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Luke
DylanandGarrettwalkin behind Mark for our debrief. I stand from behind my desk at the Reilly Tech office in San Diego to greet them, gesturing towards the sofa. They shake my hand before settling into their seats.
“Thanks for coming. I wanted to thank you both in person. You’ve helped Liv cope over the past six months, but you’ve helped me even more. Knowing she was safe kept me going.”
They both nod. Garrett rests his elbows on his knees and leans forward. “I don’t get this attached to clients,” he nods towards Dylan. “Either of us. It’s hard to find genuine people to love guys like us. But we didn’t even realize it was happening until it was too late.”
“She’s special,” I say.
Dylan eyes me but remains silent.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what you do out here, Director Walsh,” I say.
He smirks. “Thanks for the promotion.”
“You earned it.”
“Why don’t we go over the details?” Mark says. He types as the guys talk and gathers the information. Mark will check in with her every so often, so he needs to know where he can find her at a moment’s notice. I’d prefer we not have to hack into her phone without her permission. But I’m not above it in an emergency. She deserves a normal life, but I’ll never stop watching out for her safety. Especially since I plan on taking back everything I said and putting her in harm's way again. The fear creeps up but I stuff it down.
They discuss her habits, her quirks, her schedule. It’s almost like I was there with her the entire time. I wasn’t aware she was working at the bar, but I’m not surprised. She’s family to Jackson. To all of them.
“Were you planning on coming to the party?” Garrett asks, his look hopeful.
I can’t deny I want to go. Fox and I formed a plan the day after he found me with Liv's engagement ring. We both agreed that I'll need to ease back into her life. Take it slow and go at her pace while we monitor the potential danger. Only Fox knows that I carry the ring around with me. I'm miles away from being able to put it on her finger where it belongs, but holding it keeps me motivated and reminds me what's at stake. I haven’t even told Mark yet. After the way I mishandled everything, he and the guys are going to be pissed. And rightly so.
The fear of losing her will never go away. Trying to make amends might not be the right thing to do, but like Brody said, I need to stop living in absolutes. I was lying to myself if I thought I could stay away from her forever. “Is it safe?” I ask Fox.
He shifts in his chair. “There’s always a risk, but now is as good a time as any.”
Mark sighs and turns to Garrett. “Do you think she’s ready?” This is the part I was worried about, and I wait in anxious silence as Garrett contemplates.
Garrett nods. “She’ll be ok.” I let out a relieved sigh and Mark narrows his gaze at me then pulls out his phone.
“I’ll tell Jackson so he can check in with her.”
I long to kiss her and hold her, but there’s a vast desert I need to crawl on my hands and knees through before I’ll earn the privilege of being intimate with her again. She’s much more likely to punch me than kiss me right now. But it’s worth it just to be in the same room as her. While Fox and the team at Maddox work on finding and stopping whoever is after me, I’ll attempt to fix what I broke and hope someday she’ll be able to forgive me.
When we walk into the bar, my nerves are zinging around my stomach, making me nauseated. But when my eyes meet hers, I’m transported to the alley when I first saw her, and my soul awakened. Just being near her makes the world come alive. I know she feels it too, but her walls go up and the door slams in my face. She closes herself off to me and it’s like I can’t breathe right.
I stay off to the side with Fox, watching her every move like a creep, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
“How the hell were you able to walk away from her? I’ve known her for five minutes and I want to marry her,” Fox says.
I frown at him, but drag my gaze to her. She’s so happy and beautiful as she smiles at her family and wears the gift I gave her what seems like ages ago. Despite everything I did to her, she’s still standing strong.
When she invites me to be a part of the group picture, a tiny spark of hope ignites, and I debate for about an hour if I should ask her to dance with me. I hover on the side of the dancefloor like an awkward teenager as I watch my friends dance with her and keep her smiling. Then Jordy, because he’s always been my favorite, takes the initiative and spins her into me.
Holding her in my arms again is like coming up for air after being underwater for eons. When she storms off, I can’t help but stare after her with a small smile. If she’s angry, it’s because she still cares about me. And if that’s true, I can still make things right.
A few days later, I’m at the gym talking with Brando when Liv walks in with her fucking ex-husband. I stare at them in utter disbelief as she smiles and laughs at something he says. Brando glances at them, then curses and lunges for me as I charge towards them. There’s no fucking way I’m letting him weasel his way back into her life.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” They both stop short at my approach. Liv’s eyes widen at first, but they narrow as Brando grabs my shoulder, yanking me backwards.
I stand where he stops me and glare at the asshole who hurt her.
“You were gone a long time, Luke. Things change. Jeremy and I are friends,” Liv says.
I catch his hopeful smile, and my rage re-ignites. Not on my watch, pal. Before I can say anything, though, Mark appears between us. “Office. Now,” he barks, and Brando pulls me down the hall. He shoves me into the office and Mark slams the door behind us. “Sit down,” he points to the chair, and I lower into it.
