EVANTHE’s POV.
I chug down the third glass of vodka and I let out a little sigh as my eyes drift back to the dance floor. Ladies are rolling and shaking their waists to the music from the background. This is not my usual crowd, I wouldn’t come here on a good day myself but what I didn’t expect is that my bodyguard frequents a place like this. The bartender has given us free drinks on the house because of Adir and he seems to be enjoying what’s going on. He has a small smile on his lips as he continues to stare at the ladies on the dance floor.
“Another glass?” The bartender asks and I almost nod but Adir tells him off.
“You have had enough to drink ma’am” he says and I scoff. Well, he isn’t the one who lost a multi billion dollar deal who’s father is going to make his life a living hell when gets home. That’s why I didn’t go home yet, I want to get drunk so I won’t be bothered about what my father would say, he sure won’t let me off the hood and I am definitely not ready for that.
“I am not drunk” I tell him, “I am perfectly fine and I am in my senses”
“Really?” He scoffs, “your words are slurry and that signifies that you are drunk. I brought you here because you wanted to take your mind off what’s going on not to get drunk”
“It's not you who has this much weight on your shoulders, Adir!” I tell him, “maybe one day, you will understand what’s going on when you have your own business and everything”
“Was it that important to you?” He asks after a while, his gaze on me, “you can always get another deal. Must it be this one?”
“You don’t understand, Adir!” I blurt out, “I am not incompetent, I am my father’s daughter and I need to keep up that name. I need to make sure everyone knows that the Festilios do not joke when it comes to their work. I am going to be taking over that company, I need to be able to secure a simple deal like this. What the heck am I going to tell the press when they ask? What will I fucking tell them when……
“Hey!” He gently cups my face, putting a stop to my speech, “you have said enough, “let’s get you home or your father might get me fired for negligence on the first day itself. I wouldn’t want that”
“Like he can” I roll my eyes, “he feels a little intimidated by you”
He scoffs, picking up his glass of scotch again, “I highly doubt that, that’s Festilio we are talking about”
“Didn’t you see the way he was looking at you earlier, he doesn’t like you”
“Well, I do not like him too” he shrugs, “but I wouldn’t want to lose my job so let’s get you home okay?”
I watch him pull his body off the chair and hold out his hand. For a while, I continue looking at him without saying anything or taking his hand. Fuck, this man is fine!! So fucking fine and I know he knows it. The way he talks, the way he behaves, the way he does everything. I don’t know if it’s because I have been out of my marriage for five months now, I feel a kind of attraction towards this man in a very weird way.
“Make me!” The words slur out of my mouth before I think of stopping myself and I feel his lips tilt into a tiny smile before he snakes one of his hands around my waist and pulls me up. I fall into his embrace and place my hands against his chest, so fucking hot.
I let out a little whimper, why the heck am I drooling over him?
“Shall we?” His deep baritone rings in my head and I find myself nodding.
“Good girl!”
Without warning, he scoops me off the ground into his arms and my mouth hangs open in amazement, he doesn't even give me a heads up and he just…
Adir makes his way out of the club and a few minutes later, I am seated at the back of his maybach while he zooms off the premises.
“Take some rest” he says, “you should feel sober when I get you home. You wouldn’t want Zoe to see you in such a state. At the mention of my daughter, all my senses seem to come back. It’s past 8PM already and I am the one who always puts her to sleep and it’s almost time for that.
“Can you drive a little faster?” I ask him, “please”
“Sure ma’am” he gathers speed while I close my eyes. Right now I feel like a fucking failure and I don’t know what to do, I don’t even know how I am going to face my father after letting him down.
****
A few minutes later, Adir pulls up in the driveway and from the corner of my eyes, I can see my father standing on the porch holding a glass.
“Come, I will take you in”
“Maybe you should just leave, I…..
“I am not scared of your father, Ma’am” he gently cuts me off, “I am your bodyguard so I will do what I should do regardless” He opens the car door for me and I step out, he leads me towards the porch where my father is standing.
“Good evening, Mr Festilio” he greets.
“Dinner was supposed to be over two hours ago. Where did you take my daughter?”
“Dad….
“I am not talking to you young lady” he cuts me off with a glare”
“I took her out for a drink. She…
“Since when do bodyguards take their employers for a drink? You only started work today and now you are acting like you have known her all your life”
“Dad, you are embarrassing me” I cut him off, “it’s not like I am a child and I can do what I want. Adir!” I turn to me, her face red and full of anger, “you can go home”
“Yes ma’am”
Without another word to my father, he turns around and walks away. The two of us remain silent until his maybach disappears out of the premises before I finally turn to my father.
“What was the meaning of what you did, dad?” Anger washes over me, “how could you embarrass me in that manner?”
“Frolicking with your bodyguard on the first day of his job is uncalled for, Evanthe!” He growls, “how could you stoop so low?”
“What?” I scoff, “now you will choose who I mingle with?”
“Everyone has their eye on you, waiting for you to make a mistake and they will turn you into a laughing stock, you know that right?”
“And what does that have to do with Adir!”
“It has everything to do with him. I do not like that face”
“And that’s none of my business!” I flare up, “he is my bodyguard now so you have to deal with that. You chose him. Right now, I want to focus on reacquiring X-gaming so please dad”
“Pull out of the X-gaming project” he angrily cuts me off, “I will handle it myself”
“What do you mean?”
“You heard me, young lady. I will handle that myself. Focus on something else and stay away from your bodyguard”
With that, he turns around and makes his way into the house leaving me standing more frustrated than I have ever been. Fuck!!! He is trying to tell me that he still owns the company and I am just his representative.
“I am going to head that project!” I call after him, “I am not letting you handle it”
“There is something going on in the pack house, I need you to go check on that. You leave first thing in the morning”
I scoff, this man! He doesn’t even care, he just wants me to always do as he says. As much as I love staying under his wing, it is becoming upsetting.
“I am not going anywhere until I secure that deal”
“Then let that bodyguard go!” He finally halts, “you…
“I think it’s about time you stop acting like I can’t make a decision myself, dad. I am keeping my bodyguard and I am keeping my space at the company”
“Are you trying to challenge me?”
My lips tilt as I cover the distance between us, “are you scared?”
He remains silent, his gaze hardening with each passing moment, “don’t forget who I am father, I know all of your secrets, let’s not become enemies of ourselves” Clenching my jaw together, I turn around and make my way upstairs to my daughter’s room.