I nodded. “Understandable.” On both sides.
I wasn’t sure what the future held for him and Olivia, but if I was going to be involved in any way, I only prayed that Darren never found out.
Chapter Eight
WILL
“Thanks for making the time,” Jia murmured into my ear as she hugged me. When we separated, she took a seat across from me at the barroom table and glanced at the cocktail menu. “What’s good here?”
“Everything,” I said.
We’d agreed to meet at Superhero, a new bar that had opened up in the neighborhood. The drinks were strong and the atmosphere was relaxed.
Jia’s dark-brown hair was held up in a twist. I imagine she’d changed out of her requisite pencil skirt and designer blouse in favor of the dark jeans she wore with a silky top that rippled every time a breeze came through the open-air bar.
When the waitress came by, she ordered a cocktail. Leaning back in her chair, she eyed me. “So how’s it going?”
“It’s been busy. Trying to renovate multiple spaces at once is no small trick.”
“I can’t wait to see the new condos when they’re finished.”
“It’s going quick. I think I’m going to snag the penthouse for myself though.”
“What about Ian?”
A smirk curved my lips. “What about Ian?”
She played with the square diamond stud that sparkled in her ear. “You two make quite the team. I’d hate to see that change.”
“I haven’t thought much about it, to be honest. The roommate situation was supposed to be temporary, but if he wants to crash at the new place, I have no issues with that.”
“That’s reassuring,” she purred. “We should catch up. Maybe tonight?”
“I can’t,” I answered automatically.
“Come on. I could use some downtime.” She reached over and brushed her fingers over the back of my hand. “I might even miss you, Will.” Suggestion glimmered in her deep dark eyes.
Jia was a beautiful woman. Dangerously so. She pined after no one, took what she wanted, and left shame at the door. Those qualities made her a perfect bed companion on nights when I wanted a hard, uncomplicated fuck.
Tonight wouldn’t be one of those nights.
“I met someone.”
The dark wing of her eyebrow lifted. “You’re in a relationship?”
“No, but she’s someone I plan to spend a lot more time with.” As soon as possible, in fact. We’d barely seen each other the past few days outside of work, and the withdrawals were harrowing.
Jia didn’t speak for a second, her smile tight. “Sounds serious.”
“It’s not serious at all. Nothing against you. She’s just who I’m focused on right now.”
She sat back in her chair, withdrawing her touch. “Focused on or preoccupied with? I’ve never heard you talk about someone this way.”
I resented the unimpressed tone in her voice. I drank from my glass of scotch, refusing to give her an answer. Olivia had caught me completely off guard. I had pursued her, thinking I was taking another rich girl to bed. I didn’t expect her wit or her fire. And I didn’t expect her submission to be so goddamn captivating. I didn’t expect her to respond to me the way she did, like she wanted to give as much as I wanted to take, even as it betrayed everything she’d been taught.
“Can I ask who she is? She must be striking to give you pause.”
I worked my jaw. As far as I knew, outside of Ian and her brother, no one knew about our little affair.
Jia laughed quietly. “God, Will. I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m just curious.”
“Her name is Olivia Bridge. Our families know each other. Under the current circumstances, I’m sure she’d appreciate if they didn’t know we were fucking.”
She nodded. “Understood. Reputation is everything these days.”
Glancing out to the street where a couple was walking hand in hand, she looked almost wistful. When she returned her attention to me, her expression was harder.
“I spoke with Bill recently. He thinks I can talk some sense into you. According to him, pissing away a billion-dollar opportunity isn’t a matter of choice.”
I shrugged, pretending not to care even as fresh guilt took root. “He’s the one pissing it away, not me.”
“You have the power to turn this around, you know,” she pressed.
My jaw was tight. Frustration coiled in my muscles. “Is this why you wanted to meet?”
“It’s not the only reason, but since you’re not up for company, I suppose it is now.”
She crossed her arms. The defensive position told me she wasn’t fond of being rejected. But something else was at play. The way she jumped from sharing a bed with Ian and me to something she knew was a hot topic was unsettling. Jia worked from an agenda, always.
I laughed quietly when it struck me. “He wants to bring you on, doesn’t he?”
She hesitated a moment, her dark eyes steady with calculation. “Yes, he’s mentioned it. They were scouting for a COO before all this happened. We’ve been in loose discussions since then. He doesn’t trust a lot of people right now, but he trusts me. Would that bother you?”
“You can do what you want, but why would you want to be associated with this shit?”
“It’s a mess, Will. No doubt about it. It’s risky getting anywhere near it. You know this as well as I do. But it’s an opportunity to make a jump. I’m sick of climbing the ladder at the firm. If I can help you turn things around with Reilly Donovan Capital, it’s a game changer for me.”
“If he has you, why the hell does he need me?”
She stared out to the street and back to me again. “I’m not going to jump without you. I need you just as much as he does.”
OLIVIA
I’d spent the past few days between the two gyms. The renovation was moving ahead of schedule, and Cameron and I were suddenly busy with the finer details of getting the gym functional and ready for members. I also had a ribbon-cutting to coordinate so we could announce to the neighborhood that we had officially arrived and were ready for business.
Through it all, I’d seen Will regularly enough. As promised, he heard my opinion from time to time. As promised, he bent to my wishes. When he pushed back, I never hesitated to make my case, which seemed to intrigue him as much as it irritated him. By the end, I could tell he wanted to resolve the matter once and for all back at his apartment, and most of the time so did I. But the tension that strained his interactions with Cameron made me want to focus on the task at hand—getting this done so we could all move on with our lives.
In the meantime, being with Will had created a different kind of tension in me. An unsettled edgy feeling had gnawed at me ever since I’d originally agreed to be his no-strings-attached fuck buddy. Except new strings were popping up all the time. Exclusivity, except when it came to his head-to-toe gorgeous roommate. And his fiercely passionate style of fucking that pushed me past all my boundaries and resulted in a seemingly never-ending stream of sheet-tearing orgasms.
I needed to burn off some of that tension, so after a long day filled with details and a level of multitasking that challenged even me, I found myself on the treadmill, eager for the burn in my muscles. I set an aggressive program on the machine, put my headphones in, and began.
Only a few minutes in, my phone rang, and my mother’s name appeared on the screen.
I turned off the treadmill and slowed my pace as the machine did. “Hi, Mom.”
“Olivia.” Her tone was tight, which wasn’t unusual for her, but most of the time she called me after a couple of lunchtime cocktails, a regular indulgence that she and her socialite friends shared on any given day of the week.
“What’s going on?”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing. What do you think you’re doing, seeing Will Donovan, and why am I only now hearing of this?”
I collected my water bottle, stepped off my machine, and walked away from the n
oise of the gym as quickly as my feet would carry me. Cameron was in the back office and all the rooms were occupied with classes, so I went outside.
“Who told you that?”
“Everyone knows everyone, and there’s certainly nothing more interesting to talk about up here. You will end this at once. I’ll not have you married off to the son of a convict.”
I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Mother. I’m not marrying anyone, and as far as I know, no one’s been convicted of anything. Even if charges come down on Will’s father, it has nothing to do with him.”
“Rumor says he’s going to take over his father’s hedge fund. If that’s the case, he is involved enough. We invested a million dollars with Reilly and Donovan.”
My jaw fell. “What? When did this happen?”
She sighed. “Back in the spring. You know Vanessa used to work there. Darren lost his temper and got into some trouble with Reilly. Frank did what he felt was best to de-escalate the situation. At the time, it seemed like a sound investment.”
“How come no one ever told me?”
“Why on earth would your father keep you informed of his investments? You left here with hardly any notice. You still haven’t explained why. We thought things were going well with Rob, and suddenly you’re packing your bags and running off to the city with your brothers.”
I clenched my teeth. Everything about this exchange was upsetting and hurtful. I loved my mother, but her claws were constantly out. She rarely cared about how her words fell or how her cold demeanor affected those around her. I’d adopted her coldness because it protected me from people I needed to keep at a distance. But I’d never been able to lash out with words quite the way she could. Watching from the sidelines as she shredded my family and those close to us was one thing. Being the target of her discontent was another.
“I told you I was done talking about Rob.”
My father’s rising star had been a distant memory well before Will had entered my life, and I had no desire to relive my time with him. The one night I’d let him get too close still made my skin crawl when I thought of it.
“He’s handsome, comes from a great family, and your father is bringing him up through the company, mentoring him. He could be a partner at this rate. It would have been a good match.”
“You pushed me at him! You both did. Do you want to know the truth? I slept with him, and I hated every minute of it. I woke up in the morning, and I didn’t recognize myself. I had to leave.”
She made a sound of disgust. “I don’t want to hear about those things. You know that, Olivia.”
“Then you don’t want to hear about what’s going on with Will, either. Stay out of my love life, and I’ll spare you the details.”
“Olivia,” she snapped, her tone loud and sharp. “You don’t speak to me that way. What has gotten into you?”
Panic tightened around me, a familiar sensation when I was at risk of upsetting my parents, the rulers of the purse strings that kept me in the life I’d grown accustomed to. Unlike Maya and Vanessa, who’d had to work and struggle to stay afloat through every year of school, I’d wanted for nothing. Clothes, trips, beauty appointments. Long after graduation, I still relied on my parents to bridge the gap between my income with helping Cameron and affording a life of privilege.
Being “cut off” was a real and present danger. Then Will’s words from the day we’d met echoed in my mind. The way he described my life had angered me, no doubt. But it had made me a little sick too. It made me wish I could crawl out of my skin and be someone else, anyone but that girl…
“I can’t talk right now, Mom.” I couldn’t stomach telling her any more. This conversation had to end.
“You’re ending it with Will, correct?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Olivia, do I need to come down there and talk some sense into you? This isn’t like you. You’re worrying me, and when your father learns of this, I can guarantee he’s not going to be happy.”
“I have to go.” My voice was hollow.
I ended the call and leaned back against the building. She called again, and I sent it to voice mail, something I never did.
But something had to change. Even as I questioned the choices I’d made since meeting Will, I knew deep down that I was changing, and not just on the outside. This wasn’t a new style or a dramatic haircut. This wasn’t a move or an expensive soul-searching vacation. I wasn’t trying on something just to feel different for a little while. The foundation of who I thought I was for so many years was crumbling. And as much as I may have wanted to please and appease my parents, I wasn’t sure I could help it.
I had to break away, and my parents had to know it, once and for all. Even if it cost me financial stability. Even if it cost our family this last tie that kept my parents and my brothers connected. I had to risk it all if I was going to find the person I wanted to be.
The thought was liberating, but devastating. If my foundation was crumbling, a new me had to be built. I didn’t know how I would be able to do that. Warm tears cooled as they streamed down my cheeks.
“Liv, are you all right?”
My eyes flew open at the sound of a male voice, smooth as velvet. I swallowed when Ian approached me. He was dressed in workout clothes. I rushed to wipe away my tears, but he’d surely seen them. Concern filled his gaze. In my experience, most guys didn’t know what to do with a crying woman, but Ian didn’t shy away.
He came closer, brushing his thumb across my cheek. That simple touch made my heart beat faster.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I shrugged. “Not really. Family stuff.”
He glanced through the glass windows of the gym and back to me. I thought I caught a flash of hesitation, even guilt, in his eyes.
“Want to get out of here for a little while?”
“Where?”
“Why don’t we go for a run?”
I contemplated his offer. I wanted to curl into a ball and cry out the rest of these toxic emotions, but burning them off along with the rest of the tension that had built up over the week didn’t sound awful either.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with you.”
His smile was warm. “I’m not worried about that. Come on. Just a jog around the neighborhood.”
I inhaled a deep breath and nodded. “Sure. Let’s do it.”
IAN
I stashed my bag in the locker room and joined Liv outside again. Being seen with her like this, so close to Darren’s domain, was probably a mistake, but I hated to see her upset. That and I couldn’t deny wanting to spend some time with her. According to Will, she could become a regular fixture in our lives. He talked about her like she was precious and worth protecting. That inspired mixed feelings in me. As a friend, I worried that I was moving in on something that could mean more than the casual flings he was used to. But Will wasn’t asking me to back down, and I’d desired her from afar for too long to walk away on my own.
I silenced my doubts and shot her a smile that she quickly returned. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Ready when you are.”
We took off, and I let her set the pace. I wasn’t so much interested in pushing myself physically as getting her mind off of whatever was bothering her. Family stuff I certainly could relate to. I could also relate to not wanting to talk about it. I hadn’t talked about my dad’s death to many people. The guys from the station had come to the funeral and paid their respects. My mom broke down almost every time I came by. I’d watched my sisters cry and held them through the sobs, pushing down my own.
But I wouldn’t talk about it. I couldn’t. I’d hardened against the waves of grief that seemed to crash over all of us. They came less frequently as time passed, but the pain hadn’t lessened and neither had my anger. We’d all thought his slow decline had come from age and a lifetime of ba
ckbreaking work. We didn’t find out until the end that cancer had been eating away at his body for years. He’d worked through it. Took new jobs, carried on with life, a little slower, thinner, weaker. We never knew until the end. He’d been robbed, and so had we.
At an intersection, Liv looked up to me. “Which way?”
“This way.” I pointed to the right. Without a second thought, I took her in the direction of a place I’d avoided for nearly a year.
We jogged another few blocks before the old studio came into view. My heart raced, not from exertion but from a rush of emotion I wasn’t sure I was ready for yet. I considered passing by and circling back to the place where we’d started. Instead, I slowed in front of the run-down stretch of storefronts, not unlike a few others we’d passed. Not all of this part of Brooklyn had been revitalized and not every venture had made it. That’s what made this place cheap enough to rent, and I’d refused to let it go.
I stared at the old metal door marked with a dozen worn stickers and no other indication that it led to my father’s old workshop. A padlock and chain protected its contents.
“What’s this?”
Beside me, Liv was catching her breath and looking between me and the door that represented a Pandora’s box of unwanted emotion for me. I opened my mouth to speak, but I struggled for the words. Instead, I went to the lock and spun the dial through the combination until it clicked open. I unhooked the chain. Each movement resonated inside of me. I felt like I was moving forward mechanically, forcing myself through each step. Even though I’d contemplated this door a dozen times before, having Liv with me seemed to push me through.
I opened the door that led up a narrow staircase. The air was stale, but tinged with the smells of the studio ahead—wood, chemicals, and even the faintest scent of the homemade wine he’d made here too. I pushed on until we stepped into the large studio. There were no dividing walls, only places designated for one function or another. This was his sanctuary, his place away from everything, to create and simply be.
Over the Edge: The Bridge Series: Book Three Page 9