by Jenika Snow
She wasn’t here.
Fuck.
What didn’t she understand about staying here so he could protect her? Why would she think leaving just because they fought was a smart idea?
Dammit, Olivia.
He headed back inside, booted up his laptop, and logged onto the Internet. He’d installed a GPS app on Olivia’s cell. He trusted her, but he didn’t trust anyone else.
No, when he found her, he’d make sure she knew how special she was to him. He wouldn’t fuck this up.
21
Several days later
Even though it was freezing cold outside, the sand still felt amazing between her toes. Olivia closed her eyes, lifted her face into the breeze, and released a sigh. This was why she’d had to go. She’d had to leave Mason and get his rage away from her. He was so determined to murder and get his revenge, and she didn’t want to bring her baby into that world. Even though he had every right to go after the ones who had hurt him, even if that person was her father, Mason would either die or be caught. There was no way she was living the rest of her life afraid of every single knock on the door.
Placing a hand on her stomach, she took several deep breaths. “I’m so pleased I came here. You’re going to love growing up by the beach, and we’re going to visit this place every single week.”
However, a part of her felt guilty for leaving Mason. She hadn’t said anything to him. She’d just up and left, and she felt like shit about it.
She had her second appointment at the free clinic. It seemed safer being anonymous, and it wasn’t as if she could use the health insurance her father had set up. Being a no one was better than the alternative.
The first appointment had been the urine test to confirm the pregnancy. This second one was for blood work.
Turning on the television filled her with dread, and she tried to avoid the newspaper stands. The last thing she wanted was to see Mason’s face on the cover, finding out he was dead.
The sun was setting, and she stayed as long as she could until the cold was just too much for her. Wrapping her cardigan around her body even more, she shivered and left the beach. Making her way back up onto the footpath, she entered the small cottage she was renting. She’d found the listing online. It wasn’t anything permanent, and it was costing her a lot, but it was all she could find on such short notice.
She had enough money saved to make sure she was comfortable, without worrying about a job. Right now, she needed to worry about the baby.
She shut the front door, locked it, and then she flicked on several lights.
Her stomach started to growl, and she busied herself by making some stew. It was better to find things to do. It kept her mind off what she really wanted and that was going back to Mason. But it was far too dangerous.
Once she’d made dinner, she fixed herself a bowl and sat down at the table. There was a magazine that she had been reading that morning. Taking a seat, she took a bite of the tender meat and looked through the baby magazine. There were some articles that unnerved her. The other day she had been reading a personal story where the guy had lost his wife during childbirth, and he had to learn fast how to raise a baby alone.
The thought of something bad happening couldn’t be possible. If something did happen, the last place she wanted her kid to end up was with her parents. Her father would destroy everything that belonged to her and to Mason.
“You’ve got to make sure when you come out that you’re going to be healthy. You’ve only got me, sweetie,” she said.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
She wasn’t alone.
“You’re talking to yourself now?” Mason asked.
She gasped, stood, and turned around. There was Mason, in all his gorgeous, dangerous self.
He looked the same, but not.
“Mason.”
“Olivia.”
“How did you find me?”
“GPS, baby.”
“You had my phone tracked?”
He nodded. “No way I was going to not have it set up with all the shit happening.”
“You invaded my privacy.”
He shrugged. “If it meant keeping you safe, I’d do it all over again.” When he made to move, she took a step back. “I’m not going to hurt you, Olivia. I promise.”
Was she afraid of him?
The Mason she had left was not the guy she’d first met.
“I don’t know what to believe. You’re darker now, scarier in your need for revenge.”
“I deserve that revenge,” he said, his voice going deep, low.
Silence fell between them, and she saw he was struggling.
“And that’s why I can’t do this with you. I won’t stay and watch you kill yourself. I don’t want this hanging over me because I did nothing.”
“It’s no one’s fault but my own,” he said, speaking between gritted teeth.
“Do you really believe that?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
She closed her eyes. It was painful to her to hear him so angry.
“I know you have every right to hurt him. I don’t even think of him as my father. He’s a monster, and one day he will get caught. He’ll betray someone, and they’ll be the ones to end his life. It doesn’t have to be you.”
“Why? Why are you determined to stop me from doing this?” he asked.
“Because I don’t want to lose you, Mason, and I don’t want to have to tell our child why. You don’t think I’ve not thought about all of this? I have. I’ve thought of losing you and it kills me.” She placed a hand on her stomach involuntarily. She needed to tell him, because lying and keeping it a secret ate at her too. “It’s killing us.”
Mason paused, stared down at her stomach, and then back at her. “Us?”
“I didn’t want to tell you this way, nor did I want to use her, or for you to think that I’m using her. I’m not.”
“Her?”
“I don’t know if it’s a her or a him.” When he still looked a little confused, she knew she had no choice but to say this out loud. “I’m pregnant, Mason.”
She licked her dry lips and watched as he struggled with her news.
“You’re pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You’re going to have a baby?”
“Yes, we are.”
He was silent for a long time.
She locked her hands together and waited. What more did she have to say? Only Mason had the power to make or break her.
With her body tense, Olivia waited. What she didn’t expect was for him to look like he was going to faint.
22
A baby.
We are having a baby.
Mason sat on the couch, his mind whirling with the possibilities of the future. He’d never seen himself falling in love let alone having a family. But he had. And he was now going to be a father.
“You see? I can’t have anything happen to you. I can’t sit back and watch you die or get hurt going after my father.” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly. She wasn’t showing since it was still early, but he swore he felt life under his palm.
“Olivia,” he said softly, his voice gruff with emotion. He wanted to tell her it was a done deal and that he wouldn’t go after that piece of shit man who had tormented him and taken her from Mason.
He wanted to assure her he’d be here for both of them because his vengeance was no more.
But he couldn’t, no matter how much he wanted to.
This wasn’t about him.
This was about Olivia, whether she wanted it or not.
This was about Laura.
They both deserved that revenge. He needed to make sure things were settled.
He had to finish her father so she would be safe. So their baby would be safe.
He wanted to make things right for her, for them. He wanted to give her the promise that this was behind him, that the darkness didn’t make up who he was anymore.
Mason wanted this good news to overshadow everything else. But he also knew that they would always be in danger. Her father wouldn’t just let this go. He knew that. It was only a matter of time.
Not when Olivia told the truth in front of all those reporters and made him look like the fool he is.
This was not something he could let go of, no matter what, and he felt like a bastard because of that.
Seeing Mason sitting right here beside her had love, fear, nervousness, and an array of other emotions slamming into her. Olivia didn’t want to think or talk about the “what ifs”. She didn’t want to worry about what would happen next.
She didn’t want to think about the horrible person her father was. She would move on from everything he’d done.
At this moment, she just wanted to be with Mason. She just wanted to have the man she loved, and the one who loved her back, make her feel like the world was okay.
“I’m sorry I just left,” she admitted. “I was scared, and I didn’t know what else to do. Getting away and just being alone sounded like the best option.”
“It was stupid, Olivia.” His voice was hard, his expression serious.
She nodded. “I know. But all I could think about was what would happen if you were gone.”
He pulled her in and just held her. “You can’t do that shit, baby, okay?”
“I know. It was stupid. So stupid.” He stroked her hair, and she didn’t just feel comfort in his touch. She felt heat and arousal, too. Pulling back, she looked into his face. He might be harder than he was when they’d first met, which seemed so crazy given that situation, but it was the truth. She also saw the intensity of his love for her, and the fact he’d do anything for her.
“Be with me, Mason.” She gripped his forearms. “Let’s forget everything else for right now.”
And then he was pulling her onto his lap and kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.
23
For a month, Olivia lived in bliss. Mason didn’t demand anything from her. He went back to being gentle, almost sweet and sensitive.
They’d decided to stay at the cabin she’d been renting. They’d worked out an agreement with the owners, and Olivia had to admit being away from everything and just living in this bubble with the two of them, was exactly what she needed.
It’s what they both needed.
Mason was with her to help clean up the cottage. He was by her side for long walks on the beach, which he did so holding her hand. It was crazy how much that touch meant to her, but without it, she felt so lonely. They had come so far, and she didn’t want to lose that. However, with every passing day, there was a darkness shining brighter in his face, and that she was finding harder to ignore.
He was with her, and yet, he was starting to fade.
At first, she tried to ignore it. What more could she do?
They went grocery shopping, and they talked about the baby and what the future held.
After a few days, the nursery was all done, painted, and it looked amazing. They had decided to stay at the cottage as it had a more homely feel, and Olivia didn’t want to leave. She had hoped that talking about how they would be a family and how things would be so perfect would have helped him.
It didn’t.
Even now, she thought about last night and how he’d acted.
She flipped through the channels, but when the news came on, he placed a hand over hers, stopping her from changing it.
The moment she saw her father, Olivia tensed as the man who held her became motionless, his entire body going hard. Mason moved away from her and turned up the television.
She recoiled from the rage emanating from him. He was focused, angry, and she sensed all that even though he said nothing.
This wasn’t the man she wanted to raise a child with. Climbing off the sofa, she felt her hands shaking with the rage that was building inside her.
Grabbing the remote, she turned the television off.
“What are you doing?”
“Mason.”
“Not now, Olivia. Not fucking now.” He was hard, cold, and his focus was trained on the television as her father spoke about a new business venture his company was working on.
“You haven’t let it go,” she said. The words broke her heart, and tears instantly flooded her eyes. “If you can’t focus on the here and now, I can’t do this with you. I won’t.”
“What?” he said, his head turning toward her, his rage burning brightly in his eyes.
“You know what. You can’t handle seeing him on the television, and all you can think about is finishing what you started. Go.” She pointed toward the door. “This man, right here, right in front of me. He’s the guy I left behind.”
He clinched his jaw, his nostrils flaring. “Do you think he’s going to let us live in peace?” he asked.
She didn’t know, but she wanted to hope he would. She wanted to hope he was smart enough to leave them alone. “Yeah, I do, actually.” But she felt like she was lying. “If something happens to either of us, all eyes would turn to him. Why do you think I made it live and in public?” she asked. “I did it so I, you—we—could have a normal life. A normal life that you clearly don’t want. I’m not going to force you to stay with me.” She placed a hand on her stomach. They had already been to the doctor and knew she was going to have a little girl. “I don’t want you here like this, Mason. Go. Go and do what you need to do, and maybe we’ll be able to find each other again one day.”
She turned her back on him and made her way upstairs.
Moving over to the bed, she sat on the edge and rubbed her stomach. “It’s okay, sweetie. We’re back to just being us. We can handle this though, right?”
Silence.
“Yeah, we’ll handle this.”
Mason stared at the blank television screen.
He wanted to smash the damn thing. Why had he reacted like that? Sure, at times it was hard for him to forget everything that had happened, but right now, he was doing better. He was feeling better. The anger had started to fade as the positives filled him.
There was a future here, and no matter what he wanted to do to her father, it was no future. Either he’d go to prison, or he’d end up dead himself. Even though he had Olivia and a kid on the way, he couldn’t get past her father.
This was not the life he wanted, but how could he make Olivia live with him when he was so unpredictable.
Standing up, he paced back and forth.
If he left, there was no way he was coming back. Olivia wouldn’t allow him back. He knew that. This was the end of the game for him.
He either stayed here and accepted that her father was out there, or he left and never came back.
He headed to the bathroom, turned on the light, and stared at his reflection in the mirror. For the first time since this all started, he saw the monster Olivia saw.
Mason had to go and see her. He had to make this right.
He made his way toward the bedroom.
Olivia lifted her head and stared at him, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Each tear was like a kick to the gut.
“Please, baby. Please, don’t cry.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore, Mason. I have you, and yet I don’t have you. What do I do?” she asked.
“I need you to understand me, baby. I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for you and for Laura.”
She scoffed. “I imagine your sister would be so pissed at you right now. You’re making the wrong choice about everything and you don’t see it. Why don’t you see it?” she asked.
“He’s a monster, babe. I know what he’s capable of.”
“You kidnapped me, Mason. You took me against my will, and at first I was afraid. I thought you were a monster. But then things changed and I fell in love with you.”
“What do you want from me?”
“You have to make a choice: Either me and our baby or my father. Pick one and live with it.”
24
He stopped and stared out at the ocean. He had a big decision to make. Put all of it to rest and force himself to realize this is not what he really wanted, nor was it what Laura would have wanted, or walk away from the good things he had in his life.
He was going to be a father.
He had a woman that he loved more than anything else, and she loved him back.
And he didn’t need to put all his anger at the forefront.
His life wasn’t perfect.
But it feels pretty damn perfect when I’m with Olivia.
He made his decision. He turned and stared at the little beach house. It wasn’t their home, but it had been a safe place for them to be together, at least for a short time. They’d have to go back to the real world soon enough, but he knew he had to push his anger away for them. If Mason wanted a real life, a happy one, he had to let go.
He smiled, and for the first time in far too long, he felt warmth fill him.
He felt his anger being replaced with the happiness and love he felt.
This was good. This was right.
“Did you think he’d let it go?”
The deep voice behind him had Mason turning around, ready to fight. Standing in front of him were three men. Although the only lighting he had was from the moon, and shadows surrounded them, Mason knew who they were.
Olivia’s father’s men.
The guy in front spoke. “Although we knew where you were the whole time, orders were to let you enjoy yourself.” The man smiled grimly. “The boss is quite the sadist.”