The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 19

Isabella stretched as she completed her run after landing on her front step Thursday night and rested her hands upon her knees, panting hard. It was just coming on seven and she had been running for an hour. "Are you out of your mind?"

She looked up in surprise at Cam standing in front of her, dressed in a three-piece suit, looking fresh as a daisy. "You weren't supposed to be here until nine. It's only seven."

"Why are you running without protection?" his tone was furious.

She rolled her eyes. "Evgeni isn't going to hurt me, Torres. He wants to own me, not kill me."

"He will hurt you if he thinks he can't have you. His words were if he can't have you nobody can."

"I know," she shrugged, "Clara and Mikhail spoke. I filed a restraining order yesterday and he's been served."

"It will only piss him off more."

"Agreed." She wiped sweat off her forehead. "Though, according to Mikhail, it's you he's angry at and not me. He thinks you've poisoned my mind against him."

"I have protection," he motioned to where his car was pulled to the curb. "Where is yours?"

"Torres, enough." She held her hand up and pulled a chain off her neck and pulled her key to unlock the door to her house. She wrapped her hand around the doorknob and then stepped into the house, ignoring him as he followed close on her heels. "Isabella," he sighed, "you can't simply go running because you want to. You need to be protected."

She spun on her heel and glared at him. "You don't know me. You know nothing about me. I do not need to be protected. I can protect myself."

"Knowing a bit of karate your sister-in-law has taught you isn't protecting yourself." His voice raised an octave, "this isn't beating a kid up in the school yard Isabella. This is your life. He is out of control. He is volatile and not in his right frame of mind." She turned back and moved towards the kitchen, opened her freezer, and pulled a frozen dinner from it and threw it in the microwave.

"I can take you out for dinner," he said as he watched her push buttons on the microwave.

"No," she shook her head, "it's too dangerous out there. I might accidentally trip and fall into Evgeni's plan."

"Why are you being so antagonistic?"

"Why are you here?"

"I told you I was coming."

"At nine. It's seven."

"I managed to be finished earlier than anticipated so I came home. I came here first and there was no answer at the door. I waited."

"You shouldn't have. I'm busy."

"Why are you so angry at me?"

"Because you are a stupid, stupid man! You think you can dictate to me what I can or cannot do. You think you know what is best for me. You've known me just over a week. You have spent a handful of hours with me, and you think you know me better than my own family? Do you think Clara or Elian know me less than you? My family," she held his gaze furiously, "my family knows me better than you and they trust I am safe. Why do you think after ten days, you get to dictate what they wouldn't?" "Your family doesn't understand the risk."

"I do!" she screamed at him. "I analyze risk every single day of my life. I can tell you what the risk is of me slipping in my bathtub, tripping over my shoelaces, falling in front of a bus, or getting killed by a homicidal ex-boyfriend!" She rounded the counter and shoved his chest angrily. "I am not afraid of getting hurt Torres. I'm afraid of not living. I'm afraid of living in a bubble. I do not need protection. I need to live."

"Isabella," he reached for her, but she stepped back.

"You need to go." She wiped her face angrily, noting for the first time she had tears. "You need to go and leave me alone. I'm going to eat my dinner, take a shower, do some work and cuddle with my dog." "You need to be careful."

She shook her head at him in disbelief. "You don't get it do you? I don't need your protection. You want to be an overprotective father figure, go replace your kid. I'm not her."

He made a face and pushed his fingers through his hair. "Every time we see each other it turns into a screaming match."

"Then let's stop seeing each other," she fought the ache in her heart at her words. She was falling too hard and too fast for this guy. Better to end things now before she was a simpering basket case.

"Or maybe you could stop being so damn intent on fighting me at every turn," he countered. "I'm trying to keep you safe."

"You're trying to control me," she shook her head, "and I told you before, I don't need protecting. You are not my bodyguard! My family respects me enough to know I can take care of myself. Why can't you?" "This isn't about respect Isabella." He was becoming frustrated.

"No?" She waved her arms around furiously, "you think I'm some hopeless, helpless little girl who can't figure out whether or not she's in danger. I know Evgeni is off the deep end. I went for a run because I know where he is right now!" She glared at him, "do you know where he is?" He was surprised by her words and shook his head.

"He is at home with his father and his mother and his sisters. It's his father's birthday today and they are having a family dinner. Clara gave me the okay to go for my run, once Ben's team personally verified, he was still there. My family loves me, Torres and there isn't anything they wouldn't do to guarantee my safety."

She stepped back as he stepped towards her, "I need you to leave."

"Isabella."

"No, I mean it. I'm done with this Cam. I have enough overprotective people in my life, and I don't need another." She twisted her ponytail around her hand absentmindedly. "I have a good life Cam. I don't have a need for a man in my life to make it complete. I complete my own life. I spend my days analyzing risk and estimating reward and I will tell you the rewards in my life far outweigh the risk of it. Having you in my life could absolutely be a great reward Cam but does it outweigh the risk? I'm not convinced. You spend so much time protecting people you can't begin to comprehend when someone can take care of themselves, and I can. Having you second-guessing my every move puts me on edge and I won't have it. So," she took a shaky breath, "I want you to go." "Isabella, I think you're angry and you're reacting out of anger."

"I think you're an overbearing pompous a*s and I'm actually feeling quite calm. You need to leave."

"I'll call you."

"Don't," she negated his words with a toss of her head, "it's better if you don't."

He walked out of her house without another word, and she bent down and scooped up Casper into her arms and rubbed her face against his fur. She toddled towards the sofa and plopped down. "What have I done?" she whispered against his fur. "It's for the best right Casper?" The dog licked her cheek and she sighed. "Why is he such an overbearing a*s?"

An hour later she realized she was still sitting on her sofa and Casper hadn't left her arms. She grimaced and pushed herself off the sofa and set him on his feet. "Come on boy. Let's get dinner."

She moved to the kitchen and pulled her microwave dinner out of the oven and tossed it in the bin. Her original plan for the evening was to go for her run to expel some nervous energy, then take a hot shower, and prepare for Cam's nine o'clock arrival. She had been anticipating him coming over to see her with excitement. She and her team had discussed the situation with Evgeni in detail on the flight home after the mission.

The mission itself had been quick and the girl had been returned to her family unharmed, though definitely terrified. Her ex-boyfriend had decided he wasn't going to take no for an answer and had held her at gun point, threatening to kill her family if she didn't go with him. Isabella had felt a kinship with the young woman considering her current situation. The man, in his twenties, had decided the teenage girl, only seventeen, was not allowed to break up with him. When Isabella and her team had caught up with them, they had just checked into a motel on the side of the road.

It took no time for them to get the girl out, take care of the creep by making it look a suicide and then getting the girl to safety. Bellona had completed a debrief on the team and then they were dispatched back home.

On the way back from Boston, they had spent considerable time, despite Isabella's protests, discussing Evgeni, Portia, and Cam Torres. She had been reassured by the time she'd gotten home and the more she had thought of Cam coming to visit her this evening the more excited she had been.

Her mind had been distracted much of the day with the idea of seeing him and so she had gone for a run when her exercise regime had not done much to quell her disquiet.

Her excitement had dispelled the moment he started telling her off like a wayward insolent child. It seemed every time they spoke, there was some drama or argument and it all stemmed with Cam Torres treating her like a child or one of his assignments. She made her way back to the sofa and called her brother.

"Isabella, what's up?"

"I need some advice."

"Oh, I can get Clara."

"No, I need you." She sniffed as she wiped a tear off her cheek as she realized she was crying.

"Hey, what's going on?" Concern echoed over the phone.

"I came home from my run and Torres was here early. He wasn't supposed to be here 'til nine. He showed up at seven and told me off for going for a run without having an armed guard." She sighed, "I threw him out."

"Don't blame you," he said mockingly, "there's no need for you to have someone in your life who worries about you."

"Eli," she moaned, "I have enough people worrying and fretting over me already."

"You'd rather he didn't care?"

"I'd rather he treated me like an adult who can take care of herself. Eli, how did you learn to trust Clara could take care of herself before you knew of how tough she really was?"

"You mean before Batman?" he chuckled into her ear.

"Yes."

"I didn't have a need to, to be honest. Isabella, before I met Clara, the most dangerous thing in my life was whether the chicken in my restaurant was cooked to the right temperature. Camden Torres is a security and protection specialist, according to my wife. He deals with dangerous situations twenty-four seven. I imagine it's difficult for him to separate his personal life from all the crap he sees every day."

"How do I get him to not see me as a helpless victim or someone he needs to protect? Clara doesn't treat you like a moron. How did you convince her you didn't need to run every single action past her?"

Elian burst into loud laughter at her questions. "Isabella, I don't think we ever did get there. I still run everything by her, and I have security accompany me to and from work every day. Even when I ride my bike, most times, one of Ben's teams follows in the distance." He was quiet, "if I had half the skills, you have Clara wouldn't even balk if I walked through the worst borough in all New York State wearing a "come mug me" sign. You're tough Isabella and strong."

"I can't tell him I'm tough and strong. He made a smart-a*s comment Evgeni is dangerous, and I can't just use my karate lessons from Clara to fight him off. He thinks I'm some kid playing in the schoolyard and it's pissing me off."

"I don't know what to tell you Isabella. You have secrets you need to keep but perhaps you need to replace a way to also let him know you know how to take care of yourself."

"I can't even begin to think of a situation where I'd demonstrate my ability to take care of myself in such a way, he wouldn't begin to question my extracurricular activities," she moaned in frustration. "I think I need to cut my losses." She grimaced, "he's too old for me anyway."

"You've always been an old soul, Isabella. He's not too old for you." He was quiet for a moment, "Isabella, what are you really calling me for?"

"When did you know Clara was the one?"

"When she laughed at my welcome the first time, I met her. She captivated me. I never wanted her to go, and I would have done anything to be with her."

"I told Sabine I was afraid I'd get hurt by him. I looked at his file Elian and he's never dated anyone for more than a months here or there. He's commitment phobic, probably because of the work he does. Elian, I'm so far out of my league."

"Isabella, it's not like you to be out of sorts over some guy you just met. If you're unsure, walk away." Elian said quietly, "trust your gut. Your instincts are far better than mine, hell better than Clara's and she would say so herself. You've always known right away what's right and what isn't."

Her instinct was telling her Cam Torres was everything her heart was wanting but she knew she could never have. As she ended her call with her brother, she knew he was right. It was far better to be safe than sorry.