Page 5 of Deliverance

“I get to see your lair?” Liam smiled. “Deal.”

“We’ll prioritize getting you back up and running soon,” I promised. “I’m sorry. I know you spent a lot of time on your setup.”

“Not your fault, Boss Lady,” Liam said. “I can rebuild it. I might even steal some of your boyfriend’s ideas to rebuild mini-Liam 2.0.”

“Mini-Liam 2.0?” Marcus questioned.

Liam was ranked second to Danny in naming things, and not every name made sense.

“Don’t ask,” Izzy said as Liam’s eyes lit up. “I’ll put together an inventory list based on my last quarterly report,” she said to me. “I’ll prioritize Liam’s equipment, the security systems, and a second bunker.”

Maya laughed. “Yeah, I already told her that I’m never going to tease her again for insisting we have a safe room.”

“I don’t think any of us will,” Izzy agreed.

“If you need any security systems,” Alexander said, “let us know. We have several in stock we can give you.”

“We can pay for them,” I protested.

Alexander ignored me. “We’ll donate them to the cause.”

Izzy smirked, ignoring me. “Got it.”

I was definitely going to pay them back.

“Okay, so we have a plan,” I said. “Izzy will put together a list of equipment. I’ll work with you to prioritize and shift stuff around as needed. Liam will check out our system tomorrow.” I checked my watch. It was 3 a.m. “Okay, well, later today. Detective Patel will be back soon. Maya, you’re off for the next twenty-four hours.”

“Boss, no. I won’t survive twenty-four hours of getting smothered by Dad,” Maya complained.

Liam hopped up next to them and wrapped his arm around them. “Your dad and me,” he corrected. “I’m definitely going to smother you too.”

Maya’s eyes widened, and they looked at me with wide, pleading eyes.

“Sorry,” I said. “But smothering is required after near-death experiences.”

“Oh, is it?” Adrian asked, pointedly looking at me.

I ignored him. I was the leader. The rules didn’t apply to me. He and Alexander exchanged a long look that didn’t bode well for me.

“It is,” Izzy said.

I glared at her, and she just smiled serenely at me. “Outside of Liam checking nothing was accessed, nothing has to happen in the next twenty-four hours. We all need the rest.”

“Jerome is twenty minutes away, so I’ll check on our way back to the Patel house. I can’t find any evidence they accessed anything on my phone, but my laptop will be better,” Liam said.

I relaxed slightly at Liam’s words. The last thing we needed was a data breach right now.

“So we’re going home now?” Alexander prompted.

“Almost,” I said. “I’ve got one more stop.”

CHAPTER 3

EVELYN

“You took ten years off my life. I’m too young and handsome to be going grey this quickly.” Danny’s chest rumbled underneath my ear as his arms wrapped around me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “But to be fair, I wasn’t in any danger.”