My heart beats heavy in my chest reading her words. She’s never been that up front with me about anything.
Victor: Of course. Are you coming over now?
I push away from the bar and stand, waiting for her answer.
Olivia: Not right now, but probably in an hour or so. I’m out shopping with my friends. As soon as we’re done though. If that’s okay?
Victor: It’s always okay. You never have to ask. You will always be welcome.
Olivia: Thank you. See you soon.
Saying a quick bye to James, I head to the bathroom to take a piss before leaving. As I’m headed out, James calls out to me.
“Tell Liv I said hello.” He smirks. I shake my head with a smile and walk out to get on my bike.
The gate closes behind me and I pull my bike over to the side. Pulling my phone out to find Olivia’s name and call her. No point in going all the way up to the house if she’s close.
Olivia’s sweet voice washes over me. “Hello?”
My lips tip up into a smile. “Olivia. I love the sound of your voice.”
She chuckles. “You heard it yesterday.”
I smirk and lean against my bike. “That’s true, but it’s different knowing I get to see you soon.” She doesn’t respond, but I can feel her smile. “Are you on your way?”
“Yes. I’m only a few minutes away.”
That was perfect timing. I’d hate for her to get here and have to wait for me.
“I’ll be waiting at the gate for you to let you in. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to pick your car up on Monday to take it to my guy and get it set up so the gate will open for you.”
“Of course, that’s fine,” she replies immediately.
“Perfect. I’ll see you soon.”
She whispers bye, and we hang up. My intention for going to the clubhouse was to get shit-faced. All the guilt that’s been swirling in my gut since Olivia walked back into my life wasbeginning to become too much to take. So, I decided to take a reprieve.
It’s not something I do often. In fact, the last time I went to the clubhouse for that purpose was the day after the incident with Josie. Malachi, the president, encourages the members to do it at the club if they’re going to. That way, someone is always watching out for them. It also discourages some of our younger members to not embarrass us around town by getting disorderly.
I own the majority of the restaurants in town, so if one of the club members gets out of hand, those on duty know to contact me so we can take care of it. My phone vibrates, so I swipe it to look at the message that just came in.
Malachi: I saw his car today downtown. He’s back.
Pushing away from my bike, every muscle in my body tenses.I knew it. I fucking knew it.A couple times a week, I’ve been driving around town to see if my path crossed with him, but it hasn’t. Scrolling through my call log, to my head of security, Leo, to inform him.
“Hiya, boss,” he answers on the first ring.
Leo is in his thirties and a complete clown. He says his gift is killing people with laughter. Literally. He likes to tell jokes to those he’s about to kill. He offered to kill Josie on numerous occasions and promised he wouldn’t tell her any jokes beforehand. When he was younger, he wanted to be a stand-up comedian, but that never happened.
“Malachi says he saw his car today.”
He immediately goes into business mode. “Where?”
“Downtown. He sent me a text, so that’s all I got for now. I need someone on Olivia at all times.” This should have been done sooner, but I was holding out, hoping I was overreacting.
Leo hums. “I’ll bring Arden in the loop and switch him and Lane out. Arden’s the vampire, so he’ll probably take nights.”
I chuckle. Leo has this theory that since he never sees Arden during the day and he only wants to work nights, he’s a vampire and apparently has a thing for draining the blood from his kills.
