Chapter 01

Good morning, New York City! It is a beautiful sunny May morning! Currently, 60 degrees, reaching a high of 71 by this afternoon, with a low of 53 this evening. Traffic is slow and steady as everyone is starting their morning, so don't go anywhere as our traffic report is coming your way in a few short minutes. We bring you live breaking news this morning as we have just learned that our latest reports confirm that the son of Max William's, CEO and owner of William Enterprises, Steven William's, has been reported missing. News of Mr. William's disappearance from public view has driven heated speculation across social media in recent days. The whereabouts of the millionaire entrepreneur remain unknown... blah, blah, blah. She was never one to watch or read much of the news as she turned off the television mounted on their kitchen wall and continued to munch down on her breakfast while her father signed in the seat next to her.

So many negative stories. Journalists were always drawn to reporting the bad and sudden disasters of the world to draw in their audience. She was one not drawn to such headlines. Her father who sat next to her could clearly see the impassive look upon her face as the room went quiet. As displeased as he was to her reaction, he brushed it off with a shake of his head.

"Seriously Addy," her father began to converse with her, "if you are to be the heir of the family company, you need to pay attention to our city headlines. Stories like these are very concerning to people like us."

She then rolled her eyes indifferently at his comment. People like us. There he went off again, always categorizing them in a completely different class than the rest of New York City. Well to be fair, her father, Bernard Jones, was a multimillionaire CEO of his own insurance company. He did have a very strict reputation to uphold; and when she meant reputation, it was with the complete inference of his wealth. See, Addilyn Jones was his one and only child; twenty-one years old, fresh out of university, and the successor to his millions. She always portrayed her father to care more about his money than her, seeing as their relationship was very aloof. There had been a kidnapping years earlier; the daughter of a very close business mogul of his, had been snatched and the girl's father had ended up paying several million dollars to get her back. Since then, her high and mighty father had made sure that situation wouldn't happen to him. Yes, him.

This now brings us to the next interesting fun fact about Bernard protecting his precious assets. Ever since she was seventeen years old, her father had hired bodyguards for her protection; to drive her from her everyday point A to B destinations. At first, it was quite embarrassing to be chauffeured around the city. After all, teenagers at that age enjoyed the luxurious freedoms of getting their own driver's license, driving their own car, and being able to go about freely. Nope, not Addy. Day in and day out, she was picked up from their five-million-dollar mansion to her various destinations such as New York University, appointments, and leisure activities.

To be honest, it wasn't all that bad all the time. Her main bodyguard throughout the years was a middle-aged man named Simon. Tall, disciplined, and an overall friendly married man working to provide for his family. He was always quite pleasant to talk to.

Clearing his throat when she didn't respond to his last comment, Bernard decided to continue. "Listen, Addy… New York can be very dangerous, especially when we have creeps like these thugs kidnapping young women. I wouldn't want you to ever experience something like that because of our status."

You mean your money. She raised her eyebrows.

"Anyways, Simon is being reduced to part-time weekends for the time being as he needs to attend to family matters. So, during the week, I've actually was able to bring in another familiar face to watch over you."

Familiar face? Oh no, was he going to say what I think he was going to say…!?

"Finn Adams will be watching over you from Monday to Friday."

Crap. Well, that was her first thought. She hadn't seen Finn in almost three years now. To be completely honest, she'd had a crush on him during their time together, but he wouldn't give her the time of day. Jerk. He was much younger than Simon; younger, single, and most importantly very attractive. She could never get more than two words out of him during their rides, but perhaps that could change this time around. After all, she wasn't a teenager anymore, she was a woman.

"Are you comfortable with this arrangement?"

Addy must have fantasized for a brief moment thinking about all of Finn's physical attractions and what he may have looked like underneath his suit before snapping back and looking over at her father with a shrug of her shoulders. "Yeah, sure. He's okay to deal with." She was then going to proceed with the whole 'is this really necessary' conversation but already knew it would be a lost cause. What her father decided, she already knew that there was no choice but to abide. What freedom.

"Good. He should be here soon to pick you up. I have a meeting in Manhattan to attend to then I will see you at the office."

Learning that she would be seeing Finn again gave her the tight feeling in her stomach most would describe as 'butterflies.' He had chauffeured her during her senior year of high school and first year of university. Ugh, high school. What an embarrassment that was. As one of the top and most popular students in her grade, you could only imagine how it felt dating the lead football jock, known as Bradly, only for him to cheat on you and finding out about it on prom night! Total humiliation! Luckily back then Finn was not one to ask questions; so, when he went to pick her up early that night, it was a simple quiet ride from the school to back home. After that night, it was never in question to talk about. In fact, she could only hope that he never remembered that unpleasant night. During her first year of university, it was pretty much the same with only able to get two, maybe three words out of Finn's mouth. Back then, he was certainly not much of a conversationist.

Ugh, enough about Mr. Insensitive. Moving on! It was time to get ready for work. Hair, makeup, outfit – check, check, double check. Looking at her reflection in the mirror definitely gave her the poise of looking perfectly alluring. Hey, she had a reputation to uphold as well; looking absolutely stunning and down to business as the future CEO of their family insurance company. While finishing up in the bathroom, Addy heard the faint sound of their doorbell ring and it sent that tight feeling in the pit of her stomach again. He was here. Oh no, why? Why!? Why did she feel so nervous all of a sudden? Jeez, get a grip, Addy! You haven't seen him in THREE years. He probably got fat or has some awful disgusting scars by now. Nothing to stress over! Splashing some water on her face then patting it dry with a cloth, Addilyn took in a deep breath to go out and become acquainted with Mr. Adams once again.

Walking through the foyer, at first glimpse stood a man by the front door with his back to hers as he looked out the window with his hands neatly folded behind him. He was wearing a pure sharp-looking and well-fitted black suit complete with black Bregman dress shoes. Very sleek and stylish. Oh boy, if he was looking this good from behind, she already knew she was going to be in trouble when he turned around. As she approached closer with the sound of her heels against the porcelain tiles of the floor, he then turned around to face her. Fuck. Complete in his black-tie suit, faux hawk haircut, clean-shaven face, Addy found it quite difficult not to look away. His jet-black hair shined off the sunlight that peeked through the main window as he removed his sunglasses and revealed his hazel-colored eyes. So much for obesity and scars; Finn was undeniably handsome.

It was then she knew there was no escaping this arrangement.

* * * * * * *

Finn Adams. What a background story for this young man. Growing up in a military personnel home was hard enough, but being the youngest of three boys gave him the added pressure of striving for the excellence his father expected from his children. He had two older brothers, Derek and Wes. Both had training serving in the United States Armed Forces and helped their father build their company, Adams Protection Services or APS for short, which served bodyguards and private investigators in New York City and surroundings.

Although there was a lot of added pressure for Finn to follow in his family's footsteps, it just wasn't for him. After graduating from high school, he did end up training and working for his father for a few years at APS, taking on assignments and clients until he decided to pursue a career in Law, where he began to study at NYU while working part-time. Finn remembered the brief time he was hired to escort Addilyn Jones around; a young sophisticated high maintenance high school senior. Back then there wasn't much to it. He was only on duty for her during weekend shopping splurges, friend get-togethers, and underage drinking parties. What fun. He never had any interest in striking up any type of conversation with her during that time.

Now, three years later. Finn was finishing up his final year in Law when he got the call from his father for his next task.

"Finn. I have your next assignment. It will be Monday to Friday but with flexible hours. I would have had one of your brothers take it on, but both are busy with current work and I'm sure this won't interfere too much with your university studies. Also, I hear that you know this certain client." His father spoke in a non-chelate tone over the phone with him.

It had been three years since seeing Addilyn, and to his first assumption, she probably wasn't so much different than to her high school self. "Yes sir, pops. Consider the duty assigned."

At first thought, this job should be what people describe as a walk in the park. Pick her up from home and drive her to work and occasionally an appointment or other errand. Easy. This schedule left him with plenty of time during the day to study for his final exams coming up next month. Plus, with the added wage of the job, it would help pay down his student loans with ease while preparing himself in the real world of a career in Law. He began to think about the last time he saw Addilyn - while much wasn't said between the two then, and even behind her preppy, obstinate, tenacious lifestyle, something awoken in him. Perhaps this time it could be something different between them; nothing beyond their contract, but perhaps something more than two or three word conversations.

Sure, she was cute back then. But at all interested? No, definitely not. If she was at all like before - chatty, pubescent, daddy's little rich girl - this job was going to be easy money. The schedule was perfect, the pay was definitely good to help him finish paying off his student loans and finish school. What else did he really need?

Monday morning. On the first day of working with his new client, he was instructed to meet her at her home and introduce himself before heading off for the day. Driving up to their home, he was quite surprised he remembered all the details of the exterior. As part of the job, Finn was also given a brand new vehicle for him to use for the duration of the job, which was delivered to his residence the day before. A beautiful top of the line brand new sleek black Chevrolet Suburban SUV. Could this job get any better!? Having a client like Bernard Jones definitely showed class.

As he parked in the driveway and stepped out of the vehicle, he made sure to button his blazer up and proceeded to the front door where the maid had escorted him inside. The main foyer was absolutely stunning with high ceilings, two large staircases on both sides of the room attached with one another on the second floor, an elegant seating area in the middle of the room, porcelain tiles throughout, and lots of natural light from the many large windows. This is what it felt like to be a millionaire!

It was then he realized she would be there to greet him any minute. Turning away and looking out one of the two windows beside the front door, Finn folded his hands together behind his back and starred out at the scenery outside. During the few minutes of free time, he had a lot to consider where he was in life right now. He was about to graduate in two months and would finally be able to pursue his dreams in the field of Law. His days of guarding, escorting, and chaperoning were soon to be over. It was then he heard the sound of an approaching individual and turned around to find himself completely caught off guard, and was sure his heart literally skipped a few beats. No way was that her! Addilyn Jones. She wore low black heels, a black pencil skirt, and a low cut violet blouse. Her hair was a beautiful shoulder length autumn brown, had light makeup, and looked absolutely stunning. For his sake, he was lucky that he was wearing his sunglasses so she wouldn't notice that he completely checked her out from head to toe. His unconscious wouldn't allow his eyes to fixate on anything else but the perfect figure that walked up to him. Sure he had his fair share of dates and girlfriends, but none of them compared to the woman that was now in front of him at that moment. She had muscles where it was attractive and curves where it counted and knew how to compliment every bit of her God given beauty with her attire. Fuck, he was in trouble.

It was then he knew there was no escaping this arrangement.