Page 72 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

"I told Colt we're going to let him and Jade have their nightly drinks on the porch again." I hold up a hand before he can protest. "Twenty minutes, full security detail, clear sight lines. We also need to get Sunny outside for a few minutes everyday."

"Absolutely not." Levi's voice drops to that dangerous register I know well. "After what happened—"

"After what happened, we need to adjust." I lean forward, spreading the security plans across my desk. "Look at these. Really look at them, Levi. We've turned this place into a fortress, but it's killing the whole reason we did it—slowly but surely."

"That's a little dramatic don't you think?" His fingers trace the perimeter lines on the map. "We can't risk—"

"We already failed." The words hang heavy between us. "Twice now. First when he took her from the club, then with the power outage. Both times, our security was supposedly impenetrable."

Levi's fist clenches on the desk. "That's exactly why we can't—"

"That's exactly why we need to change tactics." I pull up the surveillance footage from the last two weeks. "Watch them. Really watch them. Jade's coming apart at the seams. Sunny's having more and more nightmares again. We're so focused on keeping Garrett out that we're destroying all the good we've been building inside here."

"And your solution is to just open the doors? Where he can—"

"My solution is to admit we're not as in control as we pretend to be." I meet his gaze steadily. "He got through our security at the club. Professional security, cameras, armed guards. He got through here with the power outage—military grade equipment that somehow got installed without any of us noticing."

The muscle in Levi's jaw ticks. "Your point?"

"My point is we're playing defense, and we're losing them." I pull up the new security protocols on my tablet. "We need to give them some freedom within controlled parameters. Let them feel like they have choices. Because right now? We're doing Garrett's job for him—keeping them trapped. How long do you think it will be before they start to resent us?"

Levi stands abruptly, pacing the length of my office. "You weren't there." His voice is raw. "When I found her that night in Easton Creek. You didn't see what he—"

"No, I wasn't." I keep my voice level. "But I was there when he took her from the club. When we found her in that warehouse. When she called us on his phone and we had to listen—"

"Stop."

"The point is, we've both failed her. Different times, different ways, but we failed. And we're failing her again now by turning this place into another prison."

Levi stops at the window, his back to me. "Twenty minutes?"

"To start. On the back porch only. Four security points, night vision equipment, motion sensors. Chase and Wolf on the ground, Rex on the roof. Colt with Jade, obviously."

"And if something happens?"

"Then we deal with it." I stand, moving to join him at the window.

Levi's shoulders slump slightly. "Sunny won't want to go out."

"No, she won't." I agree. "Not yet. But she needs to see it's possible. That we're not going to keep her captive forever."

"Show me the full security plan." He turns back to my desk. "Every detail. Every contingency."

I spend the next hour walking him through it all—the overlapping fields of fire, the escape routes, the responseprotocols. It's a hell of a lot of overkill for twenty minutes on a porch, but we both need the illusion of safety it provides.

"Fine." Levi finally says, though his expression remains troubled. "But I want to be there too. Not visible, but close."

"Already factored you in." I point to a position on the map. "You'll have clear sight lines from here."

A knock at the door interrupts us. Wolf enters without waiting for a response.

"Perimeter check complete." He glances between us.

I exchange a look with Levi. "Tonight then. We start tonight."

Levi nods once, sharply. "I'll brief the security teams."

After they leave, I stare at the security plans spread across my desk. The truth neither of us voiced hangs heavy in the air—if Garrett wants to get inside, he will. All our security, all our planning, it's just an elaborate show. A way to pretend we have control over something we don't. I hate it, and would never admit out loud, but it's true.

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