Nothing Left to Lose (4 page)

“Hi, I’m Dean
Michaels, Miss Spencer’s far guard,” he greeted me as I shook his
hand.

I smiled
politely. “Ashton Taylor. Nice to meet you.”

He showed me to
the helicopter and we put on our headphones. “The trip’s about
thirty minutes. You’ll like the summer house; it’s nice, and right
on the lake,” he said, smiling.

“Right, sounds
good. So, what can you tell me about Annabelle?” I asked, watching
his face closely for his reaction.

He frowned
before speaking and seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
“Miss Spencer is very… difficult. You need to watch her all the
time; she can get in trouble easily. She’s had twenty-three near
guards in the last three years; the longest one lasted just over
three months. I’ve worked as her far guard for a year and a half,
and the only reason I’ve managed to last so long is because I don’t
have regular contact with her.” He shook his head seeming a little
annoyed.

“The near
guards get fired within three months?” I asked, slightly panicky.
If I couldn’t last the full eight months, I wouldn’t get my choice
of assignments.

“No, man, they
quit! She makes it her personal mission to make them leave. I think
she sees it as some sort of challenge. Her record so far is four
days,” he laughed.

A lump formed
in my throat, so I quickly swallowed it. “So, she doesn’t want a
near guard, or what?” I asked.
What is it with this girl? Maybe
she needs to know about the threats against her so that she’ll be
easier to protect, because there is no way I’m quitting.

“Nope, she
doesn’t want any guards at all. I think she tolerates me because I
stay out of her way and keep a distance. She doesn’t like company;
she’d rather be on her own. She’s been through a lot, and it’s
changed her,” he replied casually.

“Does she know
I’m coming?” I asked, looking out over the fields that we were
flying over.

He laughed
quietly. “Yeah.”

I looked back
at his face; he shook his head and laughed again. I smiled in
understanding. She didn’t want me there – that much was obvious
from his reaction.

“Senator
Spencer gave me your file. How the hell did a guy like you, who’s
top of your class and the academy’s new golden boy, end up with a
shitty assignment like this?” he asked, looking genuinely
curious.

I closed my
eyes and rested my head on the seat back. “I have no idea,” I
mumbled. I was still asking myself the same question. I could see
the importance of it, but surely there could have been someone else
for the job that came from a protection background. I stayed quiet
for the rest of the trip.

After what
seemed like forever, we landed outside an expansive house that was
right on the lake. I followed Dean into the house, trying not to
react to the sheer size of it. I trudged behind him, looking around
in awe at the real wooden floors, the heavy drapes, the framed
artwork on the walls. It was like something out of a magazine. Dean
stopped outside a door and chatted to a lady sitting at the desk;
she was probably in her mid-fifties and she glanced over at me with
a friendly smile.

I cleared my
throat and put out my hand in greeting. “Hello, ma’am. Ashton
Taylor, it’s nice to meet you.”

Her eyes
widened as her gaze flicked over me before placing her hand in
mine. “It’s nice to meet you too. My name’s Maddy Richards and I’m
Senator Spencer’s Personal Assistant. I’ll just let him know you’re
here, he’d like to speak to you,” she said in a business-like tone.
She picked up the phone and spoke briefly. “Okay he’s free right
now, you can go in.” She nodded towards a door on my right.

A wave of
nerves suddenly hit me as I realised that I was about to meet the
probable next President of the United States. I swallowed my nerves
and went in as instructed. He was sat behind a large, wooden desk,
and there was a lady sitting on the couch, drinking tea. She was
very pretty and had dark brown hair, which she had pulled into a
bun, and brown eyes. She looked somewhat familiar; maybe I’d seen
her on TV or something.

Senator Spencer
stood up, smiling at me, and walked over, holding out his hand. He
was a very imposing man on television, but it was even more
apparent in person. He oozed confidence and ability, and had an air
about him that certainly explained why he was tipped to win the
upcoming election.

I shook his
hand confidently. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir.”

“You too, Agent
Taylor. This is my wife, Melissa.” He gestured to the lady on the
couch. I turned and smiled as it clicked into place why she’d
looked so familiar when I stepped into the room. She looked like
Annabelle, but Annabelle had a radiant beauty that far surpassed
her mother’s.

“It’s nice to
meet you, ma’am,” I nodded.

“You too.
Hopefully you’ll last longer than the other near guards; Annabelle
needs some stability,” she said sadly.

Senator Spencer
cleared his throat. “So, Agent Taylor, I’ve read your file, and I
must say it’s mighty impressive. Your reputation is incredible at
the agency. They have exceptionally high hopes for you.” He
gestured to the couch for me to sit. “You’ve read your brief, I
assume?” I nodded in confirmation and sat as instructed. “Do you
have any questions before you meet Annabelle?”

I nodded. “Only
one, sir. I was wondering why you don’t just tell Miss Spencer
about the threats so that she would be more cooperative with her
guards. It would be a lot easier to protect her, and ultimately
make her safer, if she were more accommodating.”

Mrs Spencer
gasped and the Senator shook his head fiercely. “Annabelle is very
fragile. She doesn’t like to show it, but she’s still grieving for
Jack, and what that animal did to her.” His hand clenched into a
fist before he took a deep breath and composed himself. I liked
this guy already. “She can’t be told. She barely copes as it is,
she doesn’t need anything else to worry about on top.” He stood up
and walked to his desk, picking up his phone. “Maddy, could you
have Annabelle come in here now, please?”

His face still
looked sad with deep pain across it. This man had worries about his
daughter that no father should ever have to go through. I hadn’t
thought about them when I read her file. Thinking about it now
though, I realised that they had been through hell too. Their
sixteen year old daughter goes missing, presumed dead, then months
later she’s found broken, abused, and totally a changed person.
They had to watch her sink into depression and attempt suicide and
turn into a cold, heartless person, and now they couldn’t even hug
her or hold her hand.

The phone on
the desk buzzed, and Maddy’s voice came through the intercom.
“Senator, Annabelle’s here,” she announced.

“Okay, Maddy,
send her in,” the Senator answered, glancing at me, his expression
almost apologetic.

A few seconds
later she walked into the room. As soon as I laid eyes on her, I
knew I was in trouble. She looked so incredibly vulnerable. Her
eyes were cold and distant and held a pain that I couldn’t bear to
think about. She had seen things that no one should ever see.
Carter had broken not only her body, but her spirit too.

Her eyes only
flicked to me for a split second and held no reaction whatsoever
before she turned to her father. My heart skipped a beat and my
stomach tied in a knot. I wanted to run to her, wrap my arms around
her, and tell her everything would be okay. I wanted to make her
smile and hear her laugh.

Oh fuck it; I
really am in deep shit!

When my cell
phone vibrated on the side, I was laying on my bed with my arm
covering my eyes, trying to block out the midmorning sun that was
streaming through my window. I groaned and rolled to the side,
stretching my arm out to reach for it. Every single one of my
muscles protested from the slight movement. My whole body hurt from
the run that I’d taken earlier in the morning. I’d pushed it too
far today. After speaking to my father first thing and learning
that I was going to be getting a new near guard today, and the
bombshell that he’d dropped on me about the guy posing as my
boyfriend, I’d taken my frustrations out in the gym, running on the
treadmill until I’d vomited and almost passed out.

Finally
catching my phone with my fingertips, I pressed it to my ear and
stared up at the ceiling. “Yeah, what?” I muttered into the phone,
already knowing what this would be about. My father had told me
that I’d get a call when the new guard arrived, and I would have to
show him around the house and get to know him ready for next week
when we both went to the new school.

Maddy’s overly
cheerful voice greeted me. “Hi, Annabelle. Could you come down to
your father’s office, please? Agent Taylor is here, and he’d like
to meet you.”

I sighed and
closed my eyes in defeat. “Fine, I’ll be there in a minute.” I
disconnected the call before she could answer, and then headed out
of my room on my wobbly legs. As I trudged through the house, I
kept my eyes on the ground so that no one would try to speak to me.
Not that they tried often anymore; I’d made it clear to people that
I didn’t want to interact.

As I let myself
into Maddy’s office, she looked up and smiled, but it was tight and
wary. It seemed as if everyone had a problem with how to behave
around me now. “You’ll like this one, Annabelle, he’s so handsome!”
she gushed, raising one eyebrow excitedly.

I frowned and
folded my arms across my chest as I made a distasteful, scoffing
sound in the back of my throat. Her comment was both inappropriate
and unwelcome. It didn’t matter what he looked like, all that
mattered was the fact that I didn’t want another guard. All they
ever did was come in, disrupt my life, and then leave me after a
couple of months when they realised that I wasn’t even worth
protecting.

When she waved
her hand at my father’s office door, signalling for me to go in, I
shoved it open and stepped inside. The room went quiet instantly,
and my gaze flicked to the stranger standing in the middle of the
room.

I felt my eyes
widen from shock. Maddy was right, he certainly was handsome. His
black hair was shorter around the sides, but fell across his
forehead messily, and he had the most beautiful dark green eyes
that I had ever seen. His face was perfect, just like an angel’s.
His body would be incredible too – I could see that even though it
was covered by a plain, white T-shirt and ripped jeans. He actually
looked like he’d just stepped out of a magazine shoot and was
easily the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.

I took all this
in within a second before my eyes went back to his. His gaze was
raking over me slowly, his mouth slightly open as he took in every
inch of me, making me want to squirm on the spot or run away as
fast as my legs would carry me. Lust was written plain across his
angelic features, and it made my stomach ache.

I kept my
expression neutral and quickly looked away to my father, who was
watching me with tight eyes. Clearly he was uncomfortable after our
little spat that had taken place in my bedroom this morning when
he’d told me about this new guarding arrangement.

“So, this is
him then? The new near guard
boyfriend
,” I asked, saying the
last word angrily.

He nodded.
“Yes, Annabelle. This is Agent Taylor. Agent Taylor, this is my
daughter, Annabelle Spencer,” my dad answered, looking between the
two of us warily.

The beautiful
stranger extended his right hand towards me. “Hi, Miss Spencer, I’m
Ashton. It’s nice to meet you.”

I recoiled
slightly, but tried not to show my nerves. I didn’t like to show
people that I was afraid. My eyes flicked down to his extended hand
and my heart started to race at the thought of him touching me.
Physical attention, especially from men I didn’t know, made my
lungs constrict and my body go cold. It had done ever since Carter.
I glanced back up at the agent’s face. He was smiling at me; his
eyes warm and friendly. I swallowed the fear away and raised my
hand to his, trying to be confident, but I could see that I was
shaking as I shook his hand briefly. His eyes never left mine,
making me feel slightly relaxed, despite the fact that a man I
didn’t know was touching me. As I dropped his hand, I stepped back
and folded my arms over my chest; my mother was watching me with
wide eyes as if waiting to see what I would do.

I raised my
chin as I faked a confident smile, dragging my eyes over him from
his head down to his toes. “Well, Ashton, you don’t look like the
normal guys I get assigned. I’m gonna be generous and say that
you’ll last a week, maybe even ten days, before you request a
reassignment,” I teased cockily.

One side of his
full lips pulled up as he shook his head. “Actually, Miss Spencer,
I’m here for eight months, and I don’t quit,” he replied
confidently, folding his arms across his chest too, mirroring
me.

The arrogance
he was exuding made one of my eyebrows rise, but I fought
desperately to hold back any reaction to him. “You can call me
Anna.” I waved my hand dismissively, ignoring his attitude.

“Anna it is
then.” His answering smile was gorgeous and seemed to light his
whole face.

My mother
cleared her throat obviously. “Why don’t you show Agent Taylor to
his room, Annabelle? Maybe you could give him a tour of the house
and grounds too. Show him where the lake is.”

I frowned at
that. They always expected me to play nicely with these agents. I
had no idea why though, because they never lasted long and then the
whole routine would start all over again. “I’ll show him to his
room, but he’s a big boy, I’m sure he can find the lake himself. I
mean, you can’t miss the damn thing, it’s right there.” I turned
and stalked out of the room, ignoring Ashton exchanging
pleasantries with my parents behind me.