Sweet Child O' Mine

Maggie's POV:

No one but the people closest to me knew that I owned a house on the Island of Martinique, that’s why I chose this place to celebrate Bert's retirement. At dinner that night, I raised my glass and gave a toast to the man that had been by my side since the beginning.

"I just wanted to say a few words to Bert." I say, standing up from my place at the table. "Bert you have been my constant companion for almost thirteen years. You have protected me and saved me on many an occasion." I say with a small laugh.

"I’ve done some pretty stupid things in the past thirteen years, and you've been there to not only guide me, and teach me...but to bail me out of jail, keep my secrets, fend off crazy people and I just wanted to thank you for everything. You are a remarkable man, and I'll truly miss you. I love you! Thank you for always being there for me. Now let's party!" I say raising my glass in the air.

The crowd of thirty or so people erupt into cheers, clapping and thanking Bert for all his hard work. I held out my arms for a hug as he walked toward me.

"Thank you for the party Maggie. I'll never forget it." he says with tears in his eyes .

I gave him a huge smile and said "I'll never forget you Bert. You've been like my father. Please don't be a stranger, you know you're always welcomed in my home."

"Just take it easy on the big guy over there. He's got a story to tell one day, so don't be too hard on him." He says with a wink and walks off.

I stood there somewhat confused as to what Bert was talking about, but shrugged my shoulders and enjoyed the party.

Maggie's POV:

The next morning I woke up with a strong urge to go down to the beach. Bert was now officially retired and staying in my guest house with his family. I shuffled down the hallway and knocked on Duane Lee's door. I waited but didn't hear anything, and knocked again. Nothing.

I went down stairs and found him sitting at the counter, drinking some juice. He nodded his head my way as I walked into the kitchen.

"Good Morning." I say, pulling the juice out of the fridge and pouring myself a glass.

"Hi." he says sounding rather grumpy.

As I sit down next to him, he glances over at me, its the first time we'd actually been alone together. "Not a morning person?" I ask, taking a sip of my juice.

"Just a little jet lag." he says in return.

"I can understand that. I guess I'm used to it now...hey, I wanna go to the beach today, so I'm gonna need you to come with me."

He nods his head as I hop up from the counter and make my way back to my room to change. A few minutes later I emerge in one of my skimpiest bikini's. I walked back into the kitchen and he was still sitting there, drinking juice.

"You cant go to the beach dressed like that. It'll draw more attention to us." I say, rolling my eyes. He turns around and raises his eyebrows at my bikini. Exactly the reaction I was going for. I always loved to torture the new people in my life, just to see where they stood.

"No offense but I think you'll do a good job of that on your own. Besides, I didn't bring anything with me. Didn’t know we were going to the beach." He says, standing up from the bar stool.

"Oh... you have a lot to learn, grasshopper." I say with a smile. He chuckled, making his beautiful blue eyes sparkle. "I cant tell you the crazy things Bert has done over the years, to either disguise me, or himself. You'll learn, I promise."

I picked up the phone and called Angelique, who worked at a local boutique here in Martinique "Angélique, j'ai besoin un maillot de bain mens portée à ma maison dans les plus brefs d lais veuillez. Merci ." I say hanging up the phone.

"Angelique will have a courier deliver a men’s swimsuit here shortly." I say, walking past him and into the living room.

About twenty minutes later Duane Lee joins me outside, carrying my beach bag and two towels. I take my bag and a towel from him and step out onto the warm sand. I glance around , looking for people or paparazzi. I doubted anyone would be here, but I always had my guard up.

"No one should bother us. There’s only a few houses on this road and most of the people around here know me." I inform Duane as I spread out my large beach towel.

"You know, you can take your shirt off...Its actually a nude beach, but since your new at this, I promise not to scare you right off the bat." I say with a wink and smile.

He doesn't say anything as he pulls his shirt off, revealing a very toned chest. I had to force my eyes away from him, I was starting to stare. He leans over to grab the sunscreen and I see a tattoo, above his heart. My fingers instinctively reach out to touch it, but I stopped midway, putting my hand back in my lap.

"Who's Ellie Grace?" I ask, leaning around him to get a better look. "You're girlfriend...your wife?" I ask, teasing him.

He looks down at the tattoo, and frowns. "My daughter." he says coldly, closing the conversation.

Christmas Morning had finally arrived, it was a time that I usually spent with my own family, but this year I was spending it with Maggie. Most men wouldn't complain about spending the holiday with a hot woman; I guess I wasn't most men. All I wanted was to be in Hawaii with Nikki and I knew that wasn't happening.

I was let into Maggie's house by a woman named Maria. She was a kind, older, Hispanic woman with a gentle smile, she told me once she had been working here since Maggie bought the house.

I tried my best to get to know the people who surrounded Maggie and her life; if it was my job to protect her, I needed to know who I was dealing with.

"Good Morning Maria." I say, kissing her on the cheek. "Merry Christmas."

"Oh, Senor!" She says blushing and swatting me on the arm. "You know how to flatter the ladies, no?"

Now it was my turn to blush, flattering the ladies was not one of my specialties. "Is Maggie awake yet?"

Maria shrugged her shoulders and says, "I'll go wake her. You have a seat and get comfortable, George has prepared Christmas breakfast!"

I felt a little awkward as I wandered around the house, waiting on Maggie to get up. The beautiful tree looked sad...almost empty, as I sat the gift I purchased for Maggie down under it. There were only three gifts and a few cards sitting there.

'Surely, with all the money she has she would buy gifts for everyone...' I think to myself as I sit down on the plush couch.

A short time later I hear Maria and Maggie coming down the stairs, discussing Christmas breakfast. I could smell whatever was cooking, and it smelt delicious!

"Maria, I told you to take the day off, you need to be with your family, not with me." Maggie says, as they walk into the living room.

"You know I worry about you Maggie, but if you insist." She says with a smile on her face. "Feliz Navidad!"

Before she leaves Maggie walks over to the tree and grabs two of the envelopes and hands them to her. "Merry Christmas Maria. This is for you and George. I'll see you on New Years Eve!" She says as Maria walks off.

"Are you ready for breakfast? Oh.. Merry Christmas!" she says with a smile as she turns to me.

"Sure, Merry Christmas to you too." I say, following behind her into the dining room.

Her dining room was equally as beautiful as the living room had been. A tall tree stood perfectly decorated in the corner, the ornaments sparkling as the twinkling lights hit them. I pulled out her chair, like any gentleman would before taking my seat. And then I noticed it; there were only two places set for breakfast. I had imagine a large family flying in from somewhere in the South; judging by her accent; would be here to greet their famous family member...but that wasn't the case.

"So, its just you and me for breakfast?" I ask, sipping on some coffee.

She looks up and nods. "You and me all day. Unless you have other plans, I don't want to keep you from your family." she says with a small smile.

"No...You’re not keeping me from anything. "

"I appreciate you coming over. It gets so lonely around Christmas." she says taking a bit of the food the cook, George, had prepared for us.

********

"I am so full." I say, patting my stomach as we walk back into the living room. "Give my compliments to George." I say making Maggie laugh.

"Oh, This is for you, its not much..." I say, bending over to pick up the box. I smiled to myself, knowing she wouldn't know what to think when she opened it up.

I watched her face as she carefully peeled away the red wrapping paper and slowly opened the box. Her eyebrows creased as she studied the gift. "What is this?" she asks, holding up the gift.

I couldn't help but laugh as she moved her head back and forth studying it. "Its called Mace, and you can keep it on you at all times...its guaranteed to put someone on their knees in about two seconds." I say, taking it from her. "All you do it shake it up, and pull the trigger...its pretty effective." I say handing it back to her.

"Oh, for like, the times when you're not around....great idea!" she says happily, as she puts the small can back in the box.

"Actually, I have a real gift for you." I tell her as I pull a small box out of my pocket.

"Ohhh Tiffany's, a man with some class!" She teases, as she takes the box from me.

"Its beautiful..." she says thoughtfully, as she rubs a thumb across the silver cuff bracelet. "It even has my name on it...you know when I was little I always wanted one of those i.d. bracelets; now I have one!." she tells me, then throws her arms around my neck, hugging me, holding on to me a little longer than she probably should have, but I wasn't complaining, I hadn't been held or touched by anyone in over a year.

When she pulled back, she had a sad, lost look on her face. I wanted desperately to know why her family wasn't here, but again, it wasn't my place.

"I really appreciate this, I get so many useless things from people and this-" she says looking at the bracelet, "This is very thoughtful. Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it." I say, patting her on the arm.

"I have something for you too." she says walking over to the tree, first picking up a box, then one of the envelopes. She brings the gifts back over to the couch and sits down as she hands them both to me.

"Okay, this one first!" she says, handing me the envelope.

I opened it up, it was a cute little Christmas Card with a check in it, for $25,000. "Maggie...wow, this is...I cant accept this." I tell her, trying to hand the envelope back to her.

She looks at me surprised, refusing to take the check back. "Yes you can. That’s the same bonus I give everyone each year at Christmas. I realize that not everyone is as fortunate as I am, so I try to help where I can, especially the people that I surround myself with. Maria, takes care of my home when I'm not around, George, her husband is an amazing cook...Maria even told me that the last three Christmases she put two of her grandkids through college!"

I was amazed. "Well, I have to apologize for judging you when I first met you. I'm sorry that I assumed to know what you were all about." I say as I stare at the check.

"Its alright. No one really knows the real me. I don't let people in." she says, sadly as she handed me the other box, I shook it for good measure and pulled the snowflake patterned paper off. Inside the box was an antique music box, the pale pink paint was fading and worn with time, but it was truly beautiful.

"Its for Ellie." She says sweetly as she stares at the music box. "I bought it when I made my first movie, it came from an old antique store in Italy. I remember when I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I was about fifteen; it was a little more pink back then." She says with a small laugh. "Its been everywhere with me...and now, I want her to have it."

I opened the lid and watched the Ballerina spin round and round as the music played. "Maggie, you shouldn't give this to me." I say, trying to hold back the overwhelming emotions that were starting to surface.

"It served its purpose for me, for many years." she says patting me on the arm. "Its my turn to pass it on to someone else."

-----

The music was booming through out the entire house as I scanned the crowd for Maggie. Bert told me once that she was definitely a handful when came to protecting her, and after tonight, I believed him. It was New Year's Eve and the house was packed with people. Some famous, some not so famous. And I lost sight of Maggie five minutes ago.

Earlier that day:

"Hey Duane Lee, did I just hear the doorbell ring?" Maggie asks from the bathroom. I stuck my head inside the bathroom to find her sitting Indian style in a chair getting her makeup done. The look on her face was one of misery, she didn't want to have this party anymore than I wanted to be at this party.

"I think it was just Ralph coming in. I can go check if you'd like?" I say , trying to put on my best happy face for her. She had been so miserable since Christmas, and something told me that this party wasn't making her feel any better.

"That’s alright. There'll be hundreds of people here before you know it." She says with a sigh.

I wanted so badly to ask why she didn't just say no to these kinds of things, but decided against it. My job wasn't to meddle in her personal life, my job was to protect her from the outside world...but I knew it would only be a matter of time before those two things would collide.

That night:

I pushed a few people aside, getting a dirty look here and there as I moved through the hallway of Maggie's house. I saw her boyfriend, Matthew pulling her by the hand, but when I reached the end of the long hallway, they were gone. I shook my head; there was something about Matthew Salem I didn't like.

Maggie's POV:

"Stop pulling my arm so hard. You're hurting me." I said as Matthew dragged me through my house, eventually stopping outside on the dark patio. I didn't know what had come over him, but he was acting like a totally different person tonight.

"Shut up!" he yells, pushing me against the brick wall. I looked up at him, surprised that he was speaking to me this way.

"What’s wrong with you? Why are you mad at me?"

"Lets just say that I’ve heard a few things about you." He says, leaning over me as he pressed me hard against the brick wall of the house.

"Like what?" I questioned. I hadn't been out with anyone other than him. I hadn't gotten into any silly girl fights lately. I couldn't figure out what he might be talking about.

"Rumors are floating around that you're f**king your bodyguard. Some people say you even spent Christmas together. You know that could ruin your career. He's a nobody baby, f**king him wont get you anywhere."

**************

Duane Lee's POV:

It was sometime after midnight and the party was winding down. I caught a glimpse of Matthew leaving through the front door, but Maggie was no where to be found. I made another round through the first floor of the large house before deciding to check her bedroom.

I knocked lightly, but received no answer. I took a chance and turned the door knob. The room was dark and Maggie was sitting on her window seat, her knees pulled up to her chest, staring out the window. She didn't even look up when I opened the door.

"Maggie?"

She slightly turned her head toward me, without saying anything.

"Just wanted to check in with you, make sure everything was alright." I say, trying to encourage her to say something, but she didn't, she nodded and turned her attention back to the window.

"Um...the party is about over, so I'm gonna head out. I'll see you bright and early in the morning, we have that flight to catch, you know?"

"Will you lock my door on the way out?" is all she says to me. I sigh, and turn toward the door, looking back once more before leaving.

By the time I made it to Maggie's house the next morning the house was alive with activity. We were flying to Rome this afternoon; Maggie was filming a new movie. I on the other hand, would just be along for the ride...and the protection. I was excited about the trip, being a Bounty Hunter I really never left the Islands, except for the occasional trip to Colorado. Rome was something new and exciting for me. I only wish Nikki were there to see it.

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to push those thoughts aside. Nikki wasn't here, and she would never be here again. It was time to move on.

"Senor...have you heard the news?" Maria whispers to me as I closed the front door.

I look down at her, eyebrows creased, leaning closer in so that she can tell me what’s going on. She looks around to make sure no one is looking and whispers, "At the party last night, someone hit Miss. Maggie. She has a bruise on her cheek...I ask Ralph about it but he wont tell me. He likes to keep it hush hush, if you know what I mean...."

I left Maria standing in the doorway and took the stairs two at a time until I reached Maggie's room. I pushed the door open with no regard as to what might be happening on the other side. Maggie was sitting in her bed, the covers still draped over her lap. Surprisingly no one else was in the room with her.

"Why didn't you tell me." I say, slightly out of breath from running up the long flight of stairs.

"Theres nothing to tell." she says, looking down at her hands. She was lying, I knew it and she knew it.

"Was it Matthew?"

She looks away, a sure sign that it was indeed him. I close the door, turning the lock and walk over to her bed.

"Maggie...you have to tell me when things like this happen. I saw him leaving last night, if I had known, he wouldn't have left at all. Remember, my job is to protect you."

I reach out and touch the bruise that had formed on her cheek overnight. She winced and pulled away from my touch. "Wanna tell me what happened?" I ask her.

"He accused me of sleeping around on him...with you." she says, looking into my eyes.

"Me?" I asked, surprised.

A mischievous grin comes over her as she looks into my eyes. "Then I maced him." she says making her blue eyes twinkle. "And it felt good!"

I let out a loud laugh, trying to picture her macing her boyfriend. I had to admit the few times Ive seen him, I wanted to mace him too!

"Thats when he back handed me, as he fell to his knees... f**king bastard, he deserved everything I gave him. I should have sprayed his mouth full of it!"

We both laughed at that. "Remind me not to mess with you!" I say laughing.

Duane Lee's POV:

The first week in Rome was somewhat uneventful, the production company had some how managed to keep most of the filming locations a secret from the public. Which was great for Maggie and myself, I got to relax in a beautiful place and watch Maggie do her thing in front of the cameras. To say that I was impressed would have been an understatement; she was an amazing actress. She could play almost any role, I had decided.

This movie was a Thriller, something new for her; most of her other films had been along the lines of Romantic Comedies. She was definitely going to nail this one.

Today she was filming a very intense scene; her on screen husband was an abusive bully and today she would stab him as they fought in the kitchen. I watched as she struggled with her aggressor, until she had the upper hand. I stood up, getting very involved in the scene, just as she stabbed him with a very large kitchen knife.

The director yelled "Cut" and Maggie walked off the set and toward me, smiling. I had to laugh at her, her face was covered in fake bruises, her lip had fake blood running from it; and she was smiling.

"I didn't know you came to the set today." She says, carefully sipping some water, trying not to ruin her makeup.

I moved out of her chair that I had been occupying so that she could sit down. "Yeah I got bored hanging out in your makeup trailer. Pierre was trying to put makeup on me. I left when he started talking about waxing my eyebrows." I tell her, making her spit her water out.

"You cant make me laugh!" She says, swatting me on the arm. "I'll get in trouble if I mess this makeup up!"

"Sorry...sorry!" I say, taking a seat next to her. "What time are you finished today?"

She thinks for a minute, before pulling out her cell phone. Apparently she kept her schedule there.

"Um...7:30, if all goes well." She says, handing the phone to me.

"Am I the keeper of the gate now?" I ask, sliding the phone into my pocket. Conversations between us were becoming more frequent as the weeks passed. Bert, her last bodyguard, had been with her since she was a teenager so having someone new come aboard was a little unsettling; at least I would think it would be. She didn't say a lot to me during the course of our first few days together; she came off as being a loner. I didn't know of, or hadn't met anyone she called a friend since I had been working for her. Maybe she liked it that way, maybe she didn't trust people.

"Yep. Don't loose it." She says, giving me her best mean face, before breaking out into a smile. "I'll have to fire you!" she says, getting up from her chair, walking back onto the set.

A few more scenes were filmed; the aftermath of her "husband" being stabbed and the chase scene, where she managed to elude him. The director called the day a wrap, and everyone left the set, heading to their respective hotels.

Maggie was fortunate enough to be renting a beautiful townhouse in the heart of the city. It had a cobblestone facing, with a large wrought iron gate, protecting the occupants from the busy streets. Luckily, we hadn't had any security breaches since coming to town.

Dinner was delivered to the townhouse, and Maggie and I went our separate ways to eat. She took her food to her room , I chose to eat outside. The night air was cool, but not cold as I sat down at the small bistro table, in what would be considered the back yard. The greenery was running wild against the large fence that surrounded the yard, flowers were planted here and there, it needed a little work done to it; but was nice nonetheless.

I didn't know exactly what I was eating, but it was delicious. Traveling the world with Maggie was something I could definitely get use to. I smiled to myself as I took a bite of some kind of pasta; Nikki would have loved this place.