"Mark?" Olivia texted back.
"Who else calls you Livvie?"
"Fair."
A few minutes passed in between messages. Olivia tapped her finger impatiently on the side of her phone.
"Have you decided?"
"Decided what?"
"Whether or not I'm really Mark."
Olivia stared at her phone. Her heart wanted to believe this person was her brother but her mind was still on the fence.
"No, I haven't."
"I guess you'll just have to see tonight. 712 Fourth Street. One hour. If you don't show I'll stay out of your life for good. So if you even remotely think that I might be Mark, come."
Olivia bit her bottom lip. This could be her one chance to get real answers.
"I'll be there." She responded.
She plugged the address into her phone's GPS system. The address was only a few blocks away from where she lived. She doubted it was a coincidence. Chances were that this was all a setup in order to take her out. Olivia had done a lot of work for the Obsidian Blades over the years and there were bound to be other guilds unhappy about her success.
Either way, she had to know one way or another if this man was her brother or not. She needed answers and she would get them even if it meant her death. If she made it out of this, Luka would have a lot to answer for as well. Although he might have already been planning to kill her.
Olivia ran her hand through her hair nervously and started to pace her apartment in quick, frantic circles. Her nerves were normally easily held under control but this entire situation was quickly spiraling out of control. Maybe she should call Luka to let her know what was going on or at least Chris, his left hand man. Chris would understand where she was coming from.
A sharp rap came at the door. Olivia silently made her way to the peephole and peered through to see a tall, gangely, freckled, red-headed man. She let out a sigh of relief and opened her door.
"Hey Chris."
Chris's green eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at Olivia. Olivia felt her face flush with heat as her eyes met his.
"Luka said he let you know I was coming."
Olivia nodded and grabbed the journal off of her table. She held it out to Chris with shaking hands. Chris grabbed the journal and stretched his fingers out to trace a light pattern on Olivia's hand. She jumped at the touch and dropped the journal on the floor.
Olivia dropped to the floor to retrieve the journal and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously. She held the journal back out to Chris and avoided looking at his face. She heard Chris let out a hearty laugh.
"Come on Liv, there's no need to be like that around me." Chris chuckled.
"Chris, I...I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're always like this around us authority figures. You don't have to be afraid of me. You don't even need to be afraid of Mitch. We're not monsters you know?"
Chris let out a deep sigh.
"Just because Luka acts one way doesn't mean we all do, Liv. Maybe you should give some of us a chance. I know you don't really trust people or let them in. None of us do. But you can't keep going like this. We care about you at the guild....I care about you."
Olivia's eyes shot up to his. While she'd known Chris for a long time, she'd never really thought about him as more than her boss. A few years ago, they had hooked up a few times but she had thought that was just blowing off steam.
"I...I didn't know." Olivia said meekly.
"Well now you do."
Olivia paused, trying to decide whether or not to open up to Chris. Could she trust him? Could she really trust anyone at this point? She should probably tell someone on the off chance her meeting with "Mark" went wrong.
"Chris..." She started.
