listen (rio g.g) 1

19

"You are a murderer,
no matter how beloved."
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Alivia groaned in frustration and sat up on the bed, letting her hands hide her face.
Around two hours had passed since she'd gone to bed but here she was, wide awake.

She groaned again, even louder this time, causing Levi to push his nose against her hands. Trying to get in between them and reach her face.

She grinned as she removed her hands and let him plant kisses on her face. She sighed, "How about a walk?"

Levi's head tilted to the side and his forehead wrinkled at the word walk, his tail started to wag and he let out a high-pitched bark.

She flung the covers to the side and left the warmth of her bed behind, the sound of paws hitting the wooden floor following behind.

She threw on a pair of leggings and a hoodie before putting on her usual running shoes and placing Levi's collar around his neck. She placed his leash in the pocket of her hoodie in case she would need to use it. Although, that was rarely the case. He usually minded his own business and came when she called.

"Let's go, bebe," she said under her breath and closed the door behind them. She skipped down the two flights of stairs and exited the building into the chilly night.

The past few weeks had gone by easily.
The women they had gathered, along with Tyler the security guy from Fine and Frugal, to be able to wash more money in the same amount of time had been working smoothly.
Of course, none of them actually knew what they were doing. They were simply told they'd be secret shoppers. 
They'd be buying various products to then return them and simply fill out a survey.

Levi's bark echoed from behind her and when she turned she saw him kneeling down, petting the dog's head lightly.

Her heart jumped in her chest as she approached them.

"What are you doing?" She questioned softly as she came to a stop in front of him.

He straightened up and peered down at her with the usual half-smirk on his face.
Her reaction remained calm as she felt the cool metal against her neck, her eyes never leaving his even as his hand grabbed the back of her neck and a light click echoed.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, "Why do we always end up here?"

"You tell me," his voice was low and hoarse and never failed to send shivers down her spine.

She bit the inside of her cheek lightly and looked back at him in annoyance. "What are you talking about?"

He breathed out heavily through his nose, "You think you can slip in fake cash with the real and I ain't gonna notice?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "no, that's not possible. We have a system."

He sighed in annoyance, "Yeah, me too."

"No, we know what is real and we know what is fake," she persisted.

"Yeah, me too. And you tried to rip me off a hundred g's?"

She felt the gun push harder against her neck with every word he spoke, "why the fu-"

She cut herself off as a thought popped into her mind.

"Fucking hell." She closed her eyes and groaned. She muttered under her breath, "it must've been one of the women."

Her eyes widened slightly whilst his narrowed, "What women?"

She was momentarily distracted by the fact that he'd put the gun away sometime during their conversation without her even noticing.

Her hand went up to her neck absentmindedly before she continued, "Well, we wouldn't be able to wash all that cash just us, so, we had to recruit."

He rolled his shoulders back while his hands were clasped together in front of him. "You shared my business with other people?"

"Not exactly," she said quietly, swallowing hard. "They don't actually know anything."

He let out a sigh after a moment. "I'm gonna need a name."

Her eyes narrowed slightly at his expression, "what for?"

He took a step closer and the shivers were back, "to handle it."