The Royal Contract

They slowly made their way out of the park. He placed his arms around her shoulder and his hands on her elbows to serve as her cane.

"Don't try to use your injured foot. Putting pressure on it would only cause more swelling." He kept giving her caution because he was concerned that it would only worsen its condition. 

But when he noticed that she was still having difficulty walking on one foot, and she kept limping with her injured foot. He decided to do something else.

"I hope you won't mind if I carry you instead. I don't think it will help if you keep hurting yourself further." Troy explained, stopping on the sidewalk as he waited for her to agree with his suggestion.

"But I think..." She was about to decline his offer when somebody else at her back interrupted their conversation.

"That will not be necessary. I'll take over from here." A manly voice spoke behind her, but she did not have to turn around to know who it was. That tone belonged only to one man she knew too well.

She was not surprised at all that he was here, remembering one of his guards on the phone earlier. She already had put two and two together and surmised that they were reporting to him her every action.

But she wondered how he managed to come quickly to her rescue when the incident happened just a few minutes ago. Unless his men already informed him that she went out for a run.

She felt that his men violated her privacy, and she could not help but fume inside. That was one of the reasons she never liked having men following her. 

His father used that to manipulate her every movement before. She did not like that he was also imploring the same tactics. 

"What are you doing here, and how did you know where I am?" She suddenly asked as she turned around and looked at him. 

She never liked the way his men meddled with her affairs. She was not in danger, so there was no reason for them to do what they did. And she would let Alex know that she did not appreciate how he was manipulating the situation to his advantage. Getting information of her whereabouts as if he did not trust her.

"I was already on my way to your apartment just a few blocks from here when I talked to Ben. He told me that you went jogging and had an accident." He started explaining. "So, I figured to go straight here and checked if you are ok."

Suddenly, her heart melted when she saw the worried expression on his face. She felt like a fool believing the worse of him. She needed to stop presuming that Alex was anything like her father, who loved to handle the situation in his favor.

Alex was different. She believed that he genuinely cared for her and was only thinking of her wellness. "Oh!" She finally acknowledged his reason and chastised herself for her thoughts.

Then, she accidentally stepped on her affected foot, making her winced in pain, then she turned to her other foot for support. "Are you alright?" Troy tried to steady her again, then Alex was immediately at her side too, holding on to her other arm.

"I think we should go home so that I can take care of that," Alex said, making sure that Troy heard his words. If anyone were about to take care of Dani, it would be him.

Although Dani kept telling him that Troy was just a friend, he could not seem to trust him. There was something about him that did not feel right. Besides, the clear indication that he was interested in her more than a friend.

"Thanks again for helping Dani," Alex said to Troy in the friendliest tone Alex could manage.

But he also admitted that he might be wrong. His bad experiences in the past might be clouding his judgment. So, he was cautious not to jump to any conclusion until he could find any concrete evidence against Troy.

He did not want to end up on the wrong side of Dani's graces because he accused her friend of wrongdoing when he had no proof. It would ruin her trust. He did not want that to happen.

"It was nothing. I am happy to help a friend." Troy smiled at Dani and nodded to Alex. It was a missed opportunity to spend more time with Dani. But he was sure that there would still be other times.

"Ok, let us go home," Dani finally agreed since she was also having a hard time standing up between the two men, who were so obvious, not comfortable being in the same space.

"Take care of that foot," Troy said as Alex picked her up, bridal style.

Alex could not wait to walk away from Troy, but he had to wait for Dani's signal.

"Thanks again for saving and helping me." She told Troy and nodded her head to Alex as they moved towards the car.

She saw Troy smiled at her before continuing on his path back to the park. She now sat in the back seat with Alex beside her as they traversed the busy street back to her apartment.

Ben, the one that called Alex earlier, was now in the front seat. He took over as the driver of the car. But like all professional security men, his eyes focused on the street in front of him.

"Do your men report to you everything that I do?" She knew she had to ask the question before it started to mess up with her head. Better to hear it from his lips than to find out from somewhere else.

She looked at Ben and his attention never waiver on the road. But Dani was well aware that his other senses were keen on checking also for other possible threats around them.

Although she knew that he was only concerned about her safety, she still did not agree with the part that he might be spying on her daily activities.

It would appear to be an invasion of privacy, and she was not ok with that.