Olivia’s POV:He’s driving, strangely closed off, and I wonder if he’s contemplating his reactions. He automatically places his hand in my lap, moving to curve around my thigh, which means his fingers end up nestled between my legs sensually, just above my knee while keeping his eyes on the road. I look down at the way his hand is connected to my naked skin, in a gesture that I wouldn’t expect from him, more something I would expect to see Eli do to Lea and glance his way. He’s looking out the window, completely oblivious, and I don’t know whether to relax and accept this as innocent or enjoy the tingles and heat his possessive hold is giving me. Torn that this might be deliberate and disappointed he didn’t aim higher. It’s another little clue that his head is not thinking platonic where I’m concerned tonight, and I wonder if this is going to go anywhere, with a sense of excited nerves. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but he’s giving me different vibes tonight.I give thanks to my ch
Olivia’s POV:The club was private and even if Brandon and I work in the same industry, this is my first time in a club like this. Everyone reeked of money. We find his group fast and enveloped into handshakes and hugs, and I even recognize a couple of familiar faces of people I have met through business with over the years. As we reacquaint, I’m passed from person to person, and Brandon is caught in the throes of welcomes and backslaps. He’s always been a sociable and friendly guy.The club is pretty cool and it’s obvious the door fee is higher than most places by the type of people milling around. It screams trendy, upmarket, and stinks of money. I’m surprised that he comes here. I know they usually opt for classier places, but normally he likes more middle-ground clubs. Affordable for his friends who are not born into money, and this is not one of those. Knowing him, he probably paid the door and bar tab in advance for whoever’s birthday this is. That’s what he’s like.“You look am
Olivia’s POV:I regret pushing her. She was not joking. Alice cannot dance; it’s so bad, it’s painful, but she seems to embrace it like a champ, and we end up giggling ridiculously. I try showing her how to shimmy, but she just can’t, how to sexy wiggle, which is worse than bad, and even for the life of me, I try showing her how to sway side to side and fake a dance, but every attempt is just hopeless.I have never known a woman have such little fluidity to her movements as her, and she seems so prim and proper out there that I have to rescue her before this starts to become embarrassing. I shake my head when it’s clear the new faster beat to the next song is beyond her capabilities and drag her back to the bar above, back into the fold of Brandon’s friends in a happier mood, strangely light and forgetting everything else for a minute.When we get back up the stairs, I notice he’s standing at the bank of windows with Ego and a couple of other men. They’ve been watching the floor below
Brandon’s POV:Now that they we out of Olivia’s earshot and secluded from Ego and my other friends, I showed her I’m not finding her impromptu plans. She sat there looking so fragile and delicate. Even her choice of clothing was very un-Alice. When Olivia asked her to dance, she pretended to have two left legs with awful coordination when she’s a good dancer.Alice studied ballet until she was in middle school and dance was her strongest points. I told Olivia I’d find her as soon as I’m done talking to Alice and I intend to do that. I had no idea she’s going to ruin this night for me. Sometimes, I wish I don’t have to tell her everything.I sat in front her, it annoys me that she’s still in character. “Drop it, Alice, it’s just me now.”I saw her check if Olivia was still there before she exhaled and the over confident Alice I know came into view. “I came here to help you.”“Help me, with what?”“You’re too slow. The past few days are dragging, honey. We need to up the ante.” She urged
Olivia’s POV:“Liv?” His face softens, his jaw slackens, his pupils dilate, and then he’s all over me. Hands around my face and throat, pulling me nose to nose and breathing against me like he has lost all control. That broad chest heaving with the effort. “Tell me you’re okay; tell me he didn’t hurt you.”He seems overwhelmed, emotions going crazy as he keeps pulling my face to his, too close for this to be innocent. His forehead against mine, his hands in my hair and around my throat gently, checking me for wounds, checking that I’m breathing. He’s uncontrolled, losing all normal restraint, and still wired. It’s a fight to try and rein him in, hands on me and how he keeps bringing my mouth close to his to share air, his nose pressed into my face as though he needs my face against his to calm down. His hands bury themselves in the underside of my hair over my ears, crouching slightly, so I’m between his thighs. Pelvis to pelvis, so he’s at my height as he assures himself that I’m no
Olivia’s POV:I tie the robe around me when I’m dry, the shower has made me feel a hundred times better, and I throw everything I was wearing in the bathroom trash can. Underwear, shoes, and all. I never want to lay eyes on any of it again, and if I didn’t think it would set off all fire detectors and cause a huge scene, then I would burn it all. The thought of that creep in the club all over it makes me want to gag.The idea of being friends with Millie was wrong on all levels.I venture out into the living area slowly on shaky legs. I need a glass of water, then I’m going to bed to forget this night ever happened, and I’ll deal with the emotional fallout tomorrow. I stop short when I spot Brandon sitting on the couch, nursing a coffee, still dressed, seemingly a lot more normal and sober but in complete torment. He looks wrecked, more with it, and just emotional for once. I figured he would have gone to bed by now and not be still sitting in the low lights.“I thought we agreed to g
Olivia’s POV:My robe slides as his hand graze my collarbone and pushes it from my shoulder, exposing more than just my upper neck. I gasp, not even fazed that he’s stripping me to be nakedly on show. Urging him to keep going as his fingers slowly trail down over the curve of my breast. Igniting a sensual fire of longing between my thighs that makes me vibrate in need.“Damn it, Olivia. You’re so beautiful in every way. So fucking perfect.” He breathes against me, only parting enough to speak into my mouth, and then he captures my lips again, sucking and kissing me like he has no control.The robe slides further down my back, down my arms to my elbows as one of his hands moves behind my neck, under my hair at the back, to pull me in harder to his probing mouth. His fingers gently graze downwards across my naked skin as though tracing my spine lightly, igniting a million butterflies and goosebumps with his caress. My body missed this. I’ve been longing for this!My breath quickens, war
Olivia’s POV:It’s almost dawn, and I’m lying on my bed. I’ve barely slept, waiting for him to return, with a million thoughts running through my brain, tormenting me into oblivion. Thankfully, his phone is here, not smashed, despite hitting a marble floor. At some point, I regained enough sense to wander over and pick his things up, like a mute zombie trying to find something to do besides stare at a closed elevator. I left them on the kitchen counter. I paced like crazy, cried myself sick with heartbreak, disappointed in myself, then ended up in here hoping to try and sleep.I’m wretched and anxious, and I keep seeing that ragged, torn look on her face as though I had just slayed her entire family with a dirty spoon right before her eyes. I keep thinking about how he ran away and after her and the excruciating pain that causes me. To ponder what is even happening anymore. He chose to leave when the choice was thrown in his lap, and his instincts took over. His actions told me loud
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