Chapter 54 The Personal Bodyguard
Lucas's car followed behind mine. After I entered the villa, he didn't stop but left silently.
Lucas had been really clingy lately, which annoyed me.
It's not that I disliked him - whether he was accompanying me to the market or bringing me flowers, I didn't dislike any of it.
I was just afraid of falling for him again, of compromising and giving in to him once more.
But I had to admit, seeing Lucas anxious and uneasy from not getting a response from me gave me a secret sense of satisfaction.
Too bad I'd been so blunt with my rejection today. With his great pride, he probably wouldn't keep trying to please me anymore.
Early the next morning, Lucas came to visit Harold. I deliberately avoided him and had breakfast in my bedroom.
Before leaving, I went to the kitchen to look for the coffee beans I'd bought recently.
They were supposedly a new variety developed by some country's agricultural research institute, shipped from overseas, and held up at customs for days.
But I'd bought them before Lucas proposed the divorce. With things in the kitchen constantly being used up and restocked, I couldn't find that bag of coffee beans even after five minutes of searching.
That's when I heard Simon's voice outside the kitchen. "I heard you haven't been seeing much of Amelia lately? Have you finally figured things out?"
My hand paused in its search.
Then I heard Lucas's voice. "Amelia lied to me about saving me back then. I've been investigating recently, but don't have any results yet."
Simon said, "Since you know she lied to you, why haven't you cut ties with her? Do you really like Amelia?"
Lucas sounded irritated. "Even though she lied to me, when I was being hunted down, she took me in for several days. If it weren't for her, I couldn't have left Silverpine Town safely."
Simon replied, "But my father already gave her a generous thank-you payment back then, and you've given her so much over the years. That debt has long been repaid!"
Lucas fell silent.
Simon sighed. "What's going on with you and Bella? You bastard, tell me honestly - what are your feelings for Bella?"
I spotted the bag of coffee beans in the corner of the cabinet, but my attention was completely focused on the conversation outside.
Lucas was silent for a long while. "I don't know."
My heart sank. Just then, the door from the kitchen to the yard was pushed open, and the wind chimes on it jingled.
The cook walked in and looked pleasantly surprised to see me. "Ms. Sorelli, could you spare a few minutes? I have a question I'd like to ask you!"
The voices outside stopped.
I pretended I'd just come in from outside like the cook and said, "Of course, go ahead."
The cook asked, "Well, my cousin works in the cafeteria at Mr. Valeri's company. Could you share a tip or two about what Mr. Valeri likes to eat? Like apple pie - he never eats the ones we make, but he always eats the apple pie you bake."
The cook looked puzzled. She was a slow, somewhat simple, but very sincere person. I glanced at the kitchen door, thinking Simon and Lucas must have left.
"Lucas doesn't like the taste of cinnamon. When making apple pie, don't add cinnamon and add more lemon juice instead," I said.
The cook's eyes lit up, and she asked several more questions. I answered them all somewhat helplessly.
After dawdling for several minutes, I finally walked out of the kitchen with the bag of coffee beans. A tall figure stood by the wall.
Lucas seemed to be in a good mood. "I'll drive you to the hotel."
"No need." I frowned and refused, walking quickly outside.
"We still haven't traced the source of yesterday's anonymous message. You're not safe right now." Lucas followed close behind me.
I didn't answer. I changed my shoes and went outside, pointing at the ten new Soldati for Lucas to see for himself.
Last night I told my brothers about Mason. They all took it very seriously. If Marcus weren't away on a mission, he would have wanted to protect me personally.
Gale and Brian felt the same way. It took me a long time to talk them out of it.
But from today on, the security around me would keep increasing until we found whoever was trying to harm me.
Lucas casually looked around and commented, "Still not enough."
I walked straight to my car. Adrian opened the door for me, but Lucas suddenly jogged over, wrapped his arm around my waist, and hoisted me over his shoulder.
"Lucas!" I angrily pounded on his back. Lucas, like a bandit, excitedly carried me to his car.
He buckled my seatbelt and ordered Alfred, "Drive to Platinum Haven Hotel!"
Alfred quickly started the car. Adrian and Cole had no choice but to rush back to their car and follow behind Lucas's vehicle.
I was too angry at Lucas's crazy behavior to speak. But as if he thought I wasn't angry enough, he leaned close to me and said, "You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Uncle Simon just now."
"Who was eavesdropping? I was already in the kitchen!" I glared at him huffily. "You're the ones who chose to talk right outside the kitchen!"
"Uncle Simon and I thought you'd already left," Lucas explained.
Cole and Adrian had left early today. They hadn't seen them, so they mistakenly thought I'd already gone.
"I can actually tolerate the taste of cinnamon. I just prefer the apple pie you make." Lucas's eyes were full of amusement. So that's why he was in such a good mood.
"You were eavesdropping on my conversation with that cook!" I immediately accused him.
Lucas shamelessly nodded. "Yes, I was eavesdropping. I'm shameless, I'm despicable."
He brought my right hand to his lips and gently kissed it.
Suddenly, his expression changed, becoming full of aggression and intensity. "You don't want to give me more time, but I'm going to make you wait for me. Bella, I'm not a good person - you heard that right, I'm threatening you."
I curled my fingers. Lucas kissed my fingertips, his gaze locked on me like a hunter watching his prey. "Whether it's three years, thirteen years, or thirty years, as long as I want it, you can only be my woman."
My eyes sharpened, and I pulled a "pen" from my pocket.
Lucas quickly grabbed my left wrist and pressed it against the car window, leaning down to kiss me.
He kissed me hard, like a fish on shore desperately seeking moisture from my mouth.
When he finally let me go, the pen had rolled away somewhere. His fingers forcefully intertwined with mine, gripping my hand tightly.
"What exactly do you want?" I wanted to scold him loudly, but he'd kissed me until my whole body went weak, making my voice sound less angry and more like I was acting cute.
"I told you, you're not safe right now." Lucas gently pecked at my lips. "Let me be your personal bodyguard."
No one could change Lucas's mind once he'd decided on something, so I had no choice but to bring him along to the trade show.
But it turned out that having him there only caused more trouble.
We'd barely arrived when Amelia showed up.
She didn't come alone. With her was Grace, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.
And Lucas's father, Donald Valeri.