't have done it, it's against the rules. I jeopardized your safety by becoming involved."

She crossed her arms and was about to say something else but then I turned into the entrance of the Volcano Park, which shut her up quickly. Now she was the one focused on getting into student mode. She pulled off her hat and wig, and fixed herself up in the mirror, now looking more like herself. She pulled out her notebook and began to shuffle her papers. I was glad for the distraction. I was off the hook for now. I pulled in and there was a group of students gathered by an older man I can only assume was her professor. He wasn't exactly what I expected a professor to look like. He was in his late 40’s, fit, with the charming grin. I hated him instantly. Before Ava could even get out of the car he was over at her side.