Chapter One: I Want To Die
Danielle had never heard a room go so quiet…
Her classmates' jokes were gone, but not for long enough… Everyone stared at her with their phones out.
Jackson waited at the front of the class like he owned the world. He was supposed to be her boyfriend…to protect her from her bullies, but all he did was smile.
On the projector screen behind him was a private picture Danielle had sent him.
But being the biggest jerk, Jackson sent it to everyone…Then he laughed, made a joke about "the president's little girl," and turned the whole class into a firing squad.
After that, Danielle couldn't remember leaving the classroom.
One moment she was staring at the photo, feeling the warmth spreading through her neck, the next she was outside, running…
Tears made of black mascara down her face were falling like angels from the sky.
Everything blurred in front of her…all their lockers, walls, faces Danielle didn't know…until she was out on the street.
So scared, she didn't even feel the cold.
All she could hear was Jackson's voice: "Guess power doesn't buy class."
By the time Danielle reached the bridge, her hands were shaking so hard she could barely hold onto the railing.
The water below looked black and cold. The noise of the traffic above no longer bothered her.
Her breath hitched, refusing to fill her lungs…Her throat refused to swallow whatever was stuck inside. Danielle wanted it to stop…
'They'll never forget this,' she thought. 'They'll never see me as anything but his daughter.'
The wind tore at her hair, whipping it into her eyes. She climbed up onto the low concrete barrier…
One step…That's all it would take.
Eyes closed before she even got the chance to understand what she was ready to do.
"Danielle!"
Someone's voice brought her back to reality.
Danielle didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to hear anything, or whatever they had to say, "let me die…"
But then hands caught her wrists, and pulled her back before she could even fight back.
Short gasps escaped her mouth, her feet slipped, and then she was off the barrier, pressed against a solid chest that smelled like some old leather.
"Don't," the voice was so rough but not unkind. "Not like this."
Her eyes flew open and Danielle saw two men in dark suits standing behind him, one was talking into a radio.
The man holding her was taller, looked stronger but not hurting her.
"Let me go," she choked out, struggling. "Let me go!"
"Not happening." His tone stayed calm, but she felt some tension in his arms.
Another security guard stepped closer. "Miss Geiger, please. Step back from the ledge."
"I'm fine," Danielle snapped at him, though her shaking voice was saying something else. "I'm… I'm fine."
"You're not fine," the man holding her stated quietly.
He eased her away from the edge until her back touched the metal railing. Only then did he loosen his grip, but he didn't step away.
Danielle's life was going to cost him his career, and probably jail time if she was announced dead. This poor security guard couldn't afford that.
Sagging against the cold metal, Danielle was trying to burn them with her eyes…but all that sniffing wasn't going to make them go away.
She wiped at her face with her sleeve, hating how weak she looked.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Why are you here?"
"I'm Frank," he introduced himself. "Your new detail."
Danielle stared at him, small waves formed on her forehead. "My what?"
"Your father assigned us to you." His tone was flat, sounding like it was almost rehearsed. "Effective immediately."
Of course he had…
Of course her father cared more about the optics than her. She had just tried to end her life, and his first instinct was to send more security.
"So what, I'm another job to you?"
Frank closed and opened his eyes, like he was already tired of her tantrums. "We're here to make sure you stay alive."
The words hit her harder than Jackson's actions had. Not because they were kind… but because they weren't. They were practical, like she was a problem to be managed.
Danielle turned away from him, hugging herself.
The other guards were already clearing the scene, waving off cars that had slowed. Someone had recorded everything. She could feel it.
It was going to be a trending topic by morning.
"Miss Geiger," one of them called her name softly. "We need to take you home."
"I'm not going back there.
"You don't have a choice…at least, not tonight, miss."
She spun on him. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
"I do," he replied simply. "Because I'm the one keeping you from doing this again."
Her mouth opened, then closed. For some reason, Danielle hated him instantly.
Hated the way his eyes didn't blink like hers. Hated the way he said this again like he already knew she might try.
She wiped her face again, smearing her makeup worse. "Fine. Whatever."
He gestured to the black SUV parked a few feet away. "Come on."
Danielle climbed into the back seat without looking at him.
Obviously, the windows were tinted dark enough to hide her, but she imagined the whole world staring anyway.
Frank slid in after her, shutting the door. The car started moving.
For a while there was only the sound of the road. She stared at her hands in her lap. Danielle couldn't stop them from trembling.
"You should have let me do it," Danielle muttered finally.
"No."
Having no other choice, but to stare at him then, Danielle really looked like she was going to punch him.
He sat with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped loosely, looking ahead.
This man was not a cop or another soldier.
"Why not?" she finally asked. "You don't even know me."
"Because nobody deserves to die like that," he replied quietly.
She blinked, getting caught off guard wasn't planned. His stupid answer wasn't what she expected.
"Do you even care? Or are you just doing your job?"
His mouth flinched, and maybe a smile formed on his face. "Does it matter?"
Daniell's throat tightened, and it was hard to swallow her saliva.
She turned away, staring out the window, wondering what people would say tomorrow. She questioned if Jackson was already texting someone about what had just happened.
"You're going to be fine," Theodor interrupted her thoughts after a long time.
"Hah…" It didn't sound like a laugh. "No. I'm not."
"Then I'll make sure you are. I will inform Mr. President, so he could get you a-"
Frank didn't get to finish his sentence…Danielle's icy glare was ready to go through his own neck.
He gulped. Even though she looked so fragile, Danielle was the daughter of the most terrifying man of this country.
"You don't even know what they've done to me," she muttered.
"I don't need to know. I just need to do my job."
When the SUV turned into the private drive to her father's estate, she closed her eyes.
Danielle wasn't ready to talk to him. She wasn't ready to act like the president's daughter again.
However, her wish couldn't come through, and the minute her foot left that damned seat, her father was already yelling at her.
"Danielle!!!"