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“I want to go back to the city tomorrow. I appreciate what you’ve done for me so far, but it’s time for me to move on.”
“No.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Fuck that.”
“Hell no.”
All four of them adopt similar stances. Arms crossed, stern expressions on their faces as they stare me down. If I hadn’t grown up with them, I’d be intimidated.
“I’m not staying here when I know you guys are keeping secrets. I’m not interested in being trapped again, no matter how pretty the cage is.”
“I have to go back to the city tomorrow morning, you can come with me; but until the threat from Tripp is gone, you’re staying with at least one of us,” Grant says.
“What makes you think you have any right to make decisions for me?” I sneer at Grant because anything less hurts too fucking much.
“You did.” His eyes are swirling emerald pools as they bore into me. “When you showed up on our doorstep asking for help. Be smart about this.”
“He’s right, Liv. You do need us.” Lake clenches his jaw. “At least for now.”
“I’m going to make it up to you, Livvy.” Nolan moves closer to me, his face is drawn tight, lines of tension showing on the corners of his hazel eyes.
“How?”
“I’m going to kill the hitman that took your parents out.” The look on his face has me believing him for a second before I shake that thought off. Nolan’s no killer.
I rub my temples, trying to release the pressure building there. My body feels heavy, aching along with my heart. I feel like I need to lie down. I don’t want to sleep with any of the guys tonight, so I walk into the living room, grab a blanket, and lay down on the couch. Sawyer follows me out and sits on the coffee table in front of me.
“You can sleep in my bed, Liv. I’ll take the couch.”
“No,” I answer quietly.
I can feel the weight of his gaze on my face. The air between us is heavy with regret and tension. Finally, he stands and leaves the room but not before adding a couple more logs to the fire. A few minutes later, he’s back with a pain killer, glass of water, and a handful of crackers for me. He sets everything down and places a gentle kiss on my forehead.
After he leaves, I eat the crackers and wash the pill down with half the glass of water. I pass out quickly but sleep fitfully. At one point I thought I saw Grant sleeping in the chair beside me, but it must have been a dream. It does not make sense for him of all the guys to be sitting beside me while I sleep, especially in an uncomfortable chair.
15
GRANT
I’ve been staringat Liv sleeping for the past hour. All my muscles ache from sleeping in this damn chair all night, but knowing someone breached the property a few nights ago, I couldn’t relax without knowing she was protected. I can hear someone moving around in the kitchen, so I stand, stretching out my stiff muscles as I go.
Lake is already starting a pot of coffee. I give him a nod of greeting when we make eye contact.
“Did you sleep out there all night?” he asks over his shoulder.
“Yeah. I waited until she fell asleep to settle in though. After the shitshow yesterday, I figured she wouldn’t want to fall asleep looking at my face.”
“I can’t argue with you.” He scratches the stubble on his jaw. “Nolan and I are leaving tonight to find Sharpe.”
“Is that who took out her parents?”
“Yeah. He confirmed it with Nolan yesterday.”
“He’s going to know you’re coming for him. Do you need backup?”
He slants a bored look in my direction. “We’ll be fine. Are you going to be good with Liv? Or should I say, are you going to be nice?”
