My Fiancé’s Bodyguard by Ivy Wild

“Maddie!”Doris said with urgency, slipping into my room. I was pacing around the room like a maniac, angry past the point of all logic at what Max stupid Holt had pulled on me again. “Your father is coming!” Doris said frantically.

“What? Why?” I exclaimed, the nerves from the situation making me momentarily forget my pity party. I looked down to make sure my hair was okay and my clothes were all in place. “What does he want?”

Doris paused briefly. “Keep calm. He’s going to bring you a marriage proposal.”

“Is that all?” I said nonchalantly. “I’ve turned down a bunch of those before. He can’t force me to marry someone. He knows that.”

Doris gave me a sad look. “I think this situation is a little different, my dear. The buyer isn’t just some businessman. He’s that family boss.”

My face paled. “Johnny Maldonado?” Doris nodded her head. Waves of panic washed through me.

“Hold it together, Maddie. I hear your father coming now.”

Within seconds, the door opened and my father walked in, all tight-laced and white knuckled. “You’ll be marrying Johnny Maldonado. I don’t care if you disagree. The paperwork is already being drawn up.” Without any further words, the man turned on his heel and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

Doris turned to look at me, and as I met her gaze my eyes wide. “Doris, I have to get out of here.” I looked around my room frantically. “I need to get somewhere he won’t be able to find me.” I threw a duffle bag onto my bed and started throwing things in. “Somewhere where people might be willing to help protect me.”

I could feel Doris’s sad eyes follow me around the room as I gathered some necessities.

“I’m not sure a place like that exists,” she said, her spirit obviously broken.

“Maybe not,” I said as I zipped up the bag, “But I have to try.” I turned to look at her, and Doris twisted her lips. “What is it, Doris?”

She sighed and hurried over to my writing desk and snatched the pen and paper. She scribbled something down and pushed it at me. I took the post-it note and folded it over.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the name and address of someone I know in Revere, Massachusetts. Tell him I sent you. He should be able to help.”

I nodded my head slowly, and Doris opened her arms. I ran into them, and she crushed me in a motherly hug. I shed a few tears but wouldn’t allow myself to break.

“You’ve been like a daughter to me, Maddie. Please be safe and take care of yourself.”

“Don’t worry,” I said into her shoulder. “We’ll see each other again. I promise.”

We pulled apart, and Doris wiped a tear off my cheek. “I’m going to hold you to that,” she said, trying to smile. Shaking the emotions off, she continued. “Right, your father has taken to wanting his nightcap just before ten. That should get you past Claude unnoticed, but you’ll still have to deal with the rover.”

Ever the one to be paranoid, and likely because of his shady business relationships, my father had seen to having a low-level security guard roam the property at night. “Not to worry,” I said, heading over to my writing desk and opening the drawer. I pulled up the false bottom and grabbed a sheet of paper from underneath. I waved it and said, “I’ve already got their rotation schedule all figured out.”

Doris smiled. “You’ve been planning this, haven’t you?”

I sighed. “More like, I was facing reality and knew this day would eventually come.”

“Smart girl.”

“By the fourth and failed marriage proposal I didn’t need to be smart to figure out things were going to come to a head at some point.”

“Give yourself some credit,” Doris said, pulling me in for one last hug. “I’ll see you soon,” she said before slipping out of my room quietly.

By quarter of ten,I had everything packed that I needed in a small backpack. I grabbed a good deal of cash that I had been saving up over the years whenever I could. Despite my family being extremely wealthy, that didn’t mean that there was petty cash lying around. Actually quite the opposite; more normal people would have been surprised how much debt the wealthy actually took on. Very few things were paid for outright.

I hid at the threshold to one of the servant entrances to the kitchen, knowing Claude would use the main entrance to deliver my father’s drink up to his bedroom before retiring for the evening himself. I watched him prepare the tray before finally leaving for his destination.

I used the opportunity to slip through the kitchen and use the side door that led out to the outdoor trash. Opening and closing the door as carefully as I could, I managed to make it out of the house without being noticed. Outside it was already dark, and I looked at my watch for the time. I waited patiently, hidden behind trashcans for the nighttime rover to do his walk by. Within five minutes I was able to climb over the wooden fencing without drawing attention. I didn’t want to risk opening the gate because it always squeaked.

Fifteen minutes of brisk walking brought me to the edge of the property. I turned to give it one last look. While my relationship with my father had grown more troubled since my mother’s passing, it had still been my home, and I would cherish some of the memories I had of it. Turning back around, I looked at the long road that stretched out in front of me and smiled. For the first time in my entire life, I was about to be completely free to make my own choices, so long as I could keep away from my father’s grasp.

I made the decision that I would travel through the evening and rest when I reached the nearest piece of civilization. It would take several hours of walking, and I’d have to be careful to stay away from the road and undercover just in case I was discovered missing sooner than morning. By the end of it, I’d be able to grab a bus and head towards Revere.

A rough tapto my arm had me startling awake. I blinked my eyes open to be met with a large, rather irate-looking bus driver. “Last stop, miss. This ain’t some moving hotel room. Get going’.”

“Uh, yessir,” I responded quickly, grabbing my backpack and rushing off the Greyhound. I blinked my eyes several times at the morning sun and tried to get my bearings. A sign standing next to me read “Revere Massachusetts,” so at least I’d managed to do something right.

I fished the slip of paper out of my pocket and looked at the address. I’d obviously left my phone at home otherwise they’d have been able to track me. And I didn’t dare look up a map of the address before I left because I was sure they would have found that too. I’d saved finding Lee Road for future-me and now I was her.

I turned around to see if I could ask the bus driver but immediately thought better of it. I didn’t know just how connected Johnny Maldonado was in this city, but a runaway girl asking for directions would be a dead giveaway to anyone who was looking for me.

There was a phone number at the bottom of the card but there hadn’t been payphones on street corners since the late nineties, or so I’d been told. I looked across the street and spotted a rundown 7-Eleven. It was my best chance.

I made my way to it and the clerk was nice enough to allow me to use their office phone. Still though, I hated bringing attention to myself this way. Once in the safety of the back office, I dialed the number quickly as the employee waited just a few feet away.

“Yeah?” a gruff voice on the other end of the line answered.

“Um, yes, hi. Um it’s me.” I stumbled over the words, realizing with the employee in earshot, I couldn’t give away my name or any other important details that would make this person understand who I was.

“And who the fuck is that?” the voice answered.

“Doris said you were going to pick me up from school today. I tried walking home but I got lost. I’m at the 7-Eleven.”

The line was quiet and my heart raced in my chest at the thought that maybe he’d hung up on me.

“Which 7-Eleven you at?”

“Uh, the one in Revere?” I said back with a sigh of relief.

“Just stay there.”

The line clicked dead and I smiled weakly at the employee as I placed the phone back into its receiver. “He’s so forgetful sometimes,” I said apologetically.

The young girl shrugged and blew a bubble with her gum. “Whatever.”

I kept my head down and walked past her and out of the store. I sat on the ground on the side of the building and watched the road intently. I didn’t know who was coming to get me or what car they were driving. Everything about this situation was new to me.

The ground was hard under my pair of jeans, and I shifted slightly to try and make myself more comfortable, but it was hopeless. After just twelve hours away from home, I’d already developed a severe case of back pain. I hated that I’d been forced to live such a sheltered life.

I knew people like Max looked down on people like me while at the same time envying us. It was a weird relationship between the haves and the have-nots. They hated us for our wealth but simultaneously wanted to be us. What they didn’t understand was that I had no choice in my upbringing. The moment I dropped from my mother’s womb, my fate was sealed.

Well, maybe not.

“Hey, kid. I thought Doris said she was gonna pick you up, but I guess I was wrong. Get in.” The voice from the phone was even rougher in person. I looked up to see an old white Chrysler Town Car idling in front of me. “You deaf or something?” the burly man asked, and I stood quickly and shook my head. “Then get in,” he said, jerking his thumb to the passenger door.

I rushed forward and climbed into the car, closing the squeaky door behind me.

“Here,” he said, throwing me a ripped ball cap. “Put that on and keep your head down. I don’t need you waving that blonde hair all over town like you probably already have.”

I nodded and pulled the worn “Vietnam Veteran” cap over my head, tucking my hair back as much as possible. I hadn’t thought at all about how noticeable my hair was and this man was right, it made me a walking target.

We drove down the back streets in silence, the squeaking of the car as we made our way down the bumpy streets the only thing to break the quiet. I tried to look at him out of the corner of my eye.

He looked to be in his late sixties, maybe early seventies. He had thick salt and pepper hair and an intense beard to match. He was wearing a simple brown t-shirt that stretched across his large frame. Even in his advanced years he looked like he stayed in shape. Faded tattoos of helicopters dotted his arms and just below his sleeve line I could see some words written in Latin.

We pulled up to a little brick house and he pulled the car beneath the attached metal carport. The entire place seemed a bit run down but not in a bad way. There was very little landscaping out front but the appearance was still clean and well kept.

“Keep your head down and get inside quick,” he said. I nodded and scurried out of the car and into the house behind him. The door slammed behind me, making me jump and he turned the light on and locked the deadbolt before moving into the house to pull the blinds shut.

I stood there, rooted to the spot, totally unsure of what to do. When he finally finished closing the world out, he went to the fridge and grabbed two cans before tossing one my way. I caught it awkwardly and turned it over in my hands. The blue Bud Light can stared back at me, silently questioning what I had gotten myself into.

“Alright relax,” the man said, taking a seat in one of the armchairs. I looked up from the can and around the room for the first time. The place was small but cozy. A little living room complete with a throw rug, sofa and armchairs were to the left, and the kitchen on the right was dated but clean.

“Come on, have a seat. Doris doesn’t send just anyone to me, so you’ve got a lot to fill me in on kid,” he said with a bit of a laugh.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, moving to the sofa and sitting down gingerly. The man across from me cracked open his beer and took a drink straight from the can. I did the same and couldn’t help the grimace that appeared on my face.

My rescuer laughed, and the sound filled the small room around us, putting me at ease. “From the looks of it, I’d say that you’re Madelyn Dimes. The little heiress daddy can’t seem to marry off. Am I right?”

I put down the can onto the coffee table and smiled back at him. “That easy to spot, huh.”

“Well, yes,” the man said honestly. “But only because Doris and I are old friends and I know where she works. But, if you’re gonna be hiding out, then you’ll need to change your appearance and quick. I hope you’re not too fond of that long blonde hair of yours.”

My heart sunk a little at his words. I was fond of my hair. It was something I shared with my mother. My sister had been born looking more like my father, but I always felt like I’d inherited my mother’s gentle features.

“So, how much you know about me?” the man asked, taking another drink.

“Um, nothing,” I replied honestly.

The man nodded his head. “Name’s Phil Beech. You probably could tell from the hat and the arm that I’m a retired Marine.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Beech,” I replied, going on automatic.

Phil shook his head. “You’re gonna need to learn how to loosen up a bit, too, sweetheart. I get that you probably were sent to some refinement school but try and act like you weren’t.”

A smile lifted my lips slightly. Of all the shitty things that had happened to me over the past twenty-four hours, that one line might have outweighed it all. “You don’t need to tell me twice,” I said with a giggle.

Phil winked at me and I laughed.

“So, what’s got you running away from the castle?” he asked.

I sighed and scrunched my face. “I’m supposed to be marrying Johnny Maldonado.”

Phil’s face paled a bit before he looked down and shook his head. “Shit, Doris certainly doesn’t take it easy on me.”

My stomach dropped a bit at the realization that I may have put this man in serious danger just by associating with me. “I’m really sorry, Phil. She said you would be willing to help, but I, uh, I understand if you can’t.”

“No, no,” Phil said, looking back up at me. “Doris knows despite my looks I’m a bleeding heart. It’s why she sent you to me. I’ll help you get on your feet little lady, but just know, it’s not gonna be all that easy. You’re gonna have to work and find a place and pay rent. You’re gonna be tired. This isn’t like your old life. It ain’t anywhere close.”

I nodded my head fervently. “I know. I do. I understand, really. But, I can’t go back. I just can’t. Please understand.”

Phil nodded his head sadly. “I get it. More than you probably know.” He looked sad for another moment before his demeanor shifted. “Alright, let’s talk about getting you all setup. We’re gonna need to change up your appearance, get you a fake ID and a new place. I own a diner down the road and you’re in luck, I’m short-staffed. You ever waitress before?”

I opened my mouth to answer but Phil shook his head and laughed. “Nevermind, I think I already know my answer.”

“I’m a quick learner,” I said and he nodded.

“I don’t doubt it. Alright, you got any questions for me?”

“Just one,” I said a bit nervously.

“Shoot,” he said, finishing the rest of his beer.

“Is there a place where I can take some classes?” The words left my lips in a rush, like I was afraid someone would burst into the room and stop me from talking.

“Classes? Like school classes?” he asked.

I nodded my head fervently.

“What? You not got your diploma?”

I shook my head and looked down. The old Veteran’s cap fell off my head, and I ran my finger against the worn stitching as I spoke. “I graduated high school, but I wasn’t allowed to go to college. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

I looked up momentarily to see Phil standing up. He reached forward and for a second, I thought he might snatch his hat away from me but he didn’t. Instead, he grabbed the beer I wasn’t drinking and sat back down.

“You know much about that war?” he asked me.

“A little,” I said quietly, still keeping my head down.

“Well, when things started going to shit, they came after those of us that weren’t in college to fill the ranks. Maybe my life would have been different if I’d paid attention to my studies.”

I listened to his words. They were sad and full of remorse. I didn’t know what sort of life Phil had, but I imagined his past probably visited him in the night.

“Have you ever wanted something just for yourself, Phil?” I asked him, still looking down. “Not for someone else. Not for the good of others. But something totally selfish and just for you?”

He chuckled softly. “I think we all have. Is this your dream?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. It’s something I want just for me. It’s something that can’t be taken away.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

I looked up at him. “Knowledge. Money, well,” I gave him a wry smile. “I lost my access to millions overnight. Freedom? People get arrested all the time. But the one thing that no one can take from you is knowledge.”

Phil nodded. “Well, unless they drive a screw into your brain or some shit, but yeah, I hear ya, little lady.”

My eyes widened and my face scrunched up in disgust and he laughed, totally breaking the heavy feeling in the air.

“Remind me not to piss you off,” I said and he gulped the rest of my beer down before hitting me with a genuine smile.

“I’m harmless, truly.”

I shook my head with a laugh. “I doubt that.”

He winked at me and I smiled. “There’s a community college the next town over in Chelsea,” Phil said. “It ain’t no Harvard, but something tells me you prefer that.”

My eyes brightened and I nodded my head. “That sounds amazing,” I replied honestly. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Once we get your looks sorted, you can head over to the library and get yourself signed up for classes. I don’t have a computer at the house, but they got ones you can use.”

My smile widened before it turned into a yawn. Phil just laughed at me before jerking his thumb behind him and standing up. “Come on. I’ve seen that look before. I’d say you’re running on three-sub hours of sleep, and that’s when the brain starts shutting down. I’ve got a guest room in the back you can use till you get on your feet.”

I followed him quietly as we made our way down the little hallway to the back of the house. I thought maybe there would be pictures of his family on the wall, but the sheetrock was empty. I always thought my family’s large mansion, with its dramatic ceilings and open spaces, felt lonely. But, I guess that specific emotion visited houses both large and small.

“Bathroom’s in the hallway,” he said and I nodded. “Go ahead and grab a shower before you tuck in. Towels are in the closet.”

I turned around and surprised even myself by throwing my arms around him in a big hug. He stood still for a moment before wrapping an awkward arm around me. “It’s alright,” he said as I pulled back.

A tear slipped down my cheek and I brushed it aside. “You don’t even know me. Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked him.

“One day I’ll tell ya the real reason. But for now, just be satisfied that I’m tryin’ to do that whole karma thing right.”

I nodded and smiled. “Well, thanks.”