Page 79 of H E R
I have to admit, her outfit ismuchmore revealing. She wears a red, silk cut-out dress haltered over her right shoulder. The slit extends throughout the entire thing, revealing the skin between her breasts down an open wave sweeping her entire frame. A gold brooch connects the fabric at her hip. She wears her tight curls down, and her lips are a shade darker than the dress. Her sky high black heels have a red bottom and she bends her leg and smooths a finger over the shiny material.
She’s in her element, while I’m still barefoot and sitting on the bench. I bury my face in my hands.
“Hey!” Olivia chastises. “You’ll fuck up your make-up. Stop that.”
Her dress is revealing in a whole different way. Olivia wears an all black, jersey-like material, backless and skintight dress. It looks like a second skin, as if it were painted on. And dainty, silver strappy heels. The beautiful chrome prosthetic cover catches the light, and I try not to stare. I wonder what happened to her, but I silence my question and press my lips tightly together.
“Here,” she offers, and hands me a pair of pearl white pumps. “It’s time to gear up with our tech.”
Jasmin laughs quietly. She knows I despise high-heeled shoes. Although at least now I’m better at wearing them–I no longer wobble.
I slide my feet in and stand to look at myself again.
I have a long, high-waisted skirt that stops two inches below my breasts with a slit that opens up the bottom and stops at my waist. This part of the outfit I’m okay with. The material is stretchy and comfortable. It moves with me and doesn’t strain me. The top… is a whole different story. I’m reminded of myNym-Phoattire. This is what I get forallowing Olivia and Jasmin to select my clothing. My top is made of hundreds of pearls sewn together into sectioned, necklace-like partitions. A white material cut identical to a daisy serves as a nipple covering. The beaded straps over my shoulders connect in the back the same way a bra would. I wiggle in it and adjust my breasts.
“You’ll be fine. That’s what the tape is for.” Olivia pats my back.
She provided me with clear sticky tape to hold my breasts up as if I were wearing a push-up bra. They’re in place and don’t budge, and it gives me comfort. My hair is straightened and tamed, it’s longer somehow, and falls to the small of my back.
Except for my mother’s charm bracelet, we don’t wear jewelry. That’s where the tech comes in. It’s fashioned to look like earrings, a necklace, a watch, and even a garter. I smile when I think of the special piece I have for Dylan. I mentioned it to Olivia, and she passed it over to Sara, who promised to add an undetectable camera, complete with a built in sound absorber.
My skin tingles and I finally feel ready. I can fucking do this.
26
Redemption
Jason’s all about decorum and respect until it comes to the safety and wellbeing of Liv. A flip is switched and he no longer acts like a man, but a fucking maniac. But I get it now, so I just listen to him. Or at least I let him think I’m listening. He’s been blabbing for the past forty-five minutes–offering threats and vivid imagery of what he’ll do to me if so much as a hair is touched on Olivia’s head.
I put on my jacket and glance in the mirror. I’m not meant to look like Niki’s date, or her Dom, so I dressed in a classic yet modern all black weave suit trouser. No button-down shirt or collar. I’m meant to appear simple and meek next to her. My reflection stares back at me, I’m making sure I shaved correctly and smooth my hand over my scalp, searching for imperfections. I didn’t bother shaving the five o’clock shadow on my face.
“Are you fucking listening to me?”
“Jason, you really think I’d let something happen to my own family?”
He moves his chair inches from my thigh, a warning. “What about Madrid, or Cabo? And how about Cuernavaca?”
He says the last part slowly, drawing it out, and I roll my eyes. “That’s hardly my fault. Liv is adventurous, and if anything,shedraggedmeinto all those disasters.”
He bumps his chair closer. “No adventures tonight. I need her back.”
I look at him, and there’s no humor in his eyes. “Done.”
Sara pops her head in. “They're ready.”
I give her a single nod and put my hand on Jason’s shoulder. “There’s no controlling Liv, you know this. But I won’t leave without her. She will be safe.”
He turns and we exit to meet the girls in the dining room. It’s been converted into our tech room. Three computers and five laptops cover most of the table, along with various tiny lens tech that Sara brought for us to wear. I pull a chair back and sit at the far end. In front of me are a few sets of, made to look invisible, earbuds. They’re really something. I grab one and inspect it between my fingers. It’s a flexible see-through plastic, malleableto the touch.How the fuck will this serve as a communication device, and why don’t we already own this shit?
Sara takes a seat at the far end of the table in front of a laptop and clicks a few buttons. Jason joins her. He presses a button on his chair and it reverses toward the wall, where he flips a switch. Above us, the chandelier begins to retreat back into the ceiling and in its place, a projector whirs out. It flickers and lights up, emitting an image on the wall to my left.
“You made a presentation?”
He shoots me a deadly glare. “My woman will be there; we can’t leave room for errors.”
I roll my eyes and they dance in their sockets while I bob my head. I let out a breath. “Whatever makes you feel better.”
“You don’t fucking get it,” he yells suddenly. “You’ll be there, watching everyone, making sure no one touches Justice. And if they do, you’ll be right there waiting to cut their fucking hands off. And I’ll be here, glued to this fucking chair, while my woman is out there with those fucking sick bastards who make a living out of selling people as if they were objects.”