(Kwan)

As much as I wanted to stick around the docks and help MJ and Han, I knew Dom wanted me at his next meeting for the day. Of course, now that I'm sitting on the leather loveseat against the back wall of his office, I'm thinking I could've spared a few minutes to take out my anger on Ken. Especially since Lily is running a little late despite the message I made sure she received this morning. Maybe this is her way of throwing a tantrum after last night.

Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I check to see if there's a message from Han or MJ. Dom might not wanna know how Ken ends up, but I do.

Before I can even turn the screen on, though, the sound of high heels clicking against hardwood echoes through the hall outside Dom's office. Dominik sets down the papers he was going over while I shove my phone back into my pocket just as the assistant assigned to Lily appears at the door.

With a quick bow, she says, "Ms. Monroe is here, sir."

"Go ahead and let her in, Jennie," Dom tells her as he folds his hands on his desk.

Jennie nods and disappears only for Lily to walk in a second later. Standing with her head held high in a tiny white skirt and a sweater that hangs off one shoulder, she radiates confidence. It's hard not to notice and even harder to keep the blank look on my face as I eye her up. Smart mouth or not, she's stunning...and she knows it.

That said, the second my eyes notice the dark bruise on her jaw that she's tried to cover with makeup as well as the obvious split of her lip, anger bubbles inside of me again.

I should've stayed at the docks and handled Ken myself.

"Lily, please take a seat." Dom gestures to the chair in front of his desk.

Lily does as he says, taking the seat slightly turned towards the one beside it where I get a good view from my place on the loveseat.

Crossing her legs, she flips her wavy raven hair over her shoulder. "I take it this about what happened last night?"

"Yes, I-" Dom starts to say before a commotion echoes through the house, cutting him off. Voices and the sound of footsteps heading our way has Dominik rising out of his chair with a frown forming on his face. It isn't until Lily's mom blows through his office door that it makes sense. As always, with her is her large entourage of assistants and security.

Dom's eyes slowly close, and I notice him silently mouth a few curses before he forces a smile to greet her. "Madam Josephine, so glad you could make it."

"Really, you're glad I'm here? Funny." She chuckles and looks back at one of her assistants. "If I recal correctly, I wasn't invited. Isn't that right, Rachel?"

The woman next to her taps on a tablet and scans through, knowing damn well there's nothing there. "It doesn't seem like it, no."

Dom's lips thin. "It must have been an oversight in the chaos after the event. My apologies."

Madam Josephine cuts him a look that says she sees right through his bullshit before turning to her daughter. She walks up to Lily's chair and takes her chin into her hand before examining her face. Her already stern look hardens. "I put my daughters in your care, Dominik."

"I realize, Madam Josephine, and I assure they are safe here-"

"Are they?" She snaps, cutting him off. "Because it doesn't appear so does it?" She turns Lily's face toward Dom, showing him the damage done.

Lily lightly tugs her head from her mother's grasp before standing. "Mom, it's just a bruise and a small cut. I'm fine. Really."

"You are not fine. This is not fine." She turns to Dom again. "We will not stand for this gross negligence, Dominik Song."

I can't say I completely disagree with her. I might not have been the one guarding Lily but even I feel the shame Ken's brought on us. One of the areas the Songs are known for is security and some of the best fighters in all six families. But this makes us look like rookies, and as much as it pisses me off, I know Dom is feeling that rage just as much if not more.

"I see where your daughter gets it," Dom mutters under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Madam Josephine takes a step closer to the desk.

"Nothing," Dom quickly waves it off. "You're correct, it was negligence on my part. I assigned someone to her that was loyal to my father, and I made the mistake assuming he would loyaly follow my command. I was wrong, but I am making it right. That man has been relieved of all of his duties, and won't be around here again. As for making sure Lily is protected, I'm going to assign a guard to her who is the only man I trust and I have no doubt is completely loyal to me."

My head jerks in his direction. He's only ever said that about one person, and that realization makes my stomach turn. I know this is important, but he can't mean who I think he does.

"And who is that?" Madam Josephine raises a brow as she crosses her arms over her chest.

Dom's dark eyes dart over to me before he glances back at her. "My second in command." He gestures my way.

"Dom," I say, quickly standing up, but instead of saying more and making him look worse, I shoot him a look that says it all.

Really, Dom? Come on.

He doesn't seem to pay my look attention though, making my gaze jump to Lily next. Her big blue eyes open wide with shock, bouncing between me and Dominik with the same confusion I'm feeling.

"You're second in command?" Madam Josephine's attention turns my way. "Would he be a little over qualified for a job like that? And how do you know if he can even handle protecting her?"

"Kwan was the one that rescued her in the first place, madam. The reason we can all be thankful Lily is as safe as she is now is because of him. Kwan trained as a fighter before I made him my second." He takes in a deep breath. "I assure you, he's more than capable. I would offer to look after her myself, but frankly, your eldest is already a handful, and honestly, I would be considered the next best thing in comparison to him."

"You can't be serious," Lily finally speaks up.

Despite my own issues with this new setup, I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow at her.

Go ahead, princess.

"I mean." Lily wets her lips, her eyes locked on me as she steps back as if me standing across the room is already too close for her. "Like mom said, he's over qualified. He has better things to do, I'm sure."

"No more better things than what I have to do, yet I'm watching over your sister." Dom tells her. "You already go to school together, and a good portion of Kwan's time is split between school and my house."

I don't like it. I do have other jobs I have to do from time to time. The last thing I need is to babysit some bratty princess with a knack for pissing me off every time she opens her mouth. But the fact she looks even more disturbed by this has me fighting back a grin.

Madam Josephine ponders it over for a bit before nodding. "I supposed this could work. If they're dating each other, it would seem seamless as well."

"Sure-what?" Dom stops, tilting his head as if he didn't hear her correctly, but the shock on his face, I'd say this suggestion, sounds out of left field to him as it feels to me.

"Wait, what?" My attention darts from Lily to her mom. "Seriously?"

Lily's arms dropped from their crossed position over her chest. "Mom!"

"Not actually date, of course." She waves all of us off like it should have been obvious what she meant. "Appear to date. That way it doesn't look as suspicious that you had a guard change, and that guard just so happens to be your second. It also gives them a great excuse to stay close together as much as possible."

"Mom, you can't ask me to fake date someone. Especially him! He's—" Lily cuts herself, giving me a double take before facing her mom again. "Dating a bodyguard is not a good look. Come on." Her final words almost have me imagining her stomping her foot like a bratty child. She doesn't, but I get the feeling she'd like to.

That was a good catch on her part, though. But if I knew she was about to say something else, I'm sure her mom does, too. Surprisingly, though, Madam Josephine doesn't seem to either notice or care where Lily was really going with that, even if it has my curiosity peaked.

"You won't be dating a body guard. You'll be dating the second in command of the Song Family. Correct?" Madam Josephine asks Dom.

"Yes, he is, but I'd like to point out, he's my brother, and I'm engaged to her sister." He points to Lily.

"And?" Madam Josephine asks. "They aren't related."

Dom attempts to say something, but it comes out as a jumble of sounds. A spark of realization hits, though. "He doesn't live here."

I could hug him for that one. I doubt it'll work but I give him credit for trying.

Lily nods. "Right. He's here a lot but not all the time."

"Then move him in. You have two other bedrooms and a pool house, am I correct?" Madam Josephine asks, though her tone isn't really asking.

Dom sighs, losing the battle quickly. "Technically, yes."

"Then it's solved." Madam Josephine looks a little too pleased with herself. "This will also keep other men away from her while I search for a husband for her."

That last bit sets a shockwave through my system I wasn't expecting. I try to meet Lily's eyes, but she won't even look my way.

"Mom," Lily says with less strength than before as if she's already doomed. "You don't need to do that. I told you, I'm not interested and it's not as important as it was for Calla. I'm not the main Monroe heir. It's not needed."

"Calla was betrothed at twelve, and you just turned twenty a few weeks ago. This is long overdue. You're still a Monroe heir and that matters to the other families. You need to marry someone of importance."

I hate the feeling shooting through my veins right now. I can't quite place what it is, but it feels like poison tainting every inch of me from head to toe. I'm not sure why. Lily's a Monroe, one of the highest-ranking families out of all of them. Of course, this would happen.

Why the fuck should I care?

Still, I can't make that toxic feeling go away.

Lily doesn't argue anymore on that, though, simply nodding as she crosses her arms once again, her chin tucked as she silently sulks.

"Since that's settled, I have other things to do." She turns to her daughter and gives her one last gentle look before turning and leaving with her crew.

Lily watches her Mom go, looking angry and hurt, while Dominik sinks into his chair, holding his head in his hands.

"So," he starts to say, sounding completely defeated. "I guess you'll move into the pool house."

Tilting my head to the side, I no longer have to completely hold back as I give him a deadpan stare. "The pool house? Come on, Dom. If we gotta do this bullshit at least let me get some peace in the basement or something."

"You can't stay in the basement. It's too far away from her room." He looks up at me with a look on his face that tells me he's really not in the mood for pushback. "And her's has a sliding glass door that leads to the outside. You'd be more useful to watch over her from the pool house. Any movement outside of her room can be seen from the pool house."

Of course, pushing back is the first thing I want to do. This whole plan is fucked. But I also know he's got a lot on his plate, and the last thing I want to do is add more. So, feeling just as defeated as he looks, I plop back down on the loveseat and throw my head back to stare at the ceiling.

Lily, on the other hand, doesn't seem quite ready to accept this as she nearly growls out an aggravated breath. "There's no way this is gonna work. He and I can barely speak to each other for longer than five minutes. How are we supposed to pretend to actually like each other?"

This would've been a great question to ask her mom but I get the feeling that despite the Monroe stubborn streak both sisters have, that Lily might find it harder to speak up to her mom. At least to some degree.

"I don't know, Lily," Dom sighs, rubbing his temples. "Get to know each other a little better?" He suggests, probably assuming she means that the reason we don't talk is because we don't know each other.

Dominik and I have always been able to talk, but Lily was one thing I couldn't bring myself to admit to, not even to him. I might need to fill him in eventually, but for now, this is a problem Lily and I are going to have to figure out on our own.

"Yeah." I nod. "We'll do that."

Lily shoots me an annoyed look.

"Right, Lily?" I ask, daring her to say more.

If she want's to explain to Dom that we keep biting each others heads off when we're left alone, than she can go ahead. She might also need to mention why we do that though and since I doubt she even knows the full reason for that, I'm betting she won't.

Unsurprisingly, she huffs again and looks away. "Yeah...we can give that a try."

"Great." Dom's hands drop to the desk. "One big happy family... until your sister catches wind of what I accidently started."

"Good luck with that one," Lily says, sounding genuine before shooting him a sympathetic look. "Sorry she kicked your ass to the ground earlier. I mean...I know it's not my fault but since it's because of what happened to me, I do feel bad. Calla can be really...protective."

"You don't say?" Dom rubs his chest. "I was really hoping Sarah would keep her mouth shut."

A small smile pulls at Lily's lips. "I mean, it was bound to get to me. Nearly the whole staff is talking about it."

"Great." He nods. "Great."

"If it makes you feel better, I haven't heard about it yet." I try to hold back a laugh, already imagining what might have happened once he found Calla this morning. "But I guess Lily can fill me in later."

Lily narrows her eyes at me, the smile on her face going up in smoke.

"Lily," Dom says, gaining her attention. His face grows more serious. "The main reason I actually called this meeting was to apologize to you. I'm truly sorry for my mistake and for what happened. I would have never of assigned Ken to you if I didn't genuinely think he could do the job properly. I would never want you to get hurt." The tone of his voice has more sincerity and seriousness than I've ever heard him spew before. He really means what he's saying.

Lily's eyes soften as she nods. "I know, but thank you. This wasn't your fault. Every family has employees that are loyal for years until they aren't. It' happens."

He nods before a playful smirk creeps onto his face. "Thanks for understanding and not kicking my as to the ground."

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure Calla will love hearing about these new turn of events," Lily says with a small jokingness to her voice that I'm not used to hearing.

This seems to be the problem with being around her too much lately. Every so often, she says or does something that catches me off guard. Like trying to create a peace treaty in the kitchen by cleaning my busted knuckles as she attempts to clear the air. It's a side of her I'm not used to, and I'm not sure how to handle it. Or better yet, I'm not sure how to keep back unwanted desires when she pretends not to be a completely spoiled brat.

However, one thing has always helped, and that's getting away as fast as possible.

Standing up from the loveseat, I fish my keys out of my pocket. "Well, guess I better go to my place and pack some shit."

"Yeah, you do that." Lily nods before shooting Dom one last sympathetic look and strutting out of the office.

Great. This is going to be just great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a duffle bag in each hand, I walk around the pool behind Dom's house. The lights beneath the cool surface give the entire space a peaceful glow under the night sky. Of course, I can't seem to fully appreciate the atmosphere with my eyes glued to the glass sliding doors that lead into Lily's room.

Dom set her up with the next best room after his. It's the only bedroom on the first floor with personal access to the outside patio and pool.

I reach the double French doors to the pool house, finally taking my gaze off Lily's room and letting myself into my new place for however long I'm needed. For a pool house, this is more like a guest suite. There's an outside access storage closet for pool supplies, but the rest of the place is a mini apartment complete with a bathroom, a small closet, and a corner kitchenette.

I toss both duffles on the loveseat stretched at the end of the king-sized bed and look over my shoulder. I already know what I'm going to find, but I have to look anyway. Sure enough, Lily's sliding glass doors are directly aligned with the pool house doors, and just like the bed in here is directly in front of those doors, Lily's equally big bed is right in front of hers. The only ting other than doors between us will be the pool. I could lay in this bed and have a direct line of sight of her sleeping the whole night. The idea is a little creepy in most situations, but for a bodyguard to keep watch, it's perfect.

And perfect torture for me.

I'm not sure if it's luck or not, but Lily doesn't seem to be in her room right now. Dom said she was fine while I went to get my stuff but if I don't see her soon, I'm going to have to go looking for her myself.

For now, I focus on hanging up my clothes in the tiny corner closet and place some of my things on the counter in the bathroom. Despite the headache it is to leave my apartment right now and do this whole bodyguard thing, it's the fake relationship part that has my stomach turning in knots. There's not much that makes me nervous but this is sure as hell on the list.

I don't do relationships. I'm not even sure I know how to. Lily thinks that makes me a player, but she has no idea how I do things. It's not playing as long as you're upfront with those you're with, and I always am. Any girl I have fun with knows the deal right away. Just fun, no strings attached. If they can't handle that, then it doesn't go any further. That's the difference.

And now I have to be an actual boyfriend...to Lily of all girls.

What the hell was her mother thinking?

Changing out of my usual black-on-black dress clothes I wear during the business; I catch movement through the doors and across the pool to Lily's room. I'm not sure if she was looking for me or just so happened to see me, but she freezes in front of her glass exit.

I look down and realize I'm mid dress, shirt off with just my slacks left on. When I glance back up, I can't help the sense of satisfaction to see her staring with a dazed look on her face. There are barely any lights on in here, so I'm not sure how much she's seeing exactly, but it's enough to have her glued to the spot.

Good, eat it up, Princess.

I toss my shirt on the bed and walk into the bathroom to finish. But when I come back out, her room's lights are off, and there's a small movement in her bed.

A brief thought of what she could be doing in that bed crosses my mind, making my dick twitch before I quickly shut that shit down.

Not going there. No fucking way.

Climbing into bed, I make one final mental note that no matter what, this thing between me and her is supposed to be a show. That's it. I can't let myself get caught up with anything else when I know it won't lead anywhere. I've always known that, and that's why I've always stayed away. Now I just have to keep that up.

I can do it. I know I can.