Page 46 of Too Guarded to Love

Olivia embraced her future sister-in-law. The smell of burned rubber and smoke clung to them both, but Beth somehow still smelled like lilacs, just like the last time she’d hugged her. “I’m fine. You?” Olivia didn’t have to ask how she’d gotten up to MedLab so quickly. Kane and his super leg could run up the steps as fast as Nic had.

“I’m okay.” Beth stepped back but didn’t let go of Olivia’s hand. “Holy hell. That was one of the scariest moments of my life. Thank God we were in one of the tricked-out prototype cars that Scarlett and the other VIPER geniuses have been working on.”

“Did you say…” Olivia coughed again. A woman in scrubs offered her a cup of water. She took it and sucked it down, moaning as the cool liquid relieved her throat. “Did you say tricked-out prototype car?”

“Yeah.” Beth waved her hand. “I don’t know all the details, but Scarlett’s itching to look at the video footage and examine the wreckage. If we’d been in a regular car, we would have been blown sky-high. The car had some sort of sensor that detected the bomb when it was detonated and minimized the blast.” She dipped her head to Olivia’s. “Scarlett is pissed that the locking mechanisms in the car and the garage sprinklers were somehow compromised, though. And she’s rambling about how the bomb got on the car in the first place. Seems it was shot onto the roof from a distance and was small enough not to be detected.”

Olivia nodded, certain she didn’t have the security clearance to hear that information.

She fought the urge to ask for more details as she followed Beth through a brightly lit reception area. Photos she hadn’t noticed earlier of military tents and hospitals hung on the white walls. They probably depicted volumes of interesting history, but she didn’t look twice. Instead, she drank in the sight of Beth. Seeing her in a sparkly purple crop sweatshirt and baggy faded jeans that showed off her petite curves, her dark curls piled in a messy bun as if she’d run out for coffee instead of just surviving an explosion, settled something in Olivia.

The VIPER-verse was weird and terrifying, but at least she wasn’t in it alone.

A door opened to the right. A slim blonde with subtle curves and several inches on Beth appeared in the doorway. The same smoke and burned rubber smell lingered as she pulled her long ponytail tighter and smiled. “Hi, I’m Scarlett.”

“I’m Olivia. It’s so great to finally meet you.”

“It’s great to meet you too. Patience asked me to find you. We could use your help to stabilize the wounded guards for transport to Level Black.”

“Sure, but what is Level Black? Nic just told me it’s a security measure, which sounds like a good plan right now, considering the garage exploded and then I watched him kind of…”

Point a finger at a burning car and make the door melt like he possessed some sort of elemental power.

She didn’t doubt that Nic possessed powers, but she imagined his to be of the orgasmic kind. He also possessed the power to piss her off with his “you’re my problem to deal with” comment. Once they got to this mysterious Level Black, she’d show him just how much of a problem she could be.