The Bodyguard

42.

thank you so much for 200k reads! <3

Jealousy. Envy. The green-eyed monster.

Regardless of its name, it always evoked that same wretched feeling.

Jealously clung to the crevices of one's skin like sweat did on a warm summer day. Only, sweat could be washed off. A simple shower and you'd be clean. You'd be free of it.

Something visceral, something so embedded, something like jealousy, could not be erased with ease.

Another truth: something or someone always exacerbated it — helped it fester.

There was always an underlying, deeper reasoning desperate to claw its way through. Jealousy was the emotion that showed itself because it was the easiest. It was simple.

It manifested in many different ways. The feeling was visceral but the reaction to that feeling? That was tangible.

It was a feeling that Ace was desperately trying to repress, but failing at it. It had creeped it's way in, slowly but surely. Clung to his skin and consumed his senses.

What drove it? Anger, sadness, envy, longing. A plethora of emotions he could not begin to explain. All he knew was only one person could absolve them.

August Sterling was by all means a prodigal son. The three generations before him ensured that he would have no other choice.

His family owned the largest fracking corporation in the states, along with a multitude of subsidiary companies who had a hand in everything from oil to natural gas production.

Essentially, the Sterlings had a monopoly on hydraulic fracturing in the United States, and everything that came with it.

New York is where Sterling Industries began and where August grew up with nothing short of the best. Private school throughout his formative years and Ivy League education throughout college. His father, Anthony Sterling, made an investment in him, and that investment needed to pay off.

Evidently, it had.

Now at 25, August owned a philanthropic foundation called The Rise Project. Despite his not so humble beginnings, he wanted to make a name for himself that wasn't tied to oil or his father.

But even then, the Sterling family name preceded him, as did its reputation. As such, his business was thriving.

He'd already been featured in Forbes twice. Investors were dying to get a piece of the pie that was the beginning of a new Sterling generation and legacy.

He was on track to becoming one of the youngest players in the game to own a multimillion international company, all before he was 30.

The worst part about it all? He was unnervingly humble and his company wasn't just a quick money grab. August's company worked internationally and domestically to create educational infrastructure that aided underrepresented communities throughout the entirety of their schooling.

Of course his father loaned him a disgusting amount of money to start it, and of course his family's name had a part in why it was so successful. That didn't negate the fact that he was trying to do something good for the world.

So why the alliance with Karla White? August would never need the money and he had a path of his own that was proving to be successful. The answer was simple really: Anthony Sterling, his father.

For the past five years, Anthony had been trying to get the rights to undeveloped land in Alaska for his fracking. The land was untouched and apparently rich with the type of rock formation needed for his work.