“That’s what they all say.It was an accident.” He mimics my words with a higher pitch to his voice.
Olly raises an eyebrow, but apart from that, he’s calm…considering Marcus’s intrusion. “Dude, you need to get out of my house.”
“What are you even doing here? And where’s Molly?” I demand.
Marcus pulls me by the arm a bit too roughly, and Olly, seeing my grimace, steps between us. “I’m only going to say this once—let go of her now.” I don’t know if it’s the menacing way he said it, but Marcus drops his grip immediately and physically takes a step backwards.
“She’s at my parents’. I tried calling you, went to your place, and then I thought I’d try here, seeing as I knew you weren’t at work.”
I wipe my palm over my face and wince remembering my eye and then take a deep breath. “Is Molly okay or not, Marcus?”
“She’s fine, but we have things to talk about that can’t wait. I want you and Molly to come to Dubai with me.”
I’m unsteady on my feet all of a sudden. I reach out. Olly takes my arm and ushers me into his side, his eyes dancing between Marcus and me.
“Are you fucking serious?” I seethe.
“Deadly. We can all be together as a family.”
Olly lets out an almost inaudible gasp, but I’m leaning my weight into him, so it wasn’t hard to miss. I’m speechless.
Marcus must be out of his damn mind. We would have to get married for that to happen, andthere is no fucking way.
“Marcus, go wait for me in the car,” I tell him.
With a smug grin, he juts out his chin and walks back out the front door. Leaving what feels like a tsunami in his wake.
I plop myself on the bottom of Olly’s stairs and put my head between my legs.
“Fuck,” Olly grumbles.
I suck it up and peer up at him. “I need to go talk to him,” I say to Olly who nods. “Do you want me to go home or can I come back in?” I ask, worrying my lip.
He lets out a breath. “I want you to come back in,” he says leaning down and kissing the top of my head. I look around and slip into a pair of his trainers—too big by far, but I need to go see Marcus and have him on his way.
“I’ll try and make it quick,” I reply and head out to the car idling in front of his driveway.
OLLY
The guy has some balls, I’ll give him that.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried she might take him up on it. But who even does something like that? He might as well of pissed his scent all over her. I leave the door on the latch and go out in the back garden to throw Buster his ball. Anything to stop me from curtain twitching at my bay window. My gut is jerky as fuck.
I don’t know how long I’ve been running the ball when I’m tapped on the shoulder. I spin to look at Rachel and reach down, brushing her cheek with my thumb, her bruise now prominent.
“Everything all right?” I ask.
She wraps her arms around her waist. “No, not really.”
“Do you want me to take you home?” It’s the last thing I want to do, but I want her to know I’ll do or be whatever she needs. “I’ll stay with you there,” I say with a wink, hoping to ease some of the tension.
“Can I stay here?”
I nod and breathe a little lighter. I pull her towards me, wrapping her in my arms. “It’s more than all right.”
Her arms wrap around my neck, and she tilts her head up, eyes meeting mine. “I’m so embarrassed. I can’t believe he did that.”
I pull her closer. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”
