The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 30

Isabella felt warm lips pressing against her cheek rousing her from her sleep. "Cam," she whispered as her eyes fluttered open.

"Glad to hear my name on your lips when you wake up." He chuckled as he brushed hair off her forehead.

"What time is it?"

"Just after five."

She sat up, "Where's Casper?" she felt a moment of panic as her eyes scanned the room for her dog.

"Gideon is walking him. The guys are all in the window downstairs watching. It's quite funny."

She nodded quietly.

"I hear you made friends with Portia." His sarcasm was not lost.

"I told her some truths she didn't want to hear." She had zero regrets.

"I keep things from her for a reason."

"There are things you shouldn't shelter her from Torres. She's a grown woman."

"It's Cam, especially when you're in my bed and she's a child."

"No, she will always be your little girl but she's a woman. You're not doing her any favors."

"I can tell from the look on your face you're ready to tangle."

"I didn't get a workout in today," she offered as an explanation for her edginess. "Between the girls trip this weekend, Evgeni, fighting with your kid and being held hostage in your house, I need an outlet and I don't have one." "Gideon was excited to hear you practice Kendo."

"Was he?"

"Yeah, said to offer him up as a sparring partner if you're inclined." He watched with a chuckle as she sat up straighter. "I take it you're interested."

"God yes, I want his head on a platter. Beating him with sticks would be a close second."

"Still mad he checked your background?"

"No, I'm angry he checked my friend's backgrounds with a desire to uncover all their darkest secrets. I expected you to check my background, I didn't expect you to check theirs. Everyone is entitled to their secrets, Torres." "Like yours? Being kidnapped?"

She sighed, "what do you want to know?"

"Details."

"Not much more than what I told you this afternoon." When he didn't back away, she grimaced. "I was nineteen. I decided I was going to walk back home from the club I'd been at. On the way home, I felt someone was following me but told myself I was being stupid. The next thing I knew, someone grabbed me. I tried to fight them off, but they put a needle in my neck. I woke up tied up in a warehouse with three other girls. Every time I started to come to, they jabbed me again with a needle."

He swore and she kept her gaze averted and her tone neutral.

"I managed to get myself untied. I pretended to still be drugged so they wouldn't give me any more drugs. When two of the guys left to go get food, I tried to run. I made it out of the warehouse and managed to scale a wired fence but there was barbed wire at the top and I got tangled. They pulled me back inside. After that, they drugged me on a schedule. I was there three nights before the team Clara hired got me out. My next memory was waking up in a hospital."

She swallowed the fear which automatically rose in thinking of the situation, "for weeks after I was terrified to do anything. I couldn't go to the corner store without a full-blown panic attack. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. Then I met Clara and she told me about her kidnapping story. I asked her how she knew so many details about what happened in my rescue. It was then she told me she was the one who'd paid for my rescue. She said I was family, and it was why she told me, but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone because what she did was illegal. She hired hitmen to kill every single one of the guys involved in my kidnapping." Clara and her team had killed every single one of them, but it was semantics. "Good." He said harshly

She met his eyes and saw his cheeks were flushed red and his eyes glittered with unbridled fury.

"What she did to save me, she did because she is my family. If it ever got out, she'd go to prison. Though she has said more than once, she'd do the time with a smile on her face."

"It won't get out," he promised. "In her shoes, I'd have done the same and I feel the same. Prison wouldn't matter. I'm glad she had them killed."

"Right," she nodded knowing he'd probably kill with his bare hands like Clara had. "Clara started taking me to the women's center with her. I got to meet some great people who helped me heal. One of them was my friend Sabine. Clara knew her before I did, and Clara was using her talents at the center as a counsellor. Sabine became my best friend. The others you saw me with in Rio, some are from the center, some were friends of Clara's before I knew Clara but have become my friends through Clara. Clara and I connected closer than she did with my other siblings because we have shared trauma and we know it and we embrace it."

She took a breath, feeling overwhelmed. "Cam, I don't talk about this much. I have psych evals I go through to remain on some of Clara's defense contracts at her instruction. My history is buried, erased even, because I can't work on DOJ projects with a diagnosis of PTSD. I am sure you appreciate why this is not something I could ever tell Evgeni."

"Jesus Christ, he's an i***t. I wish to God Gideon had grabbed the slippery bastard today."

"You and me both." She smirked suddenly, "how's your computer system?"

"Remind me never to tangle with your sister-in-law again. Gideon says everything is working but it's slow and occasionally, only on his computer mind you, her face pops up."

She gave a low laugh. "Sounds about right. We had a visit from the CIA a couple of years ago and they were telling her she had a duty to her country to provide them services. They threatened to put her under investigation if she declined and then told her she would regret refusing them. She hacked into their framework and changed their identification numbers by one digit, and it was done before they even left Draxton Enterprises. They had to pay her to fix it because even their best couldn't, or maybe wouldn't fix it." "Why wouldn't?"

"Hackers have their own code, I guess. She's infamous and nobody has ever been able to directly pin her to anything."

He shook his head. "I've learned my lesson."

"Good. Now can I go beat up Gideon?"

He laughed at her request. "I was going to suggest we just stay in bed."

"No, I need to smack the hell out of something. Please tell me he knows what he's doing?"

"He does." He stood up from the bed and pulled her upright. He motioned to a bag at the end of the bed, "Sabine dropped this off today. I'm assuming change of clothes?"

"Yes," she grinned widely and opened the bag and then scowled. "I'm going to murder her." She reached in and pulled out a tiny see-through red lace teddy.

"I'm going to send her cash," Cam said as he pulled the material from her hands with glee. "You have to wear this."

"Not to spar with Gideon."

"Definitely not to spar with Gideon but you can spar with me in it."

"Torres," she grimaced as she dug through the bag and was relieved to replace a pair of runners, yoga pants and a crop top, "if you want to fight with me while I distract you in a red lace number, I'm all in but I don't want anyone else watching." The sound of Casper barking excitedly echoed through the open door of the bedroom made her look up in surprise. "Someone's happy."

"Gideon promised him treats from his bag. He also stopped on the way home and bought him a bed. I can't get Gideon to buy me a coffee without asking me for the money back, but he bought your dog a two-hundred-dollar bed."

She made a face at his words.

"What? What's wrong?"

"How am I supposed to beat him up with sticks if he loves my dog? You couldn't tell me this later?" She kicked her dress pants off and sat on the edge of the bed to wriggle into her yoga pants. She flung her blouse off and then noted Cam watching her actions with dark eyes. "Stop looking at me."

"I want to throw you in the bed."

She felt her body respond to his comment.

"But I have to go deal with Portia. You need to go beat up Gideon."

She was slightly disappointed. She tugged her crop top over her head and then stood up and kissed him on the mouth. "Later."

"Definitely later."

"Good, show me where I get to beat up your best friend."

"Follow me."

She carried her runners in her fingers as she followed him down the hall and then down the stairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Cam called out, "Gideon, Isabella is very interested in seeing the gym."

He poked his head out of a room near the end of the hall carrying Casper in his arms. He grinned widely. "I like your dog."

"He's a good boy." Isabella smirked.

"He's smart. Really smart."

"I know he is." She put rested her hands upon her hips. "Do you think because you like my dog I won't want to take your head off with shinai?"

"No, I'm hoping to kill you with shinai and steal your dog." He grinned as she threw her head back and laughed. "Let's go." He put the dog down and the dog raced to Isabella to be patted.

She called the dog to her heel, and she followed Gideon down the hall towards a set of stairs leading to the basement.

Cam stopped her when they reached the top of the stairs. "I'm going to go check on Portia. I'll be down after." He dropped a quick kiss to her lips and then turned on his heel and walked away.

"I wouldn't want to be Portia," Gideon said suddenly. "He's pissed. Mickey heard her say she hopes Evgeni kills you."

"She needs a good counsellor." Isabella grunted as they entered the huge workout area. "Jesus, the entire basement is a gym." Casper took his spot on a pile of stacked mats to the side of the gym and lay down watching with interest. "What's your grade?"

"Shodan" she replied with a nod. "I trained hard. You?" "Hanshi 8."

She stopped moving and looked to him with respect. "Impressive."

"I've been doing this since a small child. I was an army brat, and my dad was stationed in Japan. He died in an accident and my mother moved us back to East Harlem when I was seven. By then I was already studying kendo for three years. She wanted me to have something to keep the link to my dad, so she found me an instructor. Now I judge a lot of the international competitions."

"I was at the one last year in Canada." She accepted the body armor from him. "I came first in my division."

"Who trains you?"

"Edward Draxton introduced me to Master Kimura."

He laughed then, "I know him very well. He and I trained together."

"Great," she grimaced, "I was feeling tough up until this moment." She shimmied into the armor and tucked the helmet under her arm suddenly feeling she was going to need all the protection he was offering her.

She followed him to the mat after he'd passed her the sword. Gideon wasted no time in engaging her in the sparring match.

An hour later, Isabella was panting hard and admitted Gideon was not only exceptional in his skills but the advice and pointers he paused to give her were insightful and she had learned a lot.

"If she's bruised, I'll kick your a*s Gideon," Cam called out.

Isabella looked over and noted him watching them with interest. As she looked around the room, she realized several guys and Portia were all spectators of the spar match. She had been so focused on what had become a lesson she hadn't noticed their audience. Gideon landed a point with her distraction winning him the match. Though she'd not even won one of them.

"Damn it Torres, you're a distraction!" she cursed as she dropped to her knees in defeat.

"Yeah I am." He called out flirtatiously.

"A*****e," she muttered under her breath.

"He's that too." Gideon agreed and helped her stand up. "Hit the showers Ruiz. You did good."

"Thanks Gideon. I really learned a lot today. I'm really grateful."

"Anytime and I mean it. If Kimura ever can't make a lesson, call me. I'll step in."

"Wow." She pulled her helmet off and extended her hand to him. "Thanks Gideon. It means a lot."

He looked at Cam. "She's a keeper."

"I don't know what he means," she huffed as she hung up the armor on the peg, "but I'll take it as a compliment."

"It's a compliment." He agreed his hoarse voice raspier than normal. He looked to Portia. "You want someone to look up to? Stop looking at those Instagram assholes you watch so much and look right here. This," he pointed to Isabella, "is someone who works hard to get everything she has. She doesn't take shortcuts. She listens and she takes direction. She asks good questions, and she doesn't expect anyone to just give her s**t because she's pretty. Take notes Portia. You want to get somewhere in life? This is how you do it." Gideon walked away, climbing the stairs from the basement two at a time and Isabella stood watching him with her mouth agape.

Cam looked at his friend's retreating back and then back to Isabella. "You made a fan."

She stared at the staircase Gideon had just climbed. "He beat me every single match."

"It's not about winning Isabella." Cam said seriously. "Gideon isn't someone who impresses easily."

"I'll tuck it away for when I piss him off then," she fought the blush on her cheeks and avoided the irritated stare of Portia.

"Portia has something she wants to say." Cam said tersely.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I don't really want you to die. I'm just angry over Evgeni."

If there was an ounce of sincerity in the apology Isabella wasn't sure but she was taking it because it was the right thing to do. "No worries, Portia. Apology accepted." She looked at Cam. "I really need a shower."

He nodded. "Use the shower in my room."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Dinner will be in the dining room. Just follow the sounds of chaos. We all eat together."

She nodded and then took the stairs two at a time. At the top of the stairs, she grinned when she heard Portia's comment, uncaring if it was meant to be a compliment or an insult.

"You should hire her dad, she's manlier than half your crew."