Drake sat a little taller and moved to the edge of his seat. “You’re right, this might help. But, listen carefully, you want someone you can trust, someone that isn’t going to hurt you or play with your emotions.”
Olivia nodded. Maybe just maybe, Drake would push the issue of being with someone like him if she created a little jealousy. An idea struck her “Actually…” she trailed off, wringing her hands with faux anxiousness. “I think I know just the person.”
If she was going to be forced to be in the same room as this guy, she might as well get something out of it. He didn’t need to know that the man she was talking about was his twin brother, either. She couldn’t stop thinking about Rhys, despite the fact that he clearly wasn’t the right kind of man for her. He was flighty, flirtatious, and preferred the company of gorgeous beach babes.
“Is that so?” asked Dr. Bannon. He raised his eyebrows. “And what do you mean by you think you met someone?”
She bit her lip. “I like him. Well, actually, I really just think he’s handsome. I don’t know him that well, but I’ve already deduced that I’m not his type.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I’m not…I mean, look at me. I’m awkward and shy. He likes confident women.”
“Ah, I see.” Drake chuckled. “If it’s any consolation, Olivia, men like that are fools. They think they want the kind of women who flaunt themselves and try to be independent, but they’ll eventually come to realize that it is women like you who are the real prize. Your insecurity is actually a blessing in disguise, Olivia. It will draw the right men toward you. The strong ones.”
Men like me, Olivia was sure he wanted to add.
“So, I should get over him?” she asked. “I should find someone who values my shyness?”
“Precisely, Olivia,” purred Drake. “Let’s try an exercise. Come here.”
Olivia blinked in confusion.
Drake reached out and patted the end of the chaise that was closest to his chair.
“Now, perhaps you haven’t noticed this, but you sat as far away from me as possible today, just like you did on Tuesday,” he said. “Come sit a bit closer to me.”
Olivia’s heart was beating loudly in her chest. She reminded herself that Adeline was parked outside, listening via a microphone hidden in Olivia’s purse. Furthermore, Adeline had the same pair of binoculars that Olivia was using last night, watching for the opportunity to catch Drake in the act. The second that Adeline heard any indication that Olivia might be trouble, she would intervene.
Of course, Olivia also had a Glock in her purse, but that would only become necessary in the worst-case scenario.
Timidly, Olivia scooted down to the other end of the chaise. Her knees were barely two feet away from Drake’s.
“Good girl.” He sounded so patronizing that Olivia wanted to land a kick right on his shin. “I’ve also noticed that you have a difficult time holding eye contact. Let me try something.”
Without warning, Drake reached out and hooked his index finger under Olivia’s chin. Gently, he forced her to look up at him and stare into his eyes.
Olivia fought the urge to smack his hand away and run out of the office. She had to pretend to be in awe of his strength and too timid to fight his methods. They were far too close to be considered appropriate. Olivia didn’t know much about therapy, but she did know that most psychiatrists didn’t force their clients to sit right next to them and gaze deeply into their eyes.
“This is uncomfortable for you, isn’t it?” he murmured. His hand was still on her face.
Olivia nodded.
Drake let go of her and smiled like he was proud of himself. “Then this is something we should work on before, of course, you try with anyone else. You need to feel safe in being you and being touched. You shouldn’t shy away from physical touch. I can help you overcome these feelings. It’s not something that I normally do but I’m here for you and since this is what you need, I will do it.”
“Oh, thank you.” Olivia forced her words to sound genuine. “So, I should find a man like you?” It was a joke, uttered nervously as she scooted a few inches away from him on the chaise.
“No, a relationship between the two of us is not ethical. I’m strictly your doctor and will help you to get ready to find the right one. But right now, I don’t think that you are ready.” He wove his words into manipulative rhythms, convincing Olivia that she wasn’t ready. He was the one who told her to come closer, who reached out to touch her face. He made all of the moves, but he was forcing all of the blame for Olivia’s conclusion on her. Olivia felt nauseated. She had no doubt that this level of manipulation worked effortlessly on so many women. It wasn’t their fault, just like it wasn’t Lila’s fault that she was currently married to this bastard. Men like him were hunters—they sought out ideal prey with expertise.
Luckily, the anger that caused Olivia’s cheeks to flush could be played off as embarrassment.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to—well, of course, you’re far too handsome for me to—gosh, the words just slipped out and I—”
“Calm down, honey.” He smiled. “I’m just kidding around to loosen you up. A beautiful woman like yourself would naturally be drawn to a handsome man like me, no?”
Olivia forced herself to chuckle and nod in agreement. It wasn’t the first time Drake had told her to calm down. Ten years ago, he did his best to make her appear hysterical and unreasonable during the paintball tournament. It was still a wonder to Olivia that he didn’t remember her, but a decade was a long time, and Drake was, by nature, a self-involved man. He wasn’t going to remember a singular instance with an inconsequential woman.
“Right, so let’s talk a little bit about vulnerability,” he continued.
The rest of the session passed in a blur. Despite the fact that she was a seasoned pro, Olivia found it difficult to maintain a clear head throughout her conversation with Drake. He was disturbingly good at coaxing feelings of inadequacy out of her without her even realizing it.
Dr. Bannon reminded her of a spider that wove its elaborate web to catch their prey. His victims probably weren’t aware that they’d been caught until it was too late.
She kind of felt bad for all the women who sought him out for help and just ended up become a victim.
After the session, Olivia slid into the passenger seat of Adeline’s waiting car.
Her friend exhaled slowly. “That was intense.”
“He’s a nightmare.” Olivia shuddered.
“I thought for sure that we were going to get him right away.” Adeline nodded. “That he was going to make a move on you that quickly.”
“Me, too,” she admitted. “But I think he wants to break me—or at least, who he thinks I am—down a little more before he tried anything.”
Adeline frowned as she put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. “I agree. I just hate that it puts you at risk.”
“Lila is the real person at risk,” Olivia replied. “I’ll be fine. I know what I’m getting into, and I have got a gun and three badass friends to back me up. Lila has no one.”
“Well, she has us now,” said Adeline with steely resolve.
“Absolutely.”
Olivia
“I hope it’s okay that I brought someone with me,” Lila said nervously as Melanie led her through the entrance of the conference room. “He insisted.”
“Oh, no worries at all.” Melanie chuckled.
Olivia glanced up at Lila as she walked into the room and sat in the closest the available chair. She was followed, much to Olivia’s surprise, by Rhys.
Undeniably, she wasn’t exactly unhappy to see him. Not only did he look as handsome as he did the first couple of times that they crossed paths but also the familiar smile spread across his face when he saw Olivia, and it made her stomach tingle pleasantly.
“Everyone, this is Rhys Bannon,” said Lila. “My husban
d’s twin brother.”
“Yes, we’ve heard quite a bit about you.” Adeline smirked on Olivia’s other side.
“It’s nice to finally meet the rest of the Iron Ladies,” Rhys said, reaching forward to shake everyone’s hands before sitting at the conference table beside his sister-in-law.
“Right, well, let’s just get right to it,” Sunday said, tapping her pen on the legal pad in front of her.
For each case, it was customary for them to hold regular in-person meetings with their client to provide them with a thorough update on how everything was going. It also allowed the girls to keep track of any developments on the client’s side of things. For example, since Olivia was the lead on this case, she was eager to know if Dr. Bannon’s behavior had changed at all in the past week. Had he become worse when it came to his treatment of Lila?
Olivia cleared her throat and smiled warmly at Lila, trying not to focus on the way Rhys’s presence so close to her made her feel more self-conscious than she was willing to admit to herself.
“As you know, the prenuptial agreement indicates very few opportunities for you to divorce Dr. Drake Bannon with a fair settlement,” Olivia began. “One of which is infidelity and the other is physical abuse.”
Lila’s brow creased. She nodded silently while Rhys tensed beside her.
“He hasn’t laid a hand on me other than the usual rough grabbing and whatnot.” Lila sighed. “The kinds of things that the police wouldn’t really care about.”
Olivia frowned. She knew that well. When she was a kid, watching her mother suffer under the violence of her father’s hand, it was an accepted reality that the police were not likely to intervene unless things got extremely serious. It was a systemic issue throughout the country—one that the Iron Ladies were trying to help alleviate in any way that they could.
“Okay,” Olivia replied softly while the others remained quiet. “Thank you for telling us that. So, given that we don’t want to wait for this relationship to escalate to increased violence on the slim chance that the statistics would flip and work in our favor, that really only leaves us with one other viable option. Infidelity.”
Lila nodded along. Rhys was still, watching Olivia speak with a tense jaw. It was apparent that he didn’t like discussing his brother. If that were the case, however, why on earth did Rhys insist on accompanying Lila to this meeting?
“In our last meeting, you indicated that you have suspicions that your husband has engaged in infidelity,” Olivia continued. “Since we aren’t able to gain access to his patient list, and even if we did, approaching them would be one step beyond our personal line of ethics, we have had to get creative.”
“What do you mean, creative?” Lila asked.
“I’ve implanted myself as a new patient at your husband’s practice with the goal of getting him to approach me with an inappropriate offer.”
Rhys flinched. “Wait, what? You’re actually going to sleep with him?”
All heads turned in his direction. Olivia raised her eyebrows.
“You think I sleep with men as part of my occupation?” she asked gently.
Rhys seemed to understand what he was implying and quickly backtracked.
“I just mean…isn’t that risky? My brother isn’t exactly gentle when it comes to going after the women he wants,” Rhys argued. “You should have seen him once he decided that he wanted Lila. It was almost Machiavellian.
Lila placed a hand on his shoulder. “Rhys, they’re professionals.”
“Exactly,” added Adeline. “We’re professionals. Furthermore, every time Olivia attends a meeting with Drake, she’s fully wired and monitored by me. Plus, she’s quite capable of protecting herself.”
“Yeah, she carries a Glock in her purse.” Melanie nodded.
“She’s a perfect shot, too,” said Sunday.
Olivia appreciated her friends defending her honor. She felt disappointed in Rhys. Despite the fact that he was more pleasant than his brother, he clearly underestimated her.
“Anyway.” Olivia sighed. “No, I have no intention of sleeping with Dr. Bannon. All we need is clear evidence of him coming onto me, which is why I’ve been posing as a new client of his.”
“And how many times have you had a session with him?” Lila asked. “You are far too confident to be someone he would target.”
“Just one so far.” Olivia smiled kindly. “The first time I met with Dr. Bannon, it was for a consultation and I posed as a meek, mild-mannered potential client. He is under the impression that I am suffering from anxiety and loneliness stemming from a lack of a romantic life.”
Lila sighed forlornly. “Yeah, that’s the perfect recipe for him.”
“That explains why you acted like that in the café,” remarked Rhys.
Olivia ignored him and focused on her client. “During that first meeting, he made a few subtle flirtations, but nothing substantial.”
“He moves fast, but not that fast,” Lila confirmed. It was exactly what Olivia assumed, so she was glad that she read Drake correctly.
“I figured,” she responded. “I also did one stakeout at his office, but I either missed him or he wasn’t in the office when I was there.”
Lila glanced at Rhys. “Yeah, Rhys said he saw you that night.”
“Mm-hmm. I had my first full therapy session with him yesterday morning,” Olivia said. “While we haven’t gotten anything we can use yet, I think we made good progress. Adeline will play some clips of the recording from that session, but it includes some suggestive dialogue that might be hard to hear. Please just know that it was all an act. I have no interest in your husband other than to get what we need to see you free and clear of this marriage.” The Iron Ladies waited for Lila to nod her understanding, and then Olivia said, “Adeline, please feel free to play the audio.”
Adeline pressed a key on her laptop, and the sound of Olivia’s and Dr. Bannon’s voice filled the conference room. Olivia watched both Lila and Rhys react to the sound of him urging her to come closer, followed by his taunting words about how weak women like her needed strong men like him. Lila looked disgusted but not surprised. Of course, she already knew what her husband thought of women. She already knew just how skillfully he could twist a situation to fit his needs.
Rhys, on the other hand, looked physically pained. His knuckles were white as he clenched his hands into fists on top of the table.
When the recording ended, Lila let out a quiet breath and nodded.
“Yes, I think you’re right,” she said, clearing her throat and trying to appear more unbothered than she actually was. “You are making good progress. Thank you. I really do appreciate you putting yourself through this on my behalf.”
Before Olivia could wave off her thanks and insist that she was just doing her job, Rhys scoffed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I want to pummel his face in,” he grumbled.
“Well, that won’t do much good, will it?” Olivia replied, fixing him with a cool stare. She had not taken Rhys as the kind of man who would resort to a reaction like that so easily. “So, how about you leave it to the professionals?”
Olivia assumed that Rhys would bite back, but, not for the first time, Rhys proved that he had different impulses than his twin.
Rhys only took a deep breath and relaxed slightly.
“Are you usually this authoritative?” he asked her.
Adeline snorted. Melanie and Sunday nodded.
Olivia smirked, rolled her eyes at her friends, and then glanced back at Rhys. She liked the way he was looking at her. The respect in his gaze was apparent.
“Yes,” she replied. “Is that a problem?”
He mirrored her smirk, slipping back into the mischievous personality that Olivia recognized.
“Not at all,” he murmured. “It suits you.”
Olivia
“Did you see this email from Lila?” asked Sunday.
Olivia went over to where Sunday was sitting at the table, scrollin
g through the general inbox that contained communications from current clients and inquiries from future ones.
Lila emailed them at six that morning, which couldn’t mean anything good.
Olivia took a sip of her coffee and leaned closer to read over Sunday’s shoulder. The first few sentences of the email were about how Dr. Bannon had suggested that Lila be put on depression medication. Abuse and infidelity aside, Olivia could only imagine how annoying it must be to be married to a psychiatrist. They would probably attempt to psychoanalyze their partner at every turn.
“Well, of course, she’s depressed. She’s married to him,” scoffed Sunday. “And of course he wants to try to convince her she’s so depressed that she needs to be loaded up with drugs.”
“Yeah, this doesn’t sound great.” Olivia sighed. “I don’t know from experience, but don’t drugs like that tend to mess with your emotions?”
Sunday pursed her lips. “The side effects can be very damaging, yes, especially if provided in the wrong dosage. My guess is that Dr. Bannon is just using it as another way to control her. He wants her to think that she’s the problem and not him.”
“Should we advise her?” Olivia asked. “It’s not really our job to give her relationship advice or to recommend anything in regard to mental health treatment.”
“I think we should at least encourage her to seek treatment and medication for depression elsewhere, if she feels she would benefit from it,” Sunday said. “Given what we know about Drake so far, I don’t think he has purely honorable intentions. In fact, it sounds like he’s just trying to gaslight her.”
Olivia nodded. “My thoughts exactly. What does the rest of the email say?”
As Sunday scrolled down so they could read the rest of the email, Adeline arrived with an iced latte in hand and large and round sunglasses on her face. She breezed into the office, chirping a muted greeting and disappearing into the kitchenette.
Olivia, Striking Back (Iron Ladies Book 4) Page 4