Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
But I couldn’t, and that was just it. I had to hope I’d said the right things and leave it at that, even if I didn’t fucking like it.
Sighing, I grabbed my tablet off the charger and opened the employee files so I had everything ready when Bento finally made his way to my office. Rico and I had gone through the list yesterday to find suitable guards for Anurak while Bento was out of commission, but Rico wanted Bento to make the final decision. It spoke volumes about how much he trusted Bento when it came to Anurak’s safety. Had Bento lost his life so Anurak could run, it would’ve been the ultimate sacrifice.
And I probably would have went off the fucking deep end. Rico would’ve had to put me down. Because regardless of if Bento’s attack had been Anurak’s fault or not, I would’ve lashed out at the boy. No one would have been safe from my wrath.
The door to my office opened, and I arched a brow at Bento. “Heard of knocking?” I drawled.
He rolled his eyes. “When have I ever fucking knocked?” he retorted. Then, like the true smart-ass he was, he raised his fist and knocked on the open door. I shot him a deadpan look. “Happy?” he asked, a smirk tilting his lips.
He seemed okay, but I knew Bento was excellent at wearing a mask. It was one of his aspects that made him such a good guard. He could mask anything he was feeling—except for me. Something in his eyes always gave him away to me, and as I studied him, I could see the lingering hurt in his eyes.
Anurak had done a fucking number on him, even if he hadn’t meant his words in the way Bento had taken them. Seeing Bento hurt made me want to go upstairs, drag Anurak out of his room, and force him to his knees so he could apologize to Bento. But I kept my urges in check. Rico would put a bullet in my skull so quick, I wouldn’t even see it coming.
“You’re such a fucking brat,” I muttered. I pointed to the chair across from my desk. “Sit.” Once he dropped into the chair with a wince, I grabbed the bottle of pain pills Rico had given me for him and dropped one out into my palm. I handed it to him, then gave him a bottle of water. “Take that. Then, we need to go through employee files to find three guards for Anurak while you’re out of commission. Rico wants you to have final say.”
Bento groaned after he’d swallowed the pill. “I don’t do admin bullshit, Niran,” he said, capping the water bottle and setting it on my desk.
“You do today.” I turned the tablet toward him, then slid him a notebook and a pen. “Write down who you think is suitable. Remember, you need three.”
He rolled his eyes. “Why fucking three? Isn’t that a little overkill? The mother fuckers who tried to kidnap him are currently wasting away in the basement.”
I rolled my eyes as I turned toward my computer so I could start on payroll. I was supposed to be on leave, but I didn’t trust Alfonzo to get this done in time. The man couldn’t sit at a desk long enough to handle something like payroll. He was a field man through and through, even if he was Rico’s second-in-command.
“Because it will take three men to replace what you could do as one,” I retorted, pulling up the system I needed. “Now hush and do what I told you.”
Bento sighed loudly as if being forced to sit in a chair and do something as simple as going through employee files was such tedious work. “You better be glad I like it when you get bossy with me,” he muttered. “And I expect a workout after this. I’m restless.”
I shook my head, already punching numbers into the system. “No working out for at least three months,” I told him. If his jaw dropping could have made a sound, I would’ve heard it, no fucking doubt. “Doctor’s orders. And even longer than that if your physical therapist isn’t comfortable with you returning to work.”
My tablet made a loud clatter as it hit the wooden desk. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, preparing myself for Bento losing his shit. And it was going to happen. I’d just ripped away the one thing that gave him a way to push out his extra energy and his feelings. The one thing he’d been able to rely on since Rico had brought him here and put him under my command.
Stability.
“No,” he snapped. I opened my eyes to look at him. He jabbed his finger into the desk. I turned my chair so I was facing him and steepled my fingers over my flat stomach. “I’m already being ripped of my duties as Anurak’s fucking bodyguard. I can come to terms with that, Niran.” He was already breathing hard, his eyes burning with anger. “You can’t take this from me too, goddammit.”