The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 29

Isabella felt her temper escalating incalculably when she reached Cam's house on Staten Island and r house. Worse, the guard Mickey, relayed they had just missed Evgeni at her house. He had arrived just The girl came running outside and came to a standstill in front of Isabella. Her hair was perfectly coiffe clothes she was wearing at home, it was designer and tailored to her overly thin body. Isabella found "Why are you here?"

"Because your boyfriend is deranged and allegedly, I am not safe because of it. He went to my house Portia followed quick on her heels.

"What do you mean he was at your house and you're not safe?"

Isabella found herself wishing she were anywhere but here. Portia's voice was nails on a chalkboard to "No, Mr. Torres was explicit. Evgeni Andropov eluded Gideon at Juggernaut by jumping in a sports car got there was his driver took the wrong exit."

"Wait? Evgeni is chasing you?" Portia interrupted again.

Isabella spun and glared at her, "he's not in his right mind Portia. He was always a bit eccentric but rig choices according to him." She looked back to her guard. "I just want to go somewhere and be alone. "You can't," the guard said seriously. "Mr. Torres feels you're a flight risk and if you're left unattended She held the dog up. "With a dog? How am I supposed to run away with my dog? I wouldn't leave him Mickey motioned for her to follow him to a salon and Isabella almost screamed with frustration as Po and curled up in it with Casper in her arms.

Portia sat on a sofa and looked at her curiously, "that's dad's chair. He doesn't like anyone sitting in it "He's not here and not using it, so I don't care. In fact, if he were here, I still wouldn't care." "You are really bitchy."

"Yup." She didn't deny it and instead buried her face in Casper's fur and closed her eyes.

not only was he a mere twenty-minute drive from Clara and Elian's home, but his daughter also came with the house. She had forgotten Portia was at his they departed and the guard, they had placed there to grab him missed him when he jumped into his friend's car.

pella considered she could do tutorials on the internet on how to perfectly apply make-up because there wasn't a single thing out of place. Even in the f wondering if the girl had an eating disorder based on how thin she was.

I have to come to your house." She followed Mickey up the stairs into the house.

manity. She looked to the guard, "can't I just go to my sister-in-law's place or one of my friend's houses? You can guard me there."

or by someone else. He has someone driving him around the city like a maniac to replace you. The only reason you were able to get out of your house before he

he's completely insane. He is mad because I refuse to go back with him, and his thoughts are either I give in to him and be with him or I die. Those are my can I just be alone?"

l try to leave."

one." She whispered to Casper, "I'm surrounded by idiots." The dog barked once in agreement.

lowed, oblivious to her need to be alone to process what she was going through. She found a giant oversized black leather recliner in the corner of the room

Her phone started ringing and she groaned before digging it out of her pocket. She wanted to scream at the unknown number intuitively knowing who it was and refusing to answer it. Instead, she threw the phone vehemently across the room and watched with dissatisfaction as it bounced off a wall. "I hate him!" She growled furiously instantly regretting not having her phone in her hand. The guard must have read her face and she watched as he picked it up and passed it back to her.

"Good thing you have a protective case. You could have broken it," sarcasm dripped from his tongue.

She didn't meet his glance, silently accepting the device. She dialed out to Sabine and left it on speaker knowing the guard would be demanding info after and not wanting to deal with it.

"Hey sweet cheeks. Not like you to call me in the middle of a workday."

"Are you in a session?"

"No, just finished one. I'm good to talk. You okay 'Bella?"

"No Sabby, I'm not." She her forehead frustratedly. "The i***t showed up at my work, then at my house and now, I'm being held hostage at Torres' house until they can replace him and get him under control." "Oh girl, I'm sorry." Sabine's voice was soft. "Are you alone?"

"No," she gave a pointed glance at Portia who was openly listening to her conversation. "Torres' daughter is here too."

She knew Sabine's face right now was probably screwed up tight and she wished she could be more open with her friend. "I have a favor, Sabby."

"Of course."

"Amelia had an appointment at six this evening with the girl she's taking care of free of charge. The one without the insurance."

"East Harlem?"

"Yeah, I don't want her going there alone. I know you have a date."

"Consider it cancelled. I'll go with her to her appointment."

"She needs to drive her own car. If she shows up in anything flashy, the girl will bolt and it's a high-risk pregnancy. She thinks everyone is a narc including her midwife." "Okay, but your sister drives like my grandmother. You both owe me."

"I know. I'll arrange dinner at Pygmalion for you and your date, my treat."

"Yes!"

She knew Sabine was fist pumping the air. She loved her brothers' cooking. "Also, I have one other favor."

"Sure."

"I don't know how long I'll be here."

"Change of clothes?"

"Yes. Please."

"Drop them at Juggernaut?"

"Someone from there will get them to me here."

"Consider it done."

"Thanks Sabby. Love you."

"Love you too 'Bella. I'll check in with you later." "Thanks."

She hung up the phone and Portia leaned forward.

"That was really cool."

"What?" Isabella lifted an eyebrow in her direction.

"It's like you two were finishing each others' thoughts and sentences. Like telepathically."

"She's my best friend in the world. She knows me better than I know me. She also has a doctorate in psychology and so she shrinks me daily. I promise it's not ESP."

"Do you have lots of friends? Dad said you also have a big family?"

"Yes," Isabella stroked Casper's ears. "I have three sisters, two brothers and my parents. Half a dozen aunts and uncles and more cousins than you can count."

"It's just me and my dad," she said quietly, "sometimes my mom calls but not very often. Her parents don't bother with me. They never forgave my mom for having me and embarrassing them. My dad's family try to be nice, but you can tell they don't like me much." Isabella noted Casper trying to get off her lap and she let him go. He jumped on the sofa and put his head on Portia's lap.

"Evgeni and his friends made me feel special and his parents are really nice." Portia looked at the dog with surprise.

"Evgeni has a way of making a girl feel like she's the most important thing in the universe," Isabella admitted watching as Casper intuitively latched onto Portia's anxiety. "Ever notice though, when you're with him, you're never alone? There's always someone with you making sure every nice comment, deed, action gets documented for posterity?"

"He just likes to be photographed with me."

"He just likes to be photographed." Isabella corrected quietly. "It's never about you. It's about being seen and everyone thinking he is the best."

"He said when he broke up with you it took months for you to stop bothering him."

"He lied." Isabella shrugged. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but he lied. He lies all the time. Evgeni can be funny, kind and loving when he wants something. He can be sweet and attentive. He's also manipulative and overbearing and doesn't understand boundaries. He has weak morals and for someone who has such lovely parents, he's a dickhead. Mikhail and Raisa did him zero favors giving him everything he ever wanted and telling him he's the most important thing in the world. He doesn't know how to be a decent human being."

She pointedly asked Portia, "how many times was there somewhere you wanted to go but instead you ended up where he wanted to go because he pouted so hard it was just easier to go with him?" When Portia didn't answer she asked another question. "Or how many times did he do something you found offensive and when you called him out on it, somehow it was all your fault, and he would forgive you for misunderstanding his intentions? He'd make it seem like he did nothing wrong and you'd be apologizing for what he did."

Portia was staring at the floor now not looking at Isabella at all and Casper whimpered and nudged the woman's thigh until Portia stroked his fur softly. Isabella noted their guard had left the room.

"Portia, how many times were you really not interested in sleeping with him but because he had given you such an incredible night of fun and excitement you thought to yourself it was the least you could do for all he'd done for you."

Portia's head snapped up then and glared at her. "He never forced me to have s*x. I wanted to."

"I never said he forced you. I'm simply saying for me, there were plenty of times when I would have preferred just to go to sleep or go home to my own bed and he would remind me of all the things we had just done, and I'd end up sleeping with him out of guilt." "It never happened," Portia denied it angrily.

"Well, good." Isabella nodded. "I'm glad our experiences were different."

"If you hated him so much, why did you stay with him three years?"

"I didn't hate him. I never hated him. I never loved him either. He was my friend and my lover, and we had a lot of fun and then it wasn't fun anymore. When it wasn't fun any longer, I wanted to leave but just never knew how."

"And then he broke up with you." Portia affirmed what Isabella suspected he'd told her.

"No. I ended things with him. I realized one evening the things I wanted in a partner were never going to be the things he could give me."

"Not enough money for you? Is this why you're after my dad?"

She chuckled lowly realising the girl had a gift for argument. "Portia, I wasn't looking for something monetary from Evgeni. I don't care for all the crap Evgeni bought or the high-priced things he did. None of those things mattered to me. I wanted someone in my life who held the same values my family instilled in me from a young age. Hard work, empathy, compassion, and the ability to do the right thing even when you really want to do the wrong thing." "What do you even mean?" Portia rolled her eyes so hard Isabella was certain she had seen her own brain.

"It means Evgeni can't hold a job because he's lazy and thinks people should pay him just to exist. He doesn't care about people who don't have the same social status as he does. He would walk the other way if someone he didn't care about was in danger. He doesn't care about doing the right thing if it's an inconvenience for him."

"I once saw him give a homeless man twenty dollars to watch his car." Portia argued. "He's kind."

She snickered at Portia's comment. "Evgeni once told me if you wanted to make sure a vagrant didn't piss on your car, you give them money to watch it and they make sure the other homeless people don't piss on it too."

Portia's eyes rounded at Isabella's words. "Not true!"

"It is true. What do I have to gain by lying to you Portia?"

"You want him back."

"Yeah, I want him back so bad I went to the police station last week and filed a restraining order to keep him away from me. I had to get my sister-in-law to have her security team provide extra security detail to me so I could get to and from work without being accosted by him. Today, your father threw me into a car and sent me here with my dog just so he couldn't abduct me and shoot me in the head like he threatened to do but it's me chasing him."

"You're just teasing him, so he'll come back to you. You know what men like him are like. You tell them no and they chase you to the ends of the earth. My dad told me."

She groaned as she considered Cam probably told her if she ignored Evgeni maybe he'd come back. She knew Cam's intent was to get his daughter to stop engaging the man. i***t.

"Girl, if I thought for one minute all it would take for me to get rid of Andropov was to go to him, I would. At the end of the day, he thinks he owns me because he was my first lover. He used those exact words in front of Mikhail and your father. He told them when he's with a virgin they are his forever. He then threatened to kill Mikhail, your father and Gideon for trying to stop him from taking what is rightfully his."

"You're lying!" Portia screeched at her suddenly jumping up from the seat. Casper barked at her and raced in a circle on the sofa. "My dad would have told me."

She suddenly cursed Cam for not being more direct with his daughter and protecting her from the truth. She motioned to the dog, "Casper is feeling your stress, Portia. He's trained and he's giving you a signal. The signal he's giving right now is to remind you to breath. Circling means he wants you to inhale and exhale in a rhythmic pattern."

Portia stomped her foot furiously. "I'm not anxious and your dog is stupid. I hate you. I hope Evgeni does replace you and does kill you. Once you're gone, he will come back for me, and we'll be together. I hate you!" She shrieked and raced out of the room. "Casper come," Isabella snapped her fingers and Casper jumped off the sofa and jumped in her lap, although he kept looking over his shoulder in the direction of the young woman who was obviously distraught.

The guard stepped back into the room and eyed her critically, "pretty sure the boss isn't going to be happy you made her cry."

"Pretty sure I don't give a s**t. He's got her wrapped so tight in bubble wrap she doesn't know day from night. She needs a reality check."

"It's your funeral. He's fired more than one person for telling her off."

"Well, he can't fire what he hasn't hired," she retorted as she looked into Casper's sweet eyes. "God, I wish I could nap." Suddenly the emotional toll of Portia, Evgeni, and her last mission, not to mention how badly she'd been hungover the day prior were all very much sucking the energy from her.

"I'll take you to the boss' room. You can sleep there."

"Thought I was a flight risk."

"If you can jump from a third-floor window with your dog, have at it. Also," Mickey looked at her seriously, "you look like hell."

She rose from the chair unable to argue any longer. Between still being hungover from the day before and the events so far today, she just wanted to rest. "Great. Show me the way."