A/N: Ya'll are killing me with the speed that you are following, favoritng, and reviewing but words cannot express how much that I appreciate it.
To Haylee, I know you are not a fan of suspense and that wasn't the end of the story, but I'm so sorry that you did not enjoy it. And I really appreciate not only your feedback, but also you reading it at all. Thank you!
To teatart: Thank you very much for your kind words and for giving my story a chance. I'm so glad that you feel it is not over the top, as an actress, sometimes I tend to let the dramatics seep into my literature.
To guests: Thank every one of you that reviewed. You all give such great feedback and it aids me as a writer, and honestly, makes me feel pretty damn great. Ya'll rock.
Beauty and the Bodyguard
Chapter 4: Your Song
Before the blade could even pierce Gabriella's soft skin, it was suddenly pried out of the person's hand and the sharp tip placed against their neck.
The person gasped in surprise but Troy put his finger to his lips in a shush motion. Slowly, Troy grabbed the person and dragged them out of the room, careful not to wake up sleeping beauty.
When they were out of the room and in the foyer, Troy released the knife from the person's neck and he had to admit, he was quite surprised.
The stalker that attacked Gabriella was a woman. She was petite, and maybe once she was beautiful, but her shifting eyes and twitching was a sign that mentally, she was not right.
Even so, she was a danger, and Troy would not let anyone hurt his Gabriella.
His? Okay he was just tired, there was no way that he had meant that.
She was his mission. That was all she was.
Troy cleared his throat and the woman looked at him, the shadows under her eyes making her face look decrypted and sunken in.
"I'm going to have to call the police. If you make any move to harm me, and most importantly the girl, I will be forced to restrain you, is that clear?" Troy asked, quirking an eyebrow at the woman.
She cocked her head to the side. "Oh, you seem angry." She observed but Troy just took a deep breath and pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.
"You're angry with me for trying to hurt her, aren't you?" The woman asked, her voice cracking. Drugs did affect the vocal chords, and her smoking-since-she-was-two voice had to be the result of that.
"Yes, I have a suspect here. She broke in and attempted to murder a minor." Troy explained into the receiver. He wanted to give his name and credentials but he did not want to say it in front of the woman, and at the same time, he refused to move to another area out of her ear shot for fear she would sneak off and attack Gabriella again.
"You act so cold but she makes you warm. In more ways than one. She makes me warm too, in both ways. Oh I wanted to taste her blood. Feel it dripping onto my-"
"SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HURTING HER! PSYCHOPATHS LIKE YOU ARE WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD AND I WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU ARE ALL GONE SO NONE OF YOU WILL EVER HURT HER! I WON'T ALLOW IT! YOU HEAR ME?!" Troy screamed, moving to stand in front of the woman. He noticed that the police were on the line so he quickly hung up, embarrassed at his outburst.
Her face crumpled, and tears welled in her eyes.
Troy's face was fire red from anger, and his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. But, if he had gone to sleep that night instead of checking the house one last time, Gabriella would have died.
The thought hit him like a ton of bricks.
People wanted to kill her, and he couldn't even tell her why or what was really going on. He was lying to her just like everyone else, but she needed to be protected.
She was delicate and he would not be the one to tell her the truth and hurt her.
Just as the police arrived, their sirens blaring and tires screeching, the lady stood up and dashed towards him, using her body as a battering ram.
Troy caught her in his large muscular arms. She was a small woman and she wasn't as strong as sh thought.
With a cry of rage she leaned back and head-butted him.
His vision swam but he restrained her and leaned back, careful to not let her hit him again.
As the police dashed in and pried her off, he stumbled backwards, and fell to the floor, disoriented and dizzy.
As a child he had had many concussions from sports and fights, so not only was he susceptible to him, it was dangerous for him to get them, and the force that that woman hit him with was stronger than any other time that he had been hit.
"Troy!" He heard a voice cry and suddenly Gabriella was leaning over him.
"Hey, I didn't know that you were a triplet!" He exclaimed as three Gabriella's swam in front of his face. Man, what if he started to like all of them?! Would he choose Gabriella 1, Gabriella 2, or Gabriella 3?
It was like Russian roulette!
"Help! Please help!" Gabriella cried out, tears streaming down her face.
"Hey, hey, I'm fine. I'm just on a rollercoaster at Disneyworld. I'll come down soon. I hope I don't fall." Troy explained as he reached up to wipe away her tears, but he didn't know whose face he should wipe.
Gabriella 1, Gabriella 2, or Gabriella 3?
He reached up and brushed the tears off of Gabriella 1's face. She leaned into his hand and smiled and that was all he saw as the World spiraled into darkness.
…
Troy awoke slowly, his head pounding. He sat up quickly, and found that he was in his own bed in the guest wing.
After a moment, he remembered everything.
"Gabriella! Gabriella!" He called out as he jumped out of bed-
-And promptly fell to his knees.
Gabriella rushed in and helped the large man back into his bed.
"I'm right here, Troy. Everything is fine." Gabriella soothed and Troy nodded.
"Ms. Montez too?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodding, assuring him that everyone was alright.
"You should be sleeping. The audition is tomorrow." Troy instructed, as he settled back into the pillows.
Gabriella shook her head.
"I can't sleep… What was that woman doing here?" Gabriella questioned, her big brown eyes even wider with fear.
Troy couldn't tell her the truth. Man, he sounded just like Ms. Montez.
"Um, she was just a junkie. She knew a celebrity lived here so she broke in to search for money to buy more drugs. When I found her and tried to restrain her, she head butted me." Troy lied so smoothly, even he almost believed it.
Gabriella smiled in relief and Troy gulped down the guilt.
"So, why don't you help me with my song then?" Troy asked, waggling his eyebrows comically at her.
Gabriella laughed.
"Sure." She agreed between giggles.
Troy sat up straighter in his bed and cleared his throat.
"Do you know any songs from the musical though? You don't HAVE to sing a song from the show, but it would be better if you did, and for the character that you want so the casting directors can really imagine you in the part." Gabriella advised professionally and Troy smirked at her. He knew so much more than she thought.
He performed a few difficult vocal exercises and Gabriella sat back in her chair, wondering if he was just screwing with her or not.
Suddenly, Troy opened his mouth and out came the most perfect sound Gabriella had ever heard.
"My gift is my song and this one's for you
And you can tell everybody that this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is
Now that you're in the World"
His voice was strong, and raspy, like gravel but it was strong, and he shifted from his chest voice to his head voice and then to falsetto with ease. When he belted, his bravado was soul melting.
Was soul melting a real World?
If not, it should be, because it was the only way to describe what he did when he sang.
Gabriella blinked rapidly at him. She couldn't believe it. Why was this man not on Broadway making millions?
Troy saw her expression, and being a federal agent, he was trained to pick up on people's emotions. He wasn't going to answer any of her questions. He would not get close to her,
"Troy, that was-!" She started to exclaim but Troy shook his head.
"I know, I'll fix it by auditions tomorrow." He said, his tone monotone.
Gabriella was taken aback by the sudden coolness that he regarded her with.
She knew that no matter what she said, he wouldn't believe in himself.
"So, you're auditioning for Christian?" Gabriella inquired, trying to engage Troy into conversation with her. She was starting to genuinely enjoy his company, and his voice had left her love sick.
Troy just shot her a glare that basically said "duh".
"Well, I'm auditioning for Satine. Wouldn't that be crazy if we both got the parts we wanted and-" Gabriella stopped mid-sentence. Troy was glaring daggers at her. His stare was so full of hatred that Gabriella had to stop and catch her breath.
Taking the hint, Gabriella stood up and walked towards the door.
As she opened it, she glanced back over her shoulder at him.
"Thank you… for um, protecting me and my mom tonight from that junkie or whatever." Gabriella thanked, sending him a bright smile.
As she shut the door behind her, Troy flopped back on the pillows.
He couldn't let his guard down around her again, because she was starting to get to him, and that would ruin everything.
A/N: Thanks for reading!