The Protector (Barrett Boys #3) - Jordan Ford Page 0,17

catch Angelica’s wink.

Then she glides away, leaving me to my packing.

Laying my folded clothes neatly in the case, I can’t help the relief washing through me. It’s probably really mean, but I don’t think I’ll miss Ruby at all. I can’t stand the constant bickering between us. It exhausts me.

All I’ve ever wanted is to live in a place that feels like home.

I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that sensation, and I’m desperately hoping that this apartment Burk has found for me will become this place I’ve always dreamed of. A little haven to be myself in.

Except I’ll have to share it with a bodyguard.

With an irritated huff, I slam my suitcase closed.

This really is not going at all how I planned.

Please, Azim, find me someone I can stomach. Someone who won’t drive me insane and ruin this chance I’ve been longing for.

8

A Rigorous Interview

I get home from the interview, pulling off my tie and running a hand through my short hair. It’s strange not having those long thick strands to get my fingers caught in, but when I gaze in the bathroom mirror, I have to admit that I’m looking kind of slick.

Unbuttoning my shirt, I start the shower, hoping the hot spray will ease the tension in my muscles. It’s weirdly exhausting trying to be someone else.

I mean, I’m still me, but I just have a different last name now. And I’m older. And way more experienced than I actually am.

At least I got to keep my first name, so I can’t slip up on that. According to my ID, though, I’m Brody Markum and I’m twenty-one years old. I have a California Guard Card, and all the required permits and certifications to be a high-end bodyguard. Cyrus suggested I sell this as my first high-end gig, to make it more realistic, but he’s plumped up my résumé with jobs he can cover if they do a background check, and he wrote me a freaking amazing reference.

Thankfully, Azim is under the gun to find someone quickly. It’s worked in my favor, as he might bypass a few background checks and cut corners in order to secure someone for the job.

The job of accompanying Indigo Shaw to college.

Rinsing off quickly, I towel off and think back through my day. Azim really put me through the works. The introductory interview took over an hour as he asked me a bunch of questions. I tried to stick with truth as much as possible. I’d stayed up until three o’clock the night before, rehearsing with Cyrus, and I’m so glad I did.

I then had to go to the gun range to prove my skills. I’d only ever used a gun on the ranch, and that was a rifle. I’d been pretty good back then, but still, firing a gun wigged me out. The first shot reverberated through my skull and took me back to a rainy night when I was fourteen. I nearly couldn’t fire the second round, but Azim was watching me closely, so I smashed my teeth together and channeled my energy, hitting targets with an accuracy that surprised me.

Azim didn’t give me much. I have no idea if he was impressed or not.

Man, he’s like the opposite of his brother—cool and formal.

It was unsettling as hell.

After that, I had to drive the human icicle around, telling him what I’d do if someone was tailing me and then, on his command, speeding as if I were fleeing the cops or something. Thankfully we didn’t get busted and were soon cruising to a shopping mall where I had to walk around telling him everything I could see. I had to point out people I thought might look suspicious, which I felt kind of bad doing. You can’t judge people by their appearance. But I suppose I was only making calculated guesses, not actually judging them as a person.

“Two o’clock,” Azim murmured. “Tell me what you see.”

My eyes darted in the right direction, and I made a quick observation. “His blue jacket is bulging on the left side around his waistband. It could be a concealed weapon.”

Azim nodded, then watched me as I tracked the guy, then moved on to watch someone else saunter past.

Three hours later, I was standing in his office at the Shaw mansion while he made a phone call to Cyrus. He made me sit there, sweating it out while I listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Okay.” He nodded and hung up, then looked at me. “Your previous