Bodyguard by Melanie Shawn

Prologue

Savannah - 12 Years Earlier

Gage pulledup in front of my house and turned off the car. My belly fluttered. It had been a magical night, and I knew that our goodnight kiss would be the most magical part of all.

He turned toward me. “So? Did you have a good birthday?”

I shrugged with studied nonchalance. “I mean...ya know. Whatever. It was fine.”

I couldn’t even keep a straight face through the entire sentence. The grin that had been dying to burst out of me exploded onto my face, and I laughed. “Come on, Gage! You made us a picnic. We had the entire reservoir to ourselves because you sneaked us in. We ate under the stars, my God! It was a dream. It was the perfect sixteenth birthday. You know that.”

He studied my face, his eyes soft. “Something’s wrong, though. I can tell.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m worried about my dad. You know that.”

He nodded. “His boss is bad news. I’ve heard rumors about him.”

“I know. Mitch Barlowe. Even his name is infamous around here. I don’t know why my dad ever decided to start working for him, he’s always been really stressed out anytime his name comes up. But lately it’s been worse.”

“You think something’s going on?”

“I do. I think...I don’t know. It just seems like it’s more than just stressed out, like a normal work thing, you know? He almost seems...scared.”

Gage nodded. That took me aback, made me wary. I’d been expecting him to tell me that that was crazy. But he had nodded like it was entirely reasonable. “Barlowe’s a scary guy.”

“Yeah,” I said, taking a deep breath. “It worries me. A lot.”

He took my hand. “You have a huge heart. He’s really lucky to have you for a daughter.”

I closed my eyes and that heart he’d just been talking about fluttered. Man. Whenever Gage gave me a compliment, I was putty in his hands.

He brushed a piece of hair off of my forehead. His eyes flickered as he looked at my face, and he gave me the smallest smile imaginable. To anyone else watching his face at that moment, it would have looked like there was no change in his expression at all. But that was just how he was.

Icould tell. I could see when he was happy, or sad. I could see when he was laughing inside. And, like now, I could see when he was proud of himself, and when he was looking at me with love.

I didn’t mind that he wasn’t the most expressive person. I liked it, actually. That made it special that I could decipher his emotions when no one else could. It made me part of the tiniest club on earth—the people that Gage Crawford had let into his world, and had let see the most vulnerable parts of himself.

Club Membership: one. President: Savannah Langley.

And vice-president. And treasurer, and secretary, and all the other things, too. That whole one-person membership thing, after all.

He was also in a tiny club. People who held Savannah Langley’s heart in their hands. He was also the president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, and entire membership. It was very exclusive.

He leaned forward and before his lips had even made contact with mine, my entire body tingled, and my breath caught in my throat.

There was nothing better in this world than Gage Crawford’s kisses. Nothing.

When we finally pulled apart, he leaned past me and pulled something out of the glove compartment, then handed it to me. It was a card.

I looked back at him. “Gage, you already got me so much! The picnic. My necklace.” I touched the heart locket that hung around my neck. “You didn’t need to get me a card, too.”

He took my hand, squeezed it. “I know I’m not always the best with my words. I thought it would be better if I could think about them first. Write them down.”

My heart raced. My God. Gage had written a message to me inside the card—one so special, so heartfelt, that he’d had to think about it. Things too close to his heart to say. Things he had to craft to get them just right.

I started to tear it open, desperate to know what it said. He put a hand out and stopped me. “Read it later,” he instructed me. “When you’re alone.”

I nodded. I didn’t want to wait. I was dying to know what he’d written. But I could see on his face that it would be too much, too intense, for him to have to sit there while I read words that exposed his soul.

I could sympathize with that. I’d probably feel the same way, as a matter of fact.

That still didn’t make it any easier to wait. But I did. For him, I did.

He leaned over, kissed my forehead, and brushed his thumb across my cheek. “You should probably get inside,” he said gently. “It’s your curfew, and your dad will be worried.”

I nodded reluctantly. I didn’t want the magical evening to end. I didn’t want to leave Gage. But I knew he was right.

He hopped out of the car and came around to my side, opening the door for me and taking my hand to help me out. He had established that very early on. If I was with him, I did not open a door for myself. It was old-fashioned, sure. Maybe even anti-feminist. But...I couldn’t help it. I liked it.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t take care of myself. I was very capable. But, when I was with Gage, I enjoyed being taken care of, and I could tell he enjoyed taking care of me. It made me feel special. Treasured. Cherished.

At my door, he gave me one last kiss, and we held each other for a long moment. It was like that every time we said goodbye. We clung to each other. It was so hard to break apart.

Even though I knew I’d be seeing him in just seven hours, when we sat next to each other in homeroom, it was almost impossible to let him go.

Finally, we said our last goodbyes and he jogged back to his car. I watched him until he climbed in, and then he watched me while I unlocked my door and stepped into the enclosed porch, closing the door and locking it behind me.

I flicked the porch light a few times to let him know I was safe, and only then did he pull away and continue down the street.

Gage never drove away until I was safely in the house, and had flicked the porch light on and off to let him know everything was okay.

I didn’t know if I would ever know why he was so protective of me, but I couldn’t lie—I loved it.

If he had been controlling, that would’ve been a different story. But he never was. In fact, he wanted me to do whatever my heart desired. He encouraged me to chase my passions and my dreams.

It was just that he was always there while I did, inconspicuously in the background, making sure that I was safe, and happy. That I was okay.

I sat down on the patio furniture and opened up the card he had given me. I needed to read it while I was still by myself, before I went into the house and saw my father.

Of course, I could have waited until I got up to my room, but there was no way I could hold out that long.

The front of the card had a beautiful watercolor scene of a meadow, and trees, and a river running along the side. I smiled. Gage knew how much I loved nature. As soon as he’d seen the card, he must have known how much I would love it.

I opened it. There was no preprinted message, only the inscription that Gage had written to me.

My Savannah. My heart. My angel. My girl.

Happy birthday. You have no idea how grateful I am that the Universe brought you into this world, sixteen years ago today. What would my life be like if that had never happened? I don’t even like to think about it.

You are everything to me. You know I will always be there for you. Never doubt that. If you need me, I am right there. Because you are everything to me, and I would give you anything, and do anything for you, to show you that’s true.

I love you.

Gage

My heart flutteredand my eyes teared up at the beautiful words. It was so unlike him to be so forthcoming about his feelings. I could only imagine how much time he must have spent writing this message, and how nervous he must have felt, handing the card over to me.

I was completely blown away.

This was the real gift. The picnic had been beautiful. The necklace was amazing, and I would treasure it forever. But, this? This was the real gift.

I stood, tucked the card into my purse, and walked into the house.

Immediately, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Something was off about the energy in the house. I couldn’t put my finger on it, exactly, but I could feel it.

I wished Gage were standing beside me. But he wasn’t. I was going to have to deal with this alone.

“Dad?” I called. I hated the hesitation I heard in my voice. I wanted to be a badass, but I sounded like what I was—a scared kid.

“Back here, Savannah,” his voice floated in from the kitchen, and it also sounded strained.

Don’t go back there. Turn around. Run. Don’t stop until you get to Gage’s house.

The impulse flashed in my mind, and I almost acted on it.

Almost.

Instead, I ignored it and walked back into the kitchen.

My father was seated at the kitchen table, surrounded by three men in suits.

The hairs on my arm stood up now. It wasn’t even the presence of the men, so much. It was their demeanor. They were grim, and authoritative. Also vaguely disapproving, in a way that made me feel like I’d been called to the principal’s office. Involuntarily, my mind raced to figure out what I’d done wrong. I came up empty.

“What’s going on?” Dang. If I had hated the hesitation in my voice a minute ago, I detested the barely-controlled panic that was in it now.

One of the men held up his hand, palm up. I had the absurd urge to low-five him, but I just stared. “I need your phone,” he said curtly.

“What? Why?”

He didn’t explain, just shook his hand a little, impatient. “Your phone,” he repeated, his tone still just as clipped.

I took an instinctive step backward. “No,” I said, immediately defensive. That was my lifeline to Gage. I wasn’t just going to hand it over.

“Savannah, give the Marshal your phone,” my father said, his voice flat. I looked at him closer. I hadn’t really looked at him at all since walking into the room. I’d been distracted by the men in suits. That I now knew were, apparently, Marshals.

My father looked haggard. My gut clenched. As worried as I’d been about him, the way he looked now was terrifying.

I rushed to him, knelt down beside him. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

He looked at me, put a hand on my shoulder. He spoke softly, but intently. “We’re in danger, Savannah. Because of the man I work for. The Marshals are going to take us into protective custody. For our safety.”

My clenched gut turned to ice. “For how long?” I whispered.

My father looked at me, shook his head. Finally, he said, “I don’t know.”

I snatched my phone out of my purse, my hands shaking, oblivious now to the presence of the Marshals. “I have to call Gage,” I mumbled under my breath as I tried to make my trembling fingers stop fumbling the phone.

It didn’t matter, though. The phone was unceremoniously snatched from my hands and I looked up in shock. I’d already forgotten that this whole exchange had started with the man asking for my phone.

I stood, my entire body shaking with fear and rage. “Give that back!” I screamed. “I have to call Gage!”

The man just stared stoically ahead, the phone firmly in his grip.

My father took my hand. “Savannah, you can’t talk to Gage. No one can know we’re leaving. And we can’t take anything personal with us. We’re in danger, honey.” He took a deep breath. “Someone tried to kill me tonight.”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

“I’ll explain everything later. I promise. But right now, you need to go upstairs and get enough clothes for a few days. Just clothes, honey. That’s all.”

The man who’d taken my phone elaborated. “You have five minutes. No photos, no computer, no tablets—no electronics of any kind. No keepsakes. Nothing identifying. Only clothing. I’ll be searching your bag when you come down.”

I wanted to argue some more, but all I could hear were my father’s words ringing in my head. Someone tried to kill me tonight.

Without a word, I turned on my heel and silently trudged up the stairs, feeling like a zombie.

In my bedroom, I stood in the middle of the room for a moment, frozen. Paralyzed.

Finally, I grabbed a duffel bag out of my closet and started shoving clothes into it willy-nilly. I wasn’t putting together outfits. I wasn’t thinking about making sure I had enough for a few days. I was just moving on autopilot.

I shrugged the duffel over my shoulder. I looked around the room. This place where I had grown up. How long would it be until I saw it again?

Would I ever see it again?

Panic rose in my belly. I wasn’t supposed to take anything personal, but I knew in that moment that I could not walk out of this room without something to remember Gage by. It just wasn’t possible. I wasn’t capable of it.

A loud pounding sounded on my bedroom door, making me jump. “Hurry up in there!” came a barked command.

I glanced frantically around the room. What could I take? What would be small and unnoticeable?

My eyes fell on my purse, which I’d tossed on the bed when I’d walked in. The corner of the birthday card Gage had given me stuck out of the opening, and I reached out and snatched the card.

I held it in my trembling hands, tried to think about where I could hide it. The idea of it being found and taken away from me...I just couldn’t handle it.

But the card was too big. I knew there was nowhere I could hide it where I could be certain it wouldn’t be found.

I opened the card and ripped out just one phrase. I love you.

Gage had written those words to me. His hand had held the pen that had pressed the ink that formed them onto this paper, and he had been thinking about me, loving me, while he did.

I shoved the tiny slip of paper into my bra. They wouldn’t find that. They couldn’t.

My heart clenched as I turned to leave my room—my space, my sanctuary—for maybe the last time in my life.

I pressed my hand to my chest. I had something, though. One thing. One thing that really mattered. And that was going to have to be enough.