Page 72 of Close Protection

‘I’ve already put mine on for the night, but as of tomorrow I’ll be wearing this!’ She beams as she pulls away from him. She takes the perfume from my hand and walks into her dressing room leaving me and George in the main room.

‘Well, good, I’m glad,’ he calls out, rocking back on his heels awkwardly. ‘I also wanted to let you know I’ve got a bit of work to do tonight so I will be coming, I’ll just get there a bit later than you. Ideally, I’ll be there around ten-ish.’

The door knocks again and this time Amelia and Henry enter.

‘We’re leaving now, but we just wanted to say goodbye,’ Henry announces, glancing around the room. ‘Where’s Daphne?’

As if on cue, she floats out of her dressing room looking like the princess she is.

‘Wow, Daph, you look gorgeous!’ Amelia gushes.

‘She’s right as always, sweetie, you look beautiful,’ Henry adds.

‘Thank you!’ Daphne responds, practically glowing.

‘All right, well, we do need to get going now, so you guys have fun,’ Henry says, looking between me and Daphne, George clearly forgotten in this equation.

‘Hey, Daph, could you just go stand next to Milosh? I wanna see how you two look together.’

I sigh in agitation, because I know exactly where this is going.

‘Wow!’ Henry quips. ‘Don’t you two just look like the perfect couple.’ George goes to stand next to Henry and Amelia and starts nodding his head.

‘Wow, you’re right, I can really see it.’

‘All right, that’s enough.’ I glance over to Daphne. ‘Are you ready to go?’

‘I just need to grab my bag,’ she says, making her wayback into the dressing room. I watch her as she walks away, only to find three pairs of eyes looking at me when I turn back.

‘Ah, jeez,’ George groans, ‘it’s like Henry and Amelia all over again.’

Henry starts laughing, Amelia looks horrified and I roll my eyes, all in time for Daphne to walk out, bag in hand, completely oblivious to it all.

‘What?’ Daphne asks impatiently.

‘Nothing. Literally, nothing at all,’ I deadpan. ‘You ready?’

‘Mm hmm.’

‘All right, let’s go.’

‘You guys take my car,’ says George. ‘I’ll take the driver so I can work in the back.’

‘Okay, bye Daddy.’ She places a kiss on his cheek before saying her goodbyes to Amelia and Henry and walks out in front of me.

‘Hey.’ Henry stops me by the door, his expression serious. ‘Keep her safe, all right?’

‘Of course.’

This girl means a lot to him. But I’ve come to realize she means even more to me. And there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect her.

27Daphne

The annual Greenway Group charity gala is always a stunning event. This year there are chandeliers hanging from the venue’s high, decorated ceilings, candlelit tables and a live jazz band playing ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ by Frank Sinatra. Everyone’s dressed impeccably, from the servers to the guests, and all I can smell is a mix of niche fragrances all battling it out in an imaginary projection contest.

Milosh guides me to the seating chart, his hand against the small of my back, thumb rubbing languid strokes against the fabric of my dress. I lean into his touch as I lazily search for our names, not really putting much effort in so I can prolong this as much as possible.

We drove here mostly in silence, with light jazz music filling the space. Tension crackled high in the air in anticipation of what we were about to let ourselves do,and it took every ounce of self-control not to touch him or play with his hair. But now we’re here I can play with it as much as I want.