Page 50 of Brushed By Moonlight

Then my mind jumped back to what he had just said.

“What do you mean about why Gordon chose me?” I asked. “He’s always been good to me. He stood by my family after my father died. He helped me get through college, and he even paid for Christmas flights for me to visit my grandmother here when I couldn’t afford it.”

“Why?” Henrik asked, clearly suspicious.

I snorted. It was sad, how some people lived with such a depressing world view.

Then again, he was a vampire.

“My father and Gordon were best friends,” I explained. “I was fourteen when my dad died, and Gordon stepped in to help with a lot of things.”

Bene’s throat bobbed, and even Henrik’s expression softened a little.

“If it weren’t for him, my family would have struggled with so much more. He did me a big favor by renting the west wing for you four.” I shook my head emphatically. “Gordon would never do anything to endanger me.”

Marius snorted. “He sent us, didn’t he?”

“Well, you haven’t hurt me yet.”

Bene snorted. “Other than the black eye Roux gave you…”

“It was the vampire’s fault,” Roux grumbled.

“Not to mention the night crawler here, sneaking through your attic,” Bene pointed to Henrik, who huffed.

“Vampires do not crawl.”

They did sneak, though.

“The point is, you wouldn’t hurt me purposely, right?” I asked, then chilled. Maybe they would.

Never,Marius’s eyes blazed.

“Of course not,” Roux said. “But having us here puts you in danger.”

“Wouldn’t having a bunch of bodyguards here keep me safer?” I reasoned.

Roux and Henrik stared. Bene guffawed.

“Bodyguards? Is that what he told you?”

Now, that didn’t bode well.

“Er…yes,” I peeped.

Marius cursed under his breath. “Fucking Gordon…”

“Lady, we ain’t no bodyguards,” Bene quipped.

My mind spun. Not bodyguards? Then why did they train all day? Leaping over obstacles, practicing hand-to-hand combat,rappelling from the roof, working out various ways to force entry…

Then it dawned on me, and I yelped. “You’re mercenaries?”

“I prefersecurity contractor,” Bene said. “Mercenary sounds so…”

“Unethical? Illegal?” I supplied.

Roux and Bene looked chagrined, while Henrik and Marius showed little remorse.