A part of me still wanted this marriage to work. I missed Qina and Qinli so much, it was almost a physical thing.
Xu tried to be invisible but he was always there.
"Do you want to go shopping?"
I almost laughed.
Did he think shopping made everything better? Maybe that worked for some people, but definitely not for me.
"No, but I'd like to grab something to eat. Qina sent me an email with a few restaurants she wants to try when she visits. I'd like to go to one of them today."
Xu looked uncertain for an instant, and I exploded.
"I asked young master for permission a couple of nights ago, so you don't have to worry. I'm allowed to leave this cage."
He frowned.
"I know. He told me."
This was ridiculous. I left him standing in the middle of the living area and hurried up the stairs to the bedroom.
So I quickly changed into a nice summer dress and sandals, grabbed my bag and sunglasses before heading back down. Xu hadn't moved from his spot.
Why couldn't he pretend he was something other than my bodyguard?
"Let's go," I ordered.
If he wanted to act like my bodyguard, I'd treat him that way. Xu pulled a jacket over his shirt to hide his holster, then pushed the elevator button. We didn't talk during the ride down.
This was actually the first time I saw the lobby of the apartment building. It was sleek, black marble, modern art, white high gloss counter behind which a middle-aged receptionist in a black suit sat. He inclined his head toward Xu before his eyes zoomed in on me with obvious curiosity.
"Good day, Young Madam Fu," he said in an overly polite voice.
I almost stumbled at hearing him call me that. It was easy to forget I wasn't Young miss Su anymore.
After all, my husband was never present.
I nodded in acknowledgement, then quickly rushed outside. Heat blasted against my body as I left the air-conditioned building.
Summer in the city, nothing to be excited about. The smell of exhaust and garbage seemed to carry through the streets like fog.
Xu was a step behind me and I wondered how he could bear the heat in his dress-up.
"I think we need to take a taxi," I said, as I stepped toward the curb.
Xu shook his head but I'd already raised my arm and a taxi swerved to the side and stopped beside me.
Xu hung a few steps back, his alert gaze on my back. It was driving me crazy. People were giving us strange looks.
"Can you please walk beside me?" I asked as we walked down Street where the restaurant was.
"I don't want people to think you're guarding me." He was probably still pissed that I'd made him take a taxi, instead of the black BMW that screamed noble from afar.
"I'm guarding you."
I stopped until he fell into step beside me. The outside of the restaurant was surrounded by wild flowers growing in the pots and the inside reminded me of pubs I'd read about.