Matthew was sitting on the sofa playing on his phone. On the single armchair was Daxon who was dozing off. Nic and Mason were standing behind Timothy in front of his computers either asking him questions about what was on the screens or just messing up with him.
Then suddenly, the door of Timothy's apartment burst open, and then Megan walked in. She was still wearing her uniform making her more intimidating. Matthew watched her eagerly as she put down her backpack on the kitchen counter and then proceeded to the living room.
They all turn to her with anticipation in their eyes because they know that Megan got something to say to them about what she and Olivia talked about. "Bardwell is way ahead of us," Megan finally said as if they didn't know about it yet. She let herself fall on the other single armchair that was reserved only for her. No one even dared to sit there because they knew that Megan was coming and the moment she did, they would be shooed away from her seat.
"We better do something about this because I hate doing this to Liv," Megan then grumbled. Although she was doing her best to help Olivia, she was also doing it to take advantage of her without her knowing. Though she was just doing that to make sure that Olivia won't fall into a dangerous pit, still, she doesn't feel good about it.
Matthew rolled his eyes and said, "And do you think I do?" He hates doing something behind Olivia's back. It felt like he was betraying her but just like Megan, he was just doing that to make sure that Olivia would be safe.
Then Megan stood up and walked towards the computers. Nic and Mason instinctively remove themselves from the computers because they know that Megan needs some space to work. Megan sat on the chair beside Timothy and then she started typing something on the keyboard. In just a couple of minutes, they watched as the four screens from the many screens in front of them flashed four images of men wearing the same uniform as Megan.
The first one is a caramel-skinned police officer. His hair was cut short and clean. His face was adorned with a circle beard. The second one was a fair-skinned police officer. His hair was longer than the other one's and looked messy. He has a round face and no visible facial hair. The third one was more like a military man because of his haircut, stern face, body build, and tanned skin. And the last one is a thin man. His hair was short. He has a goatee. And his skin was pale as if he never got out of the sun for years.
"Undercover cops. I'll work on this. I'll find out who they are working for," Megan said.
Matthew instantly understood that she was talking about the cops that Olivia mentioned who were investigating Jove Latimer discreetly.
It was followed by Timothy's order. "Hack their cellphones and computers," He said while looking at each of them. "They may be reporting to their head regularly on the development of their investigation. With that, we will be able to find out why Latimer was being discreetly investigated. But I doubt if they will mention the name of their head or if their head will give away their identity. Because if I were them, I would be cautious,"
"We are going ahead of Liv and Bardwell," Nic said while nodding his head. He was still standing behind Timothy's chair with his arms folded into his chest. His eyes were focused on the four cops on the screens.
"What are we going to do once we find out why Latimer is being investigated and by whom? Are we going to give information on Liv?" Daxon asked.
Timothy shook his head. "No. She will find them herself anyway. We'll just let her finish her story,"
They all nodded their heads in understanding. They knew that Olivia was capable of finding out that information on her own. Though she would take longer than them since there were six of them while she was alone. But they knew that she wouldn't be far behind.
"And make sure that she is damn safe," Matthew added because after all, it was the reason why they were doing it.
Later that night, after staying at Timothy's apartment, Matthew was torn between going home to his pad or to Olivia's apartment. He had been staying at Olivia's apartment for three consecutive nights already. These past few days, he has always been anxious about Olivia's security. If possible, he wanted to be with her, to be her personal guard but he knew that Olivia wouldn't like it and she would be suspicious.
But he cannot take being away from her, especially with the kind of danger she was putting herself into. So, Matthew decided to just go to Olivia's apartment. He was certain that she would be pissed and would say that he would just become a distraction but he always has a way of taking her anger away.
"Babe! What–" Matthew's jaw was left hanging when he saw Olivia's organized mess in the living room. He almost had a hard time searching for Olivia out of all the piles of papers scattered around.
Olivia's head peeked out from her laptop. She was sitting in the middle of the living room. Her laptop was in front of her on the coffee table. "Hi! I'm sorry. I know this is a mess. An organized mess though," She said with a sheepish smile. She slowly stood up while stretching her leg which had already turned numb from sitting cross-legged for hours. She wobbled slightly as she walked toward Matthew.
"I could see that," Matthew said with amusement on his face as he looked around the chaos. Though he wanted to help Olivia since she looked like her leg had given out on her, he refused to move from where he was standing because he knew that once he stepped over the piles of paper in the living room, Olivia would be pissed at him.
It may look like a mess to him but to Olivia, it was organized. Well, Olivia has her own definition of organized when it comes to her work. The papers may be scattered all around but she knew what those papers were and when she needed a particular document, she knew where she put it.
Matthew knows not to mess with the way Olivia had arranged them because he knew that he might misplace an important document.
Finally, Olivia reached him and stood in front of him with a frustrated look on her face. "It's just…the whole thing about the vigilante is all over my office and I cannot mess it up with this case. So I decided to take this here to avoid confusion," She said while her hand was gesturing over her office and then to the pile of papers in the living room.
"Hmm…good thinking," Matthew smiled. He placed his hands on the sides of her waist and pulled her closer to him. Then he reached his hand to cup her cheeks to inspect her face closer. He frowned when he saw the dark circles around her eyes. Her skin is sallow. Her forehead is scarred with stress lines. She was smiling but even that seemed like a hard task for her. She looks tired. He could already guess that she has been working in front of her laptop and reading documents the whole day.
"Are you okay?" Matthew asked but he shook his head before Olivia could utter a response. "You know what? Never mind. You looked exhausted. Come on, I'll take you to my place," He said and then he wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her toward the door of her apartment.
"But–," Olivia made an attempt to complain but Matthew stopped her by raising his hand in front of her face. "Liv!" Matthew stood in front of her with a stern look on his face. "I'll take you to my place. Have dinner and sleep. Because I doubt if you will be able to sleep here. You are tired and I know you wouldn't be able to work your best if you are tired," Matthew's voice was soft and filled with concern that Olivia found it hard to refuse. So, she weakly nodded her head.
Olivia just grabbed her bag and put her phone, wallet, and key inside. She went to grab her laptop as well but Matthew stopped her because he knew that if she took her laptop with her, she would be tempted to work instead of getting some rest and sleep.
Olivia grumbled to herself but let Matthew win because she knows that he means well. Matthew chuckled and pinched her cheeks before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from that hellhole.
Matthew used his car and just told Olivia that he will drive her back to her apartment the next morning so she could take her laptop and car to work. It didn't take long for them to reach Matthew's pad since it was just a few minutes drive away from Olivia's apartment.
That is one of the deciding factors why Matthew chose that apartment for Olivia. Because it was close to his place so he could be there as soon as possible whenever Olivia needed him.
Once they were inside Matthew's pad, he dragged Olivia to the kitchen. He gestured for her to sit on the high chair by the kitchen counter.
Olivia put her bag on the counter and watched as Matthew went to the fridge with glass and poured orange juice into it. He walked toward her and passed the juice to her.
Olivia smiled appreciatively at Matthew who never left her side until she had finished the juice. Olivia didn't have to force herself because she finished the juice in an instant. She didn't realize how thirsty she was and how she needed that sugar in her body. She couldn't even remember the last time she drank water and ate as she was so invested in her work that she refused to move and lost her momentum.
But with just one look, Matthew seemed to know what she was needing. For that, she was grateful to him. "Thank you for dragging me out of that place," Olivia said, and then she leaned in to kiss his cheeks.
But that was not enough for Matthew. He cupped her face and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. "I told you, you need someone to stop you from getting insane," He said with a cheeky grin on his face after he pulled away.
"Why do I feel that you are going to take this opportunity to have me stay here?" Olivia said as he watched Matthew walk back to the fridge again.
Matthew rolled his eyes. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" He said even though he was already set on making Olivia stay in his pad, not for just one night. He will let Olivia go back to her apartment to work but he will pick her up at the end of the day so that she could sleep on his pad. Because he knew that she wouldn't be able to do that in the state where her apartment is currently in.
Olivia chuckled and shook her head. Then she noticed Matthew taking out something from the fridge. She frowned and asked, "You are going to cook?" Though she doubts it because Matthew cannot cook.
Matthew looked at her with pain in his eyes. "Are you insulting my cooking skills?" He said. One of his hands was on his chest while the other was holding a food container.
Olivia laughed. "I know you have many skills which you are very good at. But cooking is not one of them," she said.
Matthew pursed his lips. "You hurt me, babe,"
Olivia stepped down on the high chair and walked to him. Then she peeked at what was inside the food container but since it was covered, she could not make out what it was. "What's this?" She asked.
Matthew opened it to reveal a lasagna that had Olivia's mouth starting to water. "Mom brought me this yesterday thinking that I am staying here. I was supposed to bring this to your apartment to share it with you but I forgot," He explained while putting it inside the oven.
"Well, at least, we have dinner that is edible," Olivia teased him.