Page 16 of Unspoken Lies

“A month,”Dad grunts. “We waited as long as possible before telling you.”

“That’s not nice,” I admonish playfully as I get to the top. Fuck, it’s pretty up here. The beams are exposed, giving the house an openness that allows me to breathe.

It’s difficult to explain, I just feel like the windows and the high ceilings add dimension and character to the house. It’s also why I loved sneaking up to the tower to hide with Rachelle. I feel safer when I’m up high, and less claustrophobic.

The two rooms that are up here are huge, and I can’t stop smiling as I look around. There’s also no one in the house but my crazy self.

Putting the gun away in the holster at my back, I have my dad teach me the ins and outs of the safe room. Sure, I could read through it all, but I really enjoy his passion as he explains it all.

“Your fingerprint is how you’ll get into the room, and that’s already loaded into the system,” he says.

The closet is huge on its own, and I walk to the back and see a small fingerprint scanner waiting for me. It’ll be completely invisible to others once I fill this up with clothing. It’s like living in hidey holes, but I love it. This is what I need, I think, to quiet some of the nightmares.

Stepping through the door into the safe room, I see it’s an already furnished bedroom. Everything I need is here, and I can set the room outside of this one up as a fake one. My lips spread wide as I collapse onto the bed.

“Thank you,” I sigh happily to my father.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy the house. The information for the security system is downstairs too, Lili. I just deactivated it from here,”he says.

Taking care of me, even from Portland. I hate that he’s worrying about me, but he would tell me that’s his job. The only thing I can do is figure out my own shit.

“I’m going to go downstairs and figure out how to set it. Will you stay on the phone with me?” I ask, getting up.

“Of course,”he says.

Walking out of the safe room, I set everything back and head downstairs. It only takes me three times to set the house alarm, and then I bring my things upstairs.

The first thing I do is unpack, making sure that my clothes are hung up and the weapons case is within reach in the closet. Then, I start the fun part.

Online shopping! I haven’t been excited about anything in a long time, but decorating and furnishing a house is doing it for me. While there are plates in pretty patterns and kitchenware in the kitchen, I need a couch for the living room.

Moving through a list I quickly write out in the comfort of my safe room, I order what I need before glancing at the time. Frowning, I pull out my phone and call Maurice Collazo to make sure our meeting is still happening tonight.

“Hola? ¿Quién me llama?”Maurice asks with a snarl.

Rolling my eyes, I rattle off who I am in Spanish and why I’m calling.

“Liliana,”he curses as if my name is a bad word. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t have your number saved. This won’t happen again. I assume you’re in town?”

“I am,” I grunt. “I’m about to leave for our meeting, and want to make sure I haven’t been forgotten.”

My voice is aloof and cold as I wait for my answer. The truth is that I almost forgot, but I won’t tell him that.

“Yes, I’ll send you the address, Liliana,”he says quickly. I have it, but I thank him anyway.

“I’ll see you soon,” I say, hanging up. Sighing, I grab some clothes and walk into the large bathroom off the bedroom.

My shower is quick, and I skip washing my hair before I redress in fresh clothes. After brushing my teeth and putting on some makeup, I carefully place my weapons on my body, making sure that a few can’t be found easily.

It’s no fun if they either find all of them, and it’s suspicious if they can’t find any at all. It’s a tightrope of sorts, one I’m used to walking.

Five minutes later, I’m running down the stairs in a pair of black jeans, a short sleeved green shirt, and boots. I’m making sure to wear a belt with my pants so that I can hide my death wire, along with a lightweight jacket to hide my gun at the baseof my back. My long, dark hair is pulled back into a braid for all of my sharp pins, effectively keeping it off my neck as well.

Off to show that I not only can fit into this life seamlessly, I can also get men to bow and scrape for my mercy.

CHAPTER 5

THEO