Always Running (MATURE CONTENT)

CHAPTER 13

PERFECT. There was no such thing as the perfect man or the perfect life or the perfect woman or the perfect parents or children. Nothing in life was perfect. Lucas was proud of the man he had become. He had done it with hard work, and he had known when an iron fist had been needed, and he did not shy away from the dirty and cruel work that had to be done in order to get to where he was in life.

LEGAL. He tried to make sure that most of his businesses were legal, but let's face it, legality was an invisible shackle that made sure to keep you controlled and under the thumb of someone with more power than you. Lucas made sure that his power was well known, although he also knew when to back down and which fights to pick because he never lost. Losing wasn't an option for him.

POWER. Everybody wanted it and not many had it. Those who did enjoy the privilege of having power usually misused it which led to them losing that power. Men like Lucas knew how to handle power and how to use it to his advantage. Power went great with money and Lucas had both, not only in Harbor City, also across the globe. He was well known in his circle and his circle reached far and wide.

Wanting Nessa had not been a whim or infatuation. He had seen a woman who was broken, who needed a hand to get back on her feet, a woman who had her dreams beaten out of her like it had been done to his mother and he had wanted to help her.

He wanted to believe that it had been a selfless act, but who in that godforsaken world actually do a selfless act? Certainly, no one in his world. Perhaps in other people's world where suffering had not touched them so deep that misery and despair was ingrained in them like it had been done to Lucas and Lilian and now Nessa.

Men like Lucas did not make a move without already knowing what the outcome would be, and he was one hundred percent sure that Nessa would never leave his side, even if and when she found out who he really was. Women like Nessa roamed the world with the blindfold off, having lost it at a young age and realizing what a shithole the world really was. No, women like Nessa knew how to survive and if she wanted to survive, she would hold on to him for dear life because he was her last chance and he was sure that she was well aware of that fact.

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TEN. Nessa had narrowed it down to ten people from the stack of fifty applicants for the personal guard position. Only two women had applied for the job and Nessa found it odd that only two women would apply. It wasn't normal, that was for sure, for women to be personal guards, but Nessa didn't do normal, and she never had. Having a woman as a personal guard was actually a good idea. No one would guess she was guarding Nessa and that gave her the advantage in any situation she might find herself in and she liked it, she liked having the upper hand in almost everything. It gave her control and Nessa needed that desperately in her life.

Lucas and Nessa sat in his office waiting for the ten applicants to arrive for the final interview. Nessa found it strange that Lucas held her hand in both of his as he conducted the interviews. The man was strange to say the least.

After what seemed like hundreds of questions, Nessa had narrowed it down to five applicants. Two women and three men.

The first of the five walked in the office and stood with her hands behind her back in front of the desk and smiled brightly at Lucas and barely paid any attention to Nessa. Nessa was used to women like her. Justin had been surrounded by them and she was not having it again, no way in hell that woman was going to be around Lucas all day long.

"So, tell me Miss Hancock, why do you think you would be an asset for me?" Lucas fired off the first question.

"Well, Lucas, I believe that having me by your side would add greatly to your protection. Having a woman guard could be very useful should you need an escort to an event. Not only would I be your date, also your guard with no one the wiser."