The Heiress's Bodyguard

San Francisco, California.

A black Bentley Mulsanne drove down a sparsely populated street, the orange hue of the setting sun reflecting off its hood. Very silently, it came to a stop right in front of a storey building that buzzed with life and music.

One could say the building shook at intervals as the bass from inside boomed loudly. It was a club after all, and not just any club, it was the Noir Eclipse, a club where only the rich, the powerful, and the dangerous were granted entry.

The driver of the Bentley highlighted in haste and rushed over to the back door facing the club. His white-gloved hand wrapped softly around the door handle and with a gentle tug, the door opened, allowing the young lady at the back to step out in all resplendency.

Her lush brown hair cascaded down her back as she straightened herself by the curb, the golden glitters on her short black gown twinkling like tiny stars on a dark sky.

With much etiquette, she held her golden purse closely and stepped over the curb. She was about to take another step forward, when she quickly remembered something. She turned to face the driver, who stood by the car, waiting to watch her enter the club.

She forced out a small smile, "James, you don't have to wait for me. I plan to stay here till midnight, I don't want to waste your time. Just drive back to the mansion and I'll call you when I'm ready to leave, okay?"

The driver's stoic expression remained unchanged, "I'm sorry, young mistress, but Lord Vito ordered that I stay with you and shouldn't return unless you were with me."

"Tsk," the lady clicked her teeth in frustration. 'At what age would dad finally realise that I'm no longer a child? I'm 24 for God's sake!!'

Of course, she couldn't say that out loud. She had to maintain this air of confidence and emotional stability. If her father found out that she complained about every little thing, it would only complicate her predicament.

She let out a heavy sigh to rein her thoughts in, then a small smirk formed on her lips as an idea popped in. The driver raised a brow at this.

"Well, my dad isn't here now, is he?" She teased.

"But--"

She cut in immediately, "Come on, James. It's not like he is all-seeing. I'm not saying you should defy his orders. Just go somewhere else, have some fun or something. I will give you any amount you want..." she winked at him. Then her smile faded as she faked a tired expression, "I just want to have some fun without worrying about one of my dad's employee's watching me, you know. Try to understand how I feel."

James thought about it for a few seconds before sighing in defeat, "Alright, you win, young mistress. But if you don't call me once it's midnight, I'll be here before you know it."

She smiled, genuinely this time, "Yes! Thank you, James!"

Before James could say another word, she turned on her heels and trotted into the club.

The driver simply shook his head and went his way.

...

Inside the club, the music was louder, almost drowning out every other form of sound in the place.

The brown-haired lady was immediately embraced by another lady in the same outfit, just that the latter's hair was pitch black.

The black-haired lady disengaged and pulled her friend towards a seat at a quiet corner, "I'm so glad you could make it, Scarlet. I thought you wouldn't come after I waited for almost two hours."

Scarlet could almost roll her eyes as she replied, "You know how it is with my family, my dad especially. If Tommy hadn't supported my plea, I would have remained locked up in my room."

"Ooh, your hot brother, Tommy. How is he these days?" the black-haired lady grinned.

As they sat around the table at the quiet corner, Scarlet lowered her brows, "Tommy is never going to date you, Lora, he's engaged. And stop changing the topic."

A few bottles of red wine and two empty glasses were already set on the table.

"Heh, sorry," Lora smiled tersely, though a little pained that her crush was taken. She popped a wine bottle and filled both glasses halfway, "Just spitballing here, but you're rich, right? Like, without your dad's money?"

"Kinda, yeah?" Scarlett answered, wondering why her friend would ask her that.

"Then why can't you just... you know..." Lora slid one wine glass forward. "... Relocate. Move to an apartment of your own. Then you wouldn't have to worry about your dad caging you."

Scarlet took the wine glass and twirled it as she answered, "It's not that simple, Lora. Ugh... how do I explain this? Look, even if I did relocate, as you've suggested, which is almost impossible to do. But even if I do manage that, my dad's supervision would only get worse. A lot of his men would probably rent houses nearby and become my neighbours without me knowing, and they will trail me everywhere I go. Hell, he could even install cameras in my room."

Lora's face went pale. She was left speechless for seconds. When she finally found her voice, she stuttered, "T-That's just crazy. That's another level of being overprotective!"

"Tell me about it," Scarlet scoffed and raised the wine glass to her lips.

The curious Lora couldn't help but ask after a short moment of silence, "What exactly does your dad do to own so many... should I call them bodyguards or what?"

Scarlet averted her eyes, "Trust me, babe, you wouldn't want to know."

"No, I actually do want to know," Lora objected. "He has so many men at his disposal like some kind of king."

Scarlet couldn't help but laugh at this, "Oh, please, A King? That title belongs to my grandad. My dad doesn't even come close."

This only made Lora even more confused, "..."

Scarlet noticed the perplexity on her friend's face and sighed, "Don't think too much into it."

"Girl, your family is crazy," Lora finally voiced out.

***

That same evening, inside a small bar.

The red lights flickered every now and then, sparks flew about. Silence enveloped the entire bar, which was quite ironic for a place that was supposed to be filled with drunk men.

People were there alright, well... dead people. Multiple bodies lay sprawled across the floor of the bar, the blood oozing out of them forming a wide pool.

Albeit, one man stood tall amongst the piles of bodies. Splashes of blood stained his leather jacket, his balled fists were drenched in blood and the soles of his shoes were soaked in the pool of blood that had formed across the floor.

It was very obvious that he had single-handedly killed everyone in the bar. Everyone.

But why? And how was that even possible for a single human being?

After feasting his eyes on the bodies at his feet, he sized himself up and frowned, "Shit, this jacket was expensive."

"Don't worry, I'll get you a new one," came a voice from the other end of the bar.

In quick reflex, the man with the bloodstained fists, spun around and locked his eyes on the silhouette of a man, calmly seated at the edge of the bar.

The silhouette shifted on his seat, "Nice to meet you, Adrian Cross. I have a job for you."

"Haven't you heard? I'm retired," Adrian replied coldly, making his way toward the counter for a napkin, without taking his eyes off the man obscured by the darkness.

The silhouette chuckled, "You say that, and yet this happens."

Adrian stole a quick glance at the sprawl of bodies, "They came at me first."

"Oh, you don't have to explain to me. That's not why I'm here anyway," the silhouette raised both hands. Then he set them down and tapped his fingers on the table. "Are you ready to listen to my proposal?"

Adrian raised a brow, "Didn't you hear me? I no longer do hits."

"Oh, but you'll like this one," the silhouette interjected. "She's currently closeby actually. You must have at least heard of her father, Vito Romano."

Adrian's brows furrowed, and he gritted his teeth, "What?!"

The silhouette scoffed, "It seems you know him. Well, your target is his daughter, Scarlet Romano, and I want it done before midnight."

A short moment of silence encompassed the bar that now had the tingling stench of blood and spilled liquor.

Adrian carefully lifted the napkin off the dead bartender's shoulder and dipped a part of it into the glass of vodka beside him, "I don't know who you are or what kind of game you're playing, but if you expect me to simply comply to your suicidal demand, then I urge you to leave before you join the men on the floor."

The man veiled by the darkness chuckled softly, "Calm down, Adrian. Do not misinterpret my words. Just come and have a seat, let's talk like decent men."

Adrian just sighed after wiping most of the bloodstains from his fists and jacket with the napkin. He tossed the napkin aside and sauntered over to where the man sat. He pulled a chair close and sat at the table.

The man, whose face was much more visible now, introduced himself with a solemn smile, "My name is Marcus, and I work for Lord Vito. You could call me his... special attorney."

This only made Adrian more skeptical, "I don't get you. If you work for Vito, why would you want me to kill his daughter?"

"Oh, no, no. Hehe," Marcus, once again, chuckled, as though this was a source of entertainment for him. "It seems I didn't use the right choice of words earlier. Scarlet is your target, true, but not the kind to be eliminated. Rather, one that you are to protect at all cost."

It only took a second for Adrian to realize what Marcus was trying to say. His deep-grey pupils shimmered, "You want me to be her bodyguard?"

"Ah, yes. Exactly," Marcus clapped once. "You're quite astute, Adrian Cross."

Adrian could almost frown as the so-called attorney confirmed his suspicion, "You really are here to waste my time. I told you, I'm a retired mercenary, and now you want me to be some spoiled brat's bodyguard? You're lucky I've vented out my frustration on those guys."

Marcus maintained his light-hearted demeanour, "And you must also be mistaken, Adrian Cross. This was never a request, it's your mission and you must fulfil it."

"Or what?" Adrian lowered his brows.

"Heh," Marcus reached for his suit's inner pocket. "Trust me, you don't have a choice."

***

The Noir Eclipse.

Scarlet had drank most of her worries away, thanks to Lora, who forced her to chug down more glasses of not only the red wine, but special cocktails too.

They then proceeded to do whatever they saw fit. From playing different games, most of which they lost, to dancing with anyone available.

Scarlet eventually felt light-headed and was aided back to her seat by a fine young man-her last dance partner.

"There you go," he said as she dropped on a chair, almost losing her balance.

"T-Thanks," she groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Ugh, I had too much to drink."

"Well, I wouldn't say too much. It made your steps more fluid," the young man sat opposite her and signalled to one of the attendants for a glass of water.

Scarlet giggled and burped, "Ah, now I feel so embarrassed. I was never a good dancer; I don't even know how Lora dragged me into it."

The young man smiled with a shrug, "Take this from an expert, you did better than most people."

"An expert? What are you, like a Dance Instructor or what?" Scarlet commented in sarcasm.

"Actually, yes" the young man shrugged again, in all seriousness. The attendant placed the glass of water on the table and the young man passed it to Scarlet's side.

Scarlet could almost drop her jaw. She only asked him the question as a joke, "That's... I didn't see that coming."

As though being a dance instructor was the greatest thing in the world, the young man swooshed his brown hair back and smirked, "My studio is only a few blocks from here. You could come over whenever you want. Or would you rather I give you my business card?"

Oh, so that's what this is... Scarlett noted internally as her head began to clear. Her lips curved up to form a small smile, "Nah, I'm good. I never really liked dancing anyway."

The young man was obviously taken aback. He never expected her to reject him so fast. He had probably pulled this same scheme a couple times and they always worked, so why was she different?

He tried his best to hide his shock, and leaned his body closer to the table, his smile faltering, "Come on, don't try to act so oblivious. We could just go there right now and I'd show you a few styles, or more, if you want."

"I'm good, really," she hesitantly took a sip from the glass of water, grabbed her purse and stood up. "Thanks for the dance though, and the water."

As she turned to walk away, he suddenly sprang to his feet and grabbed her wrist. His brows twitched, "You can't just leave."

"Tsk," this pissed Scarlett off.

However, before she could do anything to him, Lora came in clutch. She somehow freed Scarlett from the man's grip and stood protectively before her friend, "This is harassment, you know that, right? And trust me, you don't want to mess with her."

"Uh? Who the hell are y--?" Before he could retort, two other guys pulled him away from the ladies as quickly as possible.

"Dude, are you crazy? Don't you know who that is?" one of them whispered with beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Do you still want your head on your shoulders by tomorrow?" the other friend resisted the urge to punch him.

The brown-haired man furrowed his brows as they got to their table, "Is she the daughter of some politician? That doesn't matter to me."

"Sometimes I forget how oblivious you are, Jason," the first friend shook his head in pity. Then he swallowed hard as he said, "Her father is Vito Romano, The Shadow King."

Hearing "Vito" alone sent a chill shiver down Jason's spine.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Lora urged, after making sure that Scarlet could walk straight.

Scarlet slightly ruffled her hair as they approached the door, "Ugh, I'm such a mess, again. And you also had to save me, again."

Lora scoffed as they stepped out of the bar, her eyes flickering to the sparse amount of stars dotting the night sky, "Heh. I'm pretty sure you could have handled him yourself. I only stepped in to make sure he didn't go back home with a broken bone or two."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, "You always overestimate me. I only--"

"GET DOWN!!"

The loud cry of a man reverberated across the street, causing Scarlet and her friend to jolt backwards.

Thankfully, that was Scarlet's saving grace.

A bullet, out of nowhere, grazed her left cheek and logged itself into the wall of the bar behind her. That little graze carried enough force to slightly push her face sideways.

It happened so fast that the pain didn't register immediately. She could only feel that her cheek had gotten hotter and some liquid now drooled down her face.

Lora, who stood right next to her, had shuddered as she heard the bullet impale a part of the wall.

But then, as the two of them were this close to realising what actually happened, a man dove at them. Well, at Scarlet, Lora was just too close and got pushed to the floor too.

Two more bullets whizzed over them, shattering the glass door of the bar. The loud music from the bar now reverberated across the street, accompanied by panicked screams and murmurs from within.

The man who had pushed Scarlet away from harm's way, crouched over her and shifted his gaze to the roof of the building at the other side of the street. It was Adrian Cross, and he now had his deep-grey eyes locked on the sniper prone on the roof.

"Tch!" With little effort, he lifted the bedazzled Scarlett in his arms and dashed towards the building, completely abandoning Lora, who struggled to sit up.

There wasn't any cover to protect Scarlet from another shot, neither was there much time to think, so he just moved by instinct. Staying close to the building upon which the sniper was, the latter wouldn't be able to aim down in a straight line and shoot.

They were out of his line of sight.

Adrian set Scarlet down as softly as he could and ran around the building before she could even say a word.

...

Using the stairs at the side of the building, Adrian got to the roof in less than two minutes, coming face to face with the sniper that had finished packing up his rifle.

"Shit!" The sniper clicked his teeth, dropped his duffel bag, and made a run for the edge of the roof.

It would seem that he recognised who Adrian was, even with the very little illumination. So much so that he wanted to commit suicide instantly.

Under different circumstances, Adrian would let him fall to his death, since it would make his job much easier, but this time around, he needed him alive; he needed answers.

Adrian bolted forward, catching up with the sniper just as he was about to take the suicidal leap. He grabbed the hood of his jacket and held him steady, whilst the sniper's hands swung frantically.

"Easy, now. I don't care for your life or how you want to end it, but I need you to answer some questions, and I want nothing but the truth," Adrian muttered coldly whilst keeping an eye on Scarlett, who was just directly below them.

He couldn't risk dropping his guard. What if the sniper had an accomplice that could scoop Scarlet away at any given time?

The sniper reacted in a manner that made Adrian crease his brows. The man laughed as though he wasn't hanging between life and death... literally.

"And why would I comply with you, Reaper? What more could I lose than my life which I don't care for?"

Reaper, huh? It's been a while since anyone has called me that... Adrian reminisced.

Then, before he could threaten the sniper further, the latter drew a pocket knife from his pants and swiped backwards. Adrian pushed his face away, but that wasn't the sniper's goal.

The man slashed at his hood and made an aggressive cut. As the fabric snapped, Adrian staggered some steps back, while the sniper easily plummeted to his death, landing splat on the concrete floor.

He fell right beside Scarlett, startling and traumatizing her even further.

She could only hold her mouth shut as her eyes dilated in horror.

Adrian had found his way back to the ground floor, approaching Scarlet with much caution so as not to startle her again. When he got close enough, he crouched down in front of her and placed a hand on her cheek, gently wiping off the blood from the small cut.

She almost flinched from the sting on her cheek, but for some reason, as she locked eyes with him, she felt rest assured. Maybe it was because he had just saved her from an assassination attempt.

"Please, calm down. You're going to be okay," he whispered softly, holding her face away from the sight of the dead sniper.

With quivering lips, she managed to ask, "W-Who are you? Why did that man try to kill me?"

"I'm Adrian, and that sniper was just one out of many that are after your life now," he responded curtly as he helped her to her feet.

"Adrian?" She stepped back to size him up. She raised a brow, "Are you one of my father's men? I don't recognise you."

Adrian shifted his gaze to twinkling stars in the sky as he let out a sigh, "Let's just say I work for him now... temporarily, and I've been tasked to accompany and protect you till this threat dies down."

"Wait... Like a bodyguard?" Scarlet quickly figured it out.

Adrian lowered his head with expressionless eyes, "Yes, like a bodyguard."