The Assassin’s Billionaire Bodyguard
Chapter 54

By Friday, Isabella's mood had gotten progressively worse. Clara had brought her parents over the night before and she'd let them know she was engaged. Her mother was happy for her but annoyed she hadn't called her right away to let them know. Instead of being a happy celebration, her mother had berated her for holding secrets and Isabella had snapped at her but then instantly regretted it. The damage was done however and her mother had been huffy and pouting afterwards.

Then when her father found out Evgeni Andropov was now trying to kidnap her, he had gotten terribly upset at being kept in the dark. Overall, the evening had been nothing like she had wanted it to be, and she was irritated without the distractions of work to keep her mind off being cooped up like an animal in a zoo.

Evgeni's goons had approached the house twice and Portia had fielded so many calls from them she had thrown her phones into a blender and turned it on. Cam had grinned at her behavior and had promised her the newest model on the market with a new number which he'd delivered earlier. She had been running around the house taking videos of everything. She now had more than one video of Isabella giving her the finger.

As she sat in the middle of the kitchen with Myriam who was making the biggest apple pie she'd ever seen, she felt trapped and annoyed. Cam was working in his office. Portia was now in her room preparing for her night at the theatre. Gideon and Mickey were at Juggernaut and Erik, Sly and Sam were patrolling the grounds. Everyone had something to do but her and it was wearing painfully thin.

The sound of her phone telling her someone was trying to video call made her roll her eyes as she reached for it across the island countertop.

She turned her camera on waiting for the inevitable extension of what felt like her prison sentence, "Hey Clara, what's up."

"Well, a couple of things. One, Calvin is really missing you in the office. I told him you'd be in on Monday come hell or high water if it means I have to hire five hundred security agents."

"Thank God!" she almost jumped out of her chair in excitement. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. He's about ready to dump a bunch of work on you."

"Fine with me. I need it. God I could cry, I thought for sure you were going to make me stay here for a week with nothing to do."

"Nope. I need you. Calvin needs you and Draxton needs you. You're coming to work on Monday."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she kissed the camera and was rewarded with a laugh.

"I do have some other news," Clara continued, "if you're done making out with your camera."

"You could tell me the sky was falling and I wouldn't care because I get to come to work on Monday."

"Mikhail called me about half an hour ago. They talked to Evgeni's surgeon. It seems the location of his tumor has caused damage to his brain, even though they removed it. He is literally stuck in a cycle of whatever he was fixated on prior to his collapse. In the moment he collapsed, he was fixated on you which means, you are all he thinks about. They don't know if time will heal it or if it's permanent. Twenty-four seven, he is obsessed with getting you back, taking you away from Cam Torres and stealing you away." "Which means, he was going to try to kidnap me even before he collapsed?"

"Yup. Mikhail realized this after talking to the doctor. He went through his emails and his phone and a couple of his friends' phones and there was a plan in the works to take you to Russia with him."

"I don't even know what to say to this," she rubbed her hand over her mouth, sighing loudly.

"Are you alone?"

"No," she looked to Myriam. "I can be if necessary."

"No. I just wanted to let you know we have a guest coming in from another country."

Artemis had brought someone in to clean up. "Understood."

"One last thing," Clara spoke, "if somehow Evgeni Andropov does not recover from his surgery," Isabella knew she was speaking for Myriam's benefit, "it's anticipated his friends may take a while to settle down. They may try to do something in his honor." "This keeps getting better and better."

"Mikhail said he found it in one of his friend's phones they were going to carryout the plan no matter what because it's what Evgeni would want. Mikhail has made it clear his crew will deal with any friends involved in your kidnapping plot. He said Raisa, more than anyone is alarmingly angry. I just want you to know though, his friends are looking for you still."

"Fantastic!" she grimaced sarcastically at Clara through the video chat. "I did a three-hour workout this morning in Cam's gym, but I wonder if any of the guys here want to spar with me because I need to kick the crap out of something." "Where's Sabine?"

"She went to get stuff for our girls night in."

"I'd be there but the twins asked for movie night and since Elian is working tonight, it's all me."

"You are where you should be and if I'm honest Clara, I am where I should be. I like being with Cam here. It's slowly starting to feel like home, but I miss my own space and having a spot where I can just go to get away from everyone." "Portia?"

"Actually, she's been great." Isabella nodded at her sister-in-law's wide-eyed expression, her surprise evident. "She's had a few one-on-ones with Sabby here and we took her to the gym and gave her some lessons. She's also been doing some online learning with some woman who does social media training. Cam set it up for her, I guess. She's going to start doing some fashion vlogging."

Clara grinned, "really?"

"Yeah, I mean not my thing, but the girl gets out of bed in the morning looking like she's stepping out of a magazine spread so she knows a thing or two."

"I wonder if Merry-Beth might have some contacts for her."

"I'm sure Portia would be thrilled to have Merry-Beth as a resource."

"I'll set it up."

"Thanks."

"You're a great stepmom," Clara teased her.

Isabella held a finger up to the camera and shook her head. "Anything else?"

"Your mom."

"She hasn't called me since last night. She's mad still."

"She's scared Isabella. You were not yourself and Elian told her to give you some space."

"I don't need space. I need my mama to be my pain in the a*s right now. I just want things to be normal. I need my normal."

"Well, personally, I could use less of Carolina right now because she found out Elian is booked for a snip."

"He's getting snipped?"

"Yes. The twins are enough. Callie on her own is enough and Griffin makes it near impossible. Right now, we're two against two. If we give them another resource, Elian and I are outnumbered, and I wouldn't like those odds." Isabella laughed outright. "Why did you tell Mama?"

"He didn't. Amelia did."

Isabella twisted her lips. "Yikes."

"Also, last but not least, the detective was at the center yesterday. He said he's been asking you for someone's number."

"Yes, and I'm worried it's too soon."

"Not your call to make. Normally I don't question you Isabella but, in this case, I know you're feeling overprotective. It's not your life or your decision. Give her the option."

"I will." She nodded. "I'll give her his number and she can do with it what she wants."

"Great. Okay, I have a meeting with the Board members in ten minutes."

"Thanks for checking in. Clara, keep me posted on our international guest?"

"Definitely."

Clara's screen went black, and Isabella hung up her phone.

Myriam spoke suddenly, "Isabella, I know it's none of my business, but I understand how frustrated you are right now with having all your freedoms taken away. If you're struggling with some anger issues, I might be able to help." "How?"

She pointed to a large bowl sitting at the far end of the counter, "my ex-husband was a piece of s**t. I was working in a bakery as a cashier, and I would get to work so upset over the constant belittling. He never hit me or anything, but he was mean and cruel. Anyway, the baker taught me the best way to get through some anger was to pound out some dough."

"You want me to pound dough?"

"I want you knead bread. Take your anger and turn it into something beautiful and delicious."

"I haven't kneaded bread since I was a kid in my Abuela's kitchen."

"Give it a shot. It might work and you'll be helping me with something while I focus on getting dinner prepped."

"Okay."

An hour later Cam popped his head into the kitchen, "hey just taking a work break. It smells heavenly in here and," he stopped in his tracks. "Why are you covered in flour?" his gaze had gone from pleasant to confused.

"Isabella is working out some issues with bread," Myriam grinned at him.

He watched as she punched some dough down with vehemence, "uh, Isabella, you need to talk?"

"Evgeni Andropov's brain is apparently damaged, and he may never heal from his injuries and his cronies are going to finish his request because it's what he would have wanted, no matter what."

Cam moved around the island to watch as she kneaded the dough with vigor. "Where did you hear this?"

"Clara called. Also, I'm going to work on Monday and before you argue, she's setting up extra security so I can."

"Okay," he reached a thumb out and wiped flour off her cheek. "Do you want me to cancel tonight?"

"No, Portia needs and deserves this night out and the girls will be here by eight."

"Can you take a break from beating up dough?"

"Why?"

"I have something I want to show you."

Myriam waved her away and took over the kneading of the bread and Cam leaned his hip against the counter, winking at Myriam knowing she'd kept Isabella distracted for a short while. He waited while Isabella washed her hands in the sink and then he took her by the hand and led her through the house and into the garden.

They walked through the yard in the quiet of the mid-afternoon sunshine and Isabella was getting impatient. "How big is your property?"

"Big," he shrugged, "I bought three lots when I built."

After a few minutes of walking, he motioned to an old shed. "This is what I wanted to show you."

"A garden shed?"

"I've been wanting to tear it down for awhile."

"Then tear it down." She was confused by his statement.

"I was thinking in it's place, we can give you your own spot."

Now she was really confused. "You want me to live outside of the main house?"

He threw his head back and laughed at her words. "No, Isabella. I don't want you to live outside the house. I want you to move into the house with us, with me, Portia and Gideon."

"Oh," she struggled to follow his thought process.

"I thought maybe you need a spot like the armory at your place in Queens. We can get Clara and whoever you use with your organization,"

"Bellona," she spoke suddenly, "the organization's name is Bellona, named after the goddess of war."

"I was thinking if you want to bring Bellona on board, we could give you what you need. We can do a basement, main level and armory and a place to store your bike. It would be accessible only by you. You could have an office out here for days you want to work from home. Clara could set up whatever security you need out here for your work for Draxton and then the whole house wouldn't need to be retrofitted. It would be your space for when the house is just too crowded, and you need to get away." "Oh Cam," she whispered quietly, her heart on the verge of exploding, "I don't know what to say."

He gave an uncomfortable shrug, "I wish I could take credit, but Portia mentioned you'd worked so hard to be independent it might be hard for you to give up your autonomy and suggested we build you what she named a 'she-shed.' And then Gideon and I got talking and it evolved to a guest house with an arsenal."

She flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, pressing her face into his shoulder. "Thank you."

He wound his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him, speaking into her hair. "I know things are crazy right now but I'm certain everything will settle down and we can focus on our lives together. Considering you did all the renovations to your place in Queens, do you have someone you want to use? We'll need necessary permits and so on, but I can help you navigate with the city." He kissed the top of her head, "I love you Isabella and I want you to be comfortable here."

"I love you too," she lifted her face and kissed his lips gently. "Thank you for thinking of this. I am so grateful."

"How grateful?" he wiggled his eyebrows and jerked his head in the direction of the shed.

"Not grateful enough for what's in your filthy mind, old man."

"I'm not old."

"Pushing forty."

"Keep it up Ruiz and I'll show you how strong this old guy is."

"I'm just saying, considering we have a houseful of people, your daughter is waiting to be taken to dinner and a play, you don't have time for a warmup and cool down before someone checks the shed out. The old ticker might not take it the activity and then having someone walk in on them."

She waved over his shoulder Sam and Sly who were walking in their direction.

"You could have just said they were nearby instead of calling me old," he growled at her with a light pat on her bottom.

"Nah, it's easier to torment you." She kissed his cheek. "Hey guys."

"We saw suspicious activity and came to check it out. Turns out it's the boss with his girl in the bushes." Sam grinned at them.

Cam looked beyond them, "where's Erik."

"Deke showed up at the front gate. They're having a chat."

The four men exchanged a glance and Isabella caught it. "Hold up, what's with the look?"

Cam shook his head, "I don't know but I'm sure Erik will update us."

"Us or just you?" Isabella grumbled and turned on her heel to walk back to the house. She knew she was being left out of a lot of conversations and it rankled.

"Hey," Cam caught up to her and dropped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. "It's not the guys fault so don't be pissy with them."

"I'm not. It's my safety and my life on the line and I'm a f*****g mushroom."

"A mushroom?" he was confused

"You're all covering me in bullshit and leaving me in the dark."

"Not our intention. It's better if you don't know details because then you're not implicated in what we're doing." He shook his head at her eyeroll, "if Deke stopped by the front gate, it's to tell someone he eliminated another one of our targets. Do you want a running tally of the friends of Evgeni's are dead or just a final total?" His sarcasm was biting.

She was about to respond when the sound of Portia screaming inside the house made them both run full tilt.