When Lilia and the man left the Lia Coffee Shop, it was almost eight o'clock in the evening.
The small town was immersed in a dim, damp atmosphere. There were several street lamps by the river that flowed under the bridge, reflecting the golden light above the water's surface.
Lilia took her hand and walked down the rocky path. Her surroundings were very quiet, only the sound of footsteps in a regular rhythm could be heard. All the shops had closed their gates and the alleys were hidden behind the darkness of the night. The street lights could only illuminate some part of the alleys.
Jean walked slowly while glancing down one of the alleyways where the end could not be seen. He pulled Lilia into his arms and rubbed her shoulders. "Are you cold?" Jean asked, worried.
Lilia looked up and met the man's dark blue eyes. She leaned close to Jean's side and smiled lightly. "I'm not cold," she calmly answered.
I will not be cold as long as you are by my side.
Jean felt as if he could hear the unspoken words. He looked at Lilia's delicate face, with a faint glow floating under her eyes. Jean sighed and hugged Lilia even tighter in the next second.
The two figures embraced each other in the middle of the gloomy and lonely road, lit by the dim street light. The romantic atmosphere looked like something that had emerged from a painting.
Suddenly, the moment of silence was broken by the sound of noisy footsteps in front of the alley, accompanied by a low male voice.
Jean immediately let go of Lilia and stepped in front of the woman. Those dark blue eyes surveyed his surroundings with a wary gaze. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to react to whatever might happen.
"Young Master Jean!"
At this time, Clifford and the other bodyguards appeared from within one of the small alleys. They approached Jean while dragging someone. The bodyguards had followed Jean and Lilia from a distance when they discovered something wrong.
"What's wrong?" The man's voice was extremely low and his eyes were sharp as blades. He put his arm around Lilia's shoulder in a protective manner.
Clifford held a single lens camera in one hand and dragged a man by the other. The man he dragged had a swollen eye, but it did not erase the sly glint in his eyes.
Clifford stopped a few feet from Jean and replied politely, "We found this man taking a photo of your lady,"
In an instant, Jean's gaze became dangerous and terrifying. Even Clifford subconsciously took a step back from the man's killing aura. But Clifford immediately pulled himself together and gripped the man even stronger.
The man struggled, but Clifford's grip felt as strong as iron. Finally, he could only smile awkwardly and said, "I just thought this beautiful lady was an artist, so I took her photo. I didn't mean to offend anyone,"
This explanation sounded very reasonable and nothing suspicious.
But after hearing that, Jean's stern expression didn't fade at all. Clifford shook his head at his boss while still holding the man. This was not just a case of ordinary stealth shooting!
Jean never let Lilia off his side. His dark blue eyes looked like an ocean churning out by a storm. "Check him closely," Jean's orders were cold.
"Ready,"
In the blink of an eye, Clifford and his fellow bodyguards dragged the short man to the side of the road.
In a small town like this, there were only a handful of pedestrians that could be seen once the sun had set. The man looked shameless, but there was something fishy about him. His expression was too sly for a regular paparazzi.
Clifford was a well-trained head of bodyguard. If the man was just an ordinary person, Clifford wouldn't need to make a fuss when he caught him. The fact that the head guard chose to report it directly to Jean proved that this situation was not that simple.
After Clifford and the bodyguards vanished from sight, Lilia looked up from Jean's embrace. She turned back to the suspicious man being taken away. Unconsciously, Lilia squeezed the hem of Jean's shirt with her fingers.
"Is that guy really a paparazzi?" Lilia asked doubtfully.
She probably didn't know how Clifford normally did his job. But Lilia could feel that something was wrong with that man. Her instincts told her that she should stay away from him.
"Yes," Jean answered flatly, one of his arms continued to hug Lilia. "Don't worry, Clifford will handle it," The man was trying to sound relaxed so that Lilia wouldn't worry.
Lilia's lips parted slightly, but she didn't say anything. Could there be a paparazzi in a small town far from the center of civilization like this? Lilia doubted that.
After they returned to the hotel, Lilia immediately disappeared into the bathroom. Meanwhile, Jean sat at the coffee table with his legs folded. He fiddled with the cell phone in his hand and his eyes stared blankly out the window.
Not long after, Clifford's message reached his cell phone. There were only two short words in the message, but they were enough to make Jean smile coldly.
*****
Twenty minutes after Lilia finished showering and shampooing, she came out of the bathroom. Her body was wrapped in a snow-white nightgown made of silk. Her silky hair was wrapped in a bath towel. Her face was rosy and soft.
When Lilia stepped out of the bathroom, she saw that the man was smoking. The light in the room was not very bright, creating a dim and mysterious atmosphere.
Lilia walked towards Jean, then she touched her shoulder with her fingertips. "Jean, I'm done. Would you like to take a shower?"
"I'll do that later. What time are you going to start shooting tomorrow morning?" asked the man, putting his cigarette butt in the ashtray.
Without warning, Jean grabbed his wife's wrist so that the woman fell to his lap. His thumb stroked Lilia's rosy skin gently. He smiled faintly as he felt her body tremble at his touch.
The bath towel over Lilia's head began to tilt slightly. She hurriedly raised her hand to fix it. She then replied, "At seven o'clock, at a homestay inn not far from here," Lilia didn't question why Jean wanted to know about that.
Jean nodded and saw that Lilia was still struggling to fix the bath towel on top of her head. He sighed and said, "Dry your hair and get some early rest,"
"How about you?" Lilia asked automatically while removing the towel from her hair.
Jean helped Lilia to her feet, then he stood in front of the woman and gave a kiss on her lips, "Of course I'll be here with you,"
After that, Lilia didn't know how she fell asleep. The last thing she remembered was letting Jean dry her hair with a hairdryer. Maybe the man was drying her hair for too long, or the warm wind was making her sleepy. By the time Lilia's hair was dried, she was already yawning for the umpteenth time.
Lilia vaguely remembered that she was carried to the bed by a pair of strong arms.. As she was laid on the soft bed half asleep, Lilia heard a soft whisper in her ear. "Sleep well, my daughter,"
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om