My phone kept buzzing nonstop.
At first, I ignored it.
The leather couch under me was worn in all the right places, and the late afternoon sunlight spilling through my blinds painted the room in streaks of gold. For the first time in a long time, everything was quiet. I wasn't working, No gunfire echoing in the back of my skull. No pounding footsteps behind me or me chasing anyone and no Logan barking orders in my ear. Just a comfortable silence.
I needed to rest for at least three months. And that's what I'd been promised. After years of contracts, after bleeding and sweating in countries where most people couldn't even point to on a map, I had finally negotiated a break. And I was going to take it and make the most of it.
Or at least, I thought I was.
The buzzing went on, relentless, like a mosquito that refused to die. I groaned in annoyance and grabbed the phone and answered without looking at the caller's ID
"Pierce."
"Ethan."
Logan's voice.
My stomach sank. My boss wasn't the kind of man who called to chat about the weather. If he was on the line, it meant trouble.
"I know you're on leave," Logan said. "I know you've earned it. But I need you on this one."
I sat up, swinging my legs off the couch. "No."
He chuckled, but there wasn't a shred of humor in it. "You don't even know what it is yet."
"Doesn't matter." I rubbed at the back of my neck. "I've waited years for this break. I'm not wasting it babysitting anyone."
"Alexander Blackwood. That's who you will be protecting."
The name made me pause for a second.
Everyone knew the Blackwoods. They are from Old money. They build Empires and are ruthless to the core. You didn't live in New York without knowing that name but I don't give a fuck right now. My peace and quiet matters.
"I'm not interested," I said flatly.
Logan sigh . Something he doesn't do often. "He was almost kidnapped yesterday, Ethan. According to his personal Assistant it was an Inside job. His own driver was in on it. Only reason he's still breathing is because he ran. And he barely made it. They had guns."
Not my problem. That's what I wanted to say. But the words stuck in my throat.
" Get him someone else since it's urgent. Sam could do the job just fine." I said trying to sound nonchalant.
Logan pressed on. "Sam is not you. And besides Blackwood's best friend won't let me be. He's the one who came to me. Begged me to put someone on the job. And they don't want just anyone. They want the best. Which means they want you."
I closed my eyes. My pulse drummed in my temples.
"Logan," I said, low and even. "I've been on the clock nonstop for years. I finally have three months to myself. I'm not wasting them shadowing some rich brat who..." he didn't let me finish before cutting me off.
"Bullshit." Logan's tone hardened. "You don't walk away when someone is in dire need of your help or when someone's life is on the line. More reason why I chose you."
I hated that he knew me too well.
Silence stretched. The only sound in my apartment was the hum of the fridge and the faint traffic outside.
No one had ever protected me. Not once. I grew up in an orphanage where I was taught that weakness got you no where just chewed up and spit out. I learned early that you either fought for yourself, or you didn't survive. And I learnt that the hard way.
No one had saved me. No one had cared to save me. Which was why I had built myself into a man who could protect others. Because someone had to. And Logan knew that.
"Ethan," his voice softened, rare for him. "It's temporary. Just until we know who's behind the attempt. You'll keep him alive, keep him breathing. That's just it."
I dragged a hand down my face in frustration. My three months of freedom had evaporated before they even began.
But I already knew my answer.
"Fine," I muttered. "Send me the details."
"Thank you," he said, genuine relief threading his voice. "You won't regret this."
I hung up, staring at the phone in my hand like it had betrayed me. And I have a bad feeling about this job but I had to take it anyway Cause I already told Logan I was going to.
Argh.
I didn't fall asleep that night. Sleep decided to go on vacation just when I needed it. I lay awake in the dark, memories crawling out. Memories of when I was at Nora's orphanage and all the terrible things that happened there.
Nora's orphanage wasn't the kind of place where kids dreamed of fairy tales. It was survival, plain and simple. A rundown building with peeling paint, it looked like a hell hole with staff who were underpaid and overworked , who decided that the best way to release thier frustrations was frustrating the kids.
Food was like gold, we don't get fed regularly and fights were constant or mor like normal. I was one of the smaller kids back then, but I learned fast, because it was the only way to keep the bullies at bay.
If you wanted to eat, you had to earn it, If you wanted to survive, you didn't cry, you don't beg, or break. Living everyday was a struggle no kid should ever face.
By the time I was fourteen, I was already harder than my peers and most grown men. By sixteen, I was sneaking into underground fights just to make money so I could leave when I turn eighteen. My knuckles had been raw more times than I could count.
I remembered one night in particular. I was twelve . Another boy had tried to steal the piece of bread I'd saved from lunch. I didn't think. I just hit him. Again and again, until he stopped moving.
And the sickest part? The staff didn't even intervene. They just dragged him away, left me standing there with blood on my fists and a fire in my chest. They were all monsters. And that was the night I realized something important.
No one was coming to save me.
If I wanted out, I had to save myself. So I did.
Years later, after the orphanage spit me out, I joined the military. Discipline came naturally to me. Violence was second nature. And for the first time in my life, I had purpose. Which was something that kept me going.
But I'd learned something else, too. When people knew they could rely on you, they did. And when you fail,even once, they turn back on you. So I tried my best to only be helpful and reliable to those who needs it without failing.
Morning came faster than I wanted it to. I had my morning routine,which was Workout, Shower, Breakfast. Routine mattered to me. It kept me grounded.
But there was this weight to every movement, a heaviness in my chest I couldn't shake.
I opened the metal case under my bed. My gear was laid out in perfect rows. A Glock. A SIG. Knives, small and concealed. Extra mags. Tactical watch. Body armor.
I didn't need all of it for a civilian detail. But I checked each piece anyway. Cleaned them. Loaded them. My hands moved automatically, like I'd done a thousand times before. Because of course I had.
Once the weapons were stowed, I packed the basics into a duffel.
As I zipped the bag, Logan's words echoed in my head.
"They want the best. That's you."
I didn't feel like the best, I just felt tired. I crave peace and quiet. Is that too much to ask for?
By the time Logan sent me the final details, I was already halfway to his office.
"Mr Blackwood will meet you tomorrow," Logan said as I stepped inside. He was sitting behind his desk, file in hand. "Until then, you'll be briefed on his schedule, his habits, his vulnerabilities. You'll work directly under his assistant,Aiden Walsh. He's the one who reached out."
"one will think the father is the one eager to save his son."
Logan's jaw tightened. " According to what I heard ,The father doesn't care if the kid lives or dies he just wants him to get married and give him grand kids. Which by the way is no business of ours."
I frowned. Cold. But not surprising. That was the kind of world men like the Blackwoods lived in.
Logan slid the file across the desk. I flipped it open.
Alexander Blackwood IV. Age 29. CEO. Born into power. Educated in all the right places. A picture-perfect heir on paper.
But the photo staring back at me wasn't paper. It was a man. Sharp jaw. Piercing eyes. Arrogance in every line of his posture.
I studied him for a long time.
Something twisted in my gut.
"Problem?" Logan asked.
I snapped the file shut. "No."
But the truth was, I wasn't sure.
Because the second I'd looked at him, something had clicked.
Shit. If he is who I thought of right now then I've just gotten myself into serious trouble.
I stood by the window, watching the city lights blur into dawn.
I'd agreed to protect Alexander Blackwood. I didn't know why it felt like I'd just stepped onto a battlefield I wasn't ready for.
But I had the strangest feeling that this job…this man…was going to change everything.
I sigh already tired before the actual job even started.