Olivia’s POV:I yawn and stretch out lazily, stirring slowly like a kitten waking after a peaceful slumber. A massive sense of weightless contentment is waving over me like a warm blanket in the moments before I fully connect with consciousness. I jump when a large, hot hand gently grips my hip in reaction to my wriggling and scares me half to death. Rousing me fully as I’m not used to waking up beside someone. My heart skips a beat for a second and sends me into instant sweats and panic deep inside. It all comes back to me in a rush, and I blink at an unfamiliar ceiling and a rotating fan that’s too close for comfort. Blurry vision clearing to bring my surroundings to me.Hazy in my sudden awakening, my head aches with the after-effects of far too much alcohol and a night of walking myself to death. I have a hangover, head pounding me into oblivion as those first few seconds of happy waking ebb away into reality, and now I remember whose fault it is and who is lying beside me, breath
Olivia’s POV:My reverie of last night was interrupted.“I’m starving. Want to go somewhere for …” He doesn’t get to finish as his cell phone rings, and he pulls it out of his back pocket, frowning at the screen with a dark look before putting it to his ear. His whole manner is tensing, and that flicker of his other side is immediate. It’s odd how I can tell. The change in him is so sudden and clear to me now. That colder, more brutal, dominant aura closes over him as soon as the other world touches him, and I shiver at its appearance.“Alice, what is it?”His voice dispels all hints of warmth and tenderness, and it’s that cold air mirrored on his face as he visually closes up. I stare at him warily, curiosity piqued because the person calling him, is someone who will not easily let go, otherwise, she wouldn’t have agreed into playing the sweet childhood best friend. She is a lot like Brandon in that he hates not being in control of things.I watch silently, crossing my arms across
Olivia’s POV:“Maybe we should revisit the kissing thing. Not sure I can give that up on top of s*x and heavy groping. I mean, there is only so much I can handle keeping in check. I’m not that much of a good boy.” Brandon slips me a sexy smile and picks up the kettle when it clicks to pour us coffee. Watching the steam rise and hit with the heavy aroma as soon as the cups are filled.“You’re not a good boy at all, Mr. Pembroke. That’s part of the charm. If we are revisiting the kissing, it requires a proper negotiation. I have to get something back if you are getting free rein to kiss me,” I jest, flirtation coming out all by itself and aware I have slid my arm through his and am pressing my body to his side a little too possessively. Pushed up tight so I can get as much of him as possible.“You get my tongue in your mouth with all its expertise, several times a day. That’s reward enough.” That arrogant wink, and I frown at him. “Look at you, so modest.”“I know. It is exhausting bei
Olivia’s POV:Orlie and Brandon dropped me off at the townhouse I share with Maurice and Ethan. After checking on my nephew and catching up on any news concerning him with the nanny, I retired to my bedroom to shower and get dressed in my usual figure-hugging dress and sleek hair and makeup. Drove to the hotel and went straight to work.I know Brandon arrived ahead of me because he sent me a text message, he’s waiting for Alice. Their meeting here is a reminder to me that they are really over and Brandon has no intention of keeping me off the radar. I am beyond relieved.I’ve only been up here for twelve minutes.I make my way down to the lobby, hungry and with the intention of checking the kitchen for whatever I might fancy. The head chef is a wonderful woman, she makes a mean grilled cheese, and now that I’m starving, and aspirin has numbed my pounding head to bearable. Hunger pangs are so intense I feel faint and desperate to eat.On my way to the kitchen, I’m surprised to meet Ali
“Hi, honey!” Alice swooped in for a kiss as soon as she was inside Brandon’s manager office. “Ugh, the traffic was bad going here. I am thinking of getting an apartment closer to this location. I’m thinking walking distance so I can visit anytime. What do you think?”She dropped her purse on his desk and casually went for a hug from behind him which he casually deflected. The action did not even seem to bother the woman. Alice was in there with one purpose in mind---she will not be the sore loser and she will be rich one day.Brandon moved his chair away inches away from her. “I agreed to talk here because I want to show Olivia that she have nothing to worry about. I told her the truth and though it was hard at first…she forgave me and gave me a chance. Let’s call it quits, Alice. I’m willing to give you a substantial amount of money if you agree to walk away silently.”Alice’s bright smile remained pasted on her heavily made-up face. “You were saying?”They’ve been together for sever
Olivia’s POV:I look up from my seat at where I’m sorting through emails at the lobby as the group of men walk past. I have a habit of working out of my office when I’m worried sick. Alice is leaving, she’s deep in conversation with someone on the phone, I don’t think she saw me. I try to blank them completely, her and Brandon and how their conversation went. Still pissed as hell and overly prickly from earlier from my encounter with her.A pair of leather shoes stops in front of me. I lift my eyes from my laptop and saw the man I was hoping not to bump into today. He pauses and looks at me coldly, pulling my eyes to his with the power of that stare, and I curse myself for the tingles that spread across my body like wildfire. Averting my gaze as quickly and trying to zone him out.“What are you doing here? Is your office not good enough you had to bring work here on the lobby?” He barks it, and I slowly lift my head deliberately to hide the fact I’m hating on him, and he is not exactl
Olivia’s POV:The drive home was okay-sih. I cleared my schedule and I curse at myself for doing it. It’s given me an anxious knot in my gut all night which has only grown more significant by the hour and has me fidgeting uncontrollably.It’s past midnight and I’m in the living room, working to keep my mind off wandering. Occasionally, Ethan’s cries reach my location and I’m tempted to check on him but the cries immediately stop. I bet Maurice took him in her arms.As for me, something is amiss, and it’s practically radiating around the room and I sigh for the millionth time to release some of my pent-up tension that is coiled inside like an overloaded spring.“If you miss me, you can call me.” I jump a mile high when the smooth, unmistakably husky voice catches me from my left side, and I spin to see him casually standing at the door, looking fresh despite the hour. “No.” I retort snappily and cross my arms over to cover the way I jumped. I’m wearing cartoon inspired pajamas.His ey
Olivia's POV:“I don’t even know where you are taking me.”“Just pack up. Now shut up and come on.” He grabs one of my waving hands and pulls me out ungentlemanly towards the door. Not even giving me a chance to retort to his lame apology. It earns him another slap, this time in the back of those annoyingly broad shoulders, full-on violent tonight. The only way I can expel all I feel because he is so shit at groveling, and I’m in need of venting. Not that my feeble efforts would do him any damage. He doesn’t even flinch, keeps his demon grip on me and almost drags me into the flat at the speed of light. He doesn’t acknowledge my slaps at all. “You are an a**hole. You know that?” I sulk at his back when he finally lets me go and leaving me standing in the middle of my room. “Yup. You always remind me that.” He doesn’t even look back, and the arrogance in his manner, even now we are alone, sobers me a little. There is a weird mood circling him, and I can taste it. The loving, soft, a
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