“Can you tell me when I need to change gears?” he asks as he begins to accelerate after a light turns green. I listen intently to the engine.
“Now.”
He smiles at me and changes gears. “Good job. Tell me when to change again.”
I listen closely. “Now.”
He squeezes my hand and shifts into third. “You’re doing great. If you’re able to hear when to change gears, that’s half the battle. The next part is learning when to press in the clutch and when to release it.” He doesn’t ask me to listen anymore, but I pay close attention each time.
When he stops in front of the building, I realize I was so distracted by him I didn’t pay attention to see if anyone was following us or not. I quickly glance around us as he walks to my door to open it. There isn’t anyone that stands out. He opens my door and extends his hand, helping me out.
“You’re safe, Olivia.”
Victor closes the door and rubs his hands up and down my arms again as I stare up at him.How did he know I didn’t feel safe? Does he know something?I lick my lips and his eyes drop to my mouth for a moment before he smiles at me. There’s a lookin his eyes I don’t recognize, kind of like he wants to eat me. My face heats up at the thought as we walk toward the entrance.
He leads me into the lobby, greets James, and walks me to the elevator, pressing the button and waits with me. I keep stealing glances at him, but I don’t look at him for too long. After a few seconds, he grasps my hand lightly and pulls me around to face him.How is it that it doesn’t bother me when he touches me?He’s an anomaly that I can’t quite wrap my brain around.
“I’ll see you soon. Okay?” He slowly raises his hand and cups my face, rubbing his thumb along my jaw. I lean into his touch, accepting that it calms me. Some way. Somehow.
“Okay.”
Chapter fourteen
Victor
Sitting at the desk in my home office, I stare at the report my assistant sent me until the words become blurry. I can’t stop thinking about Olivia and our lunch yesterday. Sighing, I push back from the desk and stand. My office has a door that leads out onto the upper deck of my house. It looks out over my backyard. The barn and horses are to the side, and the lake is further down the hill. Leaning my forearms against the railing, I think back over every interaction I had with Donovan and Olivia.
He abused her. Though I’ve had my suspicions for sometime, now I know without a shadow of a doubt after how she reacted yesterday. I’m pretty sure he somehow got her to hate her name as well. I’m going to figure out why, then I’m going to plan his slow, painful death. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I select her name and send her a text.
Victor: You’ll be getting a surprise from me today.
I asked Lee to have some pretzel balls delivered to her office. When she tasted it, I remembered how much she always liked those big pretzels at the mall or carnivals when she was little.
Olivia: I just got it! Thank you. It made my day.
Her reply makes me smile. I should have checked on her more. When Donovan said she ran away, why didn’t I look for her more? Connor knew something was wrong with Donovan. Instead of figuring out what he knew, I passed him off as an annoying kid with a savior complex.
I think back to the day we voted for the new sheriff. Connor told me to let Donovan know his days are numbered, but I didn’t take him seriously. Again. At the time, I was preoccupied with saving my marriage to Josie. I had just purchased this house and finished doing renovations in hopes it would make Josie happy. It didn’t. She never saw this house.
Everything about Josie wasn’t what I thought it was. Turns out she was a manipulator and a liar. I shake my head to dislodge the memories. Between her and Donovan, I’m obviously not a very good judge of character. I’m going to find out what happened to Olivia and I’m going to fix it. I don’t know how, but I will.
I want to see her again. Instead of texting her, I hit the call button. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to talk since she’s at work, but it’s worth a shot.
“Hello?”
The sound of her sweet voice brings a smile to my face. “Hi, Olivia.”
“Hi, Victor.”
I turn around and lean back against the railing. “Did you enjoy the pretzel balls?”
“Yes. I really meant it when I said it made my day.”
I run my thumb along my lip. “Simple things make you happy, I see.”
“They do. It’s also nice knowing someone thought about you and did something about it.”
As I think about her comment, I hum. “So, actions speak louder than words?”
