Shame spiraled through him.
Every word he said, every action of his since he had met her, mocked him. Had he assumed he could sleep with her and then walk away with nothing changed?
He rubbed a hand over his eyes and stared at the door. Even now, the need to walk into that room and take what he wanted, to promise her anything just so that he could wipe the grief from her eyes was feral. But he couldn’t, not if he wanted to face himself in the mirror tomorrow morning.
He had to limit the damage to his life.
He had to walk away from Olivia before the havoc she wreaked on him, the pain he caused her, became something that he could never undo.
CHAPTER TEN
OLIVIA THANKED THE flight attendant, leaned back into the luxurious leather seat and took a sip of her coffee. In the seat opposite her, dressed in a severely cut Ralph Lauren dress, Emily King sat rigid, the tension from her lanky frame swathing them all. There was such a depth of sadness in her gaze that Olivia couldn’t look away.
Ever since she had arrived at Alexander’s penthouse this morning, mere hours before they had boarded the flight, Emily had attacked Alexander with a savage anger. And more surprising was Alexander’s infinite patience with his sister. Amid Emily’s continuous barbs and tantrums, he had been nothing but incredibly gentle.
A chill crawled up Liv’s spine.
Watching Emily was like looking in the mirror and seeing her most self-destructive version, even if she hadn’t known it then. Confused, starved for attention, willing to go to any lengths. With every passing minute, it was becoming harder and harder to keep her mouth shut.
“We’ve been over this, Emily.” Alexander sighed as Emily, once again, refused anything to eat. “Starving yourself won’t get you anywhere.”
Her blue gaze, so much like her brother’s, glittered with determination. “No, but it hurts you, doesn’t it? And right now, that’s all I care about.”
Olivia gasped at the bitterness in the teenager’s tone. Could Alexander not see that she was a train-wreck waiting to happen?
Every instinct within her wanted to help the girl, maybe even grab her and run once they landed in New York, before Alexander’s rigid constraints pushed Emily into doing something reckless.
Because Olivia would bet her last precious dollar that the teenager wasn’t going to meekly obey.
She set her coffee cup down and cleared her throat. “May I speak with you, Emily?”
“Stay out of this, Liv,” Alexander roared at her.
“You’re Olivia, not Kim,” Emily instantly caught on, her gaze studying Liv curiously.
Liv nodded, smiling as Alexander’s muted curse reached her ears.
A tentative smile curved Emily’s mouth, her anger at her brother momentarily forgotten. “I’ve heard so much about you at school. My friends and I think you are the coolest. Everyone’s always talking about how you broke so many of those stupid rules, I mean, you were even expelled because you—” Pink flushing her angular cheeks, Emily pursed her mouth, her gaze anxious. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to... How did you end up with Alex of all people?”
Olivia sighed. Really, how equipped was she to dish out advice to a confused teenager? To actually think, she had indulged, even if for a crazy second, that she could steal Emily away from Alexander’s care. “That’s a long story, Emily.”
Alexander’s wrath next to her was a tangible thing. Even Emily looked anxiously from him to her. “The last thing Emily needs is a talk with—”
“And once again, I don’t care what you think,” Liv burst out. Their gazes collided, tension spiraling tighter and tighter. “What will you do? Cut me out of your life if I don’t behave? Oh, wait, you would have already done that except you need me.”
Alexander glared at her. “Don’t push it, Liv. You’ve already gotten yourself kicked out of a project to work on and who knows what’s next. You know more than anyone—”
“How ruthless you can be?” she finished, her insides trembling. “Yes.”
Emily’s laugh reverberated around them. “Wow, I like you already.”
Olivia ran shaking fingers through her hair. This was so not what she had intended when she had opened her mouth. She leaned forward in her seat. “I understand how much you want to see your mother. I can even imagine all the ways you’re scheming to get in touch with her once you’re in New York. My punishment when I didn’t stop talking about my mom was to be packed off to boarding school, too. I hated my father so much for that.”