Olivia stood, her own fury flickering throughout her veins. “Okay. First of all, we don’t even know for sure that there’s a stalker.”
He gave her new security system an exaggerated glance, and then looked back at her with disbelief. “Really.” The word dripped with sarcasm.
“Andsecond”—she went on, completely ignoring his interruption—“and most importantly...were you hurt while you were away?”
Her question took him off guard. His face contorted with confusion. “What?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “You know, did you hit your head? Are you suffering from some sort of traumatic brain injury or something?”
“Liv, what the hell are you—”
She cut him off at the pass. “Because it’s the only thing I can think of that would explain why you’re acting like such a moron right now.”
His brows shot up. “Moron?’
Olivia crossed her arms at her chest and glared. “Total. Moron.”
The look he gave matched her own. “Why? Because I fucking care about what happens to you? Because I actually give a shit that some asshole could be out there watching you, just waiting to hurt you, and I knew nothing about it?”
“Are you even listening to yourself, right now?” Not giving him a chance to respond, she continued her side of the yelling match. “Of course you aren’t. You’re too busy being a self-righteous prick to realize how ridiculous you sound!”
Jake’s expression changed from pissed to surprised then back to pissed in less than a second.
“So, first I’m a moron, and now I’m a prick?”
“Damn right, you’re a prick! Youleftme, Jake. You said you wanted me...that you wanted anus. You fed me that bullshit promise that you’d be here to help me figure everything out once we were home, and I was so pathetic I actually believed you. Right up until the moment you left without a single fucking word!”
Olivia walked over to dump her now-cold coffee into the sink. She sat the cup down with such force, she was surprised it didn’t shatter.
Turning back around, her hands held the edge of the countertop behind her in a death grip while her mind raced to figure out what to say next.
She wasn’t the one at fault here, and refused to stand by another second and let him make her feel as though she were.
“You know what, Jake? On second thought...”—Olivia gave a dramatic pause—“you’re right.”
It was surprising how calm her voice sounded, given the anger still coursing through her system. She tilted her head slightly, as though she were actually accepting her words as truth.
Not a chance!Olivia’s fingernails tapped against the underside of the countertop as she spoke.
“I should have told you about everything. I mean, there were so many opportunities for me to do that, right? All those late night phone calls we’ve shared over the past two months. The times you called to check on me—”
Jake closed his eyes, his shoulders falling as some of the fight left his body. “Liv—”
“I guess I could have told you then, huh?”
Beautiful, tormented eyes met hers, and Olivia had to force herself to ignore the pain she saw there.
“Olivia, just...hear me out.”
Ignoring his request, she snapped her fingers and smiled humorlessly. “Oh, wait! I remember now why I didn’t tell you.” Her gaze burned into his. “You. Never. Called.”
“Sweetheart, would you please just listen—”
“No,youlisten!” Her finger flew in his direction as two months’ worth of hurt and resentment came rushing out full-force. “Youleftme, Jake. Not the other way around. After everything we’d been through. After everything you and I...”—she stopped cold, refusing to go in that direction—“you just left me there, with those agents. Thosestrangers.”
Olivia continued on, not giving him a chance to speak. “I had no idea where you were. All I knew was that you were gone, and I had to pick up the pieces of my shattered life alone. How do you think that made me feel?” Her voice continued to rise until she was shouting. “Oh, andhello,even if Ihadwanted to call you, I couldn’t because I had no way to get ahold of you!”
“Bullshit!”Jake yelled back as he took a step forward, his fisted hands at his sides. “You talked toJason. If you’d told him what was happening, he would have gotten in touch with me, and you know it! I mean”—he stretched out his arms and motioned to her house—“he sure was willing to help you with plenty of other things while I was away.”
