Page 65 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

Colt appears behind me. "Still no word from our contacts in Millbrook."

I nod, keeping my voice low. "Wolf's running down another lead, but it's pretty thin." The frustration of losing Garrett's trail sits heavy in my gut. Seven days without so much as a whisper of anything credible.

Upstairs, pots clang in the kitchen where Jayce is starting dinner prep. The house has fallen into a comfortable rhythm over the past few weeks since Jade arrived. Movie nights in the living room. Jade teaching Sunny and Chase to play poker properly. Even Levi's warming up a little.

"Speaking of Wolf," Colt continues, "he wants to know if we're still doing the supply run tomorrow. Says the weather might turn."

Before I can answer, Jade lets out a victory whoop. She's managed to sweep Ty's legs, though he recovers quickly. Her laugh echoes off the basement walls as she dances away from his counter-attack.

"Nice try, pretty boy!" She taunts, ducking another grab.

I catch Colt's goofy grin. He adores her and the feeling is mutual. I never thought I'd see the day he'd think about settling down. Guess the same could be said for me though. Or Levi.

Sunny's watching them too, a soft smile on her lips. She's been different since Jade arrived—lighter somehow. The nightmares haven't stopped, but they don't seem as bad, even with everything else going on.

"Tell Wolf we'll reassess in the morning," I finally answer Colt. "But have backup routes planned just in case."

Rex appears at the top of the stairs. "Boss, dinner in twenty. Jayce says if anyone skips again, he's not cooking for a week."

The threat gets everyone moving. Sunny catches my eye as she heads for the shower, and I feel that familiar pull in my chest. Even sweaty and tired from training, she's beautiful.

"Always," she mouths, our private shorthand for everything I feel but have a hard time putting into words.

Chase and Ty start putting away equipment while Jade bounds up the stairs to find Colt. The basement empties quickly, leaving me and Levi by ourselves.

The past few weeks of calm have felt dangerous. Like we're all just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Every morning I expect to wake up to news of another dead girl, another message from Garrett. The silence is almost worse than the killing spree was.

"You're worried." Levi leans against the stair railing.

"Just thinking."

"About how quiet it's been?" He runs a hand through his hair, betraying his own unease. "Yeah, me too."

Upstairs, Sunny's laugh mingles with Jade's. The sound echoes down to us, a reminder of everything we stand to lose if Garrett breaks through our defenses.

"We'll find him," Levi says, but I hear the edge of uncertainty in his voice.

"Before or after he makes his next move?" The words come out sharper than intended.

Levi's jaw tightens. We've had this argument before. He doesn't believe our security is enough. That keeping Sunny close isn't guaranteed to keep her safe. And he's not wrong. But we learned from our mistakes last time and we've done everything we can.

He thinks I don't remember the warehouse, don't remember finding her. That I've forgotten how easily Garrett's slipped through our fingers more than once now. How could I? But, until we actually have our hands on him there’s no way we can beone hundred percent about anything. The only thing I know with that much certainty is that there isn't a man here who wouldn't lay down his life for her.

The sounds of the house continue above us—running water from showers, Jayce yelling about setting the table, Rex and Wolf arguing about football scores. It's deceptively normal. Domestic even.

But peace has never been part of our world. And watching Sunny struggle through her training today just reinforces how vulnerable she still is, despite all the progress she's worked so hard to make.

"Come on," Levi nudges my shoulder. "Let's get cleaned up before Jayce follows through on his threat to go on strike."

I follow him upstairs, but my mind stays on high alert. Somewhere out there, Garrett's planning his next move. And this time, I won't let him get close enough to hurt her again.

Irunmyfingersabsently through Sunny's hair as she dozes against my thigh. One of the ridiculous sit-coms she loves so much plays quietly on the TV, but I'm focused on the steady rhythm of her breathing. These quiet moments still feel surreal—her trust in us, the way she fits so perfectly between Levi and me.

Levi's hand rests on her ankle, thumb tracing lazy circles as he pretends to watch the screen. I catch his eye and see my own contentment mirrored there. We've found an unexpected balance in this arrangement, our shared need to protect her creating something neither of us anticipated.

The grandfather clock in the hall chimes eleven. Right on schedule, Jade's footsteps sound on the stairs. She appears in the doorway, already changed into one of Colt's old t-shirts and sleep shorts. Her eyes soften at the sight of Sunny curled up between us.

"You three are fucking adorable," she teases, padding across to the bar. The familiar clink of glasses follows as she selects her usual whiskey tumblers—the heavy crystal ones she claims make everything taste better.

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