Page 35 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Thirty-One

Zane

I stand at the window of my office, watching the new security team make their rounds. The longer we go with nothing happening, the heavier the monotony of the heightened security weighs on everyone. The safehouse compound feels more like a prison with each passing day.

"Another sweep complete, Sir." Chase's voice crackles through my earpiece. "All clear."

"Copy that." I turn from the window, my gaze falling on the security feeds displaying every corner of our property. Six new cameras, three motion sensors, and enough firepower to start a small war. Yet something nags at me.

Movement on one of the screens catches my attention.

Sunny and Jade pace the length of the indoor gym like caged animals.

Even through the grainy footage, their restlessness is obvious.

Jade throws her hands up in frustration while Sunny sits cross-legged on a yoga mat, sketching—something she's started doing again since being here.

"They're going stir crazy." Colt's voice makes me turn. He stands in my doorway, coffee in hand, watching the same feed.

"I know." I run a hand through my hair, the strands falling back over my shoulder.

"Especially Jade. She's not built to be contained. She's like a loaded weapon with the safety off. I mean, none of us are built for this kind of waiting." Colt steps inside, closing the door with a soft click. "But she's really struggling."

I gesture to the chair across from my desk, and he takes it—the leather creaking under his weight as he settles in. "Have you noticed how she's getting more... explosive during training? Yesterday she nearly took Wolf's head off while they were sparring."

"Hard to not to see it." I know he's right. I've been trying to come up with a solution for days.

"It's not sustainable." I say as I lean back in my chair. "We can't keep them locked up inside indefinitely. Especially not Jade—she's going to either try to break out or kill someone."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Start small. Those drinks you two share at night? Move them back out to the porch." I watch his reaction carefully. "We've got the area secured, clear sight lines. Let her get some fresh air before she combusts."

Colt's expression darkens. "After what happened with the power—"

"I know. It's not risk free." My words come out clipped. "But we're trading one kind of danger for another. They need to feel like they have some control, some freedom, or we'll lose them in a completely different way."

The security feed shows Jade pacing alone now, her movements sharp and agitated. Sunny has disappeared from view.

"She used to dance, you know," Colt's voice is quiet. "Before the club. Ballet, if you can believe it. Now she can barely stretch her legs without hitting a wall."

"Start with the porch." I meet his eyes. "Twenty minutes, every night. We'll have teams positioned, have you both covered. Give her that much at least."

A soft knock interrupts us. Sunny stands in the doorway, her sketchbook clutched to her chest. The sight of her makes my chest tighten—it always does.

"Sorry to interrupt." She glances between us. "I thought you should know that Chase left right after him and Jade were finished practicing with the blades. Jade's about ready to start taking out the punching bags. Thought you might want to know."

Colt rises immediately but pauses at the door. "Twenty minutes?"

I nod. "Starting tonight."

After he leaves, Sunny slides into the vacant chair. "Twenty minutes of what?"

"A compromise." I study her face, noting the shadows under her eyes, the slight tremor in her hands. "How you holding up, Angel?"

She attempts a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me." My voice comes out softer than intended. "I can tell."

Sunny's facade cracks slightly. "I feel like I'm suffocating sometimes. But then I feel guilty for feeling that way because everyone's just trying to keep me safe and—"

"Stop." I lean forward, taking her hand across the desk. "This is tough situation. You're allowed to feel what you feel—and if that's trapped, then that's what it is."

Her fingers tighten around mine and she shrugs. "Jade's taking it a lot harder than I am."

"I know. That's what Colt and I were discussing." I trace my thumb across her knuckles. "We're going to try something new. Small steps toward finding a balance."

"A balance between?"

"Safety and sanity. Or something like that." I lift her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Always."

She smiles then, a real one this time. "Always, Z."

The moment is interrupted by the sound of something crashing in the gym, followed by Jade's colorful cursing. Sunny winces.

"I should probably go help with damage control." She stands but hesitates. "Z?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. For understanding that bars are still bars, even when you can’t see them."

I watch her leave, her words echoing in my head. She's right—we've been so focused on keeping them safe, it's been easy to forget what we're keeping them safe for. It's about more than survival.

Through the window, I watch the sun begin to set. In a few hours, Colt and Jade will have their drinks on the porch. It's a small thing, twenty minutes of fresh air, but sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference.

I reach for my phone to coordinate the security adjustments needed for tonight. It's time to find a new normal—one that doesn't feel quite so much like a cage.

I wait until Sunny's footsteps fade before calling Levi. He appears in my doorway minutes later, jaw tight with tension that never quite leaves him these days.

"Close the door." I gesture to the chair Sunny just vacated. "We need to talk about security."

Levi's eyes narrow as he takes the seat. "What's changed?"

"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 response protocols. 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.

But maybe that's the point. Maybe it's not about being perfectly safe—because that's impossible. Maybe it's about finding a way to live with the danger while not letting it consume us completely.

I begin going over the details one more time for tonight's security detail. Twenty minutes outside shouldn't require this much planning. But we can't risk taking any chances.

In a few hours, we'll test our new approach. I hope we're making the right choice.