My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

I looked uncertainly at Max.I’d never been allowed to be alone with a man before. Although, I figured my father was likely fuming inside right now.

“So, which way is it to the gardens?” Max asked in a somewhat perturbed voice.

“Well, don’t feel obligated to take me,” I said, matching my tone to his.

Max just rolled his eyes. “Come on. Show me which way and we’ll talk.”

I twisted my lips but finally said, “okay,” before leading the hulking man through a maze of corridors to the back of the house. Max’s eyes widened slightly as we stepped outside the house. We exited through large glass doors that opened up to a patio that overlooked the mountains behind us. To our right was a crystal clear inground pool complete with fountains and a spa where hot water fell in a waterfall into the main lap area.

Flowers lined the path that took guests away from the pool area and over to the gardens. A circular gazebo was the first stop on the path into the gardens that blanketed several acres of the property. The gardens were my only refuge on the compound. I could easily be found or called upon in my room. But, when I left to wander the gardens, I could dodge maids or anyone sent to find me as long as I wanted. It was probably the only thing that kept me marginally sane.

“Fuck,” Max said in a harsh voice. “Waste enough money on all this shit?”

I just shrugged my shoulders, not taking offense at his words. “You know how it is with rich people. One person goes to the other’s mansion and sees that that person has a waterfall and then within a week we’ve got a waterfall. No one ever uses the damn thing though,” I added.

Max raised an eyebrow at me and lifted the corner of his mouth.

Most of his facial expressions were at my expense.

“Shall we?” I asked, starting off on the flowery path by myself, completely bypassing the gazebo. Within a few steps, Max had caught up to me, and I slowed down so we could talk. “So, the Maldonado Family, huh?” I said. “How’d you end up with them?”

“Long story. Not interested in relaying it,” Max responded simply.

I huffed. “This walk is going to be somewhat difficult if you refuse to carry on a conversation.”

Max shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, I don’t know if that’s so true. Can’t we just enjoy,” he paused, “whatever the hell these plants are?”

I giggled. I hated to admit it, but I missed speaking with the big man. “I kinda missed you,” I admitted. I winced slightly as I heard the words leave my mouth. They sounded a lot dumber out loud than they did in my head.

Max froze slightly. He seemed shocked by my words, and I groaned internally. “You’d be the first,” he finally responded.

We continued walking through the gardens, the hedges slowly getting higher in height, making our walk more and more private. “I don’t believe that,” I giggled. “I bet you’re a sensation around town.”

Max actually chuckled at that. “Hardly. Most people are scared of me.”

I stopped and thought for a second. “I guess that makes sense,” I admitted.

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, the Maldonado’s aren’t exactly known for their philanthropy. Plus, you’ve definitely got this bad boy attitude going on. So, I could see people giving you a wide berth.”

“And what about you? You scared of me?” Max asked.

“Nah,” I said nonchalantly.

Max furrowed his brow slightly. “And why’s that?”

I turned to look at him. “Cause I’m just not. I dunno. I’d say you intrigue me more than you scare me,” I admitted.

Max moved towards me, caging me against the wall of green behind me. “You sure you’re not scared of me? I could give you a reason to be.” He said the words under his breath, his mouth close to my neck, and I shivered involuntarily.

“Like I said,” I replied with slightly heated breaths. “I’m intrigued, not scared.” His lips were so close to mine now that I could barely handle it. I’d never been around a man like him before. When I was still in high school, I’d snuck out of the house to attend my fair share of parties. When you had too many rich kids with too much money and time, they tended to throw the most elaborate of parties.

As controlling as my father was, he couldn’t really be bothered with my day-to-day movements when it didn’t affect him. Besides, he probably thought baby trapping another rich kid from the overpriced Academy he sent me to would alleviate his burden of finding me a suitable husband.

Unfortunately for him, I never baby trapped anyone. The boys who attended the Academy with me were just that—boys. But Max was all man, and I didn’t know how to handle it.

So, I didn’t.

I ducked out from under his arms and walked myself over to the other side of the hedges and pretended to smell a rose bush. “I don’t think your employer intended for you to take getting to know me quite that far.”

Max stood, looking unbothered by my cop-out, and leaned against the hedge across from me. He didn’t say a word and finally, I couldn’t resist turning around to get a good look at him. His thin lips were pressed into a hard line and his arms were crossed in front of his broad chest.

“If you tell anyone I said this, I’ll deny it. But you better hope he doesn’t take an interest in you. It won’t end well.”

His tone was dark and sent a shiver down my spine. I didn’t know exactly what he was insinuating but I was smart enough to guess.

“Well, what should I do?” My mind started running through all the horrible possibilities as far as Johnny Maldonado was concerned. Didn’t Max know never to tell a woman open-ended news like this? We were experts at coming up with worst-case scenarios.

“I’m not telling you to do anything, princess. I’m just giving you a heads up.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically. “Real nice, Max. What you did is the equivalent of telling me an army is in front of me and I have to go into battle without a gun. The information is pretty useless when I have no weapon.”

He shrugged—shrugged! at me before looking me up and down. A thin smile cracked across his lips and I saw his chest rise and fall with a bit of laughter. “You’re not particularly dressed for battle, either.”

“Fuck you, Max!”

His eyes widened and his smile got bigger. “Oo, the princess has fangs.”

I couldn’t look at his smug face for another minute. I started stomping my way further into the gardens and groaned when I heard his footsteps behind me. I turned around sharply and raised a finger at him. “Stop following me!”

“No can do, princess,” he replied, clearly amused by my crisis.

Grateful I had on a pair of sneakers, I turned around, put my head down, and ran as fast as I could away from him. He pissed me off. He really pissed me off. First, he gets all close to me like he’s about to kiss me. Then he tells me to be wary of Johnny but offers no help. Like I didn’t already know to try and keep that man at a distance.

But what someone like him couldn’t appreciate was the situation I was in. People like him were free. Free to do as they wanted. Free to quit one job and start another. They loved to criticize the wealthy but the sad fact was, we were more trapped than them. And it was the money that kept us trapped. There was no “going to McDonald's” for us, or “shopping at Target.” If we were seen in places like that, it would start rumors. And rumors were bad for business. And bad business hurt stockholders. Who were people like Max.

And me?

I was born into this world.

I was a bird birthed into a cage. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to fly.

No.

Max Holt would never understand me.

Max Holt never could understand me.

“Stop running,” he called after me, hot on my heels. I knew I stood no chance in outpacing him. He towered over me and was obviously some sort of special forces guy. But still, sometimes the fight is worth it even if you know you’re going to lose.

“No!” I yelled back at him. I chanced a look back but I shouldn’t have. He was right behind me and in the split second I had turned around, he’d reached his arms out and grabbed me. I was pulled in against his hulking frame as we collided with the ground.

Both of us were breathing heavily, and I tried to push away from him, but his arms were as stiff as the bars of my gilded cage.

Unforgiving.

Unyielding.

“The fuck was that about?” he groaned, still holding me tightly.

“Let me go!” I bit back.

“Sorry, not until you calm down. I don’t chase women, and I won’t have you ruining my reputation.”

“This isn’t a joke,” I said.

“I wasn’t joking.”

“My father has been trying to marry me off since before I turned eighteen. You don’t think if Maldonado asks for my hand he’ll do it? If not for the money, for the family ties?” My breathing was labored and the words left me in a rush, spilling out before I had the chance to think them through.

Max stayed quiet for a minute before he finally spoke. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Oh fuck you, Max Holt. Get off me!” I yelled, squirming against his iron grip.

“Would you fucking calm down,” he said as I continued to rage against him. In a second, he had me turned over so that I was face down on the ground with my arms behind me. His heavy body pressed down on me, and as much as I struggled, there was nothing I could do.

I opened my mouth to scream, but Max’s fingers on my lips stopped me.

“Quiet,” he said sternly, leaving no room for argument.

“I wonder how far the pair wandered off,” a voice mused several feet off. Max growled in frustration before leaning down and whispering into my ear. “Play nice.”

I felt his heavy form lift off of me and I gasped in breath I didn’t know I needed. Before I even had the chance to get up from the grass, Max was on the other side of the hedges, leaning against a statue, cleaning his nails with his knife again.

I got up and brushed the grass stains off my dress as best as I could, but they were still there, clear as day. I shot Max a snarled look before making my way to a rosebush to pretend I was entranced.

“There you are,” Johnny exclaimed as he ran towards me to grab my hand. I visibly grimaced but tried to school my features as best as possible. Johnny leaned over my hand and placed a kiss on it, and I internally blanched.

“What happened to your clothes, my darling daughter?” my father asked through gritted teeth.

I looked down and stumbled over my words. “I, uh, fell while chasing a butterfly.” If he wanted stupid girl, I would give him stupid girl.

“Clumsy girl,” he muttered under his breath.

“Nonsense. Such a beautiful rose by a beautiful rosebush,” Johnny commented, obviously trying his best to flirt and failing miserably.

“You’re too kind—really,” I said flatly as I tried to pull away, but Johnny had wrapped his arm around me now so that I had no way to escape.

“Your father and I had an excellent talk, Ms. Dimes. I expect we shall be seeing more of each other real soon,” he remarked, and I stared daggers into my father’s back as we all made our way back to the house.

“You don’t say?” I replied in a somewhat irritated tone.

“Plenty of time for plans to be made. I’m sure your father will fill you in on all the details as they unfold.”

We entered the threshold to the house where Claude was waiting.

“Claude, please see our guests to the exit,” my father said and Claude signaled for the pair to follow him.

Johnny turned to me. “Until next time,” he said with another kiss to my hand, and I tried my best to smile but knew it looked more like a grimace. Max disappeared into the darkened corridors, not even bothering to look back at me.

I pushed all thoughts of the stupid man out of my head and turned on my heel to stare down my father. “Just what details do you need to fill me in on?”

My father lifted a hand, waving it as if to dismiss my request. “Nothing has been finalized yet. You’ll know when and if you need to.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Now go and change out of that hideous thing you call a dress. I don’t want to see you wearing such things again? Do you understand me?”

I stood there, my hands on my hips, feeling strangely stronger after my small battle with Max. “Apologies, father,” I said with a bit of a curl to my lip. “But as a woman of age, I’ll choose what clothes I wear from now on.”

My father raised an eyebrow and turned away from me. “Then I’ll instruct the staff that you are not to leave your rooms. Don’t forget that you live under my roof, no matter your age.” He walked into his office, closing the doors and leaving me still standing there.