Chapter 212 'Fake' Bodyguard
The temperature in M City was much lower than in Lindwood City, and it was already late at night, with temperatures only in the teens. Harmony, dressed lightly, shivered as soon as she stepped out of the car and felt the night wind.
"You okay?" James asked, concerned.
Harmony shook her head, teeth chattering. "I'm not cold."
"Not cold? Your lips are turning white," James said, annoyed. "Why don't you get back in the car? I'll wait for them outside by myself."
"No need." Harmony shook her head again. She took a deep breath and did some chest expansion exercises to warm up. "I'm fine."
She didn't realize how eye-catching those exercises were. From James's angle, it looked like her buttons might pop off any second.
Seeing her insist, James didn't argue. He was wearing a trench coat, which, though cheap and bought on sale for just $100, was pretty warm. After a moment's thought, he took it off and handed it to Harmony. "Good thing I wore an extra trench coat. Otherwise, you'd catch a cold out here. But just so you know, this coat is cheap; I got it at a street stall. You don't mind, do you?"
Harmony was freezing. When she saw James's trench coat, her eyes lit up. Ignoring his teasing, she asked, "If you give me your trench coat, what about you?"
James shrugged. "I take cold showers in winter, so I'm tougher than most. I won't catch a cold in this weather."
Hearing this, Harmony thought for a moment, then took the trench coat and draped it over herself. The residual warmth quickly spread through her cold body, warming her heart, too. She softly said, "Thank you."
James waved it off. "No problem. Your brother asked me to look after you. If you catch a cold, I won't hear the end of it from him."
The warmth in Harmony's heart instantly vanished at his unfeeling words.
The smile on her face disappeared.
'This annoying guy—if my brother hadn't asked you, would you not take care of me?' she thought.
At that moment, the car following them pulled up next to the Ferrari. Five burly men got out, each with strong, muscular builds that screamed explosive power. Two of them, who looked under thirty, had crew cuts and fierce eyes—definitely not people to mess with!
Seeing these five, Harmony's eyes widened. She felt both nervous and excited. She quickly glanced towards the pavilion not far away and felt more at ease seeing the bodyguards there.
James quietly watched the group approach, calculating how long it would take to take them down if he made a move.
He quickly got his answer: at most five seconds, one second per person.
Of course, if they didn't attack all at once but came one by one, it would take a bit longer, but at most, ten seconds to render them all incapable of action.
"Boss, something feels off. They're out here by the river in the middle of the night; it's a perfect setup for us."
"Yeah, and it's freezing by the river. I'm already feeling the cold."
"Could they have discovered us and deliberately lured us here to set a trap?"
Among the five, three of them frowned and voiced their concerns.
The man called "Boss" was Cormac, a guy with a scar on his face and a particularly fierce look in his eyes. He took a big drag of his cigarette, then tossed it away, saying coldly, "Trap or not, now that they're by the river, it's a golden opportunity for us! Mr. Perry made it clear: capture the two of them, and we get a million dollars! In today's market, making a million isn't easy. Even if it's a trap, we have to go for it! Besides, with our strength, even if it is a trap, so what? We'll still beat them up."
That made sense. They weren't just ordinary thugs but professional fighters, especially Cillian and Alaric, who were professional boxers disqualified from competitions for fighting outside the ring. Now completely free, each could take on seven or eight regular guys. With the three others, even if the other side called in twenty or thirty people, they'd still end up getting beaten.
Cillian moved his neck, making a crunching sound. His not-so-large eyes seemed to have two flames dancing in them. He was excited, a cold smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "A trap? Even better. I haven't had a good fight in a long time! Hitting a punching bag is nothing compared to hitting people."
Hearing this, the others felt a bit scared. In their eyes, Cillian was a notorious maniac. Just a few days ago, when Cillian broke up with his girlfriend, he punched through a punching bag, which was terrifying.
At that moment, Cormac received a phone call. After a brief conversation, he hung up and said to the other four, "I just got word. Mr. Perry has arrived in M City. He wants us to bring them back quickly. Also, Mr. Perry has upped the reward; if we succeed this time, we'll get $1.2 million!"
"$1.2 million. Mr. Perry is generous!"
"So, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving and bring them back. We're going to be rich!"
The remaining four had green lights in their eyes, extremely excited.
They quickened their pace, walking towards James and Harmony, who were strolling by the river.
Harmony saw them getting closer out of the corner of her eye and immediately took out her phone to send a message, calling the bodyguards over.
In no time, the five men had reached the riverside, blocking their path. Cormac, not wanting to waste words, got straight to the point, "Ms. Brown, Mr. Smith, please come with us. Someone wants to see you."
He even smiled. Although there were few people by the river, there were still some. If they could capture their targets without a fight, that would be best. After all, smiling cost him nothing.
Under the streetlights, they could see Harmony clearly and were all stunned by her beauty.
'No wonder Mr. Perry was willing to spend $1.2 million to capture her,' they thought.
As for James, he was completely ignored. He looked too ordinary, with no presence at all. If he hadn't been walking with Harmony, they wouldn't have noticed him.
They looked down on James, thinking he was just an ordinary guy with no money or power. They despised him for daring to compete with Jared for a woman.
Blocked by these five men, Harmony couldn't help but feel scared seeing their fierce looks. She took a step back and frowned. "Who are you?! Who sent you, and what do you want from us?"
Her overly dramatic performance made it evident to the five men that their deception had been uncovered. This revelation indicated that Harmony and James had arrived late at night with the intention of setting a trap.
They exchanged glances, their eyes turning cold.
Cormac, no longer bothering to hide, said bluntly to Harmony, "Ms. Brown, it seems you've known about our tailing and deliberately lured us here. I have to admire your courage."
Harmony was taken aback by how quickly they figured it out. She had thought her acting was quite good.
"That's right. I've set a trap here. You'd better surrender quietly or don't blame my people for being rude!" Harmony crossed her arms, looking cold and staring at them threateningly.
James, standing beside her, couldn't help but smile wryly. He didn't expect Harmony to be so 'fierce,' but she underestimated these guys' strength. She would regret it soon.
Sure enough, Cormac and the others clenched their fists and began looking around, quickly spotting seven bodyguards hurrying over from the left front.
Seeing this, their expressions turned grim. Cormac snorted, "You chose this yourself," and then moved to grab Harmony.
They were only about 6 feet apart, and it was late at night with poor visibility. By the time Harmony realized Cormac was making a move, it was too late to dodge.
Harmony felt very scared!
But at that moment, James, who had been silent, pulled her aside just in time to avoid Cormac's attack.
Cormac couldn't believe it. He hadn't expected Harmony to dodge his sudden attack. He immediately looked at James, a bit annoyed, and was about to strike again when the seven bodyguards arrived, shouting, "Stop!"
"How dare you try to kidnap Ms. Brown in broad daylight?!" a tall bodyguard with a stern face said righteously.
Caius Fitzgerald, standing at a full six-foot-three, had thick arms and legs, but most of it was fat. His belly was especially prominent, making his suit bulge.
The other six bodyguards were tall but not fit and a bit chubby. It was clear they didn't exercise regularly and wouldn't be very good in a fight.
James looked at the seven bodyguards and shook his head. As he had guessed, the bodyguards Michael hastily arranged were 'fake' bodyguards with no real strength. They wouldn't even be able to counterattack against these five fighters.
Harmony, however, was oblivious, her face showing even more smugness.
Cormac and the other four, seeing the seven bodyguards, burst out laughing.
"You still have the nerve to laugh? Hurry up and tell us who sent you!" Harmony frowned and said.
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