Gilded Cage

“He tried once, but I kicked him in the balls. Father made me starve for five days because of that.”

The revelation made him want to slit Stanford’s throat with the shaving blade himself. He didn’t understand why William Blackwell would have allowed such an atrocity to happen to his daughter. He couldn’t imagine how it must have felt for her, being surrounded by ultimate luxury but grossly deprived from her basic rights. The right of wellbeing. The right of safety. He never guessed that the revered William Blackwell, a world-renowned philanthropist who was often pictured in the media looking caring and passionate about the children and schools he sponsored, would neglect his only daughter.

Brandon narrowed his eyes. Neglect was such an understatement. Blackwell obviously knew what Stanford had done to Lillian, but he’d chosen to do nothing about it. Was Blackwell afraid of Stanford? Or did he just plain not care? Brandon felt disgusted with his former boss.

Lillian donned the jeans. “So, Mr. Shea. What should we do next?”

“That depends on you. Do you have any family that you can go to? Ones that won’t sell you off to your father.”

She shook her head. “No. My father is the only family I have. Are you married, Mr. Shea?”

“No.”

“Girlfriend?”

He snorted. “No.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Do you mind if I hang with you for a while?”

“Didn’t think it was an option. I guess you’re stuck with me, kid.”

“Next week is my twenty-first birthday.” Lillian scowled. “I’m old enough to be your girlfriend.”

“And I’m old enough to be your dad.”

“When you got hitched at fourteen. Do you have anything against younger woman?”

Brandon frowned. Yeah, what did he have against younger woman? Nothing, really. His uneasiness intensified. If he pictured and treated her as a kid, he wouldn’t have inappropriate thoughts about her. He

was her bodyguard. Her protector. And as her protector, he shouldn’t have urges to get in her panties. His sudden lust for Lillian bugged the hell out of him. “We should get going. We should lay low for a while.”

Lillian slipped on her socks and sneakers. “May I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you help me? You didn’t even ask how much money I was going to compensate you with.”

“I didn’t do it for the money.”

Her fair eyebrows arched prettily. “No?”

Brandon hesitated. “At first, I thought you were like other spoilt rich kids. Then I found out what your dad did to you. It was unacceptable. I had to do the right thing.”

Lillian jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. “Thank you.”

Brandon stiffened, patting her back. Goddamn. She even smelled good. Her perfume was jasmine and tea roses, so feminine and tempting, like the curves of her body pressing against him.

“Lillian?” he called. “We should go.”

She released him tentatively. “Sorry. But you look so hot in this tux.”

Looked hot? Did she just say I’m hot?

The door opened and Donahue’s face poked between the cracks. “You need to go. Use the bathroom exit.”

His combat instinct kicked into high gear. Someone must’ve followed them in here. Brandon snatched the bag and Lillian’s arm and dragged her to Donahue’s cramped bathroom. He saw another battered door next to the toilet and yanked it open. A gloomy passage loomed before them. The short, narrow space brought them to the private gaming area where Donahue had set personal booths for adult Virtual Reality games. The hall was littered with guilty-looking teenagers and gamer addicts. Rushing footsteps against the floor stormed towards them. He made a split-second decision and pushed Lillian into an empty VR booth.

He slammed the booth closed. Lillian tumbled in a VR chair. Her eyes widened. The four walls of the VR booth were plastered with risqué pictures. Brandon wished she didn’t have to see this. It could come as a shock to her for having a sheltered life all these years.