"I know, right?" Tina fluffed up her hair.
Phil gave Emma a hounded look. "Angus sent me to guard you today."
"All day long." Lindsey, dressed in tiny brown shorts and a turquoise cami, snuggled up close to Phil. "When do you get off work? Tina and I live just two doors down."
The shorter one wrinkled her nose while she regarded Emma. "I thought only rich and famous people needed bodyguards. Are you hiding here from the paparazzi?"
Emma shrugged one shoulder. "Something like that."
"Wow." Lindsey let go of Phil and stepped closer to Emma. "I bet you're like… filthy rich."
"And famous," Tina added. "Do I know you?"
Emma exchanged a confused look with Phil. "I don't think so. I don't know you."
Lindsey leaned close to her friend. "Did you hear the way she talks? She sounds kinda funny."
"I know, right?" Tina whispered back. "I don't think English is her native language."
Emma's mouth dropped open. Phil grimaced, shaking his head.
"I bet she's a foreign movie star," Lindsey whispered.
Tina gasped. "No! She's a foreign princess!"
"Excuse me," Emma said. "I'm right here. I can hear you."
The two blondes jumped.
Tina began speaking in a loud voice, enunciating her words very carefully. "Hello. My name is Tina. I am pleased to meet you." She curtsied.
"My name is Lindsey." The taller one made a wobbly curtsy. "Welcome to America."
"Thank you." Emma gave Phil a dubious look.
He stepped closer. "Would you mind if I guarded you inside?"
"No, that's fine. Come in." She opened the door wider, and he slipped inside.
"Good-bye, Phil," Lindsey called after him. "Remember to come see us after work."
"Good-bye, your royal highness." Tina curtsied again.
"Bye." Emma shut the door and flipped the locks.
"Thank you." Phil leaned against the wall and heaved a sigh of relief. "Those women have been pestering me for hours."
"You poor thing." Emma strode into the kitchen, smiling. She retrieved two bottles of water from the fridge and offered him one. "So what's a mortal guy like you doing working for vampires?"
He unscrewed the top off his bottle. "I'm working for the good Vamps, Miss Wallace. I'm honored that they trust me."
She sat at the breakfast table and motioned for him to join her. "How long have you worked for Angus?"
"Six years." Phil sat across from her. "I heard you killed four Malcontents, and now they want to kill you."
She shrugged one shoulder. "They don't know who I am, so I don't think I'm in as much danger as Angus believes. You really don't need to stick around if you don't want to."
"I always follow orders." He drank some water.
"Even with Lindsey and Tina waiting for you?"
He grimaced. "I'd rather face twenty Malcontents than those two dingbats from hell."
Emma laughed. "They are rather scary."
Phil nodded. "I'm supposed to stay by your side until you're safe at work this evening."
"Then you get to help me lug that down to the Laundromat." She pointed at the bulging garbage sack by the door.
Phil spent the rest of the day helping her do the laundry and grocery shopping. Emma shared a pizza with him at the local deli before they took the subway to Midtown. She wanted to ask a ton of questions about Angus and the vampire world, but Phil refused to discuss business in public.
He escorted her to the federal building where she worked. At the door, he handed her a card. "I wrote the number to Roman's townhouse on the back. Call us if you're in trouble."
"Thank you." She examined the card. It looked like the one Angus had given her. On the back, Phil had scribbled a phone number.
"If you call during the day, either Howard or I will answer," Phil continued. "If you call at night, you'll most likely get Ian."
"All right." Emma shook his hand. "It was nice to meet you, Phil. Thanks for helping with the laundry."
"Good night." He waited until she was safely in the building before he left.
The Stake-Out team's seven P.M. meeting dragged on for an hour as Sean tried to come up with a legitimate reason to shut down Romatech Industries. The fact that the company saved millions of human lives each year with their synthetic blood was lost on Sean.
After seeing his daughter there, he'd become obsessed with destroying the place.