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Liv
IobservethemenaroundmeasMarkspeaks.Ifeelbetteraftergettingadecentnight’ssleep.ButtheeventsofyesterdaykeeprepeatingasItrytofigureoutifIcouldhavedonesomethingdifferenttopreventit.Scottyterrifiedme,butitdifferedfromthemugging.Hewasn’tpointingagunatme,yethisthreatwasjustasdeadly.I’mgladIcouldstophimandthatMarkscaredhimoff.ButIcan’tshaketheunease.
Luke, ever the perceptive one, catches on, so I tell him my fears. Jordy’s words settle me somewhat.
Mark continues when I nod at Jordy. “Liv’s code name is Sparrow. She’ll be with Luke most of the time.” He pulls out a small object from a case on the coffee table.
“This is a state-of-the-art panic button. It’s a failsafe if you’re not able to get to your phone.” Mark hands me the tiny flesh-colored disk that fits on the tip of my finger. I inspect it as he speaks and I'm surprised to find it flexible.
“The back is medical grade adhesive. Stick it somewhere accessible, like your hip. If you find yourself in a position where you’re in imminent danger, put hard direct pressure on the disk. Once it’s activated, it will alert us to your location,” Mark says.
A thought occurs to me and I can’t stop the blush.
“What is it?” he asks as I play with a frayed string on the hem of my sleeve. They all stare at me. Damn these men and their situational awareness.
“Um...” I look up at Luke, but he only waits for me to speak.Shit.“Um, what if Luke and I are… you know... and we push it by accident?”
They all stare at me for a second. Garrett is the first to crack. He laughs and everyone else joins in, even scary Dylan smirks. Luke kisses the tip of my nose and grins at me.
“Luke, I suggest you make damn sure you don’t touch that disk unless you want an audience,” Mark says, chuckling.
Luke laughs. “Noted.”
“I don’t think they thought about that in development,” Garrett says.
“I’ll send in a recommendation for the next version,” I say, and they all laugh harder.
“You can just tell your boyfriend. It’s a Reilly Tech design,” Marks says.
“We should hire you,” Luke says with an amused smirk.
It feels good to laugh again after yesterday. I already appreciate Garrett’s humor. The second we met, I liked him. He’s friendly and gives off a laid back vibe, which I bet he uses to his advantage. He can take care of business or he wouldn’t be here.
Dylan hasn’t stopped scowling at me. He gives off an unsettling vibe, like when he looks at you he’s thinking about all the ways he could kill you, even though he wouldn’t do it. I’d hate to be on his bad side.
He’s tall like John, but not as bulky. He has dirty blonde hair that’s longer on the top and flops over a little but still looks professional. His eyes catch mine and he gives me the full force of his scowl. I dart my eyes away and return my attention to Mark as he keeps speaking.
“Dylan and Jordy will be your primary team, Liv. Garrett will be with Luke and I’ll go wherever I’m needed.”
Oh, joy. I get the grumpy one. I smile at Jordy, who returns it. At least I’ll have a friend. A pang of sadness hits me. I miss Jackson and Brando. They would have loved my comment about the disk, and we’d still be swapping jokes about it. I sigh and turn back to Mark.
“Nova will track our movements. She will respond to your commands, but Luke has master override controls. The house has full lockdown capabilities. If that’s activated only Luke or his cousin Emilia can recall the lockdown.”
“Hopefully we’ll never have to use it. When we get stir crazy, we’ll go outside. You guys will make supply runs when necessary, but I’m hoping to stay up here until they find Scotty. I’ll have to go to the Reilly Tech office and make an appearance, but not for a few weeks,” Luke says.
I stare at the coffee table as he speaks, then it goes silent. Luke squeezes my hand, and his eyebrows pinch when our eyes meet. He just asked me a question, but I missed it. “What?”
His eyes turn soft. “Do you have questions?”
I meet everyone’s eyes for a second, then shake my head. “No. Just... Thank you all so much.” Garrett smiles at me, but Dylan scowls.
“This will be a simple assignment for you guys. I’ll make dinner tonight while we work on a duty schedule,” Luke says.
Dylan stands. “I’m going to check the perimeter.”
“Nova can do that,” Mark says.
Dylan hesitates. “I’d prefer to do it myself.”
