“Alright. Well, Olivia is on her way over now. I’m going to let her know,” I tell him and push away from my bike to begin pacing, ready for her to be here already.
“You’re going to tell her?” he asks. A car door slams, and suddenly there’s music blasting that’s turned down quickly. “Fuck, I am not the same person right now I was when I got out of my car last. Sorry about that.”
I smile and shake my head. “Yes, I’m going to tell her. She’s constantly looking over her shoulder for Donovan or one of his men. If she sees Arden or Lane, she’ll think the worst.” I pause. “Actually, the three of you come over for dinner, so I can introduce you. I want her to know what you look like.”
“Alright. I’ll call them. We’ll be there around 7:30. The sun should be low enough for Arden not to burst into flames.” He hangs up without saying bye, but that’s normal for him. When he has an assignment, he’s laser focused and doesn’t waste time on pleasantries.
I glance at my phone to see how long it’s been since Olivia called. About twenty minutes, so she should be here any moment now. Talking to James today helped bring me out of the funk I was in. His comment about me showing Olivia not all men are like Donovan made me look at our relationship differently. Now I can be there for her instead of being drunk off my ass.
Even though she sounded okay, something must be going on since she admitted she needed me. She’s never done that. In the distance I hear a car and know instinctively it’s her. I walk to the gate and wait for her to pull in.
Chapter twenty-four
Victor
Olivia pulls in and stops in front of the gate, waving at me. Returning her wave, I push the button on the app to open the gate, and motion for her to enter. The moment the gate closes and her car has cleared the entry, I walk around to her door and open it.
She’s already put the car in park and unbuckled her seat belt. Holding out my hand to help her out of the car. Once she’s got both feet on the ground, I pull her into my arms and breathe in her lavender scent.
“I’ve missed you,” I murmur into her hair. She wraps her hands around my waist, tentatively at first, but the longer she’s in my arms, the tighter her grip becomes.
“I missed you too.”
She inhales deeply. I’ve noticed she does that a lot around me. Unsure what to make of it, I’m sure I’ll figure out why overtime. It sounds like she’s coming up for a deep breath after being submerged under water. When her grip loosens a little, I pull back slightly, but keep my arms around her.
“How are you?” I ask, never wanting to let her go.
Olivia pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and looks away before shrugging one shoulder. “I feel better now that I’m here.” Unable to resist the silkiness of her hair, I run my fingers through the ends. She closes her eyes and tilts her head back. “I don’t normally like people touching me, but it’s different with you,” she admits.
My heart expands and begins to beat harder as I continue to run my fingers through her hair until she opens her eyes again, and pierces me with those lovely ocean blue eyes.
“Let’s go to the house and we can talk. Okay?”
She nods, and I lean down to kiss her forehead. She sits back down in her car and glances up at me with a small smile. The clouds that were in her eyes when she first got her seem to have cleared slightly. I love that I calm her.
Getting on my bike to lead her down the long driveway. I open the garage and she follows me in. There’s enough room for her to park next to my bike. Tilting my head, I purse my lips as she gets out of her car without waiting for me to open her door, and she falters. Like she senses my displeasure, her eyes find mine and her tongue darts out to wet her lips, clutching the box she got out of the car with.
“From now on, I’ll open your door. Okay?” I’m using my Dominant tone with her again and stepping over the line, but even if she decides this isn’t for her, I want to show her this is how a man is supposed to treat a woman.
“Okay,” she whispers.
I smile at her. “Thank you.” My eyes fall to the box. “What’s that?” It’s white with a red cross on it.
“A first aid kit,” she replies.
Squinting my eyes, concern begins to take root in my gut like a boulder was just dropped there. “Why do you need a first aid kit?” I ask, taking a step closer to her.
She hugs the kit close to her chest like she’s trying to protect herself. She takes a deep breath, pushes her shoulders back, and lifts her chin. Then offers it to me. I look from it, to her, then back to it before hesitantly taking it from her. Whatever this is, I’m going to hate it. The boulder in my gut gets larger.
“Open it.”
Her voice is so low I take a step closer to her, wanting to provide a semblance of comfort. For what, I’m not sure. Staring at her for a moment, and taking in her red eyes, I wonder if she’s going to cry. She offers me a timid smile confirming the answer to that is no. Olivia’s learned to hide that side of herself. She’s tucked it away. How am I going to help reach that part of herself again?
When I don’t open the box immediately, her shoulders fall slightly like she’s regretting doing this already. I keep my eyes on hers as she slowly shuts down. It’s a defense mechanism she has created and perfected over the years. She disassociates. I finally look back at the box, not wanting her to tuck herself away completely. I grip the latch on the lid and tug on it. It clicks softly as it opens.
Olivia takes another deep breath as I stare at the contents, trying to figure out what it is. There’s a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, small and large bandaids, some ankle socks, and a small tin box that reminds me of the box that Altoids come in.
While it could pass as a normal first aid kit, there’s something more to this one. I grab the tin box. Olivia moves closer like she might be debating on snatching it away from me, but now that she’s shown me, I have to see what’s in the box. Whatever it is, it’s going to unravel another piece of her.
