Now Open Your Eyes (Stay With Me series Book 3)

by Nicole Fiorina

  I thought about it for a moment, compiling the right words to explain to help him understand.

  “It doesn’t last very long,” I said through a breath, gazing up at the sky. “It’s the tiniest moment, just when the sun peaks above the skyline, but the moons still visible—when darkness and light can co-exist. It reminds me of hope, and that I wasn’t alone or lost in this world. A reminder that anything is possible, even between two beings such as the sun and moon who only meet for a fraction of a second. During that small moment, together, they can create something so beautiful across the sky. I hoped that could be me, you know? That I wasn’t all bad, and possibly I could do something beautiful with my life too.”

  Cuddled under a live oil painting, pinks, blues, and purples made up the sky—a pastel dawn. I pointed up. “See, Ollie. Look at how beautiful.”

  Ollie stared at me for a moment. “I am looking, love.”

  I turned to face him, and his lips grasped on to mine, holding our kiss for a beat longer than usual. He said nothing more as we looked up into the sky, and watched as the sun rose beside the opalescent moon, a fiery orange, bleeding into the vast gray of the night, washing out the darkness like watercolor until the moon faded and stars turned into dust.

  “It’s moments like these that are impossible to capture in words, but I’ll never stop trying,” Ollie whispered.

  Every morning I’d passed by the unused room off from the kitchen. Currently, it housed a desk, desktop computer, printer, and clutter, but Ollie preferred to write in his notebook in the garden or odd places throughout the house. Ideas sprung, and at any given time, he’d have his notebook folded into his waistband with pencils always tucked everywhere, behind his ear, in his pockets, between his lips.

  This morning, Ollie had put on a pot of coffee and brought a mug to me in bed before heading out for an early meeting with Laurie, then mentioned he had to later check on Leigh to make sure she hadn’t gotten herself fucked.

  I spent the first few hours, sipping on the hazelnut blend in my darkroom upstairs. It was my solitude, with windows blacked out and a set up with expensive equipment.

  At first, I only took pictures outside in the garden, the rose bushes, and various flowers which blossomed late in June until the day I’d met Cora down the pathway, a little raven-haired girl, no more than eight or nine, who liked to jump puddles in her yellow rain boots. Her mom, Mrs. Morrigan, always worked in the garden out front after it rained, and gave me a few pointers on how to take care of our flowers. On days Ollie worked, her and Cora would come by, and she’d teach me her green-thumb ways.

  And the flowers were prospering, and so was my photography. People quickly became my favorite muse. Cora’s mom was sick, and quite often, when Mrs. Morrigan was having a bad day, I’d take Cora into the village. Together, we’d people watch as I snapped stolen moments, frowns, kisses, smiles, seeing the true beauty of human kindness through a lens.

  But today Cora had to visit her dad, and I made her a promise I would visit my biological dad too. It was easy to spill my secrets to a nine-year-old, but Cora’s advice was always so simple. “Just go see him.”

  I was nervous about revisiting Dolor and spent the rest of the morning putting together a bundle of purple freesias, pink roses, and white lilies from our garden for Dr. Conway, and grabbing a to-go cup of coffee on my way out. The taxi waited outside our gate, and I climbed in with the flowers cradled in my arms. I had no idea what I would say or how this would go, but Cora’s words replayed over and over, “Think of the absolute worst that could happen, then the best. Most of the time, what will actually happen will lie right in the center.”

  She’d said her dad told her that, and life was too short to worry, and worrying gave you frown lines.

  The taxi drove through the iron gates of Dolor, and the memories from my time here gave me whiplash. “We’re here, love,” the old man said from the driver seat of the taxi, which smelled like stale tobacco, wearing a wool driver cap over his head. He drove around the circular driveway and parked in front of the doors. I paid my fare, exited, and walked up the steps in loose faded boyfriend jeans, tan leather slip-on’s, and a plain white tee, wishing I’d throw on the romper or the dress. I’d changed so many times, but there was no going back now.

  I drew in a breath and opened the door.

  “I’m here to see Dr. Conway, and Lynch,” I almost stuttered, but remained cool as the new security guard studied me.

  “Put the items over the conveyer belt and step through the detector.” He motioned with his baton. “Arms at your side.”

  I did, and my heart was beating so loud as my mind betrayed me at the thought of them being able to hold me hostage again. Could they? I stepped through, and he traced my silhouette with his hand-held metal detector, paying close attention to my hips. “It’s my phone. I’m a visitor,” I reminded him. “Not a patient.”

  The security guard dropped his baton and looked over his clipboard. “I don’t see you on the list for today.”

  “It’s unexpected, I know. But Lynch will want to see me.”

  “Uh-huh,” he grunted.

  “Just … tell Lynch his daughter is here.”

  He looked up from his clipboard and grabbed a chorded phone from the wall. After a deep and muffled one-sided conversation, he hung up and returned to me. “We’re waiting on an escort.”

  “I’ll take her,” said a low, burly voice. Just then, a large man with a scattered smile stepped forward. “I finally get to meet the amazing Mia.” He laughed, his eyes twinkling.

  I raised a brow. “Do I know you?”

  “Jinx. I’m a friend of Oliver’s.”

  The big man was very talkative the entire way to Lynch’s office, but I was thankful for the distraction because I was clutching the flowers so tight, the petals were wilting. And when we approached, Jinx knocked over the door before opening.

  Lynch instantly stood and thanked him before motioning me to take a seat.

  I was too nervous to sit.

  “You brought me flowers?” he asked, walking around his desk and sitting over the edge. My gaze roamed over him, trying to find bits and pieces of myself. Did I get my sinister thoughts from him? Was there a darkness lurking inside him too? I’d looked at the man so many times before, yelled at him, challenged him, cried to him. He held the same tired and caved in brown sunken eyes I could’ve sworn had been blue before, but I supposed my mind had a way of playing tricks on me.

  “They’re for Dr. Conway.”

  “Of course.” He swung his head to glance out the large window facing the Looney Bin, a place he’d sent me once before. “Dr. Conway. She isn’t here.”

  “Oh.” I shifted in place.

  “Miss Jett,” he cleared his throat, “Mia, what happened. Where were you?”

  “I was fine.” To this day, I kept my promise to Ethan and his secret. Perhaps I didn’t owe Ethan anything, but despite what we’d been through, he was still my friend, and maybe I was the only person on earth who understood him. “I’m surprised you care, considering you didn’t look for me.”

  Lynch dropped his head and shook it slowly. “That’s not fair.”

  “Was it fair to keep this secret from me for two years while I was here?” Lynch had so many chances to tell me he was my father, but he didn’t. “Why was I the last person to know.”

  “Because I had to treat you as a patient. Not a daughter. I planned to tell you, you know. On release day. But you’d already taken off before I had the chance.”

  I released a long and steady breath. “Well, I’m here now.” I was done being angry. For so long, I’d been angry at everyone, holding so much pent up blame, rage, and grief. For once, I wanted to let it all go and not let those feelings tarnish this person I grew to be.

  “Mia, I’ve been waiting for this moment, but I have no idea what to say. This is all new for me.”

  “This is new for me too.”

  He tapped his fingers over his desk and adjus
ted in place nervously. “So, where do we go from here?”

  “I was thinking that maybe we could take it slow. Maybe you could tell me how you met my mom.”

  Lynch smiled. “I would love that.”

  “Oliver,” Dex sang, then laughed. “Your girl is here. You better come watch her.”

  “She’s not my girl,” I reminded him through the phone, already on my way because Leigh had texted me, begging me to rescue her. She’d said James ripped off her knickers and made her dance on a table.

  It was two in the morning, and the bass from the music thumped from inside, but it wasn’t the only house party going on at this hour. Constant parties went on up and down this street. Empty beer bottles littered the front steps, and I pushed my way through the door and into a house when a strong smell of stale cigarettes and even staler sex greeted me.

  “Oliver!” Reggi exclaimed, and the rest of the crowd repeated, singing my name. I ignored him, my eyes scanning the bodies for Leigh. She was my ticket to Ghost, and without her, I’d never get the meeting or our freedom. Killing Ghost was my only option.

  In a tight red strapless dress, Leigh swayed on top of the kitchen island as a bloke gripped her ankles, looking up her dress as she carelessly danced to hypnotic tunes with a bottle in her hand. Her blonde hair was a knotted mess over her head. Red lipstick smeared across her lips as she stumbled in red stilettos. I fisted the back of the bloke’s shirt and yanked him backward. “Get the fuck off her.”

  The bloke flashed me a drunken smile and held up her red-lace knickers between his fingers.

  “What did you do?” I threw a fist into his face, and the sea of people parted down the middle as he fell backward over the coffee table.

  “Relax, Oliver,” Dex said, gripping my shoulder. “Take a shot. This is a party.”

  “You should be watching her,” I pointed out, grabbing Leigh’s thighs to pull her down from the kitchen island. “I have a fucking job, a girl. I can’t be here all the time.” Leigh wrapped her legs around my waist, not letting off.

  “You’re right,” he smiled, pointing at me, “You do have a fucking job. And I own you until Ghost is gone. Boys like us don’t get to have relationships. You need to let her go. You need to forget her.”

  Forget her? Impossible. Mia Rose flowed through me, inked across every page of my soul which made me whole. Did he not know you couldn’t unread a book? If there was a chance, I’d find it. I’d want to read her over and over as if it were the first time all over again.

  “I don’t have to listen to this,” I pat Leigh on the arse to motion her down, “I’m leaving.”

  Leigh clutched me tighter, her legs hugging my waist with her arms around my neck, clinging for dear life as she pleaded for me not to leave her here. Her bare arse was out, and every bloke who walked by ogled and moved around to get a better view, so I carried Leigh out of the house and back to my car, unlatching her scrawny arms from around me to set her inside the passenger seat. She whined against my neck.

  “I’m not leaving you, Leigh. I’m taking you home,” I reassured her, and Leigh lifted her head and looked around, noticing we were outside. Her body slid down mine and she got into my car. I jogged around the front of the hatchback and climbed into the driver side before starting the engine. “Where do you live?”

  Leigh didn’t answer, and I turned my head to see her passed out beside me. I threw my head back into the headrest and let out a groan.

  “I hope she’ll like it,” Mia said from the passenger side as we drove to Hyde Park, admiring a photo of Summer in a vintage frame she picked out from the market.

  Last week, Mia had done a maternity shoot for Summer, and we were meeting them at the British Summer Time music festival they held each year over the fields in London, wanting to get together once more before Summer had her baby.

  I clutched Mia’s hand, and her twelve freckles danced with her smile. “She’ll love it.” Mia’s hair was cut short like the first time I’d met her, a little past her shoulders, and she tucked the framed picture back into the gift bag between her legs as I pulled the station wagon into a parking space. “You ready?”

  The sound of an electric guitar was carried by the wind, pushing through Mia’s locks as she twirled with Summer barefoot in the grass. Travis and I sat over a blanket in the grass while the girls danced in front of us as Pearl Jam played yards away on stage, and I kept my eyes on Mia as Travis talked my ear off, but all I heard was her laugh through the music. In a black romper and my fedora over her head, Mia lifted her arms high in the air as she spun.

  “Earth to Ollie.” Travis snapped in my face. “Still in that honeymoon stage, yeah?”

  “What are you talking about?” I leaned back onto my elbows, and Mia turned to face me, a mesmerizing smile glittering her features. She waved, and I waved back.

  “You know what they say about the first year.”

  “It’ll be two years this fall.”

  “Bloody hell, I’m fucked.” He sighed, leaning forward and dropping his arms over his knees. He twisted off the cap of his water bottle. “What’s your secret?”

  With Mia, it was easy. “First tip,” I pat his shoulder, getting to my feet as “Last Kiss” started to play, “never let the girl dance alone, mate.”

  I approached Mia, grabbed her hand, and twirled her around. Her feet, pink painted nails, moved effortlessly over the grass until I had her in my arms. She clutched my shirt, and I tipped the hat back to see her face as I sang the haunting lyrics that touched a chord from what had happened last year. It was a testament to how far we’d come, and the hell we’d come back from—survivors.

  Mia threw her head back. “Hold me, darling, just a little while,” she sang. And we continued to sway until the only song I knew by the band came to an end. I kissed her once, twice, before sitting back over the blanket.

  Mia and Summer continued to dance, and Travis shoved his shoulder into mine. “She’s going to put my woman into labor if they keep dancing like that.”

  I chuckled, swiping my bottled water and stretching out my legs.

  A dark cloud loomed over the two of us, blocking the sun, and I looked up to see Leigh staring down at me with tears in her eyes and her hands shaking. She was wearing a short jean skirt and a crop top, her long blonde hair in a side-swept braid. I straightened my back, sitting up. “What are you doing here?” My voice was in my throat. I cleared it and looked past her to where Mia slowed her dancing, watching our interaction. “You can’t be here.”

  “Nice to see you, too,” Leigh scoffed.

  “Are you stalking me now?” I raised a brow, climbing to my feet. I tried to keep my voice low, but it was hard against my warning temper and the band playing in the background.

  “I wouldn’t have to if you’d answer my calls,” a tear slipped from her eye, “You left me. I woke up in a motel room days ago alone without my knickers, having no idea where I was.”

  “Whoa, I didn’t touch you,” I argued, and leaned down to face her. I shoved my finger into my chest to prevent it from digging it into hers. “I didn’t fucking touch you.”

  Travis’s hand landed on my shoulder, and he pulled me back. “Calm down, mate. Let’s take this somewhere else.”

  “No, Leigh, you can’t just show up. How did you know I was here?”

  “Summer posted about it. You wouldn’t answer my calls, Oliver. You promised you’d take care of me, but you tossed me into a motel.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I was scared and alone, and you promised you’d look out for me.”

  I had done that. Leigh had been drunk, and I’d taken her to a safe place and left her plenty of money to get a taxi so I could get home to Mia. I’d always find a way to get back to Mia. I ran my hand anxiously through my hair. “We’ll talk about it later. You have to leave.”

  “Sure, Oliver,” Leigh crossed her arms over her chest, “I’ll just find a ride with one of the hundred blokes here, I’m sure any one of them would gladly take me home.”
r />   “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “You forget I’m sacrificing a lot for you. I’m the one who has nothing to gain and everything to lose in all this. I’m helping you out, and this is how you treat me?”

  I gripped her shoulders, my jaw grinding, and my chest heaving. “Have I not always dropped everything to save you from situations you got yourself into?” I shouted in her face as tears flooded her eyes. “What the fuck do you want from me?”

  “Whoa,” Travis yanked me back, staring at me with his brows bunched together. He looked into my eyes as if he didn’t recognize me. He looked at me as if I was the bad guy. I shrugged his hand off me. “I’ll take Mia home. You need to deal with this,” he added.

  I shouldered past Leigh to Mia, who stood fifteen feet away. Her hands were small in mine, and she looked up at me under the rim of the fedora through worried eyes. “Is that her?” Mia asked, knowing well of Leigh and the things I’d done.

  “Yeah, love,” I tilted her hat back and grabbed her chin. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ll see you later?”

  Nodding, I held her face in my hands and curled my fingers in her hair as I kissed her, making sure to leave an imprint of security and something to look forward to until I’d return home tonight.

  During the hour car ride, I’d managed to calm Leigh down. “Up here on the left,” Leigh directed as I drove through her posh neighborhood with large Victorian houses, knowing I’d been here once before. We pulled into a circular driveway, and it was the same house I’d met Jinx at months ago the night of release day searching for answers to find Mia.

  “The party, it was yours?”

  “Step brother’s,” she answered, twirling the end of her braid with her finger. “I live here with him and my evil step-mum. I suppose I’m your modern-day Cinderella, daddy issues, and all.”