And what kind of sicko was he that he wanted to suck that nipple, which was mere inches from his face, right into his mouth?
But the desire was mixed with rage from how close the asshole had gotten to her and had inflicted pain. His face must have shown a full spectrum of emotion.
“It looks really bad doesn’t it?” she asked.
He almost laughed at the absurdity of the question. If she knew how he was just thinking completely inappropriate thoughts she’d probably smack him. Clearing his throat, he dabbed the area around the stitches, making sure it was all dry. “I won’t even respond to that question. There’s nothing not beautiful about you. I’m fucking furious that you’re hurt, though.”
Once he was finished, he pulled her shirt down and helped her up. “I don’t really know how to thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“I don’t need you to thank me. I need you to listen to me and do what I say when it comes to your safety. I need you to fire Tom immediately and I need to take over.”
“Okay. What happened to me—” She shook her head. “It can’t happen to Sophie, it can’t even come close. So, whatever you say, I’ll do. Just promise me you’ll keep her safe. No matter what, she comes first.”
“I promise, Livie.” He took her hand and led her to the kitchen. As soon as they rounded the corner there was a loud squeal. “Mommy!” Sophie came running full speed toward her mother, but Joey intercepted her before she hurt Olivia. He grabbed her by the waist and then hoisted her up in the air like an airplane, and Sophie giggled in delight.
“Mum, I’m a bird!”
“I see that, sweets.”
When he finally put her down, Olivia was already sitting, trying to hide that she was in pain.
“Mommy, Winnie and Jax picked me up from school, it was so cool,” she said animatedly, using her hands and face to tell the story. “He is so big, like a superhero.”
Everyone laughed, except for Joey. “I just swung you around like an airplane, am I a superhero too?”
She put a finger by her lip and looked side to side as if in deep thought. “A wittle bit yes and a wittle bit no.”
Jax, Winnie, Megan, and Olivia, who were sitting at the table, were all stifling a laugh.
“Mommy, Mommy, Jax colors super ugly.”
“That’s not nice, Sophie.” Olivia said.
Her daughter looked down at her paper and her face reddened just like her mother’s did when she was embarrassed. Something about it tugged at Joey’s heartstrings and he had to come to her rescue. “She’s right,” he said, walking over to her and kneeling down to eye level. He turned her paper his way and looked at all the colors and gasped, overzealously. “You, freckles, sure can color. Wow.” Then he pulled Jax’s paper across the table. “She’s right, man. I’ve never seen a blue horse.”
Sophie looked up, her embarrassed face gone and quickly replaced with a smile followed by a giggle. “It’s not a horse,” she exclaimed. “It’s a unicorn, silly.”
“Well, I’ve never seen a blue unicorn.”
Jax snatched the paper back and continued coloring as if the fate of the world hung on that project. “Unicorns can be blue,” he guffawed.
“Mine is pink,” Sophie said proudly, and held it so close to his face that he had to lean back in order to look at it.
“I see that.”
Winnie, who had been eyeing Olivia, but not wanting to alarm Sophie, reached across the table and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “You okay?” it was almost a whisper.
“I will be,” she replied softly while Sophia moved from one coloring book to another. “Thank you for watching her.” She turned to Megan and Jax. “I’m Olivia, by the way.”
“I know,” Megan said reaching over the table to shake her hand. “I’ve been following your campaign. What you did with the public school system is commendable. You’ve definitely got my vote.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m Megan, by the way.”
Olivia chuckled and repeated the same thing Megan had just said. “I know.”
“Babe, I think everyone who has a radio knows who you are.”
“Not true,” Megan said. “You didn’t know.”
“That’s only because I’d been in Iraq fighting in a war.”
Olivia smiled. “I’m a big fan,” then she turned to Sophie. “Soph, you know Megan is a rock star? She’s in a band called TNT.”
“I’m a rock star too!” The little girl sprang up from her chair. “Wanna hear me sing?”
Before anyone could speak, Sophie began to bob her head, both hands on her hips. The girl was too cute for her own good. Joey got up, pulled a chair, and sat down as Sophie serenaded the group with “The Wheels on the Bus.”
When she finished she bowed. “Wow. You are a rock star!” Megan cheered.
“Come on, my little rock star, we need to get you some food,” Olivia said.
“Oh, I hope it’s okay. She said she wanted spaghetti so we made an order. One of the guys should be back soon with the food. We also ordered a couple of lasagnas and baked ziti, we figured you all would be hungry,” Megan said.
“Thank you, that’s her favorite.” She turned to Sophie. “How about a quick shower while we wait for dinner?”
“Oh man.” The girl’s shoulders dropped, and her pout was so big she looked as if she would melt right into the floor. “I don’t wanna . . .”
“Sophie.”
“Please, Mommy. I don’t wanna.” The girl’s eyes filled with tears.
Olivia straightened, probably to scold her daughter, but there was a noticeable wince and she grabbed her midsection.
“You know, princesses always smell nice for dinner.” Joey interjected.
“Not true. Mommy doesn’t always smell nice.”
“Sophie Alexandra!”
Everyone laughed, even Olivia, who was a little red in the face.
“It’s true,” Sophie added.
“Well, maybe your mommy isn’t a princess, but I thought you were. But if you don’t want to be a princess, I understand.”
“No! I wanna, I wanna.” She took Joey’s hand and pulled. “Princesses play with lizards too, you know.”
“I do know. Remember you told me.” Joey winked down at her.
“I’ll help you so you don’t have to bend down,” Winnie said following the two to the back of the house. “You make sure no one touches my spisghetti, okay?”
Joey nodded. “Aye aye, captain.”
The little girl giggled and disappeared into the bathroom with her mother saying, “Mommy, I’m a captain, Joey said so.”
“How’s she doing?” Jax asked when Joey walked back into the kitchen and sat down.
“She’s scared. Nervous. A little too agreeable.”
Megan laughed. “Probably just the shock. I doubt she takes well to orders.”
“Which is why I’m shocked she agreed to stay here.”
“Well, we better get shit tight at her house quickly. I suspect within forty-eight hours those two females are going to go stir crazy in this compound.” Jax chuckled.
Megan shook her head. “I give it twenty-four hours, max.”
* * *
“I can’t, Joey. I can’t. I swear to God, I love her, but I’m going to take these scissors and cut off my own ears!”
It had taken thirty hours.
Joey chuckled and took the scissors out of Olivia’s hand and then went to the living room and turned down Peppa Pig. He’d never heard of the show before but in the last thirty hours he’d heard it over and over and over and over again, and he was ready to scream too.
“Hey, freckles, watcha think about going on a little trip?” he asked and then turned to Olivia. “A little fresh air?”
“Yes, please! Is it safe, though? Where are we going to go?”
While they’d been holed up in the house, ICS, together with the police, were trying to track down the bank account the guy had given her. Joey had barely slept a wink usin
g all his free time to search those goddamn numbers. They’d also been looking at the videos from the gym cameras and the ones on the exterior of the gym.
He was going to track down that account number to its owner if it was the last thing he did. The time to wire the hundred grand had come and gone and there hadn’t been anything unusual happening in her house, according to the patrol cars that had been doing hourly rounds, nor at the school, which had been notified.
Joey was also monitoring her emails and texts, and again . . . nothing unusual.
With Olivia being so recognizable, going out in public wasn’t safe, at least not yet. Her attack had made national news and Mark was fielding all the reporters while Olivia stayed in hiding.
“The guys are finishing your new alarm system today. Why don’t we stay at my place tonight? I have a big yard and a pool. No one will bother us there. Then, once your house is a fortress, we can go back.”
“A pool!” The little girl screeched with excitement.
“Sounds like a plan,” Olivia agreed.
“Go pack all your stuff, freckles.”
“Yay!” she ran off to the room to pack the few things Annie had bought for them. Unfortunately, Jax and Megan had left that morning for the next two weeks, but fortunately Annie had agreed to stay and help out while her boyfriend, A-list actor Rocco Monroe, was away shooting a movie. And Annie had brought them a bunch of clothes.
Olivia grabbed his wrist to stop him. She reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Hard. Passionately. His hand snaked around her waist and he pulled her to him, careful not to press too hard against her. Her tongue slid into his mouth and her nails dug into his skin.
“What was that for?” he asked, when she finally broke away.
“Thank you.”
“You need to stop with the thanks. Not the kisses but the thanks.”
“You’re pretty great, Joey. Not just with me but with Sophie. You practically just met us but it feels good having you around. And, I know I just had a little tantrum, but the truth is, I’d move in here forever if that’s what it took to make Sophie safe.”
“You’re a good mom, Livie.” He knew this was not easy for her to say. Being vulnerable and saying it wasn’t in her DNA. “And, just so you know, I don’t feel like I just met you. I do wish we could figure out who’s fucking with you so we can get his ass in jail and go about progressing things between us.”
She smiled. “You only want to catch the bad guy so you can get some action?”
He rolled his eyes and smiled big. “Of course, darlin’. Remember, Prince Charming is just charming because he wants some booty.” He grabbed her ass playfully causing her to yelp just as Sophie skipped into the room.
“I wanna hug too!” Sophie said, dropping her bag and then lifting her arms up into the air. “Squishy sandwich hug!”
Joey picked her up and the two of them hugged her tight until the little girl yelped.
CHAPTER NINE
An investigation is underway to catch the man who attacked Olivia Russo at NY Fitness on Friday morning. If anyone has seen the man below you are urged to call Crime Stoppers. This is the second attack against Russo . . .
Olivia took a deep breath when she stepped outside of ICS and saw sunshine for the first time in almost two days. Unfortunately, it smelled terrible. “Gross!” Sophie yelled and Olivia agreed.
“I know you’ve been avoiding the news, but that toxic algae has hit Miami, full force.”
“Oh my God, McGregor needs to open those reservoirs before it keeps going south,” Olivia said, trying to hold her breath as Joey quickly shuffled them into an unfamiliar car. According to all the environmental reports, opening the reservoirs was the only way to control the algae even if it pissed off the sugar farmers. It seemed as if McGregor had his priorities all screwed up.
She was so impressed with ICS so far. They’d gone as far as renting a very ordinary nondescript gray Toyota Camry and then both she and Sophie hid on the floor for the few minutes it took them to cross through the gate of Joey’s gated community. Sophie had thought it was a game and had stayed perfectly still.
Because Joey and Olivia had been seen together on a few occasions, he had wanted to take all these precautions. He had explained that he didn’t want to take any risks that the media, or the “asshole” as Joey had nicknamed him, were keeping an eye on him too. As soon as the garage door for his house closed, they climbed out of the car.
He swiped his print against the alarm pad and the door from the garage to the house clicked open. “Cool!” Sophie said, skipping into the house.
“This looks like a fortress, Joey,” Olivia said as she looked around. It was a modern home, all of it looked as if it was made of concrete, and it was square. Like a cement box. It wasn’t necessarily ugly, it just wasn’t . . . cozy.
The back of the house had a bunch of windows and a double door all overlooking the long rectangle pool. Everything about the house, including the pool, was clean lines and sharp edges. No clutter, nothing child friendly. There was an extravagantly huge television and a cream-colored leather couch that formed a “U” shape. All the shelves were glass, and there were more gadgets on them, nothing she understood but probably stuff a techy guy like Joey would want or need. They followed Joey up the metal spiral staircase to the second floor, which had two doors. “There’s a bathroom downstairs. Up here is my room, which has a bathroom, and this other room that also has a bathroom.” He opened the door to a room with a twin bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. It looked as if it had never been used. “Sophie can sleep here and you can sleep in my room.”
She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. Was he expecting she would jump straight into bed with him, Sophie just a few feet away?
Well, it was tempting, but she wasn’t ready.
Or was she?
“I’ll sleep on the couch, obviously.” He chuckled.
“I’ll be fine here with Sophie.”
“It’s a twin bed, you’ll be uncomfortable. I’m fine on the couch.”
He placed the bags on the bed. “I’ll be downstairs. Make yourselves at home.” He exited the room and closed the door behind them.
Sophie was so excited she was electric. At one point Olivia had to hold her down to help her into her swimsuit. “Let’s go, Mommy. Hurry,” she said, running out of the room, Olivia following behind her.
“You’re not going in?” Joey asked when Olivia walked out of the room still dressed in the same clothes.
“Nah, I think I’ll just hang back and watch.”
“Hey, freckles, when my brothers are in town we like to have a big family water gun battle. Why don’t you look in that big brown trunk outside,” he said, pointing to the backyard. “The one against the wall. It’s full of water toys. Pick something fun, but stay away from the pool until me or your mom go outside, okay?”
“Yay!” the little girl yelled, and ran out.
They watched her through the glass sliding door as she ran to the trunk and began taking out toys.
Joey turned to Olivia. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Her heart pounded. She’d just been attacked a few short days ago, and the truth was she was wary of everything and jolted at any sudden noise and now they were in yet another unfamiliar house with a man she really liked but barely knew. “I’m feeling really overwhelmed. You’re sure we’re safe here?”
She hated being needy like this but she couldn’t help it and she needed to look out for her daughter. Except for the years she’d been married to Neil, she’d always been alone, but she’d never felt alone until now. Not at eighteen years old when she’d left her hometown and taken a bus to Miami, all by herself with sixty dollars in her pocket. Not when she’d rented her first apartment in a terrible part of town and had to walk home every morning and every afternoon alone.
Not even when she became a widow with a two-day-old baby.
She always knew in her heart she would survive. Because that
was what she was—a survivor.
But now she felt helpless and unsure how to navigate these waters. There was someone trying to hurt her and her daughter and she didn’t know who it was or how to fix it.
Her one and only job in this world was to keep her daughter safe and she had no idea how to do it, except to rely on a man she’d just met.
And that scared her to death.
He cupped her face and crouched down a bit. “I know you think you don’t know me all that well yet, but I want to make it a hundred percent clear. I’d never, not fucking ever, take a risk on you or on your daughter. Not just because it’s you and Sophie, but because anyone who’s in my care is in my care, if you know what I mean. And the fact that it’s you and Sophie is an even bigger deal since I’m growing to care for you both. If I thought there was even a little bit of a threat, I’d tie you the fuck up and make sure you stayed at ICS even if Peppa Pig was on a constant loop. You get me?”
She searched his eyes and cleared her throat. “I get you.”
He moved forward and pressed his lips against hers. “You’re not a job, Livie.”
“Okay.”
“And you’re not a burden.”
She nodded, feeling that lump in her throat attempt to strangle her again. “Okay.”
“Now go put on a bathing suit and let’s go have a little fun outside.”
She exhaled a big breath she’d been holding and then headed back to the bedroom to change clothes.
“Damn you, Annie,” she whispered to herself when she pulled the swimsuit out of the bag. Joey’s sister, who she’d met yesterday when she dropped off some clothes, was a bombshell of a woman. Beautiful from head to toe, she was the one Joey had put in charge of making sure her house was a fortress. Mark, who’d been worried sick, fired G & F Security Services, Tom’s employer, the moment he’d heard what had happened at the gym, and signed the contract for ICS without hesitation.
So now Olivia had what seemed like round-the-clock security—and a terrible wardrobe selection to boot. With a drawer full of one-piece bathing suits to choose from, Annie had selected the one and only bikini she owned and hadn’t worn in forever. She groaned when she looked at herself in the mirror after it was on. It wasn’t that her hips were a little wider than they used to be, or that she had some small battle scars from her pregnancy, what made her look away was the horrible scar from below her breast down her chest. Would she ever look the same again? She knew that it was vain to even think that, considering that things could’ve been so much worse. And she was mad at not having been more vigilant and at not having fired Tom a long time ago. Unable to do anything about any of the things she was hyper-focused on, she grabbed the robe that hung behind the bathroom door, slipped it on, and went in search of Sophie.
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