“Not bad, not bad at all,” she mumbled through a mouth full of food.

Crumbs were sticking to her face, which he gently swiped away. She felt the air between them become charged as his eyes held hers intensely.

"Brie, do me a favor."

"Yes?" her eyes fluttered open

"Get packed."

"Huh?"

He walked away from her, still speaking, "The office has assigned you a safe house, you and Rachel, of course. You'll be staying in a designated home with an assigned live-in guard in case there’s any funny business.”

“Mack, the last time we-"

"Just until Rachel recuperates, and we get these guys."

"Fine, fine. Who's the guard?"

Mack lifted his phone screen to show a file with his own picture at the top.

"Who do you think?" he asked with a smile.

CHAPTER THREE

Brie stared in surprise, reaching out for his phone.

"How'd you manage to get yourself in again?"

"Everyone knows the story by now; no one agreed to take this from me. I told you, I'm not leaving."

Brie swallowed before moving to hug him."Thank you," she whispered.

His squeeze back was comforting. At least something in her life was looking up; there was hope. Hope was all she needed.

The moment passed, and Mack moved to clear the dishes. Brie felt her phone buzz from her pocket and took it out to see Rachel's name on the screen.She took the video call as Rachel's face filled the screen.

"How's it going, babe?" Rachel's soft voice came through the phone speaker.

"I'm good, is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong; I just wanted to know when you and Mack would be coming over. If you're early enough, we can go get you a few new clothes; something here doesn’t sit right with me."

"I'll be coming in an hour, but Mack?"

"Yes, Mack, keep up, B. An hour? That'll work fine. Do you want to keep this shirt?" Rachel held up a floral top to the screen.

"Rachel, hold on, I don't understand."

Mack walked in to meet Brie, starting with confusion at her screen

Rachel spoke just as Mack walked in, "Your safehouse. It's here, with me and my grandparents. Didn't he tell you?"

Brie looked up in time to catch him slinking away.

"I guess he hadn't gotten around to it," she said with a sigh.

"Either way, chop-chop, girl. The day is still young; we can finally fix a few things here and spruce up your wardrobe."