The Bodyguard

36.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 50k READS I CANT BELIEVE PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE MY STORY THIS MUCH LOL 💓
i don't deserve y'all :(

Ace's pov

As I venture further inside, I'm reminded of the life I'm immersed in because of Jasper.

He'd warned me endlessly, but when we're alone, I instantly forget about the lavish lifestyle he's grown up in.

It is only at these events I am suddenly acutely aware of who he is and what I am.

Rather, what I'm not.

Regardless of my consistent growing  feelings for him, as I look around, I see the kind of people in attendance and it becomes harder for me to distance Jasper from them.

Did they harbor the same evil and corruption as Karla? Mask it with a progressive liberal agenda?

Or do they not care about the upkeep of a facade? Do these politicians, entrepreneurs and socialites wear their wickedness on their sleeve?

Jasper is not like them.

I remind myself over and over. But the more I say it, the more I feel I'm only trying to convince myself.

I recall the person I was before I met him, and the person I am now. I assess the stark difference and I feel overwhelmed.

I was like any other post-graduate, in the process of figuring out life and everything in between: love, relationships, friendships.

After college where I majored in literature, I worked simple, humble jobs here and there. Back in Jersey, my family was never extremely wealthy, but they did what they could to support me.

Things were so simple. Then I met Karla.

I was a security guard at an art museum in the city when one day she walks in with a guards that looked like they could be apart of the secret service.

She bought one of the most expensive pieces in the gallery that day. Call it fate or bad luck, but I was chosen to help transport the piece.

I still remember the first time I felt her icy gaze wash over me as I helped her guards load the piece into a secure van.

I have a proposition for you. She'd said. But the way she spoke made it sound like I didn't have a choice at all in the matter.

I didn't know I was going to be guarding Jasper personally until the day I signed the contract, a whole month later.

8 months, subject to renewal upon stellar performance.

It seemed so easy. And the salary was more than I'd ever made in my life.

My children mean everything to me, but Jasper — he's always been...different.

Like anyone else, I'd seen them before. On the news, talk shows. The star studded family with a mother who was going to change the world.

I'd officially moved to New York not long after. I'd left behind my family and friends and was immediately thrown into a vicious cycle of unbridled, unhealthy hate with Jasper.

I wonder, had I knew what I know now, would I have accepted the position?

I meant what I said before — everything was worth it because I met him. He would always be worth it.

But something about the way Karla had used me like a pawn in her game, made me think she's had this planned from the very beginning.

I look at who I am now, but who is that?