The Billionaire And The Waitress (gxg)

48 - a shadow

MUSE finally met the security team that had been following her around since she'd been engaged to Adrien. 

    Out of all twenty-something of them, she could only remember two: a man and a woman, whom she could have sworn she had never seen in her life―but then, it meant they had been doing their jobs well. 

    "Catalina," the woman had said, grasping Muse's hand so firmly it turned bone-white. 

    She was short, with brown skin and waist-length black hair. Though the weather had turned simmering hot in the time since Adrien and Muse had arrived to the hotel over an hour ago, she wore baggy black cargo pants and a close-fitted zip-up sweater. Her eyes seemed dark and far too serious, as if Adrien and Muse were at risk of being sniped at any moment.

    The other man introduced himself as Joseph. He was bald and had to be much taller than six feet―Muse had never had a good concept of height beyond that. When he spoke, his voice reverberated deeply through the hot air. Pitch-black sunglasses had been pushed atop his bald head. 

     When Muse imagined vaguely what a bodyguard would look like, he came to mind. His neck was corded with veins, and muscles bulged in his arms through the sleeveless white top. He was dressed more appropriately to vacation than Catalina―with shark-printed swim trunks and Crocs―but he stood out far more with his giant, muscular frame.

     "Most of us didn't have time to change," Catalina had explained to Adrien. 

     Adrien only shrugged. "Good. Look menacing."

     After saying goodbye to the security team, Muse had turned to Adrien. "Why are you introducing me to them now?"

     It was crazy to think she had had a team of blackout international agents tailing her for months. 

     "The resort here is smaller. Less people. They would have stood out to you anyway, once you kept seeing them over and over." Adrien's jaw tensed. "And I think Grey is up to something."

      Muse shuffled her beach bag over her shoulder. "What do you mean?"

      "Walk with me to the beach, my love. I'll explain." 

      Both of Adrien's hands were full with the bags they―or, more accurately, Muse―had chosen to bring: stuffed with towels, snacks from the built-in suite refrigerator, a change of clothes, and emergency toiletries. Her arms gleamed lean and muscular in the sunlight. The only bag she had  let Muse hold was mostly empty―save for sunglasses and a lip liner. It was essentially a prop.

      Muse grabbed Adrien's bicep, since her hands weren't free, and followed her as she walked towards the beach in the distance. The island glittered in the afternoon light.

     For the first time, they didn't feel like enemies or strangers. They felt like a team―like friends.

     "I have a feeling Grey gave the idea to my father about the marriage," Adrien said.

     Muse tried not to pay attention to the way she looked with those sunglasses, her dark hair pushed back and gleaming, her white tank top revealing her tan skin and smooth chest. Her silver chain necklace flickered, capturing the rays of the sun. 

     Friends, she reminded herself, trying not to breathe harder.

     "If I'm right, and he was behind this whole thing, then he wants the company when my father dies more than I realized. I think he also had something to do with the conversation you overheard, and Piper in the changeroom."