Keeper

by Robyn Roze

  Jake McCloud was not part of her plan, and Olivia had no plan B.

  He was watching her closely and waiting for her next move. Christ, he was serious about not doing what she expected. Okay then. She inhaled deeply and exhaled. “I need to go home now, Jake. It’s late and I have an early day tomorrow.” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Then he nodded with eyes still closed and placed his hands on his hips.

  Once he had regained his control, he let out a shuddering exhalation, opened his eyes and extended his hand. “I’ll walk you back, Olivia.”

  ****

  By the time Jake made it back home, people had started clearing out. The place was a mess and somebody Jake didn’t recognize lay unconscious on the sofa. As he made his way to the kitchen, Steve jumped in front of him with his chin down talking out of the corner of his grinning mouth, “Hey, guess who’s been waiting for you to get back?” His eyes were pointing at the oversized chair by the fireplace.

  Jake looked over and a drop dead gorgeous redhead smiled sweetly at him. Her face didn’t ring a bell. He smiled at her and then looked back to Steve. “I don’t know who she is.” Steve’s eyes bulged and his mouth fell open.

  “Are you fucking nuts, Jake? That’s Amber Greene.” Steve was attempting to talk calmly under his breath but it wasn’t working well with all the beer flowing in his veins. “You’ve got to be kidding me that you don’t remember her. Christ, you fucked her senseless for a whole weekend last spring.” Steve was looking at Jake with disappointment.

  Jake looked at the redhead again, and this time she stood and sashayed toward him. Oh, yeah, now it was coming back. He did remember spending most of a weekend in bed with that killer body and margaritas. He was nodding and smiling as she approached him with a coy look. Steve had moved away pretending to be busy with something.

  “Hi, Jake,” she licked her lips and eyed him alluringly. “It’s been a while. Remember me?” Amber asked seductively, thrusting her ample breasts at him. She continued talking and Jake suddenly felt as if his antenna had lost its signal and all he could hear was static. He could see her mouth moving but didn’t understand what she was saying. Then the picture went fuzzy, too, and he just kept seeing Olivia’s face and the way she had looked at him before she kissed him…and after.

  “Jake? Hello?” Amber seemed annoyed.

  Jake broke away and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it full with cold tap water, and guzzled it as if his life depended on it. He stood there for a few seconds, hands braced on the sink edge staring out the bay window. What’s going on here, McCloud? There’s a beautiful girl here right now just waiting for you to fuck her and all you can think about is Olivia. He was shaking his head and then rubbing at it hard trying to squeeze Olivia out of his brain.

  “Um, is everything alright, Jake?” Amber peered up at him, as she stood too close beside him at the sink.

  He had never had this problem before tonight and was befuddled. “No, it’s not. I’m not feeling right. I’m going to bed. But I’m sure Steve over there wouldn’t mind some company.” Jake glanced over at Steve whose mouth had just hit the floor.

  Jake made a quick exit for his bedroom and locked the door. He stood in place for a few seconds just staring blankly and then went into his en suite bathroom where he splashed cold water on his face. When he looked up in the mirror, he didn’t recognize the face staring back at him. What the fuck was the matter with him?

  The evening’s teasing exchanges, her face, her scent, the way her body felt, it just kept playing on a loop like a movie reel in his head. A girl had never kissed him quite like that before and he sure as hell didn’t remember ever kissing a girl that way. It was so fucking…intense. Then the way she looked at him. Oh, Christ, he always wanted her to look at him like that.

  When Jake walked Olivia back to the dorm she had told him she was going to be busy the rest of the weekend, but he didn’t care. He was calling her tomorrow, going to her dorm if necessary. He had to see her again - soon. Somehow, she had managed to get under his skin without him even knowing it.

  He didn’t understand exactly what was happening, but he knew one thing - this wasn’t a game anymore.

  CHAPTER 10

  Olivia spent the flight to Lake Abyss replaying the previous night’s events in her head. Jake’s steamy kiss, masculine scent and athletic body caused an uncontrollable quiver, followed by goose bumps. Maybe she should feel embarrassed by the fierceness of her kiss, but she wasn’t. Besides, he had returned it with his own ferocity. Oh, God, her core muscles clenched from the heated memory. She was almost glad that they wouldn’t be able to see each other for a couple of days. A cooling down period was a good idea. Feelings of confusion left her uncertain where Jake was going to fit, because she had planned on everything but him.

  As her flight approached the runway, she did her best to put the memories of last night out of her mind, not wanting them tainted by Nick. She knew he didn’t believe that she was sick yesterday and that he would take pleasure in making her squirm today. Even though their last visit had ended surprisingly sweet, she figured that he had reconnected with his old friend Jack by now. This time, she was hoping to turn the tables on Nick by testing him to see if she could make him want to let her go. If she could do that, then she might adjust her plan or at least delay it.

  When Olivia entered the grand foyer on Janus Lane, her eyes immediately scanned the expanse to see where Nick might be lurking. There would be no sneak attack this time, she remembered coldly. Hearing noises from the back of the house, she moved quietly along the polished brown marble floor, skimming the amber-gold painted wall and its decorative moldings and making her way to the wide-open archway into the massive kitchen. Martha was standing at the sink with her back to Olivia washing vegetables. The darkly stained coffered ceiling and the bulky cinnamon stained cabinetry surrounding Martha crushed her slender frame. Above the sink was a large greenhouse window that housed various herbs and allowed the sun to illuminate the cavernous space. Opposite Olivia, displayed above a four-seat built-in nook, was an old plaque that read God Bless Our Home. She snorted to herself. So much for a benevolent God, she mocked in her head.

  When Olivia neared the large center island, she leaned back against the pantry door partly to see when Nick entered and to evaluate the current situation. She hadn’t planned on Martha being here today, but it could work to her advantage.

  Martha Jenkins had been the live-in nanny and housekeeper after Olivia was born. Now she was in her early sixties and seemed so much smaller since Olivia’s escape to EHU. The older woman’s shoulders were rounded; her silvery hair was thinning and the years seemed to be catching up with her. She had stopped being live-in help years ago, only working on weekdays, and Olivia knew why that change had occurred and suspected that Martha knew, as well, but chose to look the other way.

  The housekeeper had been her only line of defense back then, and she had failed Olivia miserably. Maybe she should have confided in Martha, but the embarrassment, shame, disorientation and acute loss had forbidden it. Nick was all she had left in the world and she had held on to him any way she could back then. Besides, saying the words, admitting what was happening, would’ve made it real, and she might not have been able to endure it then.

  She watched as Martha began chopping vegetables and wondered why she was here on a Saturday. “Hi Martha,” Olivia spoke quietly, gauging the housekeeper’s response.

  The French knife dropped and Martha swung around clearly startled to see Olivia standing in the kitchen. “Oh, Olivia, sweetheart! I’m so happy to see you!” She crossed the kitchen with open arms and gave Olivia a warm embrace. “I have been looking so forward to your arrival today.” It was apparent that she was genuinely pleased to see Olivia.

  “Is my brother home?” Martha looked baffled at Olivia’s question. Yes, she was playing this card today. When she was younger, Olivia had referred to Nick as her big brother. That is, after all, how she had
come to view him long ago. He didn’t mind the reference until she was older and then he asked her to stop. Raising her brows at the housekeeper, she said, “My brother…Nick?” Martha was stammering and blinking too much. Obviously, Olivia’s assessment disturbed her. Good Olivia thought. I wonder how he will react.

  She didn’t give the sputtering gray haired woman time to answer, “Why are you here on a Saturday, Martha?” Olivia didn’t mind her presence at all and was actually quite happy, in fact, that there would be a witness.

  Regaining her composure, Martha smiled and replied, “Mr. Moretti thought that it would be nice to have lunch prepared for you when you arrived today.”

  Olivia’s mouth curled slightly as she glanced away and then back down at Martha. Olivia’s eyes turned cold. “How thoughtful of, Mr. Moretti.” She could see the growing discomfort on Martha’s face. Yes, Martha, she mused, this young woman is different from the caged girl that left here over a month ago without his permission. Olivia always knew that distance from Nick and this house would strengthen her.

  As Martha backed away from Olivia, trying to assess more clearly, who was standing in front of her, he appeared.

  His face was hard with cutting dark eyes, and as always, he was dressed in black, his hands forced into the front pockets of his black jeans. A long-sleeved, lightweight black sweater with three buttons opened at the top and a ribbed bottom hung casually over his pants. His countenance was stern and unforgiving. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better, Olivia. I was sorry you had to delay your visit.” He tilted his chin down. “I missed your company last night.” She saw something spark in his eyes. Her stomach wrenched, but she did not let her face or body betray her.

  She smiled and lifted her chin. “I missed you, too, big brother.” She caught him flinch imperceptibly and then recover. “I’m so happy that you invited Martha to join us.” She smiled and looked at her old nanny and then back at Nick. “It’s nice when the whole family can get together isn’t it?” Olivia eyes volleyed between them, relishing the growing discomfort. Get used to it she chided in her head. She could hear Nick’s wheels careening out of control and noticed the escalating fury on his face. Martha glanced between Olivia and Nick and obviously decided it was best to get back to the lunch preparations.

  Nick advanced into Olivia’s personal space to speak quietly to her out of Martha’s earshot. He was only a couple of inches taller than Olivia was and she kept her eyes bolted to his. “What do you think you’re doing, sunshine?” He eyed her covetously. “Are you trying to get me all worked up for later…after Martha leaves us alone?” He emphasized the last word with a long rasp.

  Olivia pushed her chin up and smiled wickedly at him. “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, dear brother. Incest is best.” She winked at him and his eyes flew open in a rage. He slammed the palm of his hand against the pantry door next to her head causing Martha to jump and gape at them with wide eyes. Then Nick grabbed Olivia’s upper arms, forcing her out into the hallway away from Martha’s prying eyes and ears. She refused to cry out as he slammed her hard against the wall and moldings.

  He was enraged and breathing heavily as he looked down into her cold green eyes. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, Olivia. But it stops now!” he snarled in her ear.

  Coolly she baited, “Why? Am I disgusting you with yourself?” Her contempt was palpable. “Do the things you’ve done sicken you in the light of day, Nick?” She didn’t bat a lash, and he just stood staring at her with dead eyes. Olivia snorted and knocked his hands off her. “Get your hands off me. I’m going to eat lunch now.”

  ****

  Olivia stretched out in her own bed in the Tudor house consuming all of the delicious cold spots with her arms and legs. Her shoulders and lower back were black and blue from where Nick had shoved her against the wall earlier in the day and there was some bruising on her upper arms from where he had gripped her too hard. She had gotten the reaction she was hoping for, though. He had lost control in front of Martha. Then the three of them had a stilted, uncomfortable lunch after which he just disappeared. She knew referring to him as brother would be offensive to him. Maybe holding a mirror to his face would pull him from the pit he fell into all those years ago.

  There was a time when she thought their circumstances would bind them like family, but he decided to break her heart instead, and now he wanted to break her spirit. She still had hope where he had none, and it reminded him of what he had become. That was why he had grown so angry with her over the past year. He knew that she was growing more independent and that in a few short months she would be twenty-one and would no longer need his approval to access her trust fund. He was losing control of her and her finances, leaving only their shared torment with which to manipulate her. All of that combined with the drinking seemed to have unraveled him in recent months.

  Before she drifted off to sleep, she imagined how her life could have been. How it should have been.

  CHAPTER 11

  After the awkward lunch, Nick sought refuge in the expansive detached garage so that he could cool down and process Olivia’s outrageous behavior. What the hell did she think she was doing? He understood that she might still be angry about the way her previous visit had started, but he tried making up for that with the road trip the next day.

  He scanned his collection of motorcycles and the few remaining sports cars he owned. He wandered distractedly around his Kawasaki’s, absent-mindedly trailed his hand along a Harley, and eyed his Ducati’s and the Husky 400 Cross in the back. He remembered spending a lot of time out here in his youth, reconditioning his classic cars, repairing and souping up his motocross bikes. Those had been good days, better times.

  Olivia used to track him down out here when she was a young girl. He knew at the time that she was just lonely, and he had felt a certain responsibility for her after the accident. He had been patient, taken the time, and educated her about the different cars and motorcycles he collected and even took her to motocross races with him. She was a smart girl and soaked up everything like a sponge.

  In time, he taught her how to ride motorcycles and drive his favorite FIAT Spider. However, over time, his interests changed and he had sold his classic sports cars in exchange for contemporary pursuits like his red Porsche 911 turbo, his silver Mercedes Benz SLS AMG and his favorite, a black Audi R8 GT. He traced his fingers across the Audi and smiled greedily.

  Strolling over to stand in front of a tall multi-paned garage window, Nick scowled as he examined the crumbling bricks on the barbecue pit in the distance. The weeds were close to claiming victory over the buckling pavers. He supposed he should take care of that, half smiling at recollections of family barbecues, throwing Frisbees and footballs, and him and his dad using the extensive backyard lined with a thick forest of trees as their own personal driving range. He huffed and closed his eyes. Oh, how things had changed. The passage of time had begun to make him worry that his memories weren’t even real.

  After the accident, he and Olivia had nursed each other through the worst time in both of their lives, spending countless hours together clinging desperately to the last remaining link they each had in the other. His world, from that point on, revolved around everything in this garage…and Olivia. She was his only link to a life that now only existed in worn pictures and fading memories. He sometimes believed that he had imagined all of them, but because of Olivia, he knew that he hadn’t.

  Somewhere, buried deep inside him, he recognized he never should have changed the nature of his relationship with Olivia, but he had, because he needed to keep her with him. Besides, they loved each other anyway, so it didn’t really matter if it happened sooner, because it would have happened later. He was certain of that.

  However, Olivia had begun to change over the last year, becoming rebellious, and had even forged his name on legal documents. He understood that he was at fault. Becoming part owner in MoreSpeed Racing last year had meant a great deal of travelling
, and therefore he hadn’t been able to pay nearly as much attention to her as in the past. Due to his lack of foresight, he lost his control over her, she was fighting to keep it, and he needed it back. He needed her back, where she belonged in this house with him.

  Materializing from the garages later that evening, Nick made his way up the dimly-lit backstairs to his bedroom suite. After ruminating in the garage most of the day, he begrudgingly admitted defeat and conceded to the necessity for changing his approach to keep Olivia with him. Resuscitating the man he had been prior to MoreSpeed and the whiskey was his only chance of keeping her. Somehow, he would find a way to give her more space while subtly pulling her back to him.

  Envisioning finding Olivia sleeping peacefully in his king-sized bed, he wanted to crawl in beside her and steal her warmth, but he wouldn’t wake her this time. Leaning back resignedly against the doorframe, he stared in dismay at his cold empty bed. He was already so tired of sleeping alone. The willow tree swayed outside his window bouncing the cloudy moonlight around his hollow bedroom. Now this house was barren and lonely even when she was in it. Closing his eyes and exhaling, he decided he had to fix this and soon.

  Faraway, distressed moaning jerked him from his deliberations. Following the soft cries down the hallway, he found himself standing outside Olivia’s bedroom door. He had disabled the lock on her door years ago. Did she forget that when she decided to avoid him tonight?

  He stepped quietly into her room moving silently to her bedside. She was twisting in the blankets with a pained expression contorting her face in the milky moonlight. Sounds of a wounded animal drifted in her exhalations as she writhed in her torment.