In Security Chapter 1

The day Dr. Adrian Vance brought his girlfriend home, my job, as head of his security detail, was to meticulously scan their personal belongings for listening devices.

Suddenly, Lily Medak pointed a trembling finger at me, her eyes welling with tears.

"You men are all the same! We've been apart for one month—one month! — and you're already keeping a canary on the side."

I, the canary in question, was speechless.

Who, me? All six-foot-one, one hundred and eighty pounds of me?

There was no sugar daddy footing my bills; I was drawing a government salary as a bodyguard.

…

Dr. Adrian Vance was a key government scientist, a national asset whose latest research had put him on the radar of hostile operatives. The state had assigned me, one of their top agents, to ensure his safety.

To prevent his family from being used as leverage, I’d moved his parents and his girlfriend into the safe house with him. Full protection detail.

Before I could even speak, Lily clung to Adrian, her voice rising hysterically.

"Don't even try to deny it! If this woman isn't your little pet, then why is she living with you? And why is she going through our luggage? I'm the lady of this house! I'm your girlfriend! You think I would ever do anything to hurt you?"

"I know you're a world-renowned scientist, and I'm just an ordinary woman," she sobbed, changing tactics. "The gap between us is huge, I have no right to question you, it's just…"

With that, she threw herself into Mrs. Vance's arms and began to wail.

Adrian's mother immediately started comforting Lily while scolding her son. "Lily has been with you for so many years! How could you do this to her?"

Adrian rubbed his temples, a deep weariness in his eyes. "Mom, what are you talking about?" he explained. "I would never betray Lily. Riley is my government-assigned bodyguard. My work has put me at the top of an international hit list. This is a necessary precaution."

Lily shot up, her voice cracking. "You're lying! Who's ever heard of a bodyguard who looks like that? She's your kept woman, and you know it!"

Adrian’s brow furrowed in frustration. "Kept women are for billionaire CEOs, Lily. I'm a scientist. Every paycheck I've earned for the last five years, I've sent directly to you. Where would I even get the money?"

Her face was a mask of disbelief.

Adrian sighed. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"

Lily lifted her chin, looking down her nose at me. "I don't believe a word you say. I only believe what I see with my own eyes!"

I had been kneeling by the door, finishing my sweep of their luggage. Now that the job was done—no bugs, no cameras—it was time to deal with Miss Medak.

I slowly rose to my feet.

Lily had been looking down at me, but as I unfolded to my full height, her gaze had to travel up… and up.

By the time I was standing straight, she was staring up at me, her mouth agape, wide enough to fit a tennis ball.

I spoke calmly. "Miss Medak. Perhaps now you can believe that I am not Dr. Vance's… canary."

"You're... like, six-foot-four?" she stammered, swallowing hard.

I simply smiled and handed the cleared luggage to the family. A professional operative never reveals exact personal details.

My silence, however, did nothing to dampen her newfound curiosity. She began circling me, inspecting me from all angles.

"I mean, you're tall, sure. But maybe he's into that sort of thing," she mused. "There's no rule that says a six-foot-four woman can't be a kept woman…"

Her words left not just Adrian and me, but also his parents, utterly dumbfounded.

Adrian started apologizing to me while trying to pull Lily away, but she took this as proof that he was siding with me. She wrenched her arm free and shot me a contemptuous smirk.

"Did you really think you could hide your affair from me? I'm the main character in this story! I can see the chat feed!"

"The chat feed told me everything! It told me you betrayed me, and that this woman is your little plaything! It warned me that if I don't get rid of her now, you'll eventually have my family's empire burned to the ground and leave me for dead!"