Bodyguards Read Online Free PDF

brother shifted, crossing
his arms. It was the first time he had moved since planting himself near the
wall. Vivien looked straight up at him; his foreboding frown sent a shiver down
her spine, and her gaze dropped to the knives at his waist.
    This man, supposedly from a
different world, had killed, again supposedly to protect her from would-be
kidnappers. He and his twin brother—that, at least, Vivien could believe; the
only differences she could see between them were the lack of tattoo on Aedan’s
wrist and his strangely colored eyes—claimed to have sworn to protect her
because she was some kind of princess...
    No. Just, no.
    There were limits to Vivien’s
open-mindedness, and this all was far beyond those limits. She pursed her lips
rather than say anything. She didn’t dare look at either of them and meet their
eyes. If she did, she was afraid they would realize she didn’t believe one word
of what Brad had said, and who knew what they would do, then, too caught up in
their delusions to mind killing.
    She had to find a way out, get
away from them, get to a phone—get to Anabel and have her confirm this was all
nothing but lies.
    Why she needed confirmation,
Vivien wasn’t entirely sure.
    “Can I...”
    Go, was what she wanted to say,
but with Aedan still standing in front of the door, she already knew the
answer. She pressed both hands to her face and when she started over, her words
came out muffled.
    “Can I freshen up a bit? I’m still
sweaty from my run. I need to clear my mind.”
    Brad sprung to his feet at once.
    “Of course. This way, please.”
    Vivien stood, keeping her eyes
down, uncomfortably aware that Aedan was still staring at her. She followed
Brad to the bathroom, and tried her best to offer him a smile without looking
any higher than his mouth. To think that earlier she had asked him on a date...
    She closed the door behind her,
and held her breath as she locked it, almost expecting protests to rise from
the other side. When there was no reaction from her captors—because by now, she
had trouble thinking of them as anything else—she quickly assessed the room.
Shower in the corner, toilet, sink and mirror, and most importantly a full-size
window. She could have wept at the sight of it.
    Vivien took a step forward, and
almost jumped when two knocks sounded behind her.
    “Yes?” she said in a weak voice.
    “There are fresh towels under the
sink.”
    She had to bite back a bark of
nervous laughter.
    “Thank you.”
    At the sink, she didn’t check for
towels, but she did turn the water on full blast. How long would her alibi give
her before Brad came to check on her again? She had no time to lose. She
approached the window and, holding her breath, tugged on the lock. It opened
without trouble. Vivien braced her fingers against the frosted glass panels
and, very slowly, pushed up. The window creaked. Vivien winced and stilled.
    She listened, holding her breath,
wondering if Brad or his brother would soon be forcing their way inside to stop
her. When she couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the water running in the
sink, she continued to push the window up again, one inch at a time, until the
opening was wide enough for her to slip through. She paused then, looking back
at the closed door and asking herself what she was doing. Would she be safe
alone out in the open? What if there were more of those men out there, and they
found her?
    But was she safe here, with a man
who had pretended to befriend her and another who had killed without a second
thought? With two men who had fed her an insane story of kings, killers for
hire, and sworn bodyguards?
    Maybe she was making a mistake by
running away, but she was not used to letting others direct her life. She
propped the window open and raised one leg high, sliding it out over the sill,
then following with her upper body. She was lucky the apartment was on the
first floor, and landed behind a line of raggedy bushes.
    Night had fallen while