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“Okay,” she says with a slight nod of her head. “That’s probably a good idea. Especially not knowing where I’ll end up after everything settles.”
Nolan and I share a look at that comment. If she’s under the impression we’ll ever let her go, she’s gravely mistaken. Even if she’s a plant from Tripp or one of our other enemies, we’ll still never let her go. It almost tore us apart the first time, there won’t be a second.
“Right,” I say as I draw the word out. “Nolan has to go back to the city this morning, so it’ll just be you and me today and tonight. Are you okay with that? Do you feel safe with me?”
It feels uncomfortable to ask that. I don’t know what I’ll say if she tells me no, she doesn’t feel safe, but her comfort outweighs my ego.
“Of course I do.” She gives me a warm smile over her coffee. “I know I’m just as safe with one of you as I am with all of you. This place feels pretty remote, too.”
“It is.” I’m glad she seems at ease here.
After we eat and say goodbye to Nolan, we both shower and change. Her things are in Nolan’s room, so she heads that way. I start my shower, catching my reflection in the mirror. The scars all over my side from the gunshot and the shrapnel from the explosions are pink and ugly against my dark skin. Every time I look at my body, I see the evidence of my failure.
It used to be every time I closed my eyes, I’d see the slaughter of my fellow Marines all around me. The sounds of death still haunt me late at night, and no matter how much counseling I have, I don’t think I’ll ever fully move past it. Without Grant, Nolan, and Sawyer, I wouldn’t be here.
It was Nolan’s idea to form the mercenary group. It gave me a purpose when I couldn’t find a reason to get out of bed. He’s my right hand and always finds the best intel. Nolan should have been a spy. He's that good at finding what needs to be found, and he’s a damn good assassin. He’s the most unsuspecting of us, too. He’s the affable one, always clowning around until he’s got a gun in his hand.
My mind wanders to Liv as I mindlessly follow my usual shower routine. I’d like to teach her some self-defense moves, but I’m afraid to hurt her. She needs to be released by Dr. Lawson. I wonder if she’d even be comfortable with me doing it or if she’d rather a woman teach her. I know the perfect person if that was the case, a friend of mine, Lilith, runs a security company but teaches Krav Maga on the side. I finish in the shower and towel off. I shoot a text to her just to let her know I might need to fly her out here for a day or two in a couple weeks.
I’m done getting ready before Liv and sit down to check my emails. I have one for a rescue mission in Honduras, a couple of college girls got plucked by one of the cartels down there. I forward it to my Alpha Team leader. They handle all the missions in Mexico and Central America.
There’s also an inquiry for a rescue of some soldiers in Iran. The situation is too touchy for a legit military operation, but my military and defense contacts know how to funnel these jobs my way. I make arrangements to go down to D.C. and shoot Sawyer an email letting him know he’ll have to come here tomorrow.
“I’m ready,” Liv says from behind me, causing me to jump.
She’s so quiet I didn’t hear her coming up behind me. She giggles at my reaction, and it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. She hasn’t laughed since she’s been back with us, at least not around me. I wish I could bottle the sound.
“I’m sorry,” she says, still giggling, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay.” I pull her over to me twisting on the stool, so she’s standing between my legs. With one hand on her hip, I lean forward and give her a forehead kiss. They were her favorite when we were younger. She leans into me for a brief second, her hand resting on my thigh.
Our eyes meet—hers full of humor and sparkling with delight. The sun catches them, turning them a beautiful honey color and my eyes dip to her perfect pink lips;so close all I’d have to do is lean a little and we’d meet. Her eyes move to my mouth, and I’m just about to go in for a kiss when my phone vibrates, jarring us from our trance. She gives my thigh a squeeze before taking a step back.
She walks over to where her boots are sitting by the patio door and starts to pull them on. I’m going to have to send Sawyer a thank you text for picking clothes that hug her body so well. She’s wearing jeans and an olive green, long-sleeve shirt and, while she definitely needs to put on weight, her beauty can’t be denied. I grab her coat and help her into it before pulling my own on.
“The shooting range is in that building over there.” I point to the largest building on the property. “We have a full gym there too.”
“I was thinking that maybe you could show me some moves. Like how to defend myself?” She asks quietly. “I know I have to wait until my ribs are healed, but I’d like to do some fundamentals. I don’t want to ever be at the mercy of another person like I was with Tripp.”
“I was thinking about that, too. I can definitely help you learn some things, but I also have a good friend in the city who could probably teach some stuff, too. She’s been doing Krav Maga since she was a teenager. She’s taken me down before, if you can believe that.”
“Really?” She looks at me with rounded eyes. “Lake got beat by a girl?”
“Yeah, it was humbling.” I laugh at the memory. “So it might be advantageous for her to teach you some of her moves.”
“I’d love that.”
We walk along the sidewalk, our boots crunching over the snow, and our breath puffing out in little clouds. I don’t see any tracks from any of the guys who stay here, but I decide to warn her anyway.
“Sometimes some of the guys who work for me stay out here on the property between missions. They won’t ever bother you though. No one should be in this building today while we’re teaching you the basics of shooting.”
“Oh, okay. Do they live here or just crash here from time to time?” I notice her eyes darting around nervously.
“They live here.” We get to the door, and I hold it open for her. “But I trust each and every one of them with my life, and they also run patrols around the perimeter of the estate.”
8
OLIVIA
