Heart Of Protectors {#2}

Part 15

[Part 15]

“Ethan’s at it again.” Roger-Luc’s voice preceded his presence in the room, but Renee looked up from her novel just in time to find her little brother sauntering into her room through the open door, holding on to a letter paired with a bouquet of flowers.

“Again?” Renee did the best to keep the surprise and annoyance out of her voice, but it must have not been very successful for Roger-Luc grinned back in reply.

“The guy just doesn’t get the hint, does he? Well, at least you know now that he’s serious this time.” Roger-Luc shrugged, inviting himself to a seat at her bedside, resting the flowers on the low bedside table before handing her the love letter. Renee figured that no matter what the man still put in some effort, so she tore the envelop open and read its mushy contents.

“He’s approaching this all wrong.” Renee sighed, folding the letter back and stuffing it back into the envelope, leaving it on the steadily thickening stack on the bedside table. “He just doesn’t get it. I want to be normal. He wants to be special.”

“Now you’re changing your tune, Sis.” Roger-Luc affected a girly tone of voice, and Renee suppressed giggles at Roger-Luc’s best impersonation of a young, all-knowing-about-relationships girl. “Remember when you said all you wanted was for someone to be able to protect you and make you feel safe for the rest of your life?”

It was true, but Renee understood that the worry was now covered by the silent man sitting on the couch at the quiet corner of the room, typing furiously away as if the world had somehow fallen away from him.

“I have Jean-Jacques for that.” She said lowly, so as to not disturb the man by calling his name too loudly.

Roger-Luc’s grin didn’t fall away, but he leaned in, whispering as if they were conspiring.

“You know he won’t be here forever, right? One day, he’s going to find his own hot girlfriend, and they’re going to have beautiful babies, and then you’re going to be sad and regret not hooking him for yourself. Then you’re going to be that sad old lady who missed her prime and the amazing man of her life who could give her the protection she wanted.”

Renee passed a quick look over to the man to make sure he wasn’t eavesdropping, and it was obvious that he was absent from reality by the way he was engrossed in his work. If only things could work out as Roger-Luc said it; if only it were so easy to get through to this deathly, fiercely protective man.

“He’s caring for me like a sister, not a lover. I don’t want to spoil that.” Renee whispered back, leaning even closer to Roger-Luc to make sure Jean-Jacques couldn’t catch up a thing. She wasn’t sure exactly how powerful his hearing was, but she wasn’t about to test it by letting him overhear the conversation between her and Roger-Luc right now.

“Ooh, ouch. You’re sister-zoned before you can even make your move. Maybe Louis was a better choice; he seemed so much more interested in you.” Roger-Luc teased, earning a soft beating from his sister as Renee blushed a little.

“But Louis doesn’t make me feel as safe as Jean-Jacques does. I don’t know… the feeling they give me is just different. Louis makes me feel safe, but Jean-Jacques makes me feel like I can rely on him and trust him to do things.” Renee divulged, looking over to the man who still refused to come back to reality. It was better this way –her simply looking and admiring the man from far away, and wishing that she could somehow help him in his war in payment for the way he was treating her so kindly. If only she wasn’t a liability; a burden to his war with the Russian vampires…

"You seriously want to be an old maid and latch on to me like a leech when we get old, don't you?" Roger-Luc laughed, giving the nonchalant man a brief glance to make sure Jean-Jacques was still very much focused on his work.