Harry.
Stress balls didn't help. I never understood the point of them, and I didn't understand why I continued to try and use them to relieve any sort of tension that floated around in my body when all it made me want to do was throw it out the window.
I was lying on my bed, throwing the small ball in the air every few seconds. I altered between that and actually squeezing the life out of the thing, but nothing worked to ease my mind.
I had ventured off to 'bed' twenty minutes ago, half expecting to have Anna fly through the room like a tornado and demand to take the bed. I would of rolled my eyes and hauled her ass to the couch, shooing Liam and Niall off to bed like school kids.
Nothing came though. I had been listening to them all laugh amongst themselves for fifteen minutes, though within the last five, their voices and quieted down and multiple pairs of feet made their way down the hallway.
I had held my breath when I waited for one of them to barge in, but again, I was mistaken. Anna Taylor was one of the most stubborn people I had ever met, and yet, she continued to surprise me every moment I was in her presence. I thought she would of kept that streak up and not give up until she got the bed, but instead, she seemed to have followed Niall into his room.
See, I was use to rich girls. Stuck up girls. The girls who thought they were better than everyone else because they grew up in the privileged life. Anna had all the money and power to be the snobbiest person alive, and yet she was far from it, even if she pretended she wasn't. She was a living, breathing dragon and I was all for her fire.
Not that I would ever tell her that, because her fire did boil my blood at times. I could appreciate her at assertiveness and her stubbornness, though not when it was directed at me when I had been instructed to protect her life. I asked for her the bare minimum and she always had to go against me.
I dragged my hand down my face with a groan, suddenly thinking about the current sleeping arrangements.
Her brothers would hang me by their feet if they knew their precious sister was about to go to bed with one of the cheekiest men I had ever met. I say cheeky instead of anything more vulgar purely because Niall resembled an excited Labrador. He was harmless for the most part, though that didn't mean he didn't try his luck like any man his age, especially with a beautiful woman who willing was climbing into his bed.
Anna was also in a vulnerable state, and people within an vulnerable state tended to make poor decisions and regret them soon after. Whether Anna liked to admit it or not, she was grieving. She wasn't processing the death correctly, and I knew it was bound to bite her in the ass harder than anything had ever before.
I knew I shouldn't care, because she was just a job and I was a major asshole at the best of times, but having a wildly untamed and vulnerable Taylor, who had access to more money than I had ever seen in my life, was a dangerous combination.
I internally groaned to myself as I pictured different scenarios of her in my head, which forced me to sit up.
I owed it to her brothers to keep my promise and keep her safe, in all forms of the word. I hated to admit it, but I owed the Taylor brothers my life. They had found me scavenging the streets of England with Niall and Liam when we were nothing more than scrawny teenagers, trying to find something to eat behind the bakery of our town.
The Taylors had been on vacation when we had all first met them, their father had a business meeting and decided to drag the kids up there for 'family bonding,' though when we had met them, they were by themselves, no adult in sight.
They had been bored, I remember seeing that on their their faces as Niall, Liam and I hid behind a dumpster, staring at them in a mixture of awe and envy. They were wearing expensive clothes, all tailored and well fitting, walking around the streets and if they owed it and not as if they were completely foreign to the country.
They had ended up sitting on the bench across from the alleyway we were in, staring at the passing people in complete distaste. They didn't care if anyone had stared back. They had even looked as if they were encouraging it, like they were looking for trouble.
Even at a young age, the Taylors walked with power, with determination and absolutely no fear of the unknown. I hated them when I first saw them, because I knew they had to be around my age and yet, they obviously came from money, whilst we were looking for scraps like a bunch of hungry dogs.
Liam, who had always been the kindest out of all of us, frowned as he stared at them. "Do you think...Should we ask them for money?"
His cheeks had tinted a red, and I felt shame ripple through my body that we were at that stage that we needed to beg strangers for money, or we could possible go hungry for the night. Niall stayed silent, waiting for my answer. I had grown to be somewhat of the leader out of us, despite being the youngest. They looked hungry and sad, and I hated how I always had to shake them with logic, because people like them weren't ever keen on the idea of helping the homeless.
"Don't be ridiculous," I had scoffed, shaking my head. "Ask them for money and all you'll get is laughed at. They'll probably rob us."
"But we don't have anything?" Liam had said, scrunching up his eyebrows in confusion. I rolled my eyes. Typical, naive Liam.
My knees were starting to ache from squatting for so long, and I knew if we didn't hurry to search through the dumpsters, the food would sink to the bottom, or someone would come out and scold us for looking through it. Neither of those options sounded great when I hadn't eaten for a day and a half. It was hard when it was three of us, there was just so little to share between us all. I often got the smallest parts, knowing Liam lacked in too many vitamins and Niall could usually eat for a whole family on a good day. I was fine with leftovers.
"Lets just see what food there is and get out of here," I muttered to them, sighing. I didn't even want to think about approaching snobby rich kids. I already felt like shit about myself, I didn't need to be laughed at as well.
It was getting late and the sun was starting to set. We still didn't know where we were sleeping tonight, and the thought was stressing me out. We sometimes slept on the couches of our old school friends, but not many parents liked the idea of a bunch of stray teenagers on their couch, especially not three of them.
"No," Niall had suddenly muttered, standing up. "I'm going to ask them. I'm fucking starving, and I haven't eaten in a few days. They look like they wipe their asses with dollar bills, what's the worst that could happen?"
Niall barely held any shame, even in his dirty old football jumper and his too big sweats. His hair was an oily mess, and his cheeks had tinted pink from the winter breeze, yet he had looked determined as ever.
I pursed my lips, weighing the options out in my head reluctantly. Worst case scenario was that they were those rich kids who liked to beat the poor, best case scenario was that they laughed at Niall and told him to fuck off.
I knew that they weren't the type to give to the poor, that much was obvious. I didn't want Niall getting his hopes up and feeling upset when they were assholes.
"They won't give you anything," I told him firmly. "It's not worth it."
"Better try than to say what if."
I stole another look at them, frowning when I realised Niall was in one of his moods that told me he wasn't going to back down. The boys were a bit more muscular than I was. I knew Liam may not fight, and Niall was terrible at it, so it may just be me on three of them if they decided with option A.
"Fine," I said reluctantly, my own anxiety running down my body at the thought of asking a bunch of snotty rich teenage boys for money. I just hoped my embarrassment would turn to anger quicker than usual. "I'll come with you, let's go."
"Really?" Niall asked surprised.
"Can't let you get embarrassed by yourself, can I?"
All three of us had gotten up from our crouching position to make our way towards them, though Liam had shuffled closely behind me. I wanted to hide behind Niall, I wanted to let him do all the talking though the protectiveness I had for them wouldn't let me.
I puffed out my chest, hoping that my scrawny sixteen year old body had looked a big bigger than what it actually was behind my thin jumper.
They all seemed to sit up as we got closer, their eyes scanning us all like we were bugs under a microscope. I remember thinking it was freaky how they all mimicked each other. Their features were so similar, their movements were so in sync, I wondered if they were a bunch of creepy clones.
"Hiya lads," Niall was the first to greet them, wasting no time in hovering over them with a forced smile.
The one furtherest on the end, rose an eyebrow. He was slouched down, looking weirdly causal for someone who was dressed up so much. He had a cap on his head, though it was on backwards. He looked like the youngest, I remember thinking. He had mischief written all over him. I knew if anyone, he'd be the one I had to look out for. I held his stare for a moment.
"Sup," he muttered, nodding his head in our direction. He didn't snigger at our clothes, nor did he laugh at us for even approaching them.I thought that was somewhat of a positive sign.
"I'm Niall," he continued, grinning widely at the boys in front of us when they didn't immediately tell us to fuck off. "These are me' mates, Harry and Liam."
If they were wondering why a dirty, strange Irish boy was approaching them to introduce his equally dirty British friends, they didn't ask it. "Johnny. This is my brother Trent and that's my other brother Michael."
Trent was definitely the oldest. He sat up a little straighter when we came over, eyeing us in case we were a potential threat to his brothers. He was like me with Niall and Liam, always needing to analyse the situation and take charge if need be.
"Hello," Trent had greeted after a beat, sounding way older than I had initially thought. "Don't mind Michael, he doesn't speak much."
The other brother, the one nestled in the middle with the lighter eyes and slightly shaggy hair nodded in response.
"Can we help you guys?" he had then asked, though he didn't sound as if he was trying to be rude, more like he was trying to figure out what our intent was.
"Er yeah, actually," Niall muttered, scratching his head. He shuffled a bit closer to Liam, who had yet to mumble a single word. "We were hoping you'd have a spare tenner?"
"A tenner?" Johnny repeated, as if he was testing the words out on his tongue. Bastard probably hadn't seen a note smaller than a hundred in his life.
"Ya see, we're in a bit of a pickle at the moment," Niall said sheepishly, and my cheeks reddened down much that I needed to look down at my feet. This conversation was always the most humiliating part, especially when the person said no to handing over whatever change they had. I hated listening to it. "We were just wanting to some dinner, you know. Times are tough and all of that."
Trent, who had been analysing us since we walked up to them, looked as if he was taking our clothing in for the first time. He then frowned, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"You locals?" He asked, his prissy American accent seeping into his words. I supposed this was the part he told us to fuck off to where we can from.
I cleared my throat, awaiting the very words. I wasn't about to let Niall be attacked by them. "Yeah, we are."
There was warning in my voice, though I knew it had no right to be there. Up close, they all looked like they could eat me for breakfast, though I wasn't going to back down. Not for boys who I considered my brothers.
Trent smirked at me, and stood to his feet. His brothers following suit. I braced myself for the impact of a flying fist, or harsh words to follow, though nothing ever came.
"Show us where you want to eat," Trent said, pulling his coat over his body a little tighter. "We'll join you. I'm sure you know this place better than us anyway."
We all stood there, dumbfounded. I felt like this was some sort of fucked up joke. "Seriously?" Niall questioned, his eyes wide.
Trent shrugged. He hadn't bothered to ask his brothers what they wanted to do, though they both seemed as keen on the idea as Trent. "Why not? You're hungry, we're hungry, seems like a good idea."
There was a whole story from then until now, on how we formed some sort of fucked up friendship, and how we all moved to America once I turned twenty-one a few years ago for the Taylor brothers, though my brain didn't really like to go down that rabbit hole very often. Point being, I owed the Taylors a lot, and doing the bare minimum of keeping their bratty younger sister clinically sane, was now one of them.
I had heard a lot about the youngest Taylor growing up, though it wasn't often that I saw her. Despite being someone these men trusted with their lives, Anna was still someone that was very much off limits, even to me. I caught glimpses of her throughout the years, watching her grow up into a full woman. I suppose from her initial reaction to me, I don't think she ever saw me, or the way my eyes had followed her every single time she had walked by.
To be fair though, I did watch from the distance. As I had been on other assignments, I never really got the chance to be up close and personal with her. I just glanced a few times when she walked by with her brothers, whether it be at the club or at one of the many annual functions her families held. I always found myself watching the way her hips swung or how she always smirked and tilted her head when she was being a pain to one of the guards. I always thought I'd be able to handle her attitude, though never got the chance to speak to her to prove to myself I could, and not dive in to temptation.
I always thought that was for the best, that I never got to speak to her up. Anna was a world of her own, and anyone who dared to get close could see that. It was half the reason why the Taylor brothers were so protective. They knew how much of a force she was and how she could bring any man down to his knees for her.
Her parents on the other hand, were anything but protective. Maria Taylor, Anna's mother, was a borderline alcoholic, who drowned herself in alcohol because she couldn't keep up with the children she had raised and the husband she despised.
Robert Taylor - the man, the myth and now the lifeless soul rotting somewhere in a body bag, was a father - though not someone you would consider a dad. A part of me understood how his children reacted, and how there was no sobbing and death gripping hugs. Their father had always been a distant figure, a business partner if anything, even if he did show his love to Anna just that little bit more.
To put it blankly though, the Taylors, all the Taylors were emotionless beings, the product of two people who never planned on having a family, rather they wanted to build an empire and have their legacy past down to the generations of sons.
The Taylors dominated every room they were in, though they were not the polite, reputation keeping rich people that often walked the streets with their head held high. They were the dark, mysterious family who didn't shy away from havoc and mayhem. They were the royalty of the underworld, who had too many secrets to keep track of, and I was sure I didn't even know half of them.
A part of me hated how much trust was put into me to keep the youngest Taylor safe, because there was an unusual pressure there that I hadn't ever felt before. I wouldn't ever do anything to let Trent, Michael and Johnny down, though the temptation to devour Anna Taylor in every sense of the world felt it was eating me alive the longer I was around her.
The thing is, Anna Taylor is the type of girl that could make any man crumble, and I wasn't any different, I just had more will power. She was also the type that would crush their hearts as if it was a game, and I'm sure she'd laugh when they came back over and over again, not being able to resist the honey of her eyes or the way she'd be able to play their hearts like a fiddle, and make them feel special all at the same time.
Her brothers told me all about her, though all the words to describe her, couldn't ever compare to what she was actually like. Nothing could of prepped me for what it was like to stand in her presence, and feel as if she held the soul of every single person in the room without even trying.
She was fire. She was a breath of fresh her and she was like lighting on a stormy night. She rattled my bones and set something alight in side of me.
She had this thing where she needed to be as mysterious and alluring as her brothers. She always needed to be in charge, and the game of throwing her out of her element was becoming my favourite pastime, because it let me inside the mind of the woman who took over a room with a simple smirk and sway of her hips.
I enjoyed the moments I got see see her squirm under my gaze, or watch her cheek tint a cherry red when I whispered something inappropriate into her ear. I liked knowing that I seemed to be the only one to question her authority and bite back at her. It pissed her off, and I fucking loved that.
Even if I was giving in right now, stomping down the hallway to Nialls room to collect her because there there was no chance she was sleeping in his bed; I wouldn't let Anna Taylor seep into my heart the same way her pink lips and soft curves were already in my head. I wouldn't allow it. Not for my own sanity and because of my loyalty to her brothers.
I may not be a Taylor, but I sure as hell could be as heartless as one. Anna Taylor would be no exception to my beating heart. She wouldn't touch it. Ever.
Yay a Harry chapter! I thought it would be cool to get inside his head and see how he views the Taylors. What did y'all think?!
So sorry I've been slack on the updates, so much has been going on!
Hope everyone is doing well and if any of my lovely readers are in NSW, my thoughts and prayers go out to you! I hope you're keeping safe!
I'll see you all in the next update!!
Much love,
May x