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Chapter 4

A week had passed and there were no new signs of an attack, yet Alisha’s nerves refused to give way. And the presence of the big man who filled the entire room with his presence alone didn’t help. She couldn’t deny that she felt an attraction from the day she met him, the bodyguard was fine in every measure, from head to toe, but it was more than that. Something very deep, more primal inside her that called out for him, it quickened her heartbeat when his figure was near making every part of her body feel alive and although she tried to hide it, every day she was more aware of that feeling.

But she had noticed that lately he kept a certain distance from her. However, she had caught him looking at her as if she was the sexiest woman in the world, it boosted anyone’s ego, even hers.

That morning she was alone in her apartment, which for the first time in years seemed huge to her. She had grown so accustomed to Cristian’s constant presence throughout the house, after the days he had spent beside her with the justification of protecting her, that she felt a hollowness in her chest. She annoyingly tapped her temples. It wasn’t like she had fallen in love with him or anything. She didn’t even understand herself. But she knew it couldn’t pass for anything more than an attraction, let alone with recent events. She woke up so many times during the night that she had doubled the dose of sleeping pills she had hidden in the bottom of her underwear drawer. Since Cristian had found out about her little insomnia problem and her medication, he had been inclined to give her more natural things like tea or infusions of some bitter plant his friend had suggested, but that hardly worked, and she needed something more concrete.

She sighed taking a sip of her coffee and looked at the screen of her phone. It was barely ten in the morning. She cursed internally. It was her day off and she had no idea what to spend her time on. She had all the work to do, she couldn’t go out unless Cristian was within three feet of her. The 55-inch ultra HD plasma in the living room was playing the same series she had watched during the long sleepless nights, and the internet didn’t hold her attention. Since the first attack incident she had shut down all social media.

-Damn it, I need to do something,” he shouted in the direction of the ceiling.

He looked around for something that caught his eye to do. The house wasn’t even disorganized. He didn’t have a housekeeper, but he paid a person who came three times a week and took care of getting the house ready and clean for him. He didn’t even have to worry about that. Later maybe she would get to cooking, it was the only housework she allowed herself, and she loved it.

She closed her eyes and the image of her bodyguard came back into her head again. She snapped them open and straightened up. Since that night he had stayed in the other room, watching over her safety. The first few days it took some getting used to, she had been living alone for a long time and the other thing is, he made her feel practically naked under his gaze no matter what she wore, so she opted for the most demure clothes she had, but by the end of the days she was back to her usual casual clothes, short shorts and a loose white blouse that reached her navel. She would never forget his expression when he saw her the first time like that. She swore she had seen his eyes change color.

The ringing of her phone interrupted her thoughts.

-What’s up Ania,” he set the cup down on the table and leaned back comfortably.

-Good morning Director, I’m down here, in the garage of the building, I brought you some things, do you think you can send help to take them away” Alisha hesitated for a moment.

-I don’t remember having anything pending that you had to bring me.

-It was some packages that arrived at the company today and the courier said that they had to be delivered urgently and I had no other choice but to bring them to you- Alisha sighed.

Alisha sighed, not even on her day off could she have 5 minutes for herself.

-Wait a moment, I’ll be right down, Cristian is not here.

She hung up and put the cell phone in the back pocket of her shorts. She went down the stairs to the garage on the first floor. The place was large and

The place was large and was illuminated by the large glass walls facing outside. There were a number of cars, including her two, a Ferrari and a pickup truck of the year, which she parked in a reserved area at the end.

-Ania called out to her secretary when she saw no one. An uncomfortable feeling came over her.

Receiving no answer after a second call and seeing no car outside the line she began to back away nervously, her instincts warning her to go home, she shouldn’t have gone out, even if it was for her secretary. She couldn’t believe she had set him up.

A gunshot to his back shattered all reasoning. A high-pitched scream came from his throat as he felt the thud on the ground and he ran behind one of the cars for cover. Another shot grazed close to her head as it hit the deck of the car. Alisha covered her head shaking. Someone wanted her dead there and now. She felt footsteps in the distance and her adrenaline spiked. The killer was coming for her. Letting herself be carried away by the little sanity that fear allowed her to use, she advanced crouching down checking the rear view mirrors of the cars looking for her attacker but another shot crossed near her right ear burning her skin. Alisha held back a scream and dropped to the ground. She could feel her face wet with sweat and tears but if she stopped at that moment her life would end. And where the hell was Cristian, it was a good time for him to be there. Damn the moment she got a call from she didn’t know which superior and had had to leave her alone, she was also partly to blame for going out when he repeated at least 5 times to stay inside his house. Now she was there, with a guy after her hide and who would not hesitate to finish her off.

She crawled under a car and stood there for a minute looking for at least the killer’s feet. She needed to know his location to know where to go. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and her hands shook painfully. She reached for the phone in her pocket, thankful she had it with her and dialed Cristian’s number with difficulty. She was partly annoyed with him but he was the only person who could help her at that moment.

She felt the ring on the other end. And she prayed hoping he would answer

-Meyer, what happened?

-The killer is after me,” she interrupted him, stumbling over the words as uncontrollable trembling ran through her and sobs caught in her throat, “get me out of here.

-Where are you,” she felt the sound of the car in the background, hearing it on the way gave her hope.

-In the garage, under a car- she swallowed loudly- he has a gun, he’s shooting, I don’t know how long it will take him to find me.

-Just wait a few minutes, I’m coming, don’t move from there unless you have to- Alisha felt the agony in his voice.

A gunshot rang near her and he dropped the phone cutting the call in the process. Alisha tensed. Cristian had told her to stay put, but the assailant already knew her location, and was close by. She crawled toward the other car and sat up looking agitatedly sideways for a way out. The footsteps were getting closer and closer, he felt it, even if he couldn’t see them.

A glimmer of hope came to him when he saw to his right a few meters away a door leading to one of the emergency exits. He knew that if he stayed there his chances of survival would be nil and every cell in his body was telling him to run for it. Another shot shattered the windshield of the car next to him, setting off the alarm. The sound was so loud that it clouded her mind and sent her straight for the exit like a terrified fawn.

Almost. It was only five meters away when a deep pain shot through her chest and sent her crashing hard to the ground. Her breath was held as hot liquid flooded her back and chest. She had been hit by a bullet. She tried to move but her body refused after a wave of pain blurred her vision and diminished all her senses. She would die there, she knew it and she didn’t like it one bit.

The last thing she remembered, were arms lifting her from the cold ground, before she was lost in the darkness.