“Hello to you too, Olivia.”
“My dad just told me to take a vacation. What’s going on?”
Something clatters in the background, then Stephen says softly, “I have to go. I’m getting another call.”
“Stephen!”
But he hangs up just like that. I pace until he calls back. I answer the phone trying to get a grip on the panic in my chest. None of this is normal. My dad yells, not talk in riddles. I feel a growing pit in my stomach.
Stephen takes a slow breath. “I’m meeting your father tonight. Apparently, we have something to discuss.”
“But you guys don’t work together anymore,” I whisper.
“I’m aware of that.” His voice is cold, then I hear him sigh. I can picture his face, frustrated, a cold mask. “Just stay with Chase tonight. Let me deal with this.”
“I’m not a child, Stephen.”
“Let me fix this, Olivia. I know what I’m doing.” His voice is hard and sharp.
“You only get to give me orders in bed.”
“Please,” he groans. “Please, Olivia. Let me take care of this and you, sweetheart.”
I swallow and nod as if he can see me. “Fine… I’ll give Chase a call,” I say, trying hard to keep my emotions under control.
“Good. Thank you.”
“Good luck.”
“Love you,” he says it softly, as if it’s a secret he can’t share.
My heart thuds in my chest. As soon as I’m off the phone with him, I call Chase. He agrees to come over for food, video games, and then the NBA game that’s on later. Just knowing he’ll be here to put his arms around me and flash that bright smile eases the stress on my shoulders.
It’s a plan I can get comfortable with, a plan that will work for now.
Yet, somehow, I also have a feeling that even Chase’s sweet, flirtatious self can’t save us from the shit that my dad is about to rain down on us.
Stephen
Iadjust my collar for the fourth time before I walk into Garrett’s office. There was a time when seeing him in his office meant we were going to relax, have a drink, talk about the old days. Those days are long gone.
I know exactly what this is about—Olivia. That’s the only reason he’d speak to me, but I need to know what he has before I open my mouth.
I sit down as he pours himself a whiskey, neat. He takes a slow drink before his sharp eyes meet mine. “We had an agreement, Grant.”
“We did, Love.”
“And it seems you aren’t the kind of man who can keep a promise. It’s disappointing.” His voice is too even. There’s not a single hitch or hesitation. “I thought I made myself clear when we last spoke.”
“Inescapably clear, Garrett.” I clear my throat. “Which is why I’m sure this is a misunderstanding.”
He arches his eyebrow and snorts. “Odd, since I have photographic evidence and a witness.”
Of course he does.
I cross my hands over my lap and cross my legs. Garrett motions to his bodyguard and a girl is ushered in. Her eyes aren’t wild, they’re insane. Brimming with barely controlled fury. I’ve never seen eyes that dark.
She holds up her phone. It shows Olivia sandwiched between Chase and me. It’s at a bad angle, but I know what was happening. It doesn’t matter that the picture doesn’t show me touching Olivia—any idiot would be able to connect the dots.