Telling the girls.

I told them everything over breakfast. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that they all lost most of their appetite. Hearing that we’d nearly had a break in would do that to anyone, but hearing we’d been targeted without us ever knowing was even more upsetting.

“I could tell how exhausted she was, so I offered to let her sleep in one of the rooms,” I said as I was finishing the story. “You girls don’t mind if we invite her for lunch, right?”

“N-No. I don’t, at least,” Noelle said.

“Yeah, me neither…” Alice said, swallowing, then glanced at Fern.

The poor girl had gone pale. I wanted to keep that detail to myself, but couldn’t. They knew there was something I wasn’t saying, so I had to admit that Fern herself was one of the main targets.

“...Fern. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

That was all I could really say. I had no plan, lacked information and even the means to do… anything. But I was going to do something about this, even if I had to resort to Luke’s help.

Fern forced a small smile and nodded at me. “Y-Yes.”

After a momentary silence, Diana finally asked. “So… Who actually is this woman? If she works for Luke then I might just know her.”

“Oh, did I not mention her name?” I said. I guess even in my head I’d been thinking of her as ‘that woman’ for the most part. And attempt to… fight my instincts, like I said. “Her name is Lucy White. Luke confirmed it.”

Oddly enough, that made the color return to Fern’s face as she, Alice and Mila all stood up with shocked gasps. Sarah and Noelle got startled by it, actually.

“L-Lucy!?” Mila asked.

“Lucy White. You’re sure?” Alice asked.

I blinked. “Um… Y-Yes. Wait, did something happen? How do you know the name?”

“She’s the woman we met at last week’s car meet!” Fern said, eyes wide.

“She knew my brother and stopped to talk to him,” Alice said.

“Then we asked her to hang out with us because…” Mila trailed off, trying to hold back a little grin.

“Ah,” Grace exclaimed, nodding as she remembered. “Because you thought she was exactly Oliver’s type, right?”

“Y-Yeah…” Mila, Alice and Fern said in unison.

Sarah sighed. “Call me crazy, but that meeting might not have been a coincidence. That’s just me, though,” she said, throwing her hands up.

“I… don’t remember if her name was Lucy, but I do remember the last name White,” Diana said. “And that only because, well, because I’m Diana Black. I thought it was amusing.”

“What was the context?” Grace asked.

“It was like a bit over half a year ago. She drove me from and to my home after a meeting with Luke. It was when we were starting talks about building the hotel and he wanted me to work with him. I remember thinking she was a very cautious driver because she was looking all around us and constantly checking the mirrors. Now, though…”

“Luke’s always held you in high regard,” I said. “I have no proof, but… this girl doesn’t strike me as the type he’d send as a regular chauffeur.”

“You’re saying… he sent her as a bodyguard?” Noelle asked.

“It’s possible,” I said.

“I doubt it,” Diana said. “I’m proud of my skills, but I’m hardly worth fighting over…”

“Setting aside your self-evaluation, with which I disagree, by the way,” Grace began, “it’s possible that he had other reasons for sending a bodyguard.”

Noelle raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“I have some ideas, but I’d only be speculating,” Grace admitted. She sighed, grabbed her mug and took a sip of probably lukewarm tea. “Still… If this is all true, then we kind of owe her a lot.”

“Yeah…” Fern nodded with a grimace. “It’s still hard to believe all this is happening without us even realizing it until now.”

“As far as I could tell, us not noticing was half her job,” I said. “The only reason we’re talking about it is because of two unknowns that slip past her.”

“...” I felt a sudden rush of embarrassment coming from Noelle and noticed her cheeks reddening.

“Noelle? What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Just… Um… She’s been… watching us, right? Do you think it’s possible she’s seen us… doing stuff?” she said with an embarrassed smile.

“Oh. Now that you mention it…” Sarah nodded. “It’s possible. We haven’t done anything outside yet, but the pool does have glass walls.”

“O-Oh…” Mila and Fern exclaimed at the same time.

“This might just be me, but considering what she’s done for us, I won’t hold it against her if she did see us,” Alice said.

“Yeah, but you’re lowkey an exhibitionist, Alice,” Grace told her.

“I don’t know,” Diana said. “I’m with her. I don’t think I really mind. Maybe our orgies are desensitizing me to shame.”

“I’m not so sure myself, but…” Mila grinned teasingly. “Who knows? Maybe she’ll end up joining us in an orgy at some point…”

Alice chuckled softly. “I guess the topic is so serious that we forgot to ask what Oliver thought of her.”

“You said you read her mind, right?” Grace said. “And that she told the truth at every point. I feel like that’s a green flag already, but… What does the alarm say?”

“The alarm?” Noelle asked. “Oh, you mean that feeling he gets when he finds someone compatible. Yeah, what does it say?”

I sighed. “Come on, do we have to talk about this? You’re making Fern uncomfortable,” I said, trying to deflect.

“No, they’re not,” Fern said, smirking and giggling. “So what does the alarm say?”

“...” The fact that she was smiling now was more than I could ask for right now. If this is what it took to take her mind off of the heavy thoughts, then so be it. “I’ve been trying to ignore it… but I felt the same as I did with you and Diana,” I admitted with a heavy sigh.

“And is she as hot as Mila said?” Sarah asked.

“...Yeah.”

Diana sighed with a small, resigned smile. “I appreciate the restraint, dear, but it’s fine to be more honest with your feelings.”

“Yeah, you know our stance on it by this point, right?” Noelle said, giggling.

“Fern’s been with us for just two weeks, though,” I said.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I ever believed I’d be the last one,” Fern said. “Besides, I liked Lucy. From that one night we hung out, at least.”

“She did seem genuine,” Alice said. “Even if she was hiding her reasons for being there, I don’t think she was faking being friendly with us.”

“Alright, fine. She’s gorgeous and I have a good feeling about her,” I admitted. “Still, now’s not the time to be flirting with her, is it?”

“Not now, no,” Sarah agreed. “Do get her number, though.”

“I have it,” Mila said.

“Yeah, but it’s not the same if he gets it,” Grace told her.

“Ah. True,” Fern said.

These girls, I swear. One moment they’re shocked over some dangerous revelations and the other they’re encouraging me to pursue another woman.

…

I suppose they needed to get their minds off of it somehow.

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