He was as well dressed as he had been at the restaurant that night. Tonight he had on a navy blue suit with a white shirt and a deep red tie. His cerulean blue eyes looked around the room, but his face held a neutral expression. I was so busy staring at him that it took me by surprise to hear his deep voice.

"What the hell happened in here?"

Cameron spoke up first.

"That's what I called you here for."

"To help clean?"

He sounded both annoyed and slightly amused at the prospect of cleaning up the mess.

"No, I have people coming tomorrow to deal with this. But the person who did this is why I called you."

"What were they looking for?"

"Not a what, a who. Ana, come here."

I had been slightly hidden behind Marisa the entire time but now all eyes were on me. I slowly made my way to Cameron, all too aware of a certain pair of blue eyes on me the entire time. When I reached Cameron, he placed his hands on my shoulders in a comforting gesture.

"Ana, this is my best friend and your new bodyguard, Alexander Rush, Alex this is my best friend, Anastasia Hills."

His blue eyes remained on my face while the introductions were being made and it was making me nervous.

"Who are you running from?"

It took me a second to realize that his question was being directed at me. I looked up at Cameron to ask if it was okay that he knew, he nodded.

"My husband."

I hated calling him that but I wasn't sure what else I could label him as. I placed my hands on my belly, which was a way I discovered that gave me comfort. I saw his eyes flash down to where my hands were and he directed his next statement to me.

"You're pregnant."

I nodded.

"I'll help you."

I was actually quite shocked to be honest. I didn't think it would be this easy. He made a gesture to Cameron that indicated that he wanted to talk to him alone.

While they talked I turned to a teary eyed Marisa and held my arms out for a hug. She hugged me as close as my belly would allow.

"I'm going to miss you so much Ana."

"I'm going to miss you too.'

"Promise me you'll call often, and let me know when you go into labor, I want to be there. And please keep safe, I need you to help keep my mouth in check."

I nodded my head and at this point we were both crying, but laughing. She handed me a small duffel bag.

"I know it's not much but it's all I had that you could fit, but we'll go shopping soon you still need stuff for the baby."

I nodded, unable to speak once again.

"Come on, let's go down to the car."

I followed her downstairs, taking the elevator this time. There was a sleek, black sports car sitting on the curb.

"Marisa, there is no way I'm going to be able to get into that."

She only laughed in response. We stood there, silently, for a moment and the fancy car gave a soft beep, indicating that it had been unlocked. Marisa opened the door and gave me on last hug before she was replaced by Cameron.

"Stay safe, okay?"

"Yes dad."

He let out a laugh and helped me ease into the car. Alexander had gotten in on his side and started the engine when Cameron squatted down in front of me.

"Take care of my niece, me and Marisa will come see you in a few weeks okay?"

"Okay, love you Cameron."

He kissed me on my cheek.

"Love you too Ana."

He looked behind me at Alexander and said in a baby voice.

"Love you Alex."

"Shut up and close my door."

Cameron only laughed some more but he sobered up quickly.

"Alex, take care of her, treat her well, and keep her safe."

He was met with silence, but I assumed he nodded or something because Cameron and Marisa sent me one final smile and he shut the door. Then we were off. I looked back at the only two people who had ever shown me any kindness until they disappeared around a corner.

I faced the front and thought about where life was about to take me now.

**

We drove in complete silence, not even the radio was playing. I took in Alexander out of the corner of my eye. His suit jacket was stretched around his muscles as he gripped the steering wheel loosely with his left hand, his right resting on his firm looking thigh, eyes focused on the road.

I quit ogling Alexander and thought about my current situation.

Can I trust him? I mean Cameron trusts him and he said that he would keep me safe. What is John up to? Is he following me? What if he hurts Marisa or Cameron or even Alexander?

These thoughts floated through my head and I was so deep in thought that I hadn't even realized that we had stopped in front of a house. Actually it was less of a house and more of a mansion. Holy shit.

It was a beautiful gray brick mansion, the epitome of elegance and, well, richness. The inside of the house was brightly lit and gave the house a warm glow. I think I could really get used to living here. I slowly opened the car door. Okay now for the hard part. I will be the first person to admit that being Six months pregnant isn't very compatible with a sports car that sits this low. I planted my sandaled feet on the pavement and scooted to the edge of the seat. I gripped the top of the door and pulled in an attempt to pull myself up. After a minute or two of pulling I managed to get in a weird position, where my back was arched, belly up but I couldn't get the rest of my body to cooperate to get into an upright position. After struggling like this for a few seconds I flopped back down onto the seat, trying to catch my breath.

"That was very amusing, but you should have just asked for help."

My eyes snapped up to Alexander, while I was struggling to stand up I had completely forgotten he was there. But there he was, my bag in his left hand, an amused glint in his eye. But despite his teasing words his voice was hard, matching the stony expression on his face.

Before I could actually get up the nerve to speak to him he was in front of me, hand outstretched. I reached on to take hold of his and almost let go when our hands touched.

It felt like I had been shocked and judging the way his eyes widened, I knew he had felt it too. Neither of us said anything as he placed his other hand in mine and pulled me up out of the car and steadied me on my feet.

Once I was steady he released my hands like I had burned him and quickly turned around and walked to the front door. I closed the car door, careful not to slam it, and made my way up the few stairs and to the door where Alexander was waiting for me. He let me walk in first and I stopped in my tracks. This place was beautiful.

Alexander didn't give me much time to take in my surroundings, he had already breezed by me and was starting up the stairs that led to the right wing and I followed him. He stopped at the third set of double doors on the left. The room was fairly large with plush cream carpet and cream walls, a four poster bed with a canopy, and a matching dresser and nightstands. There were two doors on either side of the room, one I assumed, was a closet and the other a bathroom.

"This is your room, I'm sure you can figure out where everything is, I have to get back to work. If you need assistance hit the blue button on the intercom."

He put my bag on the vanity next to him, turned around, and left me on my own. How polite.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. I should get some rest, I'm exhausted.

I went to the door on the left and saw that it was a large bathroom with a jacuzzi and a glass shower. The floors were marble as was the counter. This guy didn't spare any expense when it comes to his house. I decided to pass on the Jacuzzi and went to the shower instead. I used the hair tie on my wrist to pull my hair up in a bun while I waited for the water to warm up. Once the water was hot I stripped, avoiding looking at myself in the mirror, and climbed into the spacious shower. The water felt nice on my sore muscles and exhaustion was getting the best of me. I quickly washed off with the soap that smelled a lot like jolly ranchers, and climbed out of the shower. I dressed in the tank top and soft pajama pants that Marisa had packed for me and walked back into the bedroom. I came across a little problem when I went to get in the bed that sat higher up than what was necessary. I tried climbing up and clawing at the sheets, hoping for the best. I tried this tactic several times and failed miserably every time. Why the fuck would he buy theses overly slippery sheets, dammit.

"I just need something to stand on."

That's when I saw it, the vanity chair.

"Yes, I'm a fucking genius."

I went over to the chair and dragged it over to the bed. Good God, what the hell is made of, solid gold?

I positioned the chair and stepped up on it and successfully wiggled my way onto the soft bed. I crawled under the blankets and switched off the lamp. I moved around until I found a comfortable position and fell into a fitful sleep.

--

I was awakened by someone softly shaking me awake.

"Miss, miss."

I cracked my eyes open, ready to give hell to whoever had the nerve to wake me up this early. As my vision focused I saw that it was a woman about my age or a little older, dressed in a housekeeper's uniform.

"I'm sorry to wake you Miss, but Mr. Rush has requested to see you downstairs in his office immediately."

I sat up, trying to process what she had just said.

"He wants to see me now?"

"Yes ma'am, now." She said rather snappily.

"Okay, let me brush my teeth first and I'll be right down."

The woman looked positively pissed at the fact that I wanted to brush my teeth.

"I'll be quick I promise."

I whipped the blankets back and eased my way onto the chair. I peeked at the woman and she looked positively shocked, but she also didn't offer any help either, so I got my feet on the floor and headed to the bathroom. I handled my business and brushed my teeth. I made my way back into the room and saw the maid scowling at me. She looked me up and down with a look of disapproval.

"Follow me."

Instead of snapping at her like I wanted to, I just followed her silently to his office. She knocked three times and waited until a voice called out a muffled 'come in'. She opened the door and impatiently gestured me in and all but slammed the door once I was in.

I took in Alexander's office, it was large with floor to ceiling bookshelves on both walls. A beautiful carpet covered the wood floor and atop the rug was a grand solid wood desk which had two matching wood chairs sitting in front and a leather rolling chair on the other. Alexander sat in the leather rolling chair and two big men, dressed in black, stood off to the side.

Alexander hadn't addressed me yet, he sat with his head down, a pen scratching softly against paper was the only sound in the room. I placed my hands on my belly to stop from fidgeting, I had zoned out a little and jumped a little when I heard his deep voice call my name.

"Ms. Hills."

My eyes snapped to his and I immediately looked away from his intense stare. He didn't say anything for a few seconds and one of the men cleared his throat louder than necessary, a small smirk appearing on his face. Alexander cleared his throat and spoke.

"Ms. Hills, this is Nate." He pointed to the man on the left.

"and this is Jacob, they will be your bodyguards while you are under my protection. Listen clearly, I won't repeat myself. You are to stay within their line of sight as long as they are assigned to you, understood?"

I nodded.

"You will have restrictions on where you can go, you cannot leave this house, you may explore the gardens and utilize the pool but that is all. There are also restrictions on phone usage, you are only allowed to call me for emergencies only."

I stared at him in shock. What does he mean I can't leave the house, he's supposed to be protecting me not keeping me on lockdown.

"Um- I have a job, I need to go to work."

The look he gave me could've melted steel.

"Then you will quit, while you are under my watch you are not permitted to leave the premises. I suggest you take my restrictions seriously or you can go back to whatever godforsaken slum you came from and you and your child can be some alcoholic's punching bag. Is that what you want Ms. Hills, are you wasting my time? You should know that time is something I don't like to waste. Now I'll ask you again, are you wasting my time Ms. Hills?"

His voice was clod as ice and his face hard as marble and froze me to my bones. I knew he was my only chance of keeping my baby and myself safe from john, so I had no choice but to agree to his terms.

"No, I understand."

"Good, and remember I'm only doing this because a friend asked me to and I have no problem taking that favor back. So if you want my protection you'll fall in line and do as I say. You're dismissed, take them with you."

I turned as quickly as I could, fighting back tears, and opened the heavy wooden door. I knew that I had been told things that were much worse than what he said, but for some reason his words stung. One of the men, Nate, handed me a tissue and sent a soft smile in my direction.

We stopped outside my room and I turned to them.

"Um, do you guys have to come in with me, I just need to get dressed."

The blonde one, Jacob spoke up this time with a smile.

"No, Ms. Hills you're on your own for bathroom breaks and when you're in your bedroom, we do have to stand outside the door though."

"Oh, okay, well I'll be fast."

I quickly made my way into the room and grabbed a navy-blue dress from my bag and quickly took off my pajamas and slipped on the dress. I decided against shoes since I would be in the house all day and decided to let my hair down today. I opened my door and sure enough, Nate and Jacob stood directly in front of it. I don't think they heard me open the door because they stood just as still as they did when I closed it.

"Guys, we can head downstairs now, I'm a bit hungry."

They turned simultaneously and stepped aside, allowing me through. I wasn't sure where the kitchen was so as we got to the bottom of the stairs, I took a right. Luck was on my side because I walked right into the large stainless steel and granite kitchen. I went straight to the fridge and grabbed ingredients for breakfast.

"I thought he had people to do this for him, does he not eat or something?"

Nate spoke up.

"He fired almost everyone this morning, he didn't want anyone bringing trouble while you were here. I know he kept on an older woman in case you needed help figuring something out but she only works from noon until about five."

"He fired people because of me? That's not fair to his employees, they have families to feed."

"I'm sure he made sure they had employment before he let them go."

"Well, I hope so. Are you two hungry?"

Jacob spoke up

"Ma'am, we are only here to protect you, nothing more."

"Well you can't protect me if you're too hungry to concentrate."

I sent them a bright smile.

"Now, do pancakes sound good?"