Touch Her and Die (McRae Bodyguards, #1) by Jolie Vines

Author:Jolie Vines [Vines, Jolie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jolie Vines Publishing
Published: 2023-07-12T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Daisy

“This is yours. You have a private bathroom, and if you don’t want to use the front entrance and the main staircase, there’s another at the end of this hall that leads downstairs and to the back.”

Ella, the lady of Castle Braithar, showed me and Ariel my room, a lovely bedroom filled with light and cosy fixtures.

I couldn’t stop grinning, or my thanks. “I can’t believe I get to stay in a real castle.”

Ella returned my smile. “It’s nice for us, too. Our daughter is due to give birth in a couple of weeks, so I’m stopping work for a while to support her. Usually, this wing would be filled with musicians, come to record in my studio downstairs. None of us really like an empty castle. It’s far too big for our little family.” She tipped her head to the end of the hall. “Plus Ben, of course.”

“He lives here, too?” I asked, pretending that information wasn’t in any way vital for me to know.

Ella nodded. “Right downstairs, not that we see him much, but it’s highly reassuring to have him near.”

She rattled through other information I needed as a guest, waving away my protests that I’d be in the way. Then she was gone, leaving me and Ariel alone.

I closed the door. Turned to face my friend.

“Oh my God. I have so much to share with you. How long until you have to go to work?”

She groaned and slumped on the bed. “About twenty minutes. It’s so busy with classes of kids from the local schools, but I’ll try to finish early. How are we meant to sort through five years of face-to-face interactions without it descending into random sobbing?”

She rolled to face me, anxiousness in her eyes. “I’m not one for crying, but damn. I was so scared you’d be taken and I’d have no way to help or find you again. Then I was imagining you being taken by some awful old man.”

“I bet that woke some shitty memories for you. You were fourteen when your dad pulled you from school and tried to sell you off. I remember how you couldn’t trust anyone and thought even Gabriel was in on it.”

Ariel ducked her head. “I was so angry for so long. I still am. It creeps up on me, and I find myself hating at random. I don’t want that for you. That’s why I sent Ben. If he’d refused, I’d have come myself.”

I didn’t doubt her. “You’d have stormed the house, you badass.”

My friend took a steadying breath. “I would’ve. Now tell me, are you okay? The last few days must’ve been the worst.”

I ambled over, faking nonchalance and also wanting to stop her worrying. “Oh, I don’t know. I had a lot of sex. Definitely helped take my mind off things.”

Ariel pulled a comically shocked face. “You’re not joking. Who…? Wait.”

I grinned, loving her reaction already.

“Ben?” She finally got there.

“I’m as surprised as you are.”

A cackle came, followed by a hug. “Go you.

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