Chapter 7 #4
My heart beats out of my chest as I lean forward. People swarm the vast campus, unloading heavy moving boxes from their cars and pulling suitcases behind them. They chatter with one another, hugging after being away for so many months. They're smiling, ecstatic to be back after so long.
“Seriously. When I go to sit down, I just spread my legs and take up as much space as I can,” Jordy yaps endlessly, attempting to make me just like him.
I snort, dragging my gaze from the student body wandering the parking lot, and bring myself back to the conversation. It's something Jordy has been trying to pound into my skull since last night.
Do this. Do that. It'll make you more believable. It'll help your disguise.
“Typical fucking you,” I quip, earning a wink from him.
“You ready for this? Damn.” He leans forward, his mouth hanging open and practically drooling. “I wish I could go to real college. You’re the lucky one. All I got was a degree behind the screen.” His eyes light up as people walk by.
More specifically, a woman with a short skirt floating in the wind and no panties on.
Damn. Go her. I wish I had her confidence to pull that off.
She looks stunning and…. I tilt my head when she grins in our direction, connecting her gaze with mine.
My cheeks heat when she giggles and quickly turns to a friend beside her, whispering something behind her hand. But her eyes find mine again.
“Damn, I think she likes you,” Jordy mutters, slumping in his seat. “You’ll give me the hook up, right?” He wiggles his brows. “Unless you want her, of course.” He puts his hands up in defeat, continually grinning at me.
“Ugh. I tried to get Jonathan to let you take my place here, but he said no,” I practically pout, peeling my gaze away from the people milling around campus.
I need to focus on this conversation before we step out of the vehicle and I’m forced to face my new reality as Oliver.
“Only you can do this, Liv. I wouldn’t have a clue how to navigate through those douchebag’s gangs and initiations and shit.
That’s a you territory.” He grins, looking at a girl who bends over to get something from the back of her vehicle.
Fucking perv. “You know, I’m supposed to leave here and go straight to my new case, but damn, staying is tempting.
” He wiggles his damn brows. “You should be looking, too.” He slaps my shoulder.
“Be a little suspect if you don’t check out some more ass.
You already have one chick who can’t keep her eyes off you.
” He grins, waving at the girl through the windshield.
“Would you stop!” I hiss, pulling his hand down.
My cheeks heat again when the girl giggles, but finally moves on past our vehicle, only turning to look at us once over her shoulder.
“Maybe Oliver isn’t into that,” I huff, trying to calm my nerves.
“Maybe he’s not into anyone.” I quirk a brow, attempting to take my eyes off the massive crowd of people.
But I can't.
They could show up at any moment and be unpacking their cars and moving into the dorms. Fuck. I need to reread my instructions and the information Jonathan left for me.
“Eh, it’s a possibility.” Jordy shrugs. Not taking his eyes off the woman bent over and picking up boxes. He grins more, shaking his head. “I’m so damn jealous. I want this!”
“So, you said I’d have roommates?” I ask, pushing my glasses up my nose with a huff.
I’ve really got to get used to wearing glasses again for this mission. Not to mention, I’ll have to charge these discreetly every night while I’m sleeping so they’re ready to record all my activities the next day. It’s weird to think that someone in the agency gets to see my movements.
“Oh, right. Yeah. Roommates. Three, I think. Here, it’s all in here,” he says, shoving a new manila envelope into my lap.
“I’d read it before we get up there. It’ll probably be chaos.
” I glare at him. He did this on purpose to see the look on my face.
It would have been nice to have gotten it before now.
Like with my regular packet of briefings. But nooooooo. Jordy is a dick.
Chaos? This was already chaos. In fact, my entire life has been nothing but pure chaos. Why should this be any different? Especially with Jordy involved.
I flip through the pages quickly, examining the layout of my dorm room. Yup. Three roommates. All male. And only two bedrooms. And one tiny bathroom to share between the four of us. Wonderful.
“Ugh,” I groan, rubbing my forehead. “How am I supposed to function if I have someone literally sleeping in my room with me?” AKA, how am I supposed to be able to relax and let my guard down?
Or my tits out. These bindings are uncomfortable around my breasts.
It’s made to last me a day at most. Not through the night and twenty-four-seven.
I'm not large chested by any means, but damn. The ladies got to breathe, and they aren’t able to breathe right now.
“Just take extra-long showers, Liv. They won’t suspect a thing. It's what we guys do to play with ourselves or whatever without interruptions.” Jordy continues to grin, watching women and men walk by with interest. “You ready to move in?” Only then does he look at me, eyeing me up and down.
“I’m going to just gloss over the fact you admitted you tame your snake in the shower.” He grins at me and shrugs. “Can we just… chill for a second,” I say, putting a hand up and letting my head fall against the headrest with a sigh.
I need a minute to collect myself. A minute to process what the hell is happening. A minute to fully immerse myself in my new role.
Oliver.
“I don't mind chilling. The scenery is chef's kiss,” he groans, falling back into the seat with a sigh, looking over at me with a critical eye. “Tell me what's going through your wicked mind, Liv?”
Everything. That’s what.
The weight of this case and what’s to come claw at me. Relentless. Sharp. Tearing through me and dragging me into the darkness of what-ifs.
And my mind?
It won’t stop spiraling into the deep abyss. Flashing with the memories of their smiles, now twisted into something cruel. Something malevolent. No longer the boys I grew up with and loved, but monsters walking among us.
“Everything,” I fully admit.
He may give me shit and talk a big game, but Jordy has a piece of me. Like I have a piece of him. Platonically, of course.
“Wanna elaborate?”
I shake my head. No. I don't want to elaborate. My thoughts are too chaotic right now to truly answer. A darkness is seeping into me and dragging me down, kicking and screaming. Like the first time we entered this town and I knew this was the gateway to something new. Whether it was bad or good, I didn’t know.
Now, I do. And it’s happening all over again. The same bad omen resurfaces, letting me know I won’t make it out of this mission unscathed.
“Eh, suit yourself. When you do want to tell me more, just ring-a-ling-a-ding me.”
I whip my gaze to him, and he grins. “You're an idiot.” I can’t help the laugh that escapes me.
This is why he’s my best friend. No one else in the world could pull me from the edge of a cliff like he can.
“Meh. An idiot you seem to love.” He shrugs.
I scoff, avoiding his probing eyes. I opt for the swaying trees in the summer breeze, moving through Greenwood. Everything is shiny and beautiful here. Flowers planted. Mature trees. Green vines growing up the side of the buildings.
It’s picturesque.
Silence engulfs the vehicle as more people come and go. Moving vehicles, large vans, small cars, and any sort of transportation pull through, unloading students and their belongings. Parents cry over their babies and then send them on their way.
“One day, My Liv. You will go to college and make your mama proud.” She grins at me from across the small, round dining room table. “Live the life you were meant to live.” Sadness takes her over, and I know exactly what she’s talking about.
“I will.” I nod in agreement, biting into her famous dish. Something her mama made for her, and she makes for me.
That was always my plan. Go to college. Get an education and move far away from the mafia life.
But my father always had other plans. Arranged marriage, for one.
An alliance to keep me under control and a way to get back into his brother’s good graces by marrying me off and solidifying everything with Franco and his brothers.
It was a win-win for him. Killing two birds with one stone.
If I married who my father told me to marry, I would be on the inside with Franco.
And by being in with Franco, the Viotto brothers could align with him and make a deal for land, properties, and beyond.
I was the key to my father’s future kingdom. Well, until the inevitable happened and it all fell apart.
A part of me thinks my father had a massive back up plan and that’s why he hasn’t shown his face in five years.
I guess that’s another mystery for me to unravel at a later date when I’ve taken care of everything on campus.
Despite my plans going off the rails, I made it out of the life. But paid for it with my death. But this? Being in Veritas, an organization hellbent on taking down the bad guys, is where I was needed all along. It’s my duty. My life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Even if it means being here. In my new-found hellscape.
The sun slowly moves in the sky as the parking lot empties, and more people come through.
The air conditioning blows over my flesh, cooling it from the summer heat sizzling on the outside.
If I could, I’d stay inside this SUV forever.
I’d hide away from the world and pretend this wasn’t happening to me.