There For You Always

Chapter 4

This is unedited. Hope y'all enjoy!!

Jesy's POV:

"What's going on?" I mumble sleepily, looking at Mom, Daphne, and her parents.

Daphne has her arms folded across her chest and isn't meeting my gaze.

"We need to talk, Jesy." Mom says.

Her tone makes me perk up. Even in my current state, I can tell that whatever she wants to talk to me about is serious.

"Okay. What's up?"

"Around two years ago I started to receive threatening emails, phone calls, and text messages. I didn't really put too much stock into it but since I wasn't the only one threatened, I did take steps to protect the other person."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I ask, now more on alert.

"I didn't want you to be worried or scared."

"Who else was threatened?"

Mom sigh. "You."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Mom!" I practically yell. "You didn't think I had a right to know? So I could protect myself?"

"I told you I didn't put much stock into the threats. And you were protected."

"How?" I try to sit up but wince in pain. This gets Daphne to look at me, concern etched in her features.

She grabs a pillow off the couch and walks over to the bed. She slips one hand behind my neck and lifts me up enough to place the pillow behind me, propping me up without hurting me.

"Thank you." I look up at her.

"You're welcome." She replies, not meeting my eyes. She pulls her hand back and shoves it in her pants pocket.

"You knew, didn't you?" I breathe.

Her eyes flick from me to Mom and that gives me my answer.

"When I got the threats, I turned to Melissa and Gio. We all agreed that you needed to be protected but I didn't want it to interfere with your life. They recommended Daphne for the job. She was already close to you so she could keep an eye on you without being in your way."

"How was she going to protect me? She's a soft little baby. No offense, Daph."

"None taken."

"Daphne is a trained bodyguard.

My head snaps in Daphne's direction and I bite back a wince at the pain I feel.

"That's what I was doing most summers during high school." She explains, finally meeting my gaze.

"So you were with me twenty-four hours a day?"

"No. I was only with you during office hours, another bodyguard had eyes on you the rest of the time."

"The extra two years at the company?"

She nods. "At your Mom's request, until there was no longer a threat."

"Why are you telling me this now, after two years?" I ask, looking back and forth between Mom and Daphne.

Daphne looks at Mom, who nods. She takes a seat on the edge of the bed, being careful not to jostle me. "After three months with no threats, the four of us agreed that it was safe. We now think that assumption is wrong and that your attack is connected to the threats." She chews on her lip. "Can I ask you some questions, Jes?"

I nod slowly, trying to process all this information.

"Did you leave the office alone yesterday?"