6. Olivia
Olivia
After a grueling twenty-minute walk from the diner to the hardware store and back to campus, Jordy frowns as he plops on my bed. He’s silently stewing in his rage and embarrassment. He hasn’t shut up about his dick the entire trip here.
“Average dick?” he grumbles, holding the note and reading it for the millionth time. “Average?” he cries out, falling back onto the bed. “Subpar? This is ridiculous. A fallacy.” He dramatically covers his eyes with his hand. “My dick is the king.”
I roll my eyes as I finish installing a fancy new lock on my door with a deadbolt.
No one is going to get into my room now.
I’ll have a little privacy here. No binder?
No fucking problem, because Simon and Wade won’t be able to get through.
If Dane, my poor, dead roommate, were still here, then I’m sure he’d have something snide to say. But he can’t, because he’s gone.
Another mystery to unravel here. Poor Dane.
He may have been a dick, but he didn’t deserve to die.
Not like that. Alone in the woods, reaching toward someone, taking his picture over and over while he probably begged for help.
Shit. I need to send that to Carter to see if he can track down whoever posted them on the SlamApp.
I would have asked earlier, but I was more in freak-out mode than in “ask Carter to track something” mode. Besides, he was doing gross, sexy things to Kaycee, and I don’t want to be involved in that at all. In fact, I think I need to bleach my brain.
“Is that all you’re crying about? Your small dick?” I raise a brow, taunting him further.
He glares at me and shoves the note in his pocket.
“No, Liv. Ugh. My dick is fine. My pride, though? It’s a little bruised…
” He trails off, looking out the window.
“I don’t know how I let this happen. I was so careful.
Even when we…” He darts his eyes to me and crudely gestures.
“It was in her hotel room. I followed every point of protocol for hooking up with a stranger while on a case. I took nothing personal with me and told her nothing about who I really was.”
With a satisfied sigh, I turn the knob and shut it softly. Thankfully, when Jordy and I arrived, there was no one else in the dorm. That’s a big win for us today, one we could really use on this shitastic day.
Quickly, I flip the lock to ensure the conversation between Jordy and me won’t get interrupted.
Then, I scurry to my dresser and shove the badge Jonathan tossed at me beneath my panties, next to my vibrator.
No one will find them now. With my new lock, no one can get into my room without me being present.
And the last thing I need is someone finding my badge or my knife—which seems to have vanished—and questioning me about it.
Blowing out a breath, I flop next to Jordy. “You think she was onto you? And she followed you to the restaurant? Or maybe that’s why she hooked up with you.”
Jordy shakes his head. “No clue. I’ve been trying to figure out how she knew I was going to be there. Unless she bugged my unbuggable phone. Or overheard me talking to you when you called, begging for my help.”
“Begging?” I grumble. “Jonathan had told me I was being sent back here.” I gesture to my empty dorm room. “Jerk.” I teasingly bump my shoulder into his as he chuckles.
“Can’t resist me,” he quips, batting his eyelashes and returning to his playful self. Well, until my computer beeps with a coded message from headquarters. “They can’t track the SUV,” he whines again.
Great. This is going to be the biggest pity party on the planet. Jordy and his bruised ego. All because he let his mark jump his bones and then steal his car.
“How can they not track it?” It’s weird. They can track anything that’s bugged with our GPS systems.
Jordy shrugs. “Our SUV’s GPS was disabled.
Our trackers were removed from it. Or dismantled.
Or… God, what did she do to my precious?
And my laptop,” he whines again, throwing the blankets over his head.
“Leave me here. Let me rot in your bed for a few days before getting my ass torn open. And not in the sexy way, either. Jonathan is going to force me into bathroom duties. And ugh.”
I sigh, coming to sit beside him. “You’ll have to face Jonathan at some point.”
Jordy waves a hand. “Key word—some point. But not today. He’s aware I’m an epic failure. So let me wallow in all my misery. Just for today. Please, Livy?”
I lie down and gently uncover his face. “Just for today.”
His crystal blue eyes take me in. “How are you holding up being back in this room?” Ah, he’s diverting now, wanting the attention off his misery and on my own. Fuck. We’re quite the pair right now.
I swallow hard, trying not to imagine JJ standing a few feet away like he was several hours ago, accusing me of faking my death.
“I’m terrified,” I whisper, so maybe he doesn’t hear my confession.
Jordy tightens his grip on me and pulls me close, so our faces are an inch apart.
“It’s normal to be afraid of the unknown. To face your ghosts. But you’re the most badass girl I know. If they come for you, I know you’ll have their balls in jars as trophies on your shelf.” He grins, gently kissing my cheek. “They don’t stand a chance against you.”
I snort, pushing him away and wiping away the kiss on my cheek with an over-exaggerated gag.
Maybe they don’t stand a chance. I’m stronger than I was before.
Physically. Mentally. Trained with firearms and hand-to-hand combat.
I could take all three of them all at once.
But not like before. There would be no naked horizontal dancing for us.
I’ll aim to kill now. Or at least maybe maim or injure.
Being so close to JJ and seeing the look in his eyes chipped away at the stone wall I had built inside me. I can’t shatter around them. I can’t let them get an inch on me. Or the same result will happen. I’ll be killed for who I am.
“I’m so for real, Liv. I see the doubt festering there, and we all know what happens when you stew in your juices.” He flicks my forehead.
I wrinkle my nose. “That sounds disgusting, and could you not?” I grumble, rubbing at the stinging spot between my eyes.
Jordy chuckles. “It is disgusting watching you waste away with your thoughts. So, stop fucking thinking so much and slay the beasts. Get into that damn gang and make them regret ever laying a finger on you.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I huff. “Nothing is simple, though. If I didn’t know them so well…” I shake my head. “And now, they know it’s me. How am I supposed to survive?”
“Use it to your advantage, like uncle said. So JJ fucker knows who you are. Seduce the asshole into helping you. Use your feminine ways and your boobily boobs.” He winks, flinching before I smack him.
“I swear to God you’re in love with me,” I grit out playfully.
Jordy gags. “I think marrying and fucking your sister is severely frowned upon in California. Besides, I want to puke now, just by saying that.” A greenish tint takes over his complexion until he takes a few deep breaths.
“Are you going to survive?” I ask him.
He snorts. “I survived an assassination by my power-hungry uncle. I think I can survive Jonathan and his wrath.”
I swallow hard at the mention of Jordy’s dark past. It’s something he doesn’t bring up in conversation much. Only when he’s feeling at his lowest.
“Exactly. You did that.” I gently squeeze his shoulder. “You, too, can face anything.”
“You think he’s fairly running my kingdom right now?” Jordy hums.
You’d never guess by looking at him that he was once in line for a throne and crown. A prince in waiting. Well, until his uncle, desperate for the throne, killed his entire family—including the king—and took it all for himself.
Except Jordy. He survived. Somehow. He got out, and Jonathan found him and brought him into Veritas. Not without trauma, though. It turned him into the man he is. Relationship-intolerant. Laughing to hide his pain.
“You haven’t googled it yet?” I quip, earning a chuckle.
“I separated myself from that title ages ago, Liv. I’m not a prince or a future king. I’m not responsible for the people who betrayed my family to put a shitty ruler into the castle. Let them eat their cake full of poison. I don’t care.”
Yeah, I don’t believe that one bit. Jordy can say he doesn’t care, but I hear it in his voice. His kingdom meant everything to him, and then it was taken unfairly with the swish of a sword and an army full of men.
“Want to watch something?”
“If you suggest Buffy for the millionth time, I might throw you to the wolves myself.” Jordy raises a nonsense brow, emphasizing his issue with Buffy. “Paging Huxley, JJ, and Mack, come get your girl.” He side-eyes me with a twinkle blooming in his eyes.
“Not their girl. They killed me, remember?” I huff, tossing a pillow at his face and hoping he suffocates.
He grunts and stops when a ringtone spills from my phone on the desk.
“That’s probably for you,” I say, eliminating the humor between us.
Jordy doesn’t comment when he climbs from beneath my comforter and answers the phone like he’s not worried about a damn thing.
Jordy frowns after a five-minute conversation and settles in the spot next to me again with the loudest sigh I’ve ever heard. Every inch of his muscles tightens and contracts.
“Exciting news, Liv. The Wonder Twins are on their way to receive me. Apparently, they’re heading this investigation now, and I’m their funny sidekick. I’m fucking Robin, and they’re Batman.” He groans, squeezing his eyes shut.
“He sent them to get you? Already?”
“My computer pinged two hours away from here. Thank God. It hasn’t been infiltrated or disabled.
Yet. They’re working on wiping it remotely so she can’t get her grubby hands on my evidence.
Which isn’t much. I still have no idea who she is, how she knew I was there for her.
Fuck. I didn’t even know she was a she until…
” He gestures wildly again. “I’m nailing that thief the next time I get my hands on her. ”
“You already did that,” I quip, earning a glare.
“That’s our little secret, Liv. No one can know I ate bacon this morning after fucking my mark all night long. Ughhh.” He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands, groaning. “I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid. You’re horny,” I shoot back, earning another groan from him.
“I’m going celibate, I swear. No more boobs, dicks, or other parts. I’m swearing off everyone.” He waves his hands and sighs. “Will you take the walk of shame with me? Escort me to my fucking death sentence? They’ll be here in twenty fucking minutes.”
“You mean meeting with Remi and Colt?” I raise a brow when Jordy nods.
“My executioners await. They’ll be so damn happy to take my head off.”
He isn’t kidding. There’s bad blood between the three of them for some odd reason, and they’ve never gotten along.
Maybe it’s Jordy’s dramatic superiority complex he has going on.
And them? Well, they came from humble beginnings, never having set foot in a palace like Jordy.
Three people from completely different worlds. Now, they’re about to combine.
“So damn dramatic,” I quip, getting out of bed and dragging him with me. “Just chill for a minute, and we’ll meet them. I need to get back into disguise.” As much as I don’t want to, I need to embrace Oliver again. Bind my chest. Wear my glasses that record everything.
The quicker I get into character, the quicker I can get my armor on and prepare myself for the inevitable facing them.