I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,3
I finally said goodbye to my mother, she hugged me like she’d never see me again. I understood her trepidation in leaving me. I’d been home for six months where I didn’t leave her sight—except for my counseling sessions. The last time we said goodbye, I’d been leaving for France—where I’d nearly been raped and kidnapped, and my bodyguard was shot. I let her hold me for as long as she needed. Truth be told, I needed it too.
Marco stayed outside as I decorated my walls with posters of beautiful white sand beaches and private islands. I placed framed photos on my desk. A couple of my parents and me on beaches in Greece, and a couple of us sailing along the Mediterranean. Those reminded me of happy times, and I hoped the images would bring me solace and give me a place to escape to if I felt the outside world suffocating me.
I switched on some country music, allowing Luke Bryan to drown out the rap music still playing down the hall as I climbed onto my desk chair and hung strands of tiny white lights around the perimeter of my room. Complete darkness at night wouldn’t work for me. I needed some kind of light if there was any chance that I’d sleep. I pressed a tack into the corner of the room where the wall met the ceiling. I leaned in closer, my eyes narrowing on a small wire extending from the ceiling. I tugged on it.
My door flew open and Marco burst in. “What are you doing!?”
The air punched out of my lungs, startled by the unexpected intrusion. “Jesus Christ, Marco! Don’t you knock?”
“Sorry, ma’am, I just—”
“Is this a camera?”
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Yes.”
“Are you watching me?”
“No.”
I stepped down from the chair and stood on the floor, tipping my head back so I could look him into the eyes. I wasn’t short. But he was massive. “Then how did you know to come in here?”
“An alert goes off if anyone touches the camera,” he explained.
“How do I know you won’t be watching me when I get undressed?”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“How about if I bring a guy back here?”
He shook his head. “I’ll search him before he comes in, but I won’t watch the camera feed.”
Though I understood the newest precaution, I’d never had a camera in my room. I hated the idea of losing my last shred of privacy. “Where are the other cameras?”
“In the hallway. By the front and rear entrances. In the front and rear stairwells. And, in the basement. If anyone gets in here, we’ll know about it.”
I couldn’t be sure if I was relieved by the information or completely overwhelmed by it. “Did the school allow you to install cameras?”
“I don’t care if they allow it, ma’am. Your safety’s my only priority.”
There was something reassuring about his blatant disregard for school rules and his determination to protect me. But, at the same time, it meant there was a reason to be so cautious. A reason to be overly prepared. A reason to fear for my safety—especially until the French men were caught. “When do I meet your partner? You’re clearly not on duty twenty-four hours a day.”
“He’s around.”
“Where will you both be when you’re not with me?” I asked.
His lips twisted as if he didn’t want to say.
My eyes shot around my small room. “Well, I know you’re not staying in here with me.”
“We have our own rooms,” he admitted. “I’m next door. He’s across the hall.”
“What about your wife? When will you see her?”
“She understands this is my job. And I assure you, when I’m on duty, you’ve got all of my attention.”
“Do you really think they’re going to track me here?”
“We have no idea if they were working alone or with other people. Do you have any idea how many kidnapping attempts happen every day, especially with powerful families?”
“Yes. That’s why I’ve had security all my life.”
He nodded, realizing I did understand. “Will you be staying in tonight?”
“It’s not like I know anyone but you. So, yeah. I’m probably staying in.”
“Can I have your phone?” he asked.
I walked over to my desk and grabbed it. “You’re not already tracking it?”
“Yeah, we’re tracking it. But I need you to have our numbers.”
I unlocked my phone and handed it to him.
He punched the numbers into it. “Text or call me or Stone whenever you need to leave the room and one of us will accompany you.”
“The