Breaking My Bodyguard novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Lake Geneva

The cabin sat at the end of a gravel road, with the lake behind it and the trees all around.

It had a stone fireplace, two bedrooms, and a kitchen the size of my old bathroom.

We got there at six, with the sky going purple over the water.

Rafe walked every room with his gun out before he let me inside.

Then he locked the door, drew the curtains, and put the keys on a hook.

"You don't go past the porch," he said. "You don't go near the dock. You don't open that door unless I say."

"Is that a list?"

"It's a rule."

"You have a lot of them."

"They keep you alive."

I dropped my bag and leaned on the counter.

I watched him check the back door, the windows, and the narrow stairs to the loft.

He moved, and for the first time I looked at his hands the way I wanted to.

Nobody was there to stop me.

"Rafe," I said.

"Hm."

"What did my father tell you this morning?"

He stopped with his hand on the latch.

"What do you mean?"

"The order. I heard it through the door. He said you know what to do if they reach her."

His shoulders didn't move.

He turned around slowly, and his face was calm.

"He told me to keep you away from the Brandolinis," he said. "If they get near you, I get you out. That's all."

"That's all."

I studied his face.

He had told me he lied to my father that morning, and I'd thought it was brave.

I'd never seen him lie to me.

His eyes didn't move.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay."

"I believe you."

"Good."

I didn't.

But I was tired and my wrist hurt and he was standing six feet from me in a wool sweater with his sleeves pushed up.

I decided to let it go for tonight.

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