Olivia’s POV:I’m more relaxed after my bath, warm and lazy from the hot soak, and wrapped in a fluffy robe, carrying my soiled clothes. I leave his room and head back towards the guest room for tonight. Head full of things I want to say to him.I jump when his voice comes from right behind me.“It’s late; maybe we should go to bed and talk over breakfast.”I spin on him as he dumps his car keys on the table and hauls off his hoody to reveal a t-shirt molded to that hunky frame. I turn away and clear my throat, shocked at how differently my insides react to the familiar sight. We’ve done much more than this before.“I guess.” I hesitate, not sure if I should make a stand and make it clear tonight that he has no control over me or if I should let him sleep and become more amenable to what I want after some rest. He looks exhausted. There is so much to talk about and a mess to pick through, and I have no idea where to start.“I called Theo and told him we’re already here and told him yo
Olivia’s POV:We’ve been driving for a couple of hours with nowhere to go, just idle chit-chat and evasion of certain topics have me staring out at the passing scenery as rain makes everything wet, dull, and shiny. Bored and listless as music fills the car. We’ve listened to various radio stations as we travel, and Brandon seems lost in his head. There's nothing unusual there; he’s always been a thinker who went quiet and sorted shit out while he drove us anywhere. I find it strangely reassuring to watch that focused frown, the gears turning in his head and taking the quiet time to be still with everything. He hasn’t said anything for at least the last half hour. The silence isn’t exactly awkward; we can sit without talking and not feel weird about it, but I’m dying to have him say something about what he’s thinking.We went to the office and worked some. But we agreed to stupidly go on a road trip to celebrate my new hair. And that’s what we did.He glances my way when he feels my ey
Olivia’s POV:I fell asleep on the second leg of our journey as it got dark quicker than anticipated, a sign a storm was moving in fast, and the rain was the first of it. Somehow the lull and motion of the car, the long straight roads, and the soft music on the stereo made me pass out stone cold for over an hour. The safety and peacefulness of us locked together n that relaxing space.I wake up stretching out like a cat, momentarily disorientated, and manage to push Brandon in the shoulder with my hand as I uncurl it sleepily.“Wow. She’s alive.” He jokes and catches my hand to pull off him, nestling it back down on my lap with a pat. I yawn, stretching my arms upwards instead, slide both feet out of my shoes, rest them on his dash, and wiggle down to get comfy.“How far now?” I ask sleepily, turning on my side a little to watch him in the semi-darkness. The only real illumination is the array of lights on the dash here and all the traffic and streetlights outside. Brandon glances my
Olivia’s POV:Now I’m standing in Brandon’s extended family kitchen while an older woman alerts everyone to our presence. Brandon checks his watch, standing beside me with an arm casually around my shoulder. I’ve given up trying to point out that maybe he shouldn’t keep touching me, knowing it’s natural for him. It always has been. We were always this way, and he can’t break the habit of an entire friendship that easily. To him, touching me, being close to me this way, is like breathing, and it would be more awkward if he stood feet apart with a gap between us.“Eli should be arriving home any minute. He’s the man of this farm house and that woman is Joan, his mother. Lea is pregnant, she’s Eli’s wife. I think they have three or four kids now, including the one popping anytime soon.”I realize he was giving me a quick family tree lesson. He sure knows them well.“Brandon?” A woman’s voice rings out from behind us. “Ah, and this must be, Miss Olivia.” She envelop me as soon as she walk
Olivia’s POV:"Maybe you should call Eli and just, you know, ask him to come here maybe." She smiles weakly but seeing the color drain from her face has me scrambling for my cellphone as panic hits me hard. I can't seem to make my fingers work. "Liv, use my phone. They might be at the barn. It's a three minute walk from here. We have new horses there and Eli was thrilled to show them to Brandon."“Lea?” My hands shake as I locate his number and pull the cell to my ear, stomach doing a nosedive. Eyes on her incredibly calm face and falling into the first stages of freak out.“Don’t panic.” She smiles gently. “These things take hours; this is just a twinge, and I want to be sure he’s here in case it’s not.” She smooths a hand over mine on the table and moves her chair back so she can sit further down. I watch her tilt her head back and take deep breaths as Eli’s cell seems to ring for eternity. I chew on my lip, tap my foot harder and tap the table with my nail as it rings, and rings,
Olivia’s POV: An extreme sense of relief that the cavalry has arrived and Eli can take over to help his wife bring another baby into this world, and I can get my a** out from between Lea’s thighs and exposed lady parts. Warm calm washes over me as they head my way, eyes fixed on the scene before them. I genuinely feel like kissing him right now for getting here this fast, and I grin with exhaled glee that he’s saving us.Like a sudden violent slap in the face, something hot, wet, and fired with the aggressive speed of a canon sloshes me in the chest, neck, and stomach. In a horrifying avalanche moment that makes me gasp in absolute shock, like a scene from a comedy movie where a bucket of water is thrown in someone’s face. In this case—that someone was me.Bath temperature warm, sticky, and slimy, weird-smelling fluid soaks through my dress, down my legs, and saturates my entire upper body. My hands are immobile in midair as I shudder and glare down in absolute disgust at what just a
Olivia’s POV:Brandon and I stand back and watch Lea and the baby being loaded into the ambulance, under the watchful eye of Eli, climbing in beside her, fussing around her and their baby, before waving our way as the doors shut and they are concealed from view.“I’m totally wired. I can’t believe she had the baby right there in front of us.” I beam childishly happy as I grip his arm, still bouncing around with the hyper energy that hit after the emotions cleared away. He grins at me indulgently, watching as I bop up and down like a giddy kid on a sugar high, and runs a hand down the back of my hair affectionately with his opposite hand.“It’s the adrenaline. You’re on a high. I always feel that way after a fight. You’ll probably crash soon and sleep the best you have in a while. It was gross but pretty amazing. Not sure I’ll be able to look at Lea in quite the same way, though.” He slides his arm out of my embrace and turns me slowly to him. “Maybe you should get cleaned up.”He gest
Brandon’s POV:I drop my chin again, looking down at my hands before finally meeting her eyes, completely lost.“I felt like I was kissing the girl I should have been kissing all along… Happy? Because this solves nothing, Liv. Harvey will be against this if he hears this and everyone will think I’m only after the inheritance that should have been mine. I will still be an a**hole in this story no matter what or who I choose.”“Go inside and get changed. You’re freezing and soaked through. You’re going to get sick. I’ll ask Joan for some of Lea’s clothes that fits you.”“Whoa. You can’t just leave it like this.” She cries after me as I move. “Yes, I can. This is not why we’re here; it can damn well wait until we get home.” I was walking off, obviously trying to put distance between us before she explodes.“F*ck you. Walk away then. See if I f*cking care!” Olivia croaked desperately.My instinct allowed me to turn around to throw her an angry look. I wish I could tell her what I’m real
Olivia’s POV:I lift a little higher, pausing and looking away to his chest, letting his eyes scan all of me as he stands motionless, listening, watching, taking it in and analyzing me with that quick brain. I get nothing from him, even when he slides his gaze down over my naked breasts and curves and comes slowly back up to lock on mine with a serious look that penetrates my soul. The smile faded away, but he still has a joyous aura surrounding him. “I will never give up on you. If you want this, you will never get rid of me again. I swear. I’m in this for the long haul, Liv.” “Good. Now take your clothes off, get over here and make love to me. It’s about time we stopped fucking around and got down to the real business.” I smirk as I say it. Hardly a sweet romantic seduction, but one thing I have learned is that I need to find my backbone with him.I was made to deal with this arrogant man. I need to remember that when dealing with him. He then breaks into the most gorgeous ungua
Olivia’s POV:I like this apartment; it somehow seems like I have been here before even though I have never laid eyes on it. I love the open space and simple furnishings. Nothing overly showy or flashy, nothing fussy. Just enough to feel comfy and relaxed in a way that invites you to come in and lounge your cares away. It’s peaceful and feels like home, even though I’m a stranger within its walls.It’s no surprise I like it, though; one thing I found when making the club gorgeous was that Lexi and I have a similar taste in décor, and we gel well in terms of style. We can argue about most things, but we never argued over styling choices.I waste no time in sinking into the hot bath and letting my weary bones blend with the water, turning my limbs to fluid weightlessness. I exhale with relief at the comforting feel of hot liquid overtaking my skin as it submerges and slides over all the tiny marks and grazes, littering the surface, cleansing them of grime and blood. Stings and nips beco
Olivia’s POV: She smiles again, nothing but warmth in that wrinkled little face, and I wonder if she was an attempt at giving himself a stand-in mother. She has that maternal vibe, and I could see why he wouldn’t want the hassle of a live-in maid whom he has banged. He hates women trailing around after him when he’s done with them.He made himself what he lacked, and I can see why he never let me come here before. A cozy home he never lets on is his, a dog and a motherly maid. Like his small apartment, this place is somewhere he can be someone else, and it feeds a side of him that his mother never nurtured. “Of course.” I falter, covering my sheer lack of knowing what’s happening or even something as basic about him as not liking reheated food. It’s not something that ever came up, seeing as I don’t cook for him or have ever had to get food for him. A girlfriend should know these things, though. I want to know these things about him.After today I guess that’s a moot subject, and I
Olivia's POV:Walking in the door, ushered by Orlie, we are all in complete silence. I don’t even take the time to acknowledge him. I have no words anyway. I'm disheveled, filthy, and broken inside as I’m led into a massive open plan penthouse apartment that I would never think of putting him in. A building in Upper Manhattan’s most luxurious area.“He owns this.” Orlie stated as if reading my mind.It’s warmer and homelier than the other one he took me to. There are substantial soft corner couches, side tables, and furniture for lounging and laying cups by your side, in front of vast windows spanning entire walls and showing New York at its finest in sweeping views. I feel like we are on top of the world as we are so high up in a vast modern yet comfy home. My eyes scan the roaring glass fire in the natural brick pillar standing imposingly in the middle of the room, giving no natural heat, so it’s a digital screen. It serves as a divider to the metal railed stairway behind it at the
Olivia’s POV:Oh, God no.He twists my wrist painfully, causing me to release the shoe finally and its clatters to the ground with an anticlimactic little noise as it slides from his gaping wound. My only hope of fighting a man this size. He overpowers me cruelly, and all I can do is grasp at his legs to stop myself crying out with the pain he’s inflicting. He is going for a broken bone.And then, she’s there. Alice.“Well, look at you. Not so pretty in a disheveled state are you?”“Boss, we can play with her, right?” The other man insisted.“Not yet. I’m waiting for Harvey. He’s on his way here, say, fifteen minutes with the documents because Olivia here will transfer all her money to me. Did you know, it was our original plan, me and Brandon? Unfortunately, he fell in love with you----so the money comes first and then, I’ll take him back. And we live happily ever after because you are dead.”“You’re lying.”“Oh, wait until Harvey shows up. I sent him the photos and the record and hop
Brandon’s POV:I stopped just when Harvey was about to ride with us. An idea dawned on me. I know Alice. I know how she thinks. “Harvey, go back to your office. Alice will call you. She will want Olivia’s money in exchange for her life. I’m sure. Don’t let her know that you already know. I’ll open my GPS, you know what to do.”Harvey nodded. I thought he was going to be difficult. “Okay, be safe. Take care of her. I’ll take of things on my end.”I hope I know how Alice mind works. Or else.Olivia’s POV:The noise in the alley comes back down towards me, echoing eerily, and I completely freeze, pushing my attention fully on Brandon to zone out the fear. He is quiet, but I can hear noises on his end as I clutch it to my ear. I think he is checking his screen for my location and leaving the call open, but he isn’t listening. I can hear voices in the background, Orlie and the other men as he tells them which turn to take. I can hear so much of where he is and the fact they are on the mov
Olivia’s POV:These are not from the hotel’s security. They might be the men Brandon warned me about, I just gave them all of me, with my stupidity. God knows how long they have been hanging at a distance watching the comings and goings in case they got a chance at picking me off. It’s horrifying to imagine they may have been out here this whole time, waiting for a time like this.I glance at him moving in, and the man from the car is now behind me, blocking my path. Eyes doing a quick scan of every avenue around me. I am aware of both, and my senses tell me how far away from actually touching them. I am more aware of the one behind me as it instils a higher fear factor, but my brain calms, and the part that works well in a crisis moves in to formulate an exit strategy. Adrenaline kicks in, and I do what I do best. I lift my feet and run like a bat out of hell crazy woman with no desire to die, to my right, down the alley.I used to be an athlete so I’m pretty swift in my departure. T
Brandon’s POV:“Where are you, Olivia? I told you to stay. Damn, how stubborn can she be?” I asked myself out loud, pacing her office for the nth time.“Relax, for all we know, she’s here and there’s nothing to worry about, sir.” Orlie tried to calm me but I can’t help myself.I’ve given her strict orders not to go anywhere alone. My guts tell me that Alice was just biding her time and she’s not really walking away even if I bribed her with money. She’s better than that, cunning and dangerous all rolled into one. My phone is in my hand and I’ve dialed her number so many times and sent her text messages that went from pleading to threatening if she didn’t show up any moment from now.The door knob to her office moved and I braced myself. But it wasn’t her. It was Harvey and the moment the lawyer laid his eyes on me----he was instantly enraged. He scanned the office before returning his gaze on me.“You…” he seethed. “Where is Olivia?”I shrugged. “That makes the two of us. I can’t find
Olivia’s POV:I wander a little further onto the cracked concrete pavement and walk in small circles for a while, hidden from view by the tall half-standing wall that used to be some sort of barrier. It’s high enough to act as a shade for me. I pace absentmindedly to try to calm my erratic swishing insides and breathless angst until the air penetrates my clothes and cools me down to a mild shiver. One eye on the group of men for no real reason and satisfied they haven’t acknowledged me over here at all.It’s not overly freezing today, and my dress is made of wool, so it’s warm enough not to go in for a jacket. I keep moving until I’m around fifteen feet from them, gazing out into the street and the traffic coming and going at the far end of the long lane ahead. The hotel nestles in a side alley not far from the main road, so the immediate area in front of me is car-free even though it's noisy out here. It can be peaceful if you walk far enough from milling security groups.I stare up