I slowly lowered to the couch and looked out the window. Definitely not out there either. Not good.
Aiden came over to the couch and turned off his phone. “I called Julia, she said you had an appointment on the calendar two weeks ago that you missed?”
“Uhm, yeah that sounds about right. I had to work someone else’s shift. Shit.”
“Language, princess. It’s my fault, I should have asked last night babe.”
I looked over at him slightly panicked. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me soundly on the mouth, his hands rubbing my back.
“Don’t worry. Let me get showered and we’ll go for a walk.”
“But—”
“Olivia don’t stress about it. Worrying isn’t going to change anything. If you’ve been on them for a while the likelihood of getting pregnant is very slim. I’ll call Logan and have him call over to your doctor.”
“Oh! No, you don’t have to do that! Really, I can just make another appointment.”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said with some finality.
“Uhm.”
He kissed me again and stood up. “Want to take a shower with me?”
Gawd yes, and no. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
Aiden laughed and pulled his shirt off. His muscles flexed when he did and I could smell his sweaty scent.
“Babe, there are other things we can do, and I can get condoms. I just didn’t think last night. Or this morning. Your little prance out of bed made me forget about it.”
I nodded. “I’m going to hang up my dress and see what other clothes Julia packed.”
He pursed his lips. “Don’t worry, very little chance.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
He leaned down to kiss me before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.
Shit, shit, shit!
I walked back outside on the back porch and retrieved my phone. I dialed Julia.
“Hey preggo,” she greeted me.
“That’s not funny Jules!”
She laughed. “What’s not funny, is you neglecting to tell me you slept with Aiden. How was it?”
I groaned and told her a couple of details.
“Wow. I want one of those for my birthday.”
“Well that’s six months away. Start trying to be nice.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Those pregnancy hormones already getting to you?”
“Jules!”
“What? I’m teasing. So, you skipped a couple. No big deal.”
“Now is not the time to tease. I’m freaking out. The thing is I forgot that appointment. I haven’t been on birth control for over a year. I was supposed to get new ones and I just kept putting it off.”
I thought I heard something in the kitchen and turned around to see what it was. The last thing I needed was Aiden overhearing our conversation. The doors were still open but there was nothing there. Maybe I was just paranoid but I stepped back in to listen. I thought I heard a door shut in the house, but it was probably Aiden making noise in the bathroom.
Julia was talking. “What do you mean you’ve been off the pill? I’ve seen a packet underneath your bathroom cabinet where you keep your tampons.”
“That’s an old pack I just keep forgetting to throw out. I seriously thought I had gone to that appointment. I remember picking up a prescription two weeks ago.”
“Sweetie, that was for your allergy meds.”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
“Don’t let Mr. Bossy hear you.”
“He’s in the shower. Okay, thanks Jules. I have no idea what I’m going to do.”
“You’re going to remain calm and deal with this like an adult. Get another appointment, in the meantime use a condom, if they make them that big, and keep working at this relationship thing you’re completely not doing.”
“Okay. Love ya, bye.”
“Love ya!”
She hung up.
I looked into the distance past the buildings and started walking with my phone in my hand. I really didn’t have a destination but I needed to get my mind clear.
Going along the same path that I’d seen the guys come from earlier, I followed it past the outbuilding.
“Miss Dawkins,” I heard behind me. I turned and saw Dylan coming up the path in a pair of black pants and a green shirt. “Where’s Aiden?”
“He’s taking a shower, I thought I might take a stroll and clear my head.”
He smiled. “I’ll come with you. He wouldn’t want you going alone.”
“Dylan, I’m fine. Really.”
“Well,” he gave me a pensive look, “tell ya what. You walk and I’ll just be back here following because I wanted to walk too, and we’ll pretend I’m not guarding you.”
I laughed. “Oh please. C’mon. And start calling me Liv. That’s an order.”
We walked down the path that meandered through some trees. It led out on to a huge field. The grass was cut low and there were several men running around through what looked like an obstacle course.
“What is all that?”
“Training course. When we’re on shift, we take rotations coming out here to run through it. Holden spends most of his time out here when he’s around. Aiden runs through it some mornings. We all get our time in the mud.”
Now that I understood what I was seeing, I watched two men trying to race each other over a wooden wall, scrambling to the top and then over it. They hit the ground at roughly the same time and then ran over to a muddy pit that they crawled through. Suddenly, I saw two bushes moved through a grassy portion to the left of the field.
“What the devil?”
Dylan laughed. “Saw that, did you? Yeah, that’s part of the course too. Camouflaged stalking basically. Holden and Aiden hold the record when we have contests out here. Eh, there’s more to it but Aiden should show you. We should go back.”
I turned to walk back with him, not commenting. Who would have a training course like that in their backyard, and what country were they planning on invading?
“How many guys do you have out here at once?”
Dylan thought for a second. “Roughly fifteen. Some just for training, Holden’s pretty strict about all that.”
We were headed through the trees again, nearly to the buildings when we heard shouting. We started jogging to get down the path quicker. When we turned the last corner around the outbuilding I saw Aiden barking at two of his men and then sending them off to parts unknown. He was pointing and waving his arms around like a lunatic.
His face was angry and red. His chest was puffed out like he had been lifting cars. He had black jeans on but was otherwise bare chested and waving a gun.
He was prowling and looked like he wanted to kill someone. Holden and Jake were on the porch behind him on their cells.
Aiden turned toward us and growled. “Dylan what the fuck!”
Dylan stepped back and put a hand up in a passive gesture.
“Aiden, what’s wrong?” I said calmly as I stepped around Dylan.
“Where have you been? I couldn’t find you!”
I walked forward and put a hand on his chest. It was warm and he smelled like soap. I felt the thundering of his heart against my palm. He wasn’t calming down much, but at least he had stopped waiving his gun in the air.
“I took a walk and Dylan made sure I was escorted even after I told him I didn’t need to be escorted. That was nice, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah nice,” he said while he holstered his gun. “Why didn’t you wait?! I’ve been going out of my mind here.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and started poking him in his chest with my finger.
“Aiden Lucas Latimer! I wasn’t abducted by aliens or taken off into the woods by bigfoot. I’m right here. I went for a walk to get my head clear. We went to look at the training field and I got distracted watching it. Dylan, was very nice and walked with me the entire way.”
Aiden clenched his jaw. “Babe.”
“No, you
chill out and stop yelling. You’re overreacting. Not everything is a crisis.”
“Woman, you could have been hurt somewhere, and I’d like to remind you that there is an ex of yours on the loose that’s insane and armed! Don’t you point that tiny finger at me and tell me I’m overreacting!”
I stopped poking him and grimaced. “Uh, I forgot to tell you.”
He frowned down at me. “What?!”
My chin jutted out and I stared at the tattoo on his chest, not wanting to meet his eyes. “Brandon texted yesterday.”
“Damnit Olivia, why didn’t you say something?!”
Someone behind Aiden cleared their throat.
“I forgot,” I said while still looking at his chest.
“Forgot? What the hell? Give me your phone.”
I handed it to him. He snatched it out of my hand and turned around to Jake and Holden. “Why the hell am I the last person to know when shit goes down? Why isn’t Brock all over this?”
Holden answered, “I’ll reach out to him. He said it was monitored.”
I looked over Aiden’s shoulder. Jake looked like he was ready to punch someone. “I wouldn’t have taken her out of the house had I known.”
Aiden gave a small sarcastic laugh. “No worries, apparently, her safety isn’t important to her either!”
Jake blanched at the criticism.
My face felt flushed. I was standing right here. If he wanted to embarrass me he couldn’t have tried any harder. With the events of the night I had just forgotten about it completely.
I stomped my foot and yelled at him. “I’m going home!”
He turned around to face me. “The hell you are, you could be pregnant!”
I gasped and looked over his shoulder at Holden and Jake. Both of them looked stunned with their mouths half open. I turned my head toward Dylan who had come around to the side of us. His expression was equally shocked and turning two shades of red.
My face was now burning from embarrassment. We shared those moments and that concern in private. It wasn’t for other people to know about. My life and my secrets were closed up tight and this arrogant man had just aired something without discretion.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. There was nothing confidential in his house. The guys came and went. No notice when they were in or out. Aiden shared private information and everyone knew everything about me. The only exception might be about what Brandon did to me, but even then, at least one other person had a vague idea.
Speaking of which, I heard someone clear their throat and saw Logan coming out of the house to watch the drama. “If you’re done being an insufferable ass Aiden, I’d like to talk with Olivia.”
Aiden let out a loud frustrated sigh. He grabbed me around the waist and kissed me hard. His lips moved over me and his tongue invaded my mouth for a brief hot moment. Then he ripped his mouth from me and said, “You’re mine. He’ll never hurt you. Ever.”
I blinked up at him, still angry, my lips swollen from the kiss. The smell of his fresh scent still filling my nose.
“I wasn’t worried about me. He threatened you too. And he’s probably clear across the country by now anyway. I want to go home.”
His jaw clenched. He handed me my phone, let me go, and stalked toward the path that led to the training field while shaking his head.
Logan let out an annoyed sigh. “Holden, can you go calm that idiot down. Go run him through the mud a few times and let him shoot someone.”
“I’m not even sure that’s going to do it. Liv just brings out the crazy in him.”
I scowled at Holden. “I thought you went in to work. What are you doing here?”
Jake answered, “I got a call from Trevor that he was coming by to see Aiden. He fired him the other day so I thought I would help Aiden hear him out.”
Holden replied, “Same. He has to turn in his weapons so I thought I’d come by and see if the old man would give him another shot.”
“Is Trevor here?”
Holden shrugged. “Haven’t seen him yet. And Aiden’s half-crazy right now as it is so it probably won’t go well since you’re driving him up the wall.”
“You’re one to talk Holden.”
“What does that mean?”
“Julia?”
It was like invoking the name of a mortal enemy. Holden’s face got tight and he looked as pissed as Aiden had been. He stalked down the stairs and stood in front of me. “Aiden is one of my brothers Liv. Don’t ever screw him over.”
I blanched at his words and watched him walk away. What he said was put in such a way that it felt like a slap in the face. Why would he say that? What had I done?
I looked up at Logan and Jake confused.
Jake walked down the stairs shaking his head and said, “Don’t worry about it. They’re just hotheads sometimes.” He followed after Holden.
My shoulders sank and I looked at the ground.
“Miss Dawkins?” Dylan said.
I burst into tears, my chest shaking. I clutched a hand to my heart. I ran up the stairs past the doctor and into the bedroom. I locked the door, threw my phone across the bed and crawled across the comforter, burying my face in a pillow.
The pillow smelled like him. His musky, sexy scent lingering in the soft fabric.
Stupid pillow! I punched it and threw it across the room. I buried my head in the second pillow. Same thing. Pillow gone.
All the pillows were thrown to the floor when I heard a tapping on the door.
“Liv it’s me, Logan. Can I come in?” The doorknob rattled.
“I’m not through beating up pillows!” I sobbed.
“Look, if it makes you feel any better I had to sleep in close quarters with both them, Cade and Brock for five long years. I understand the compulsion to punch something right now. But I do want to talk with you and would like to do that in a private manner, unlike what Aiden did, because he was being an ass.”
“Doc, unless you’re busting me out of here, I have nothing to say.”
“Yes, I could arrange that.”
I ran across the room wiping at my cheeks and unlocked the door. “Now?”
He sighed. “On one condition. You take Dylan with you.”
Dylan was standing farther back in the hallways trying not to hear the conversation.
“And we have to have a talk about those pills Aiden called me about.” He walked into the room and lowered his voice. “Did you tell Aiden that you haven’t been on birth control for a year?”
“No. I thought I had them, I forgot I skipped that appointment. I swear I thought I picked them up. I was certain I did.”
“I called your doctor after Aiden called me. Olivia, it’s unlikely but in the meantime, don’t drink, smoke or get in anymore car wrecks. Did you stop taking the pain meds?”
“Yes, last one was yesterday or maybe the day before.”
“Okay, good. I was serious about releasing you yesterday afternoon.”
He paused for a moment in thought. “I’m just going to give you this advice about Aiden. He’ll love you deeply if you let him. He’s a fiercely protective man. He’ll stomp around and make a lot of noise but he is a very deep person emotionally in some ways. Don’t ever repeat that to him or I’ll deny it. It would ruin the hostile friendship we maintain.”
I gave him a small smile. “Right now I’m not sure if I even want to see him again much less talk to him. I won’t tell him though. You’ve been incredibly kind to me. Thank you.”
He winked at me. “You’re welcome Olivia. He’ll calm down eventually.”
“Eh, it’s not that. I’m just so pissed he has shares everything like that. Then there’s just the constant parade of people in and out. You know, it’s not my house, I get it, but there are some things that should be contained. Is that the right word? Just private.”
Logan chuckled, “Welcome to being a part of a very close-knit and strange group. We’re in a lot of ways, what remains of his family. He’ll learn.�
��
Dylan poked his head in the door. “Are you ready to go Miss Dawkins?”
“Dylan, I don’t want to get you fired.”
“He would fire me if I let you go alone. He won’t fire me for guarding you. I’m disobeying his orders, which he may get pissed about, but he won’t fire me because you requested that I come with you. See how that works?”
I laughed. “I get it. I’m officially requesting your services Dylan.”
He smiled. “Uh-huh.”
I grabbed my bag that Julia had packed earlier. I left the other clothes in his drawer. I could get it later or let it go. It was all replaceable. Then I grabbed my satchel, repacked it and threw my phone in it.
Both men walked me out the front door, past Aiden’s two goons, and I climbed into one of the BMW cars.
Logan leaned in the car and smiled. “Good luck. I would expect small arms fire, battering rams, and air raids later. He’s going to be relentless.”
I looked down at my hands. “That’s fine. He’ll learn that an apology goes a long way. I just need some time by myself to think.”
Logan tapped the top of the car. “Give it a lot of thought Olivia. I think you’re good for him as much as he’s good for you. Tell Miss White, hello.”
He shut the door and walked back toward the house. He turned to wave when he reached the door and then he was gone. The two goons out front resumed their positions. Logan was such a nice man. Too bad I wasn’t in the least bit attracted to him.
Dylan glanced over his shoulder from the front seat and told me to put a seatbelt on. I buckled it as we pulled forward down the driveway.
I looked over Aiden’s house as we slowly pulled past it. I felt hurt and very confused, wondering if I would ever be back. I didn’t know if I was honestly doing the right thing or not. Regardless, some distance for now wouldn’t hurt.
Dylan turned his head toward me. “Are you sure you want to leave Miss Dawkins?”
“Yeah, take me home Dylan.”
Suddenly, there was a huge fireball that exploded from the windows of the house. Glass flew outward forcibly, and the car was showered with debris.
Then the house exploded.
I screamed as the car was thrown sideways from the blast, into a tree and then everything went black.
Run (Lakefield Book 1) Page 14