I could see when she hit the line about the parenting. She stilled and her lips moved as she read the line over and over and over. I could almost hear what she was saying in her mind. Father, Jonathan Stabler. Father, Jonathan Stabler. Father, Jonathan Stabler.
Over and over. Hadn’t I done the same thing?
She slowly lowered the paper to the counter, dropping it like she expected it to burst into flames. Licking her lips, she sent a wide-eyed gaze around the kitchen, coming to land on me in a slight panic. Mom swallowed and shook her head. “This is fake, right? She was born a little before you. I mean…” She blinked at me as if I would seriously play some kind of a prank of that caliber.
I didn’t speak. It didn’t matter what I said when she would have to work through the information like I had.
Slowly, I turned my phone back on. Sliding the piece across to her, I breathed so shallowly, I could have been holding my breath.
Something in her gaze seemed to beg me not to give her more information. She held up her hand and tilted her head to the side. “Is this something I should have Trenton down here for? I’m… This is a little overwhelming and I’m not sure I can take much more.”
I shrugged and stared at my mom like she could read my mind. I sighed. “He married her first, Mom.”
Her lips parted and her chest rose and fell. She shook her head and then clenched her fist, holding it just under the hollow of her throat. “No.” She whispered, pushing the phone back to me without looking.
“Mom, look at it. You won’t believe it until you do. Trust me. I know. You won’t believe it. You need to read it.” My voice broke on the last word. There was nothing I could say that would make it easier to accept. We were both falling down the rabbit hole.
She shook her head. “I can’t. There’s… I lost too much to him. I can’t lose eighteen years, too. You know?” She moved her fist to her mouth.
I stood, moving to stand beside her. I flicked my gaze to the doorway, grateful to find Trenton standing there with his own dark blue robe and bare feet. I blinked back tears. “I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t… I’m not sure how to deal with this. I just…” I sank back to the seat closest to her, watching as Trenton moved to stand on her other side.
“What’s going on?” Trenton rubbed the center of Mom’s back, leaning over the birth certificate as Mom wiped at the silent tears running down her cheeks.
“The Stabler women… They… They’re Jonathan’s real family. He married her first.” I slid my phone to Trenton since my mom wouldn’t acknowledge the device.
Trenton’s thick dark hair was similar to his sons’. He ran a hand through the strands resting across his forehead as he took my phone with his other hand. He gently scrolled through the article, checking information.
He didn’t seem shocked so much as analytical. He looked up at me, pointing at the birth certificate. “How did you get this?”
I shifted on the chair and shook my head. “I’d rather you didn’t know that.”
“Now isn’t the time, Olivia. I need all of the information. If there’s a Vigil in town, I need to know immediately. Do you understand?” He leaned toward me; his forehead lined with urgency.
I folded my arms and avoided looking directly at my mom. “Well, okay, so I saw a helicopter necklace on Staci’s neck at school. We were… fighting. Anyway, she was over here with Braddox the other night and it irritated me, so I was at Stephanie’s last night and… well, okay, Staci lives at our old house and Stephanie and I had the idea to see if we could find something out. I’m not…” I didn’t want to tell them about the things I’d seen. I didn’t want to admit to myself about what I’d seen. I shook my head. “We got the papers, a folder it was in. Stephanie and I got out of there as fast as we could. There was shooting.”
My mom gasped, clutching Trenton’s arm. I stared at her fingers on his bicep, finally seeing how much she actually needed him.
Trenton’s jaw hardened. “Who shot who? I need to know what happened, Olivia.”
I nodded, licking my lower lip. I wouldn’t tell him about Braddox or Jaxon. There were some details I couldn’t share with him. But there were some I could, some I had to. “So…” I swallowed, straightening in the chair and facing him as best I could. “Some boys were there to screw Staci and her mom wanted to join in.”
“What in the hell? Olivia Ramirez, how do you know this?” Mom blinked at me, pure unadulterated shock framing her lips in an O almost as wide as her eyes.
“Mom, I’m seventeen. I’ve seen things you can’t possibly understand. Let me talk to Trenton.” I pointedly turned my gaze on her, waiting until she backed down and returned her expression to a fairly neutral one.
I blinked back the ever-present tears, determined to hold it together until I didn’t have to anymore. “I’m not sure of their names. There were three boys. One of them was Justin… something. They go to school with us, but they’re juniors, I think. I never bothered learning their names. They hang out with Ryan Beetham.”
Trenton pulled a paper pad out of a drawer near him and a pen. He jotted down the things I said and motioned for me to go on. “What else happened?”
His professional demeanor helped me steady myself. I cleared my throat. “Well, we ran. Stephanie said they saw her face. We went back to her place, grabbed Mom’s car and came here. We didn’t know what else to do.” I looked at Mom and sighed. “They shot your windshield. I’m sorry. I think there might be bullets in the rear of the trunk, too. I’m not sure.” I was honestly surprised we’d made it out of there alive.
Mom shook her head, not even trying to hold back the tears. “Olivia, you were shot at? You… I don’t understand any of this. I just don’t. Is Stephanie okay? Where is she?”
“She’s… Mom, don’t be mad. She went to bed a few hours ago because she was drunk. We got into Trenton’s liquor. I’m sorry. It was a hard night.” I didn’t feel like dealing with lectures or grounding or whatever my mom was about to dole out.
Trenton shook his head and waved his hand in front of himself, cutting Mom’s exasperation in half. “Don’t worry about it. Same rules apply here to you and Jaxon that I have for Braddox. I’m fine with alcohol and drug use as long as you don’t leave the house. That way, I know where you are and you’re not driving inebriated.”
My mom blinked at her new husband like she had no idea who he was.
I just nodded. “Okay, thanks.”
“We need to look into this some more, but Maria, this is what I think might have happened.” Trenton looked at both of us but directed his comments at Mom. “If he got married before you, then your marriage wasn’t legal. He sold your company without legal right. You might get everything back. I think we need to go see my lawyers.”
“But what about the money? All the… you think I might be able to get my company back?” The confusion and hurt mingled with hope and caution like she didn’t want to hope for anything impossible.
“I don’t know, but I think we need to look into it.” He glanced at me, sliding my phone back. “I’ll keep you updated. I’m going to need that folder. Do you think you can get it for me?”
I nodded. What else was I going to say? I’d admitted to breaking and entering and a whole bunch of other things. “What do you think I should do? Call the cops about the guys?”
He shook his head, steering Mom toward the door. “No. I’ll handle it. The Vigil family isn’t one the cops are going to concern themselves with. This needs to be brought before the West Shores Board. I’ll take care of it. If you or Stephanie can think of the names of those boys, that would be helpful.”
I nodded as they walked out. I wasn’t sure what else had to happen, but turning that much over to Mom and Trenton released some of the pressure from my shoulders. If only they could take sex with Braddox out of my past.
Hatred for my father curdled and mixed with the emotions I’d carried for Braddox. I’d been betrayed by two men in my life at roughly the
same time. I wouldn’t be fooled again.
I stood from the counter and came to a sudden stop, gripping my phone in my hand.
As if my thoughts had conjured him, Braddox stood before me. In the light of the kitchen, I could see it was him in the way he dressed and the way he held his hair. Seeing him might not be the best thing in the kitchen where I had access to knives.
He smirked as he said, “Hello, Olivia.”
Death would be too good for him.
Chapter 24
Olivia
Braddox moved around me and the kitchen counter island like a satellite. He watched me; his eyes sharp like he expected me to run. He’d dropped his smirk and replaced it with wariness.
I held my breath and the tension in the room could have smothered me like a cloak. Did I call him on the way he’d treated me?
Letting him get behind me wasn’t an option. I swiveled on the stool, staring at him, making sure he knew I was watching him and keeping him in my sights.
I hadn’t been able to see him the night before and look where that had gotten me. As far as I was concerned, I wasn’t letting him sneak up on me again. Not if I could help it.
“What are you doing, Liv? Why are you up so early? I’d think you’d be tired and need some sleep after your adventures last night.” He spoke softly, similar to how he’d talked to me in my room as he’d taken my clothes off and then caressed me.
Heat flushed my cheeks and I wasn’t sure if I was embarrassed or angry. Whatever I was, hurt overwhelmed the rest of the confused emotions pummeling me under his watchful gaze.
But did I cow down to him? Did I let him know he scared me? Did he? Hadn’t he already done the worst to me he could? He might not have roughly raped me, or beat me, or anything like that, but he’d betrayed me in the worst possible way and that was something I couldn’t forgive him for.
No. I wasn’t going to let him scare me. I lifted my chin and stared him down, standing from the stool to gain a few more precious inches to my already short frame. “You know what you did was despicable.”
He stopped moving, leaning his hip against the counter and folding his arms across his chest. Smug satisfaction arched his eyebrow and curved his lips. “You didn’t complain at the time.”
“Because I thought you were Jaxon.” Fury blazed under my skin, sizzling every nerve ending. I wanted to kick him, hit him, cut him, do whatever I could to wipe the victory from his face.
Braddox shifted his eyes to something past my shoulder, his smirk falling from his face. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I half-turned, glancing over my shoulder and finding Jaxon with a laptop in his arms and a weary pain in his eyes. Did he know? What if he’d overheard what we were saying? I couldn’t face him knowing yet. I was barely ready to accept it myself. How would our burgeoning relationship take a blow like that?
They squared up, facing each other with equal amounts of animosity.
“Were you hoping I’d still be stuck at your friend’s house, locked in that room?” Jaxon moved around to stand beside me, facing Braddox as if presenting a united front. If only he knew what I’d done…
“If you were smart, you’d still be there.” Braddox set his jaw, shifting his gaze between Jaxon and me. He narrowed his eyes when Jaxon reached out and claimed my hand in his.
My breath came in spurts and spots swam in front of my eyes. What was going on? What had I done? He’d know. Jaxon would find out and he’d want nothing to do with me. Braddox had destroyed me for his brother and he couldn’t be more pleased.
“What is your problem, dick? I mean, seriously, get over the fact that Olivia chose me. Get over the fact that I’m back in your life. I live here. I go to your school for only a few more months. Get over the fact that he’s my dad, too.” Jaxon didn’t back down but he didn’t puff up either. He spoke with a calm anger in his tone.
My hands seemed to over-heat and a small sheen of sweat covered my palms. Crap, he’d know something was wrong. I wanted to throw up. I couldn’t believe we were facing each other, all of us.
“She hasn’t chosen you yet, brother. She didn’t have all of the information.” Braddox looked at me, as if there was something special between us. “You have it now, Olivia. Or a huge part of it. I think you feel the same way, am I right?”
Was he shitting me right then? How could he gather that I felt like he did after he’d deceived me like he had?
I bit my lower lip. Would he tell Jaxon what had happened, if I didn’t agree with him? If I did agree with him, then I’d lose Jaxon anyway.
What kind of messed up crap was I in anyway?
“Enough, Braddox. You haven’t convinced her of anything. She doesn’t want anything to do with you. Hasn’t she made that clear?” Jaxon squeezed my hand with his and then looked at me, furrowing his brow. “Don’t be scared, Liv. You can tell him. He won’t do anything to you.”
No. He might not, not now. He’d already done what he’d pushed so long for. I lifted my chin and shifted my gaze from Jaxon to Braddox. “I’m not scared of him. I’m disgusted. I’m not interested in you, Braddox. At all. You’ve erased any chance of that being a possibility. Ever.”
Biting my inner cheek, I murmured an internal prayer for someone somewhere to stop Braddox from telling Jaxon in retaliation.
A secret smile graced Braddox’s lips. He reached into his pocket, glancing at something in his hand. He then lifted his eyes to Jaxon, half-shrugging. “Yeah, okay, I’ll take defeat. But while you’re enjoying the… spoils, just keep in mind that I have the last victory and you can’t take it from me.” He tossed a phone onto the counter and his smile broadened. “You can have her, but you’ll always have to remember that I tapped that first.”
My heart sank at his words and I stared at him, unable to look at Jaxon to gauge his reaction.
“You got what first?” Jaxon slowly pulled his hand from mine and I could feel the separation from me as if a wall of ice climbed between us.
“You know.” Braddox nodded at me and smiled sweetly. “I broke her in for you. No need to thank me.” He held up a hand and leaned forward on the counter. “She was so good; I’ll probably be back for more and you won’t be able to stop me.”
I closed my eyes as Braddox strode from the room.
While Braddox had left physically, I could feel that Jaxon had left me in all the important ways.
And that is how dreams die.
~~~
Braddox’s betrayal is just the start. How will Olivia live with the information she’s uncovering and how will Jaxon recover from the blow to his pride? And his heart…
There’s so much more going on in Shores. Grab the next book, Forgiven, and find out what problems come about as Olivia faces decisions and choices that could destroy her life.
Want some more angst and heart-breaking choices? Check out the O’Donnell twins as they rule opposite sides of a town and fight over the one girl who loves them both. She only gets one. In The Rivalry High Series bully romance gets a whole new twist.
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Thank you so much for joining me with the Jameson cousins. I love them so much! Stryker… sigh.
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More bully romance titles by Taylor Blaine
Bad Boys of Jameson Academy
Her Challengers
Her Brawlers
Her Champions
Forbidden
Chapter 1
Braddox
Chapter 2
Jaxon
Chapter 3
Olivia
~~~
Chapter 4
Jaxon
Chapter 5
Olivia
~~~
Chapter 6
Olivia
Ch
apter 7
Olivia
Chapter 8
Olivia
Chapter 9
Jaxon
Chapter 10
Olivia
Chapter 11
Jaxon
Chapter 12
Olivia
Chapter 13
Jaxon
Chapter 14
Olivia
Chapter 15
Jaxon
Chapter 16
Olivia
Chapter 17
Braddox
Chapter 18
Jaxon
Chapter 19
Olivia
Chapter 20
Olivia
Chapter 21
Olivia
Chapter 22
Jaxon
Chapter 23
Olivia
Chapter 24
Olivia
~~~
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Forbidden: A bully romance (An Academy Twin Rivalry Series Book 2) Page 21