Olivia came out of the president's office and returned to the department.
Just as she entered the department, she saw the person sitting in her seat.
The man in a white shirt had short-cut hair and broad shoulders.He must be Brayden.
Surprised, Olivia thought of something and walked over.
"Brayden." She looked at the thermos on the desk.
Brayden got up and handed her the phone.
"I saw your phone was on, so I took it and looked at it.I'm sorry"
Olivia smiled.
"It's okay.There's nothing in my phone that you don't know"
He knew everything about her.
Was she afraid that he would know something else? Olivia took the phone and put it aside.
Without looking at it, she said, "Have you been waiting for me for a long time?"
"That's OK.I got here at twelve’ Brayden looked at her phone on her desk, took the thermos, and said, "Let's find a place to eat."
It was getting late.
"Okay."
The two of them went to the tea room and ate dinner.
Brayden cleaned up the thermos.
Olivia asked, "Did Max behave well at home?"
It had been at home by itself before.
But now that Brayden was beside it, she was relieved But she still wanted to know if it behaved well.
Brayden looked at the tenderness in her eyes, scratched her nose, and said, "You're caring too much about it"
Olivia smiled and her eyes were shining.
"With you at home, I definitely want to know"
Brayden stopped talking and looked at her deeply.
Seeing that he was silent, Olivia was puzzled.
"What's wrong?"
"I find you more and more beautiful."
She said, "with you at home".
His heart trembled when he heard her words.
Olivia was stunned.
Brayden did not always praise her, but occasionally he would suddenly praise her.
But this was the first time she had ever heard that he said she was beautiful.
Olivia blinked her eyelashes and said with a smile, "I'm a little embarrassed by your sudden compliment."
Brayden touched her face, his fingers on her eyebrows, and his eyes were filled with infatuation.
"Don't be shy.In my heart, you are always the most beautiful"
She had a beautiful face and an even more beautiful heart.
Preston stood outside and watched Brayden's hand fall on Olivia's eyebrow.His eyes suddenly hurt.He curled his lips and walked away.He was actually jealous to see such a scene.
Preston, did you really fall into love with her? Brayden tidied up the thermos and looked at Olivia with a serious expression.
"Olivia, I have something to tell you"
He didn't want to say it, but Leona called her and sent her a message.He couldn't hide it anymore.
Olivia saw his expression change.She became serious, "Tell me."
"Grandma wanted us to marry on the same day when Everett gets married, but I rejected her."
The tenderness on Olivia's lace disappeared the corners of her mouth drooped.
Brayden took her hand and whispered, "She called you and sent you a message.I didn't read il, bul Ib know what she was going to say"
"No matter what she says, Just ignore it.l take care of it"
Olivia pursed her lips.
No wonder he was reading her message.
"She is anxious."
Otherwise, Leona wouldn't have called her.
"Whether she's anxious or not, you don't have to worry about it.lam going to give you a happy wedding instead of one full of conspiracies"
Olivia looked up, her lips curved, and her eyes were smiling.
"I'll listen to you"
Everything was up to him.
"Okay” Brayden left the company.
Olivia returned to her seat and took her phone.
Dane moved Kyra’s bassinet from the living room into our bedroom.
As I got Kyra situated in our room, Dane went outside to talk to the guys and fill them in.He wasn’t gone long and told me our house would be guarded from now until Devin is found.
I had this gut feeling there was more going on than we realized.I couldn’t sleep at all, and Dane slept off and on.I lay there watching Kyra most of the night and every little noise I heard had me sitting up in bed.
Kyra woke up around five that morning and I decided to stay up for the day.
After getting us both dressed, I headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Kyra seemed to be her normal happy self just like any other morning, blissfully unaware of what was going on.
Unsure if all three guys had stayed outside all night or not, I opened the front door and stepped out to find Zayd standing near the steps, "Good morning," I told him.
He smiled at me as he walked up the steps, "Morning dear.You should still be asleep."
He pulled me in for a hug.
Zayd and Adria acted like parents I never had, and they always seemed to help ease my worries.
"I couldn’t sleep and, besides, Kyra woke up hungry this morning."
he smiled and nodded his head, "well she is a growing girl, and we tend to eat more than normal humans."
"l was going to offer some breakfast and coffee but wasn’t sure or Colby.”
"I'll take some coffee," Zayd replied.
"Me too!"
I turned to find Ash walking toward the porch.
Neither of them looked as tired as I felt this morning.I led them into the kitchen and started pouring them each a cup while they sat down at the table.
"Good morning little princess," Zayd cooed to Kyra.
She smiled brightly at him as he picked her up.
"Did y’all stay outside the whole night?" I questioned them.
"Yes and no,"
Ash started, "Four people were guarding all night, but we did rotate out with three of our best warriors to be able to squeeze in a little sleep."
I nodded in understanding as I handed them their mugs.
"Don’t forget Adria was here periodically through the night too."
"I had no idea she was out here too."
I watched as Zayd and Ash exchanged a knowing look, "What you have never seen is pissed off Adria when her family is being threatened.She wasn’t necessarily coming out to help guard but more to make sure we were doing it the ‘right’ way."
Both guys began to laugh, "she had us stationed around the house so there wasn’t a single side left unprotected, and every 15 minutes we had to switch spots to keep us alert."
Zayd was shaking his head as he spoke.
Dane walked into the kitchen wearing only a pair of sweatpants that hung dangerously low on his hips.
"Did we wake you?" I asked as he wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.
He was watching Zayd playing with Kyra.
"No, you didn’t wake me.It’s just time to get up."
The front door opened as Adria came rushing in, have no idea how much trouble you two were fixing to be in.she pointed her finger at Ash and Zayd.
"Holly invited us in for coffee,"
Zayd started telling her as he walked toward her with Kyra, "you know I would never leave this angel unprotected."
Adria sighed, "I know honey, I just...I won’t let them get to her."
Zayd handed Kyra to her, "None of us will,"
Ash finally spoke.
I looked at Dane when there was a light knock at the door, "It’s Genesis and Blaze,"
Ash said as he went to open the door.
"Good morning,"
Genesis greeted as she followed Blaze into the house.
Blaze went straight to Adria and began talking to Kyra.
After setting Kyra on her playmat, Adria came and sat down at the table with us, "Should we have our meeting now or later in the office?"
She cut straight to the point.
"We just need Colby here and we can do it now.No reason to wait." I answered.
"He’s on his way,"
Dane reached over, slipping his hand into mine.
Colby arrived within minutes and took a seat at the table with the rest of us.
I told everyone about my ‘dream’ and received many gasps and low growls in response.
I noticed Dane and Zayd exchanging looks the whole time I was talking, making me feel as if they knew something the rest of us didn’t.
"What is it?"
I finally asked, looking back and forth between the two men.
"There are some things that just haven’t been adding up,"
Dane squeezed my hand gently.
I raised my eyebrows as I stared at him, "Like what?"
I questioned further when he didn’t elaborate.
friendly, maybe a little too friendly, and when he told us about the prophecy, he said he couldn’t remember all of it.
How convenient was that? Now we are to believe that Devin and Nyla were able to not only bring him down but wound him with a silver knife."
Dane started explaining to me their thoughts, "Apollo has never been one to tolerate disrespect from anyone.He’s a very strict ruler.His command alone can even bring an Alpha to his knees, yet he couldn’t stop his own son??"
"He didn’t want to hurt him,"
I repeated what Jarek had told me.
Everyone seemed to be shaking their heads at me, "I wish that I could believe that babe, but in all honesty, Apollo could have taken them both down without hurting them.His command may not work on Devin, just as it didn’t seem to affect you, but it would have worked on Nyla."
I thought back on the day we met and our conversations since then, trying to think of anything that seemed odd, but other than what Dane pointed out, I couldn’t remember anything that would make me feel as though he had lied at any time.
"So, you think Apollo is a part of Devin’s plan?"
I looked at Zayd this time who had been silent.
"Yes, unfortunately dear, we think Apollo is more a part of this than any of us realized.I know this isn’t something you want to hear, but we don’t think he can be trusted."
Zayd told me gently.
My heart ached a little at the thought of being betrayed by my father, the father lam just starting to get to know.
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