Her Billionaire Protector

by Nina Singh

  You’ll get the hang of it soon enough, love.

  Ani felt the sting of tears and pushed the memory away. Even the sweetest of memories could lead to crushing pain.

  “Ani, I have to give these people an answer soon,” Moira prompted.

  Ani nodded and sighed. “I know, I just need to think about it. Just a few days.” If only she could take off and go somewhere, to find some isolation and quiet and give herself a chance to breathe.

  “Okay, sweetie. I’ll hold off for now. And you still have that photo shoot tomorrow. There’s no way out of that, it’s in the contract.”

  Ani winced. She’d sort of forgotten about the scheduled photo shoot. Or rather, she hadn’t allowed herself to really think about it.

  “I know, I’ll be ready. But can we talk about something else right now?” She desperately needed to quiet her mind. Why had she never taken up meditation? Or yoga?

  “Sure. Anything for you.”

  Ani’s relief was short-lived.

  “So about this chemistry that you have with your bodyguard,” Moira said. “Let’s get back to that.”

  “Let’s not.”

  “Why don’t you just go for it? The man is hot with a capital H. If someone who looked like that was interested in me...” Moira smiled wickedly rather than finishing her sentence.

  “I can’t just ‘go for it,’” Ani insisted.

  “Why ever not?”

  “Even you have to see that the timing is completely off. I’m not at a point in my life where I can handle the emotional pull of any kind of relationship. And he doesn’t appear to be the type for heavy involvement, anyway.”

  “So why does it have to be heavy?” Moira nudged Ani’s knee. “Come on. You’re in one of the most romantic cities, maybe the most romantic, in fact. And there’s a gorgeous specimen of a man who wants you. Just go for it.”

  Moira too closely echoed the thoughts that had been running through Ani’s head when she’d been in Adam’s arms earlier.

  “I’m not one for flings,” Ani said, despite the temptation thrumming through her. Except, she hadn’t exactly had any deep, meaningful relationships either. Maybe it was just that she wasn’t one for relationships in general.

  “Wanna know what I think?” Moira asked.

  Ani really didn’t. Moot point, as Moira didn’t wait for an answer.

  “I think you’re scared of more than just adding tour dates.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ANI WAS HIDING it well. But Adam could sense how nervous she was. The photographer’s crew had cordoned off a good twenty-by-twenty square of the eastern side of the Louvre for her photo shoot. Tito, Raj, Penny and April stood guard around the perimeter. Adam was closer to where Ani stood posing.

  Of course, they’d gathered a bit of a crowd. Ani had been doing fine until an audience had gradually shown up to watch. She kept glancing nervously at the spectators taking their own pictures.

  Come on, kitten. Just a little longer. You’re almost done.

  “Let’s take a little break,” the photographer suggested.

  Ani’s breath of relief was audible from where Adam stood several feet away.

  She accepted a bottle of water but made a beeline right to where he was. A heady sense of prideful pleasure filled his chest.

  “How am I doing?” she asked.

  “You’re stunning, Ani.” She really was. They’d dressed her in a red satin formal gown, and her fiery red hair hung in loose curls over her elegant shoulders. “You’ll have some great publicity images.”

  “I just want it to be over. I think I’m more nervous posing now than I was actually performing onstage.”

  She was clearly out of her element. He wasn’t about to say it out loud, though. “Won’t be much longer. Just listen to the photographer and focus on following his direction. This is almost like a performance, too.”

  She gave him a wide smile and leaned slightly into his shoulder. “Thanks. That was the perfect thing to say.”

  He put his arms around her, in a gesture of comfort, and felt her release a deep sigh against his chest.

  The rapid-fire click of a camera sounded from where the photographer and Moira stood. Ani jumped back as if struck by an electrical shock. Moira gave them an innocent shrug. Ani rubbed her forehead wearily.

  “It’s okay. We’re supposed to be dating, remember?” Adam reminded her, though he felt less than comfortable himself. A bodyguard wasn’t supposed to become part of the foreground.

  “Perfect,” the photographer called over to them in a thick French accent, “It’s how you Americans say...worth a thousand words.”

  Adam’s senses suddenly went on high alert. He took Ani by the arm just as a commotion broke out off to the side.

  A man strode toward them with April fast on his heels.

  Adam immediately pushed Ani behind him and widened his stance to cover her completely. He braced for a potential physical confrontation. But April apprehended the stranger just in time.

  “I just wanted to ask for an autograph,” the man protested in thickly accented English. “I was at her concert. Ms. Terrance, you were fabulous that night,” he yelled, adding, “I’m a big fan.”

  Tito approached to take the intruder away. “No autographs. And that’s not the way to ask for one,” he chided.

  Adam allowed himself to relax. What the hell was April thinking, letting someone get past her like that?

  She must have read his thoughts. April gave him an apologetic shrug. “Sorry, boss. It won’t happen again. You have my word.”

  “What happened?” he demanded. Ani clung to his back and he reached behind him to give her a reassuring squeeze.

  “I have no excuse,” April admitted. “Just got distracted when the photographer started taking photos of the two of you together. I repeat, it won’t happen again.”

  Adam gave her a sharp nod as his ire drained away. This was exactly what he meant about staying in the background. He and Ani had been the reason April had been taken off guard. He knew she was better trained than that. And she was right, she didn’t have any kind of excuse. But he couldn’t ignore the role he himself had played in the breach. This was his responsibility as well as hers. Just as much, if not more. After all, he was in charge. The last thing he needed to be was a distraction.

  Right now, he only had one primary concern. He had to keep Ani safe.

  He turned to check on her. Her eyes were wide with fear. Her entire body was shaking from head to toe; he could almost hear her teeth chattering.

  “I th-thought you might have been right. That maybe the st-stalker had escalated his attempts, after all,” she stuttered.

  He took her in his arms, held her close. “You’re okay, kitten. You’re safe.” Lifting her chin, he waited until she looked him in the eyes. She’d gone so pale. “We’re done here,” he barked.

  His declaration was met with immediate protests from the photographer and his crew. Adam didn’t care. “You have what you need.”

  Then he lifted Ani in his arms and carried her away.

  * * *

  “Here, drink.” Adam handed Ani a stemless wineglass that she accepted with trembling hands.

  She sat on his hotel balcony, the Eiffel Tower looming majestically in the distance, slightly covered in fog. “What is it?”

  “Rosé with papaya juice. Just enough wine to take the edge off.” He pointed to a half-empty, ice-cold water bottle sitting in front of her on the wicker table. “Straight water doesn’t seem to be doing the trick,” he added.

  “I’m all right, really. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed. My reaction was disproportionate.” Who knew she was so much like her brother and father, after all.

  “You’re still shaking.”

  “It’s mostly residual. Subsiding as we speak.” She held a hand up to show
him.

  “Still, you sure you don’t want to see a doctor or something?”

  “Heavens, no.” At his look of concern, Ani felt warmth spread through her. “Really, I’m fine now. The rational part of my brain knows my emailer is nowhere near Paris. But my nerves are completely on edge.”

  “That’s understandable. Who would blame you?”

  “The autograph seeker just took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting anyone to get that close.”

  “He never should have,” he bit out through gritted teeth. “For what it’s worth, April feels terrible.”

  She nodded. “I know. In addition to the in-person apology she gave me once we got back, she’s been texting me incessantly to check how I’m doing and to say how sorry she is. Again.” Her phone sounded an alert even as she spoke. Sure enough, it was April. How many different ways could the woman come up with to render an apology?

  A sudden, disturbing thought occurred to her. “You’re not going to reprimand her in any way, are you?” She would feel terrible if April got into any kind of trouble because of the way Ani had overreacted back at the Louvre.

  “No. I have no intention of so much as chastising her. That would make me a hypocrite.”

  His words stunned her. “What are you talking about?”

  He sat down across from her, pulling his chair so close their knees were touching. “April’s not the only one who should apologize. I’m so sorry, Ani. I’m even more responsible for what happened than she is.”

  She reached for his hands where they were braced against his legs, and took them into her own. “The only person responsible is my so-called fan. And me. For the way I reacted.”

  “You have absolutely no fault in any of this. I was foolish. I repeated the mistake I vowed never to make again.”

  “What mistake?”

  He gave a shake of his head. Whatever mistake he spoke of, it weighed heavily on his soul. “It’s not important.”

  She wanted to argue. The anguish on his face told her exactly how false those words were. Maybe Adam was even denying that truth to himself.

  Ani wanted to push for answers but it wasn’t her place. She imagined he had seen and been through experiences she couldn’t hope to comprehend. He’d been stationed in hellish regions and she knew human nature could be unbearably cruel.

  No, she wouldn’t push for anything Adam wasn’t ready to give. He would share if or when he was ever ready. She could only hope she would be the one he’d turn to.

  “Just know that you had absolutely no blame for what happened or for the way it affected you,” he insisted.

  Ani had to laugh, but there was no real humor behind it. “Well, I suppose we could go in circles all day abdicating each other of responsibility. I, for one, will try to learn from this. Starting with the lesson that I do not need to cower in paranoia every time I’m approached by someone who wants an autograph.”

  “That’s hardly what you did.”

  “Pretty darn close, I’d say.”

  He rubbed the inside of her wrist. “Ani, you don’t have to do that, you know.”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Do what?”

  “You don’t have to pretend you’re not struggling.”

  She released a deep breath. “You’re right. I just wish there was someone I could lean on during all this. Someone like my mom.”

  She hadn’t expected to make the admission. Had barely acknowledged it to herself. So it surprised her that she’d confided in Adam about it.

  “I’d say you can talk to me, but I realize it’s nowhere near the same as having a trusted parent to rely on.”

  Ani felt the telltale stinging behind her eyes again. Not a day went by that she didn’t think about her mother or the devastation left behind at her loss. But since arriving in Europe, she’d felt an ache that only Mom would have been able to soothe. She swiped at her eyes before the tears could fall.

  “I know I’m in a foreign city on the trip of a lifetime,” she said, “but what I wouldn’t give to be on a beach just soaking in the sun and trying to come to terms with all that’s happening in my life right now.”

  “You have a few more days before you return to the States,” Adam pointed out. “I could take you back early if you’d like to be back home.”

  She shook her head. “No, Dallas would be even more draining. Between my brother and father constantly hovering over me and everything I need to catch up on after being away.”

  “I see what you mean.”

  “I think I’ll draw the blinds, sit in the dark on the bed and contemplate how I want to move forward in my life. Paris is a wonderful city, but it isn’t exactly conducive to quiet pondering.”

  Adam looked off to the side, appearing to carefully weigh his next words. “I might have another idea.”

  “Oh, yeah? Consider me intrigued.”

  He swallowed. “It just so happens I own a place in this part of the world. It’s not all that far by plane. Right on the Mediterranean. With a long stretch of sandy beach.”

  Ani felt her jaw drop. That scenario sounded like pure heaven. The man was full of surprises. “You do?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Ever been to Monaco?”

  * * *

  Adam could count on one hand all the impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decisions he’d made in his life. It was time to add another digit to the count. He hadn’t realized he was going to offer to bring Ani here until the words had left his mouth.

  He’d ignored the warning cry in his head, telling him all the reasons what he was doing was foolish. And all the ways he would eventually come to regret it.

  But he’d seen the turmoil in Ani’s eyes after the incident in the square, and all he’d wanted to do was whisk her away from it. Take her somewhere with no crowds to scare her. Somewhere only a trusted few people knew of. He’d only had one goal in mind—to make her feel safe.

  For her part, Ani seemed equally surprised to have taken him up on the offer.

  Now, as they drove up the winding cliffside to his villa in a convertible Mercedes, he couldn’t bring himself to regret asking her.

  “How often do you come out here?” Ani asked, shouting over the roaring wind.

  “Not often enough.”

  Snowball let out a happy little yip in the back seat where he sat in a securely fastened doggy chair.

  “But don’t worry,” he added. “You won’t be walking into a dark, dusty, uninhabited house. I have someone I call in when I plan on coming into town. A local woman gets the place ready for me.” Thank heavens for her, Adam thought. This time, he’d given poor Jaqueline less than one day’s notice. Bless her to the skies, she’d agreed nonetheless. He would have to reward her flexibility handsomely.

  “The thought hadn’t even occurred to me,” Ani shouted with a laugh. She already looked more relaxed and loose than he could recall seeing her since they’d left Dallas International.

  It seemed a lifetime ago that they’d left the States. So much had happened since then. If someone had told him that afternoon that he’d be driving to his Monte Carlo estate with the VIP he was guarding, he would have laughed in their face.

  But it was worth it just to see the utter relief Ani currently wore on her face.

  He could relate. Despite the harrowing ride along jagged cliff edges, Adam always felt the tension slowly leave his muscles whenever he came to Monaco. The fresh sea air and the crystal blue water served as a balm to his soul. This was one of his favorite properties. He had to make more of an effort to get out here.

  Though he hadn’t seen this trip coming, Adam already felt good about the unexpected detour.

  Minutes later, they were driving up the long pathway that led to his gated property. He fired off a text to Jaqueline and the gate slowly slid open. The older woman greeted them at the doorway.

  “Mr. Steele. Wha
t a lovely surprise it was to hear you’d be coming.” She was completely fluent in English, having been educated in Boston as a young woman. Not even a noticeable accent.

  She came down the stairs and gave him a motherly peck on the cheek. When Ani approached with Snowball on a leash, the older woman clapped her hands with a grin. She leaned to pet the dog with a stream of French baby talk.

  “Jaqueline loves animals,” Adam told Ani above the fuss of petting and face licking.

  “Snowball tends to make friends quickly.”

  When Jaqueline finally stood, he introduced the two women. The older woman’s eyes lit up mischievously as she studied Ani. Uh-oh. He should have seen this coming. Jaqueline had been very vocal in the past about Adam finding a woman he could bring here more than once. She probably wasn’t going to waste any time as soon as she got him alone to hammer him with questions. Also, she’d probably seen some of the online gossip. Jaqueline’s hobby was social media.

  Adam would have to worry about that later. Right now, he wanted to get them settled. He went back to the car and grabbed both their bags.

  “I have a lovely dinner prepared for you when you’re both ready,” Jaqueline announced, leading them inside.

  “Thank you, Jaqueline,” Adam replied. “We’ll just freshen up and be right down.”

  He led Ani up the spiral staircase to the second floor. She paused to admire the view of the coastline outside the large panoramic window above the steps. Several luxury boats floated on the water, the sky was a spectacular shade of blue, and the water looked like turquoise jewelry.

  “This is breathtaking, Adam. Exactly what I needed.”

  The statement and her genuine smile pleased him clear to his toes. Without thinking, he dropped their bags and reached out to trail a finger gently down her cheek.

  “I hope it serves as the getaway you’re looking for, kitten.”