Page 33 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Levi

I snap awake in total darkness, my body instantly alert. Sunny's warm weight against my chest shifts as she stirs. Something's wrong. The constant background hum of electronics, security systems, cameras—gone. There's nothing. Just… silence

"Z." My voice cuts through the blackness. A rustle of sheets tells me he's already moving.

"You take point," Zane responds, our practiced drill kicking in.

The mattress dips as I slide out. My hand finds Sunny's shoulder, keeping her close while my other reaches for the Glock at the side of the bed. The darkness feels alive, pressing in from all sides. No streetlights are filtering in through the windows. No soft glow from electronics. Nothing.

"It's okay Sunny, we've got you," I whisper when she tenses. Her fingers curl around my arm, her breathing quick but controlled. She's scared but handling it. "The power's out."

Heavy footsteps pound up the stairs—Wolf's distinctive gait. He stops at the door, knowing better than to burst in without warning.

"Boss! Power's out across the property. Generator failed to kick in." His voice carries through the door. "Rex pulled together a team and they're headed outside now."

"Coming." I ease Sunny toward the center of the bed. "Z?"

"Got her." She lets go of my hand once she's secure with him.

The floor's cold under my bare feet as I move through the pitch-black room from memory. Twenty steps to the door. Three to the hall. The weight of the gun in my hand is comforting as I hit the top of the stairs.

A sharp buzz makes me freeze. Then light floods back in, sudden and blinding. The security panel by the stairs blinks as systems reboot. Three minutes. According to my watch that's how long the blackout lasted.

"Check the cameras," I order Wolf, already heading for the security room. "I want every frame from the last hour."

"On it." Wolf falls in behind me, tablet in hand. "Jayce called. There haven't been any other reported outages in the area. This was targeted."

My jaw clenches. Of course it was. This is Garrett, showing us he can reach us whenever he wants. Playing with us.

"Wake anyone who's not up yet," I tell Wolf. "Full sweep of the property. I want eyes on every inch of—"

"Levi." Sunny's voice stops me at the top of the stairs. She stands in our doorway, Zane's hand on her lower back. The overhead lights cast shadows under her eyes. "It was him wasn't it?"

Her voice is so small and more frightened than I've heard it in months. I don't trust myself with anything more than a nod. Rage burns through my veins, hot and familiar.

"Chase!" I call down the hall. A door opens immediately—he was already up. "Check the generator. Take Ty."

"Boss!" Rex's voice crackles through the radio at my hip. "Found tampering at the meter. Professional job. They knew exactly what they were doing."

Of course they did. Garrett's had plenty of time to regroup. Plenty of time to find and train a whole new crew of professionals. Ones with enough talent to be able to disable a secure compound's power grid without tripping any alarms.

Jade appears from Colt's room, already dressed. "I'll start coffee," she announces, reading the room. "We're gonna need it."

The house comes alive around us—doors opening, voices calling out, boots on stairs. My team falling into practiced protocols. But my focus stays on Sunny, on the way she's pressed against Zane's side, eyes distant. A deep shiver runs through her.

Zane's hand tightens on her hip. I see the same murderous rage I feel reflected in his eyes.

"We've got you," I promise her. "We know he's coming this time. You're not going anywhere."

"Boss!" Chase calls from below. "You need to see this."

I share a look with Zane. He nods, drawing Sunny closer. "Go. I've got her."

I take the stairs two at a time, following Chase outside to the fortified shed by the barn where we keep the generator. The emergency lights cast everything in an eerie red glow that sets my teeth on edge. Chase and Ty are already crouched by the main panel, tools scattered around them.

"Look at this." Chase points to a small black box wired into our system. "Professional grade. Military spec. This isn't street level tech."

My stomach drops. "How the hell did they get this close?"

"That's not even the worst part." Ty stands, wiping grease from his hands. "This was installed days ago. The timestamp on the connection log shows last Tuesday."

"Fuck." I run a hand through my hair. Someone breached our perimeter almost a week ago and we had no idea. "Rex!"

"Here boss." He appears in the doorway, tablet glowing.

"Full sweep of every inch of this property. I want thermal imaging, the works. If there's so much as a nest of squirrels out there, I want to know about it."

"On it." He's already typing as he moves away.

Colt's voice crackles over the radio. "Levi, get to the security room. You need to see this."

The security room is a hub of activity when I arrive. Screens line three walls, most showing static or error messages. Colt hunches over the main terminal, fingers flying across keys.

"Someone tried to hijack our entire system," he explains without looking up. "It was a sophisticated attack. Looks like they were trying to install some kind of remote access program but it didn't fully take."

"Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, but it'll take time. Need to purge their code, change all our security protocols, check every subsystem manually." He finally glances up. "We're looking at hours of work, most likely days."

"Do it." I squeeze his shoulder. "Whatever you need."

Wolf appears in the doorway. "Perimeter teams reporting in. No signs of physical breach. Motion sensors and cameras are coming back online sector by sector."

I nod, processing. "Double the patrols. Four—man teams, overlapping routes. I want eyes on every approach."

"Already on it." Wolf hesitates. "Boss... this feels like a test run."

"I know." The thought's been gnawing at me since I saw that military grade tech. Garrett's showing us he can reach us, proving he has resources we didn't expect. But why show his hand? He has to know that even if he managed to take out our whole system, there’s no way he’d ever get to Sunny.

Footsteps in the hall make me turn. Zane guides Sunny into view, his hand protective on her lower back. She's wrapped in a blanket from the bed, looking small but determined.

"All clear?" Zane asks, eyes scanning the room.

"For now." I fill them in quickly—the sophisticated tech, the attempted system hack, Colt's ongoing work to secure everything.

Sunny listens intently, her face pale but composed. When I finish, she asks the question I've been avoiding: "He's gotten better at this. He's really not going to give up, is he?"

"No, Angel." I pull her close, breathing in her familiar scent. "But neither are we."

Jade appears with coffee, passing out cups with quiet efficiency. The familiar routine helps settle everyone's nerves as we gather around the main console where Colt works.

"I can get basic systems operational pretty quick," he explains, accepting coffee from Jade with a grateful smile. "But doing this right, making sure there are no backdoors or hidden surprises? That's gonna take time."

"How long?" Zane asks.

"Most of a day. Probably closer to two depending on what I find." Colt's fingers never stop moving across the keys. "We'll need security teams working rotating shifts until everything's verified clean and I can put it back online."

I share a look with Zane. Neither of us will sleep until this is done, but the rest of the team is going to need sleep to stay sharp.

"Wolf, set up the rotation schedules," I order. "Four hour shifts, no one works alone. I want our best people on night watch."

"Got it." He moves away, already coordinating through his radio.

Sunny leans into my side, exhaustion clear in the slump of her shoulders. Zane notices too, his hand coming up to rub slow circles on her back.

"Let's get you back to bed, sweet girl," he murmurs.

She shakes her head. "I want to help."

"You can help by resting," I tell her gently. "We need everyone at their best."

"He's right," Jade chimes in. "Come on, I'll stay with you while the boys play hero."

Sunny hesitates, looking between Zane and me. I press a kiss to her temple. "We'll be right downstairs. Nothing's getting past us tonight."

"Promise?" Her voice is small, and it breaks my heart.

"Promise." Zane's voice carries absolute certainty. "Go rest. We've got this."

We watch as Jade leads her upstairs, then turn back to the screens where Colt continues his work. The night stretches ahead, full of security checks and system repairs. But underneath it all, one thought keeps circling:

Garrett's not just coming for Sunny anymore. He's declaring war on all of us.