*Tessa*

"Get me out of here right now!" I shout at the top of my voice for the umpteenth time, but the driver doesn't even give me a second look. I might as well be a soothing song playing in the background.

And for some reason, I do not doubt his threat to throw me out of the jeep. We move past a jeep, and he looks at me from the rear view mirror, as if reminding me his words are still alive. 

"Whatever." Giving up, I huff and throw my back into the leather seat, thinking of all the possible means of escape. "My brother is going to find me, just in case you think you can get away with this. And when he does, he is going to break every single finger in one hand. You are going to wish you had never met me."

"Do you always talk this much?" he questions suddenly, his forearm gleaming under the night lights as he makes a turn.

I swallow from the look, suddenly feeling parched. It seems like the temperature in the car has been turned off a notch. 

"Do you always pick up little girls in the middle of nowhere?" I throw back, pulling my gaze off his damn arm. He is going to be a dead man soon, once Marcus finds him.

Silence settles in the car for five minutes, and then, his voice pierces through it again. 

"In fact, I do."  

I frown, trying to understand what he means by that, realizing he is answering the question I asked over five minutes ago. Our eyes meet in the mirror for a slow second before he pulls back his gaze to the road. 

"Your dress..."

"What about it?"  I snap at him, hating this situation. "Or are you now a fashion cop too?"

He shakes his head slowly. "Never mind."

I go back to my thoughts, looking outside the windows. 

 I cannot die like this. Not with the list of all the things I hope to achieve glued to the wall in my bedroom. And Marcus. He might be too protective of me, but I know he loves me.

He is sure going to cry when he hears about my death. There's Marin, too.

Gosh. I am the only friend she has in college. 

I am not sure if Wes is going to cry, though. A few weeks ago, I had a fight with him about staring at the ass of another girl. He said he was just looking, and that got me even madder. Maybe he will think it is a good riddance. 

The jeep suddenly comes to a halt, and I look out the window just as the man steps out from behind the wheel. My eyes widen in surprise when I see that I am back at home, the red lights pouring from the grand porch.

The stranger doesn't hesitate to pull the door open and lift me over his shoulders again, stalking in the direction of the entrance. 

"I have working legs, you know?" I blurt, not expecting a response. 

"I also know how well you tend to use them," he shoots back. His voice stands out in the night, piercing through the quiet. "Be still. We will be in really soon."

"Who are you to tell me what to do and what not to do?"

"You will find out soon."

Our living room comes into focus, and he places me back on my feet gingerly in the centre of the living room. The stranger is twice my size, easily towering over me. His eyes filter through my features, and suddenly, I feel a strange heat overtake every inch of my body.

His gaze comes to rest on my chest, and I follow his gaze. A loud gasp escapes my lips, and my eyes fall wide open when I see what he is staring at. 

"Fucking pervert!"  I scream, dashing for one of the throw pillows on the couch and putting it protectively over my chest. My little dress is made of silk with a plunge in the neckline. With all the carrying around, it must have shifted out of place at some point in the night. 

I remember when he mentioned something about my dress in the car, and I don't think my eyes can get any wider.

"It has been like this for more than fifteen minutes, and you didn't think to say anything?"'

He shrugs with a cocky expression. "I tried to say something. You really need to work on your ability to listen more than talk. It will do you a lot of good."

I feel myself losing it. "You are just a fucking psycho!" I yell, pointing a finger at him. "If I find out that you took any weird pictures of me, I am fucking suing you in court."

He seems amused by my expression, staring down at me like I am some cheerleader. 

"Arghhhh!" I turn around to head into my room when Marcus strides in from the hallway, making me halt in my steps. 

"I heard yelling in the hallway," he mutters, looking from me to him.

"That has to be all her," the stranger replies, still with that bloody amusement laced in his tone. "For someone as small as her, she sure sounds like she swallowed a speaker."

"Careful," my brother warns with a small laugh splayed on his face. He walks past me and pats the stranger on the shoulders. I see him flinch, but it is gone so fast that I might as well have imagined it. "Tessa can be really touchy when anyone calls her little." 

I whip my head around. "Marcus, who is this brute and what is he doing in our house?"

"Well," my brother plops down on the lounge couch and crosses one leg over the other. "This brute is your new bodyguard, Knox Pierce, and he is going to be here a while, so I advise you to get along.'

"What? No! No! No! No! This cannot be....No!"

"Tessa, you said you didn't like walking around with ten bodyguards. I got you one. It is not up for discussion. And you should be grateful I am not keeping you grounded after the stunt you pulled tonight."

I bring my gaze back to Knox, and he winks at me.

The fucker was the one who told my brother. 

"Nice boobies," he mouths, before winking again and walking out of the house.

*Tessa*

The last thing I remember is the feel of a soft furry cat underneath my feet, but suddenly, that dream is yanked away from me. My eyes fall open when the shrill of the alarm clock hits, only that it sounds louder than normal.

I groan, my eyes searching around the space for the source of the disturbance. But it is hard to miss him. He is standing directly over my bed, staring at me with a grim expression. The alarm clock is in one hand, pressed over my ears. 

"What the hell!" It feels like I am always screaming with Knox around, but it doesn't seem to bother him as he doesn't flinch. Instead, he turns off the alarm and slides it back onto my nightstand. 

"Your first class starts in thirty minutes. Get ready." He strides over to the door, covered in black, but at least it is not a drab suit like the others. He is in a pair of track pants, with an armless shirt that leaves almost nothing to the imagination.

His ripped muscles are on display, and it makes it harder to remember why he is in my room again. 

"Tessa!" he calls from the door. "You have twenty-nine minutes now."  He stops, then a mischievous glint appears in his eyes when he narrows them in my direction. "And it isn't pretty to drool while sleeping."

When he steps out, I hurry to the mirror and see a line of saliva trickling down the side of my mouth. 

"Urghhh!" I groan, bothered that he saw me that way. I reach for my box of wipes, but stop when I hear him call from the hallway. 

"Twenty-eight minutes!"

Ignoring it altogether, I dash into the bathroom for a hurried bath. Usually, I never minded going late to classes. The professors usually ignored me most of the time, and it worked for me. And even my former bodyguards loved the break because it gave them time to do nothing since watching over me, apparently, is a full-time job.

I finish in thirty-two minutes, and by the time I walk out of my closet, I meet Knox standing in one corner of my room. He looks so out of place, his whole masculine self in the midst of every shade of softness and pink.

Yet, in an odd way, he blends in at the same time. 

Knox stares at the wall, and at first, I wonder what has gotten him so curious until he shifts a little, and I see it. I panic at once, rushing to the wall to block the list away from view. 

"Why are you in here?" I question, glaring at him.

"Your twenty-eight minutes ended four minutes ago," he shrugs. 

"And?"

"And there are records of you scaling your window to avoid going to classes. We can't let that happen now, can we?"

"Leave!"  I blurt, pointing to the door.

Knox shakes his head. "I give the instructions around here. Grab your bag. Let's go."

Frustration works its way around me. "You know the only reason you have a job with this family is because I am yet to tell my brother to fire you, right? Do you know how easy it will be to make that happen? All I have to do is tell him I was harassed while you were on watch. Or worse, kidnapped."

I take a slow step towards him. My eyelids flutter from the proximity, but I try to act like it doesn't bother me. 

"You know what will happen to you after that, right? Gone, just like the wind."

He peers at me like I am the most boring essay he has read in the world. When my lips snap shut, he scoffs and steps back. "Lead the way, Tessa. Or we can do it my style."

I remember the other night, and at once, I feel red patches across my cheeks. I am in a very short tennis skirt with a white button-down shirt, and I really don't want my ass out in public.

"Fine," I mumble, grabbing my purse and heading out. I look back in time to see him take in the list for the last time, a snicker on his lips. 

"You don't have the liberty to laugh!" I say as I march through the hallway and into the living room. 

"I do and I will."

He doesn't open my side of the car. Instead, he just walks around and gets behind the wheel, turning around to ensure I get in, too. I sit at the back and let him act like my driver for today. I will never sit next to him in the same car. 

Knox peers up at the buttons of my shirt.  "I hope they are fastened properly."

Just those words are enough to make me want to hurl something at his perfect face. Instead, I curl my palms into fists by his side. 

"They are. Thank you for your false concern."

He pulls his gaze away and pulls out of the area. "Trust me, it isn't false. I don't want to see your boobs hanging out again. The mere thought of them is enough torture."

I don't know whether to get upset or respond with a sarcastic comment. I have only known him for less than twenty-four hours, yet Knox Pierce has managed to render me speechless.

We arrive at school, and he still doesn't get my door, so I alight myself, throwing him a frown before I head in the direction of my first class. Knox stays close when I walk in, but the moment he darkens the doorstep of my classroom, everyone notices him. 

Their eyes drink him in greedily, and the girls begin adjusting their tops, batting their eyelids flirtatiously.

I have concluded that there has to be something wrong with me because why on earth am I getting upset about something like this? Over someone that I do not even like.

"Oh my God!" Marin walks up to me, sliding in beside me. "Isn't that the hot guy from last night?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes. The night you let a total stranger take me away. You are supposed to be my best friend."

"Hello!" she snaps her fingers in my face. "Have you seen him? He is going to squeeze me into dust if I make one move, and I just..."

"Tessa Lane, where the fuck were you yesterday, and why weren't you answering your phone?"

*Knox*

A scrawny little kid approaches Tessa with something that could make a measly pass for anger etched on his face. He looks pathetic and desperate. Maybe that is what girls like Tessa like, because her face breaks into one of worry, like she is about to hand him a five-page essay on apology. 

"Wes," she says in a high-pitched tone. "Oh my God! I am so sorry. I totally forgot."

"You forgot?" 

Marin slips away from view, refusing to be caught in the crossfire. Watching her is hilarious. 

"I know how this sounds, Wes, but a lot happened yesterday, okay? I tried running away from my security, and I would have joined you if some lousy bastards hadn't delayed me. He tried harassing me, and it got the attention of the very people I was trying to run away from."

Any other man will be immediately concerned for her safety. They will ask her if she was hurt in any way. Tessa just mentioned she was harassed, but Wes doesn't even bother with that. 

"This is why it stresses me out being with you."

"Wes!" 

He sighs, pressing two fingers against his temples. "I'm sorry," he sighs. "I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I actually spent a lot getting us VIP tickets into that party at the club yesterday. They were non-refundable, and I spent the night all alone. It was worse that you didn't pick up my calls and didn't even try to call me back."

And then, the scrawny kid decides it is the right time to play the worry card. "You don't know how worried I was, Tessa. I thought something bad had happened to you."

I roll my eyes. It is in this moment that Wes notices me. He looks at me longer than necessary, from where I sit behind them.

"Do we have a new student?" Wes whispers to Tessa. What a dumb question. What kind of guys does Tessa like?

Dumb dudes?

"New student?" she turns to look at me and then sighs, returning her gaze to her boyfriend. 

"He's my new bodyguard from the security company. Knox Pierce."

"New security?" The surprise in his voice is evident, and almost borders on panic. "Along with all the others?"

Tessa shakes her head. "The deal was that I get to keep him and let go of all the others. So, I am stuck with Mr. broody until my brother decides we have both had enough of him. And to be honest, I don't think that is happening anytime soon."

"Damn!" He sighs, leaning further into the seat. "I never get you alone, do I?"

Prick. He doesn't even care for her safety. I lift myself out of the seat and stride out of the classroom just as the Professor gets in. Picking a spot by the window that gives me a large view of everything happening inside, I hit my headphones and connect with Kara.

She picks up the first ring. 

"How is your first official day as a bodyguard, K?"

"The child is an ass," I reply, my eyes still on her. Now, she has given up on the lectures altogether, getting into an animated conversation with Wes, who, like her, doesn't seem keen on the whole idea of education.

This is the kind of people the Lane family is made of, yet they think they are better than others, working so hard to make an honest living. 

"She is rich and spoiled," Kara laughs. "What else did you expect?"'

"Some level of intelligence, but I guess that is asking for too much."

"Any information so far?"

"Everything inside the house is encrypted. My key card only gives me access to a few rooms, where I have business. That means I have to find some other way to gain access to his study."

"What about the kid?"

I look back at her again. She is no longer talking to Wes. Our eyes meet for a brief moment. She frowns and looks in the other direction. 

"What about her, Kara?"

"She has to have access to the study. She is Marcus' only sister."

"She is just a kid."

"That did not stop her brother from throwing you under the bus, and neither should it stop you." Kara has always been with me from the beginning of this journey, and sometimes, I think her anger runs deeper than mine. 

"I need you to look into something for me," I murmur, changing the topic. "There's a kid who attaches himself to Tessa. His name is Wes. Surname unknown. I need to know what he is on about. His family, his motivations, everything."

Kara pauses. "K, don't you think you are taking the bodyguard role a little too seriously? Back at the company, you have a million and one men at your beck and call, doing the very thing you are doing right now. This is cosplay. It isn't real."

"Do the task, Kara, and report back to me."

She knows when I am serious with business, because despite the fact that I give her liberty to joke around with me, she understands that I am still her boss. She still owes me her life from years ago, when she was kidnapped by a bunch of drug dealers and was on the verge of getting raped and killed.

I enlisted her from that day, and she has been my most trusted personnel. 

"Okay, K. You'll get the report before the end of the day."

The professor must have rounded the class up earlier than he planned, as the kids get up and walk out. I move too, intercepting Tessa on her way out.

"Going somewhere?"

She groans. "Why are you always everywhere?"

"That's sort of my job." My eyes flicker to my watch. "Your next class is in three hours. What do you want to do till then?"

"Stay away from you?"

"Funny, but you can't have that. But if you could, I would happily grant it to you since I have no desire to be with you ...."

The rest of my words trail off when I hear the unmistakable cock of a gun. 

"Tessa! Down now!"