Her Bodyguard

Chapter Thirty-Two

If there was anything Calida was tired of, it was constantly answering questions. But not today. Izar had so much questions to ask and Calida had so much answers to give, even when something confused her. And whenever Izar laughed at something, Calida would smile. This wasn't supposed to happen. How had she started falling for the rich brat without even knowing? It was almost impossible. But here she was, answering, talking, doing things she never did before.

Calida had let Izar order their food. They'd had bread sticks and something else Izar said she wasn't sure of for appetizers. When she was satisfied, she placed an order for lasagna, then some Alfredo chicken. For dessert, they had a gelato that Calida ended up leaving for Izar. She watched the smaller woman devour the bowl of ice cream until there was nothing left.

"Done?" Calida asked her.

Izar nodded like a child and Calida seemed proud that she'd gotten her to a place she enjoyed. She was certain the younger woman didn't like her much. But as they got ready to leave the restaurant, Izar held onto her arm after she paid for their food and drinks. Calida held her breath for a second until they started walking towards the door.

"Okay, the lasagna was the best I've had in a long ass time. It was so good!" Izar said the second they walked out of the restaurant. Calida shrugged, of course it would be good. She'd brought her to the choicest places in the small town.

"Yes, it was. Their food's good, that's why I brought you here. Your father should have let you come home more often," Calida said quietly, enough for the both of them to hear her.

"Home?" Izar asked in confusion.

Calida stopped in front of the car and turned to face Izar who was still looking confused.

"Of course, home. Your mother was born here. That was years before she married into the Sterling family. You didn't know this?" Calida asked.

Izar sighed. "I know my mother's from Italy. But there's a lot more that I don't know about her. I don't like to think about it too much."

Calida sighed. "That's alright. Come on. Let's go back to the bunker. We'll be safe there."

She opened the door for Izar who was suddenly quiet now. The smaller woman climbed into the car. Calida always did a lot of research before accepting a client. But this time, she'd made everything work towards her. She'd planned everything. Izar's mother was the daughter of a retired mafia boss. She scoffed at the thought of it. After years of crime, she'd heard on the news that Calista's son, Donato "Don" Marini had surrendered himself to the police. He was dead now, long gone. He'd sold everything he had off and the properties he had left, he'd transferred to the only surviving child he had, Izar's mother.

She'd changed her identity and left Italy years before her father's surrender. It took a lot of research to trace her. And that only happened because Calida had been tracking Sterling's family line before she would accept the offer to protect his only child, Izar. Lucia Marini had been missing for years now, but Claudia Sterling had been dead for years. Two different identities, one person.

They drove past a flower shop and Calida's eyes caught sunflowers. Izar's favourite flowers. She stopped the car suddenly.

"Jesus! What was that for?" Izar asked.

"Stay here. I'll be right back." She climbed out of the car, knowing Izar had been too absentminded to notice the flower shop. It would be a proper surprise. It would put a smile on her face.

Calida ground her teeth as she walked to the flower shop. It was a small one and an older woman owned the shop.

"Hello," Calida said, suddenly unsure of how to go about this.

She'd assassinated men ten times bigger than her. But she'd had troubles babysitting a girl child. She'd shot a man twice between the eyes, but she couldn't deal with the older woman who was now smiling up at her. A car sped past the flower shop and Calida turned for a second, before turning to the older woman again.

"Il girasole...I want the sunflower in a bouquet..." She stuttered.

"Such a sweetheart," the woman muttered. "Is the flower for a loved one?"

Was Izar a loved one? Calida swallowed as she nodded.

"Bene, bene. Vieni. I wrap flowers for you," the older lady smiled as she walked over to the sunflowers.

Calida turned to look in the direction of her car. She felt off but she couldn't see everything clearly from here. A sudden feeling came over Calida. It was small, but overwhelming. The last time Calida recalled feeling like that was the night she couldn't find Izar, when she found her about an hour later, bruised and about to be...she stopped as the older woman handed her the bouquet. Calida took the flowers and pulled out a few notes from her pocket. She stuffed it in the woman's hands and turned to walk away. But the woman held her.

"You gave me too much. Take your change," the woman said.

Calida shook her head. "No time. Keep it. Please."

"Oh," the woman said. Then she smiled at her and stood on the tips of her toes to brush her cheeks.

"Hard around the edges and cold hearted. But she has warmed you up, hasn't she?" She asked, looking deep into Calida's eyes. Calida did not turn away. "You must really love her or you would not have stopped to buy flowers."

Love. That was a word Calida never understood. She had loved her family and then lost them in the blink of an eye. She took a step back when the woman let go and a sudden wave of alertness took over. She ran to the car and came to a halt when she found the passenger side door open.

Izar was gone. There seemed to be a bit of a struggle. Of course the smaller woman would have put up a fight. Calida stared at the tyre tracks in front of her car. An old Volvo. The one that had sped past the flower shop. She stared at the open door again and gently placed the sunflowers in the passenger seat. She closed the door as if Izar had been the one sitting there and not the flowers. Then she climbed into the car and drove off. They'd smashed the car window and forced the door open. She could picture it, Izar punching one of them and shoving him out of the car before a gun had been pointed at her. Calida could see it all in her minds eye.

She stopped in front of the safe house. She got out of the car, leaving the bouquet in the passenger seat. She opened the door to the safe house and shut it loudly. She had been patient and nice. She'd warned Diablo, but it seemed he was as stubborn as ever. She pressed another button to access the bunker once she got to the end of the passage she'd walked through. Izar's door was open and Calida had caught sight of her things scattered across the room. She walked through the door and down the steps that led to the bunker.

The room was bigger than the upper part of the bunker. It was a training room. When she got the place, she'd had it cleaned thoroughly and a gym installed, together with a space to learn her martial arts in peace. In one corner was a blank wall. Calida placed her hand on the lower part of the wall. It beeped and opened to reveal weapons she hadn't used in years. They were all in good condition, well preserved. She smiled as she took a katana in her hand, swinging the Japanese sword in her hand.

It felt like a third arm, an extension of herself. She placed it back as memories of a twitching arm lying on the floor filled her head. Zed had groped her after classes in the showers. She'd been silent, but during their next duel, she sliced her sword through his left arm. That was the last time anyone bothered her.

Calida grabbed her Glock and as much ammunition as she would need. She filled up four magazines for each gun. She was always prepared, so she already had two guns in her holster. The Glocks were an addition. She was not about to use her two sleek customized SIG Sauer P320 that were sitting in her white suitcase on the ground floor.

She opened the closet beside her armory and pulled out a clean dark blue suit, a white long sleeved shirt and a proper Italian tie. She took her time putting on the suit. Once she was done, Calida fixed her tie and her waist coat after adjusting her holster. She pulled on a second holster on her jacket, grabbing one more gun, an old Glock she'd intended to give away.

Prepared, Calida pulled her curly locks into a ponytail. She was going to mess Diablo up even if her life depended on it.