Her Bodyguard

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Hold on a second. Did I hear you right? Italy?" Izar asked, freaking out already. "But why?"

"Because that's where we should go. We'll be in the States for a while, but if we don't end this very soon, Diablo will come for you. Alyssa and Han are safe, but you and I are out in the open. Do you want to keep running forever?" Calida asked her, driving into a neighborhood that Izar had never been to before.

Izar groaned, "most of the time, I don't understand you. What do you even mean? There's more you aren't telling me."

Calida stopped the car, a bit too aggressively, slamming into the brakes. They were parked in front of a building now. Izar didn't even know when they'd gotten there. She turned to Calida sharply.

"There's more you don't know and I don't intend to tell you yet. You're being stubborn and I can't deal with that now. Protecting you is my number one duty. The second is to bring this whole thing to a stop. Do you understand? Now get out of the car and go inside the house. Pick a room. It's a safe house. Diablo would be too busy gathering his losses to come for us." Calida explained. She didn't look at Izar because she knew the drama queen would act out again.

She got out of the car and unloaded it. She didn't talk to Izar and neither did Izar want to speak to her. Grumbling about disrespectful and controlling bodyguards, Izar matched into the house. It looked simple and so did the neighborhood. She wanted to leave, to go back home. She wanted to see her friends and laugh at their silly jokes, but that couldn't happen anymore.

"If Alyssa didn't go looking for trouble, none of this would have happened," Izar grumbled as she plopped on a couch.

"Izar, pick a room or I'll leave your stuff here, in the lobby." Calida called out.

"Do something like that and I'll feed you to the birds," Izar replied, her eyes daring Calida.

"Feisty all of a sudden. But if you don't get your ass out of that couch and go upstairs to pick a room, I'll either leave your stuff here or leave it in a random room of my choice. We'll be here until I get our tickets booked. Plus I need to speak to your dad!"

That was enough to get Izar off the couch. Calida walked behind her, up the stairs until she found a room with windows that she liked. It was spacious and had an en suite. Calida didn't mind that, she'd never cared much for things like that. She just wanted to fix this.

Calida dumped her bags on the floor. "I see you've made your choice. I'll let you be now."

She turned and left the room. Izar watched her leave. Why was she mad again? It wasn't like Calida had done this on purpose. Calida didn't get her into this mess, Alyssa did. Except that Alyssa was lying in a coma, protected by law officials and Han was safe in China. She was the only one who actually had no where to hide and Calida was only trying to fix the problem.

Calida made herself a glass of juice in the kitchen. She'd taken off her suit and undid her tie. Sometimes, she hated being a bodyguard, but the voices reminded her why she was doing this. A phone pinged in her suit pocket. She pulled it out. It was one of the burner cell phones she used. There was a text message.

Quando arriverai a casa? Stiamo aspettando il tuo arrivo. C.

Calida stared at the text. She wasn't sure when she would be arriving at Italy. She had been uncertain about the whole thing in the first place. She didn't want to remember. But they were waiting for her.

Sai che lo farò da solo. È la mia battaglia e tu non puoi combatterla per me. Devo farlo da solo.

This was her battle. She wanted to fight it alone. She switched the phone off and pulled out a different one from the kitchen drawers. She dialed Mr. Sterling's phone and waited for him to answer the phone. It took two rings before he answered.

"Arell. You called." Izar's father said into the phone.

"Mr. Sterling. I'm glad you answered. It's been a while we spoke," Calida replied.

She heard a sigh. "Yes. As we agreed, I haven't spoken to Izar. You know how this is. Don Pedro..."

"I know. He has no idea she is your daughter. And he won't back off. It'll just give him reason to take you out as well. So I know. But you know I'm the only one that can end this and that is why you put her safety in my hands." Calida turned to look around to make sure Izar was no where near. "She can't know now. But I've decided to go to Italy. We both want this to end. I need a private jet. I don't need yours. I need you to hire one. Make it happen in the next thirty-four hours."

"That'll not be a problem. But Calida, I have one question," Izar's father said.

"Yes?"

"Will Izar be safe?" He asked quietly.

Calida could hear his heart breaking. She hadn't expected him to sound like that. "Yes, Mr. Sterling. I'd rather take a hundred bullets myself than let anything happen to Izar. She's in safe hands. By the time all if this is done, she'll return to her life like nothing ever happened. And I'll leave her life too, as agreed."

"Good. See to it that all of that happens."

The line went dead immediately and Calida turned around, coming face to face with Izar. When had she come down? Did she hear what she said? Izar wasn't saying anything, but the look on her face explained it all. She'd heard Calida. She turned and bolted for her room. She shut the door as Calida hurried after her.

"Izar! Open the door!" Calida banged against her door multiple times.

"Leave me alone! Get out! Get away from me!" Came Izar's response.

Calida frowned. Nothing had prepared her for this today. "Izar, will you please open the door for me?" She asked calmly.

"No. Please leave me alone!" Izar responded.

She was crying. It hurt Calida now. Since when did Izar get to her like this? "Alright. I'll let you be. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. I'll make us dinner and when you're ready, you can come down and have it. I'll be here if you need to talk."

Calida left her door and stayed in the kitchen. If Izar wouldn't come down, then Calida knew she would either calmly remove the door or break it down if she was unable to remove it. Once Calida was done making lasagna for dinner, she made a banana split for dessert. One thing she liked about safe houses was the fact that it was always stocked up. Her boss made sure of it.

It took two hours, but Izar didn't come downstairs for dinner. Calida said nothing. Instead, she served dinner and then walked upstairs to Izar's room.

"Izar, I don't want to act come se fossi pazzo. So, open the door, or I'll act like a mad person and blow it apart."

The door sprang open. "Are you crazy?!" Izar roared.

"I am. I get even crazier when my food grows cold. Come on now, dinner is ready. And no, we won't talk about what you heard until you've eaten dinner." Calida stated without sparing her a glance.

Izar frowned, but said nothing. They had dinner quietly. Calida ignored Izar's existence and Izar returned the favor. After dinner, they shared the banana split, sitting far away from each other on the couch.

"New international passports will be delivered here tomorrow. They'll be our new identity until we get to Italy. It's important that you play along until we leave here safely. The man who got Alyssa attacked will track us to Italy. But he won't come straight to us." Calida told Izar as she scooped more ice cream into her mouth.

"I don't care." Izar muttered.

Calida chuckled. "You should."

"Were you really serious? Did you mean what you told my dad?" Izar asked quietly, her voice heavy with pain.

Calida unbuttoned her shirt. The sleeves were already folded. She tugged the shirt out of her pants and removed the clothing. She seemed much better in the undershirt she had on. Izar gulped, cursing her luck. How was she supposed to stay mad when the person she was mad at was looking like her next meal?

"As a bodyguard, when my job is done and I'm done protecting you, I have to leave your life. That's how it works, you know." Calida explained.

"But I don't want you to. Don't you get it?" Izar murmured.

"I do. But that's the thing. You don't get to decide, Izar. You don't."