The Marine Bk. 02 Ch. 07

"Just to sleep in here?"

She hesitated before whispering, "Well, this time..." Then she looked up into my eyes again. "She really likes you already."

"Adriana?" She smiled and nodded. "Well, I like her too. She's made my job very easy so far."

"We might have found a second good reason to try and visit here, Nick."

I almost snorted in humour. "I'd be happy to provide protection for whenever you choose to visit, Luana."

She eventually got up to sit on the edge of the bed, but turned back and pressed her lips towards mine. I hesitated for all of a second before I made her squeal, pulling her back towards me and kissing her properly. Feeling her leg rest above mine, I felt her groin press into mine, and she wouldn't have missed the fact I still had my morning wood. That earned a whimper before she broke the kiss.

"We made a promise to each other, the six of us. We won't get jealous," she whispered, "Well, except for the fact Adriana will have you around all the time."

Sliding out of bed, I watched her walk to my door, turning to blow me a kiss, before she sauntered out. I laid on my back, chuckling to myself. Been a long time since a young woman had thrown herself at me in such a manner. I needed a release, so I threw on some gym clothes and pounded the miles on the treadmill downstairs, enjoying a quick shower once I was finished, then dressing in time to take Adriana and her friends to mass.

"Would you like to join us inside?" Adriana asked. I glanced over the six of them. I wasn't religious at all. Even when in a foxhole being shot at, I didn't find god, though I understood why everyone else did. Comfort in those possible last moments before the bullet or shell found you. But I couldn't refuse the request to join them. Tony and Luciana noticed, earning a nod and smile from the pair of them.

I'd already figured out that it was mass then coffee, so once the service was over, I took Adriana, Luana, Fernanda and Juliana, Joao dropping off Camila and Elena, giving me a sympathetic look that I'd be spending another couple of hours in the company of them. Little did he know...

After buying them all a drink, I took my usual position, the girls sticking to English most of the time so I could understand them, participating in the conversation when they were discussing something that interested me, and I wasn't surprised I received quite a few questions. I mixed my history as Nick with my real life as Nate, at least in regards to my military service.

Two sets of parents arrived to pick up the other five once they were ready to go home. I was a little embarrassed as all five gave me a long hug before they departed, leaving me with Adriana. She only started to talk to me once we were on the way home.

"I hope Luana didn't surprise you too much," she said.

"I didn't mind sharing a bed, but..." I took a deep breath and waited until we were sitting at a red light before turning to her. "Adriana, I'm your bodyguard first and foremost. And while you are six beautiful young women, it's just..." I sighed, scratching my chin. "Can we talk when we get home? I need to explain something about my last job."

She nodded, her shoulders slumping. I took her hand once I had the car underway. "Are you mad?" she whispered.

"Of course not. I'm flattered by the attention so quickly."

She giggled. "You had no chance once we saw you without a shirt, Nick. And your shorts were rather tight."

Sitting with her in the lounge room once we got home, another coffee in hand as we relaxed together on one of the couches, I explained what happened with my previous job. She was a mature woman who I eventually enjoyed a sexual relationship with. It wasn't a distraction. The attack on us outside the court house wasn't something I could have prevented as she was used as bait, unbeknownst to myself. No, Adriana wasn't bait. I'd basically warned my 'boss' that, if I found out that was the case, I'd be rather unhappy. But, in the end, the circumstances were different. But getting involved with the person you're protecting is a minefield. I admitted it was unprofessional, but that being close to Marta made me even more determined to keep her safe.

"Did you love her?" she asked.

"I cared for her greatly, and the sex was fantastic, but no, I didn't fall in love her. She didn't fall in love with me either. We were very close, but we knew the relationship would always have a time limit. It was a lot of fun, and the last two weeks we spent together, once I recovered from my wounds, proved rather memorable."

"Do you think I'm attractive?" she asked quietly.

"Honestly, I think you're fucking beautiful, Adriana. But I think being anything other than your friend is a bad idea." I took a sip of my coffee and sighed. "Not sure how long that mindset will last though," I muttered.

"Would you..." She placed her mug down and shuffled closer, resting a hand on my thigh. "My friends really like you already, Nick. Would you like to sleep with any of them?"

I shook my head, laughing to myself. "All of them, Adriana." I met her eyes, and added quietly, "And you too."

That earned a warm smile. "I already knew that. No need to rush though."

"It would be a very bad idea too."

"Oh, a very bad idea. You are a professional, after all." That did make me snort, which made her giggle. Then she relaxed into me as I sipped my coffee. "I'm glad I already feel so comfortable with you, Nick. Never felt this easy with previous people."

The next couple of weeks passed quickly enough. Adriana amused me by getting up with me the first two days to join me in the gym. It didn't last past the second morning, which didn't surprise me. I also picked up three of her friends each morning, a different group every day, the four chatting away in a mixture of languages while I drove them along, continuing to introduce Adriana to all the music I'd loved while living in the UK and Europe.

Each Saturday, Adriana would have a different activity in the morning into the early afternoon. After that, she would generally want to go to the beach, meeting up with her friends. I probably looked foolish in my suit as I hovered nearby as the six sunbathed, but with the crowds of people around us, I didn't care. One or two young men attempted to chat them up, but they received short shrift from the girls, and wilted under my gaze at the same time. Once happy to have taken in some sun, I'd escort them to a bar where they'd enjoy a drink or two, before we'd make their way home. Sunday was mass and coffee, before a rather relaxing day back home, Adriana devoting a little time to study, and a little time to lying by the pool, taking the occasional dip.

I'd been in the job a couple of months when the situation changed and I understood the message I'd received from the Director. How he'd received the information had me scratching my head, but it was also his job to be in the know. Myself? Tony hadn't mentioned anything in regards to what happened.

Antonio Felipe Moutinho de Sousa announced his candidacy in regards to the next general election for the position as President of Brazil.

I was present as he made the announcement, alongside his family, friends, supporters, and other guards. As soon as the words left his mouth, Adriana moved closer and took my hand. While she smiled as expected, her eyes spoke of only one emotion when they met mine. She was scared. And I could understand why. Her father hadn't just painted a target on herself. He'd painted a target on all of them. His speech was excellent. Didn't understand all of it, but it was obvious he wasn't pigeonholing himself to one side or the other. Would have called him an economic socialist - not like Venezuela to the north, more like a version seen in Europe - but his stance on crime and corruption was going to be tough. That alone was going to make him enemies.

There was no difference in his protection detail. That would only change if he won the Presidency. What did change was that he hired a couple more bodyguards for himself. I also asked Tony for the background of each person working for him. I sent all that to Jennifer, eager to hear from me as usual, asking her to do what she could. What happened with Paul/Pavle hadn't been her fault, the information she would normally have found had been hidden by the Director. He had a habit of pissing me off, even though I also understand why he did things a certain way.

He cleared everyone working for Tony, adding that this wasn't the same as when I'd been protecting Marta. He knew I wasn't entirely convinced, so sent me emails of all the information he'd found for everyone. Nothing was redacted so I learned quite a bit about the people who I worked alongside. One or two surprises, but nothing I didn't really expect.

Little did any of us know the decision that would come next.

*****

It was a quiet Saturday night. Adriana was upstairs with Luana and Juliana. The trio were enjoying themselves, hearing the music playing. I smiled to myself as she was listening to a selection of songs I'd picked out for her. I was busy playing some poker with Joao, Brian, Marcos, Paulo and Carlos. Another two guards patrolled the perimeter, two were at the guardhouse, while two patrolled outside the walls. Threats had already been made against Tony, but the family tried to live as normally as possible.

My phone ringing wasn't a surprise, figuring it'll be one of the guards, bored out of his mind, or a call from Jennifer. Looking at the screen and seeing Adriana's number wasn't what I expected. I answered it immediately. "Adriana?"

"Help me," she whispered, hearing the sob that followed.

"What?"

"Help me. I'm trapped. They're trying to hurt us."

I felt my eyes widen as I stood, turned and immediately sprinted upstairs. I forced open her bedroom door to find the stereo blaring and no sign of Adriana or her friends. "Fuck!" I shouted, hearing footsteps behind me. Putting the phone back to my ear, I lowered my tone. "Adriana... Sweetheart... Where are you?"

"I... I don't remember how we got here... I think they..." Then I heard a loud banging in the background. "Please, Nick. You know how to find me." I did. She had a purse. I put a tracker in it. And she knew I'd put it there in the event I failed. "I'm sorry," she whimpered, "I'm so sorry. I thought..."

"I'm coming to get you, sweetheart. You hold tight. Are the others there?"

"We all are," she cried, "But they were after me!"

"Stay wherever you are, Adriana. I'll come get you."

Hanging up, I opened the app on my phone that told me where she was. I showed the map to Joao. "Oh fuck, that is not good. It's not quite the favelas but... What the fuck is she doing over there?"

"Don't care. We're going to get her. You all coming?" They didn't even have to respond. Heading downstairs, we tooled up. No chance we were leaving without protection. Vests. MP5s. Tony had even got his hands on a couple of SA80A3's that I could use. The five looked at me, clearly following my lead. "We do this as bloodless if possible. If they want violence, we bring it. Understood?"

"About fuckin' time," Joao stated.

"Three vehicles. Two in each. The six girls are there. We don't leave without all six of them. Understood?" No jokes this time. They'd seen enough to see the six of them all adored me, but I had been nothing but professional. But they knew I also cared for all of them. Too much, but that only made me more determined.

"Parents?"

"We'll tell them once we've got them home. I don't need them worrying right now."

Joao rode with me, Brian with Paolo, Marcos and Carlos in the third SUV. We tore through the streets of Rio, driving away from the affluent areas into an area that certainly didn't receive the sort of funding and upkeep of other areas. The drive only took twenty minutes though it felt like two hours. Pulling up at the address, there were cars everywhere, I could hear music pumping from inside, and our arrival certainly gained the interest of certain partygoers.

We were all linked for communication. "Tool up, but I'll take the lead. As I said, bloodless for now."

Stepping out of the SUV, I shrugged off my jacket so they saw the pistol in its holster by my shoulder, and the second SIG Sauer I kept at my waist. I was ten steps away from the open doorway when three males stepped out, arrogant little piss ants that strode like they owned the place. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. But I knew Adriana was inside as were her friends.

I raised a hand, halting the men behind me. I sensed they were eager to just go inside and probably start shooting. "The fuck do you want?" the middle one asked in English.

I stepped forward until we were only a pace apart. "Friends of ours are inside. We are here to collect them and take them home."

He smirked. Arrogant little fucker. "No friends of yours are here. Cai fora agora, idiota."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose with finger and thumb, before I slammed the palm of the same hand into the nose of the arrogant little fuck. It was hard enough to not only smash said nose, hearing cartilage crunch, and he dropped. In most cases of extreme violence, people are slow to react. His two stooges were just that, leaving me enough time to put my elbow into the idiot to my right. The crack across his jaw dropped him, and probably broke it at the same time. The third squared up just in time to find my foot between his legs, immediately dropping to his knees, before my knee found his face.

"Let's go," I said, "If we find a girl, one of you take them back to the SUV. Adriana is mine to deal with, and any fuckwit messing with her."

The house was a dump. Full of young people. Soon as they saw us, many of them started to flee. I didn't have a weapon in hand, the others would all be wielding an MP5, looking ready to kill. A couple of thugs walked out looking for a fight, saw five weapons immediately aimed at them. Weapons were quickly dropped and they fucked off just as quickly.

We found Elana, Juliana and Luana downstairs. All three were passed out, and likely drugged. I only hoped they hadn't been messed with. Heading upstairs, that's when I withdrew my pistol. I found the bathroom where Adriana had likely been hiding empty, the door having been busted open. The music was switched off and that's when I heard her scream.

Heading towards the doorway at the end of the hall, I opened the door to find her on the bed, busy fighting off a man. Two others were standing next to the bed, cocks already in hand.

"Shut up, bitch!" the man on top of her yelled, and when I heard the slap...

Thug one with cock out copped the butt of my pistol into his temple. Might have killed him. Didn't care. Thug two with cock out was pistol whipped, kicked in the balls, and then pistol whipped again. He dropped to the ground unconscious. Maybe dead. Again, didn't care. Turning to the potential rapist, he sat back on his knees, hands raised in innocence, but a fucking smirk on his face.

"Só me divertindo um pouco, meu amigo. Sem danos causados. Não há necessidade de mais violência."

"This is going to get violent," I growled.

Grabbing him by the hair, I dragged him off the bed and put a fist into his gut. Doubling over, my knee went straight into his face, knocking him backwards to he stumbled through the doorway, falling to his knees as I pointed the pistol at his face. His cock, no longer hard, started to release urine as he begged for his life. I'll admit, I hit him more than three times until he was unconscious. Then I stamped on his crotch for good measure.

Turning back to the bedroom, I walked in to find Adriana sitting on the edge of the bed. Taking a knee in front of her, I lifted her chin with a finger. She was bleeding from her eyebrow, and her cheek was starting to bruise already. I checked her over, sighing with relief that her underwear was in place. She immediately hugged me tightly. "They didn't hurt me, Nick," she whispered, "You saved me."

I'll admit, I closed my eyes and could only thank the big guy upstairs that she believed in. He'd kept her safe until I arrived.

Picking her up in my arms, I carried her downstairs and out of the now empty house. Placing her carefully in the backseat, I got behind the wheel, looking down at my hands to see blood, turning on the ignition and leading us back home.

Each of us carried a girl into the house. Luciana and Tony were now home, and seeing me carry in a now sleeping Adriana, they started to fret. "Not now," I said with a tone of authority. Luciana immediately fell silent. Tony glared for a second. "Not now, Tony. Please. She's safe. That's what matters. Let me put her to bed, we can discuss this later."

He met my eyes, fear and anger the two main emotions, the turmoil otherwise clear, before he nodded without a word. Carrying her upstairs to her room, I walked to her bedroom first, sitting her down on the toilet seat, grabbing a cloth to wipe her face. She woke up as I cleaned her face and only then did she burst into tears, hugging me as tightly as I could remember. I hugged her back just as tight.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome, sweetheart."

All six girls were eventually put to bed in her room, four of them sharing her enormous bed, dragging in a couple of mattresses from elsewhere for the other two. Luciana was beside herself with worry, Tony prowling the hallway outside. I stepped outside, shutting the door. "Go to bed. Standing here fretting won't help. She's safe for now. I'll keep watch for the night. They'll want a friendly face they trust if they wake up."

They nodded and walked towards the stairs. Tony stopped before he started to descend. "Thank you for saving my daughter, Nick." He looked back at me. "I won't forget this. I promise."

I returned a nod before he disappeared. I headed to my bedroom, cleaned myself up before changing. Keeping one of my pistols with me, I returned to Adriana's room, checking they were all fast asleep, before I took a seat and started my vigil. More than once, one of them woke up, needing to be sick. As embarrassed as they were, needing a cuddle as they cried, I helped them back to bed. I had a good idea what had happened. I had no doubt we'd got there just in time.

I was still awake when they started to stir the next morning, having dozed for maybe an hour or two at most. Luana was the first to wake up, noticing me sitting by myself. She managed half a smile before she started to gently wake up everyone else. When all six were awake and noticed me sitting there, I was quickly enveloped by half a dozen emotional young women.

Escorting them downstairs, Luciana and Tony were already awake, breakfast already being served. The girls sat silently as I grabbed a large mug of coffee. "Adriana, what...."

"Antonio, now isn't the time," Luciana said.

"She could have been..."

"Thanks to Nick and our people, she wasn't." She grabbed his hand. "Be thankful to god that she is home safe and alive."

"Did they... Did any of you..." Tony started to ask. The six all shook their heads. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief at that. "It's my fault," he muttered, "Ever since I announced my intention to run..."

Adriana slammed her fork onto the plate. "No, father. It's not your fault. They targeted us on purpose. The one who was assaulting me. I know his face. His little brother attends university."

Tony looked at me. I nodded. He didn't need to ask. "I want their names, Adriana," I said, looking at her, "I will be dealing with them. Anyone involved." I looked back at Tony. "Antonio, you were nineteen once yourself. So was I. So was your wife. We've all made mistakes. I know Adriana has already learned her lesson. Not only was she terrified, she's no doubt embarrassed, upset, but also aware she has disappointed her parents. But she's also nineteen, she's an adult, and though she lives under your roof, I'm hoping you'll understand..."