Roth: Protector(Shapeling Trilogy #1) (2nd edition)

Chapter 1: First Impressions

"No! No way, Father! I don't want another personal bodyguard! Why can't we just have impersonal ones shadowing me?"

"This is not open for discussion, Rainey. You know everything changed with your lab's latest breakthrough. Your discovery is so momentous I'm not taking chances on your safety, not even in my own home. I've hired another bodyguard to replace the one you drove away, and that's my final word. He's been interviewed multiple times and his credentials are impeccable. He's arriving tonight and I expect you to be civil when you meet him. Be in the drawing room at seven."

Rainey wanted to scream at her father, but instead, stalked across the terrace toward the double-door entry into the mansion, and jerked it open.

"And Rainey..."

She paused, but did not turn around.

"...don't be late."

Rainey squeezed her eyes tight, opened them, and continued into the house. She would be there, of course, but on time—probably not. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door. She was a prisoner not only in her own home, but in every aspect of her life. She had forgotten what it felt like to be completely alone—probably heaven. She laughed cynically at her choice of words because her overprotective father was trying to keep her from being sent to the afterlife before her time. Fate and genetics had not only made her father fabulously rich and brilliant, but had bestowed the same gift on her. Or was it a curse? Like father, like daughter. Why wasn't I born more like my mother? Even as the thought popped into her mind, she shuddered. Her mother, a complete airhead, lived a life of endless manicures, pedicures, hair appointments, facials, shopping, and extended vacations. Rainey had never even called her mother by any motherly term. She had always been "Stella" to her. Years ago, Rainey had decided that her father must truly love her mother to have stayed married to her.

She plopped on the side of her bed and felt the niggling of a headache. By the time seven o'clock struck and she had to meet "Mr. Bodyguard," the headache would be full blown. She rubbed her temples and glanced toward her dresser, hoping to see a bottle of aspirin. Instead, she caught sight of her reflection. She looked nothing like her beautiful mother. In fact, at the age of twenty-eight, she almost believed she looked older than her mother. Stella, being a former Las Vegas showgirl, stood tall and slim while Rainey stood short and, if not plump, then well endowed everywhere. Her small waist kept her from looking like a box. She chuckled at the picture she'd painted in her mind and continued her perusal. Even to her own eyes, her brownish-blondish hair drawn back with a clip at the nape of her neck, looked severe and spinsterish.

I may not have been born with beauty, but I made up for it with brains. To a nerd, my genius IQ is very attractive... which is one of the reasons I'm stuck with bodyguards.

She sighed and went in search of the aspirin bottle.

***

Roth accepted the glass of wine from his employer. He swirled the wine and sniffed.

"Are you a wine connoisseur, Mr. Beowolf?"

"Not at all, Mr. Childress."

"By the way, why don't we do away with the formalities? You can call me Hank, because I abhor the name Harold, and I'll call you Roth. Is that acceptable?"

"Certainly, Hank."

"Your name is unusual. I can't say that I've ever met anyone with the given name of Roth. Do you know its meaning?"

"Yes—exalted, tower of strength."

Hank laughed. "Well, son, that's exactly why I hired you."

"Yes, sir."