by Sandi Lynn
Oliver cleared his throat. “Good morning, Clara.”
Liam started to laugh.
“I spoke with Sophie after you left the bedroom.”
“How is she?”
“She’s doing very well. She’s enjoying her time with Kelsey and Matt. She said she misses us.”
“I’m glad she’s having a good time.”
Oliver looked to Liam. “When do we get to meet Isabelle?” he asked.
“We aren’t seeing each other anymore. She was too high maintenance. She reminded me of Laurel. Red flags started going up and I bolted.”
“Aw, I’m sorry,” I pouted.
“It’s okay. I’m still exploring. Testing the waters.” He winked.
****
Oliver
The next week and a half went by fast and I was the happiest I’d ever been. Delilah and I spent a lot of time together in the bedroom and we couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. She was amazing in bed and fucked me like no other woman ever had. The feeling that crept up inside me when I was with her unnerved me. When she wasn’t around, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I found myself missing her while I was at the office. Wondering what she was doing, what she was eating, who she was seeing. One day, during the middle of the afternoon, I was on my way to a meeting when I saw her sitting on the street corner, playing her guitar. I made Scott pull over and I stood at a distance and watched her. Her smile lit up all of New York and she touched the souls of people that were around her with her music. The final numbers for our fundraiser came in and we had made close to a million dollars. That was double what we made last year and I knew Delilah was responsible for part of that. People genuinely liked her when they were in her presence. She was the type of girl who deserved the world, especially after the life she had lived. I didn’t know how things were going to change when Sophie returned home. We would have to be more careful than what we had been. We spent all of our nights in my bedroom, making love and enjoying each other’s company. I felt like we were in some sort of fantasy world and that when Sophie came home, we’d be back to reality.
Everything was going perfectly until one night, when she said something in her sleep.
“I love you, Oliver.”
When I heard her say those words, I became unhinged. Many women had spoken those three words to me before and I didn’t give a damn. It never affected me and I was able to brush it off as nothing. But when Delilah said them, even though she was asleep, memories flooded my mind and I went back to when I was seventeen years old. I climbed out of bed and poured myself a drink and took a seat at the piano, softly pressing one key at a time.
“Hey. Are you okay?” I heard her angelic voice say.
“I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep. I have a lot on my mind.”
She walked over to me and placed her hands on my shoulders. Her touch was just as overwhelming as always.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. Go back to bed,” I spoke sternly.
She sensed something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell her what she’d said and how I felt.
“Oliver, what’s wrong?”
“I told you I have a lot on my mind. Now do as I say and go back to bed.”
“Excuse me? You will not speak to me that way. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in my room, sleeping in my own bed.” She walked away.
I sighed. I was changing, becoming the man I once was. I was losing control; the control I’d spent so many years building.
Chapter 28
Delilah
I lay in my own bed with tears streaming down my face. I didn’t understand what happened and why Oliver would speak to me the way he did. He didn’t come to my room last night and I was nervous as hell to see him this morning. I walked downstairs and grabbed some coffee.
“Good morning, Clara. Has Oliver been down yet?”
“Yes. He’s gone already.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know, Delilah. He didn’t say.”
I took my coffee and sat outside on the patio and pondered what could have prompted Oliver’s sudden change in behavior. When we fell asleep, everything was perfect. We had just had mind-blowing sex for the second time. The way he spoke to me was out of anger and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me what could have happened, and I hated him at that moment for not opening up and talking to me. Whatever it was, it needed to be resolved before Sophie came home in a couple of days. I missed him already and I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around him and tell him that everything was going to be fine.
I spent the day running a couple of errands and then I took my guitar to Central Park and sat beneath the oak tree and played some music to soothe my soul. When I returned home, Oliver wasn’t home yet and dinner was ready.
“He’s not home yet?” I asked.
“No, but he called me and said that he won’t be home until late tonight. I had already started to cook and I couldn’t let it go to waste.”
“Will you eat with me, Clara?” I asked with a sadness in my voice.
I wondered why he didn’t bother to call and tell me. What was going on with him?
Clara fixed our plates and we sat at the kitchen table. “What’s wrong, Delilah? Did something happen between you and Mr. Wyatt?”
I looked down as I swirled my fork around the mashed potatoes. “I don’t know. When I woke up last night, he wasn’t in bed. I went down to the living room and he was sitting at the piano with a drink in his hand. When I asked him what was wrong, he yelled at me and told me to go back to bed. He said he had a lot on his mind. But he wouldn’t talk to me about it.”
She sighed. “Mr. Wyatt is a complicated man. I’ve seen a lot of women walk in and out of his life over the past seven years. Elaine, Sophie’s mother, was a troubled girl. I felt sorry for her. She was so in love with Oliver. I think it was more the lifestyle he could provide her and her obsession with him.”
“How long were they together?” I asked.
“They really weren’t together. They dated on and off for a few months. It was never anything steady. He never let anyone get close to him. He always kept the women he dated at a distance.”
“Even Laurel?”
“Yes, even Laurel. I could never figure out what he saw in her to keep her around for as long as he did. I suspect it was because she was just like him and it was a relationship of convenience. But then again, I think she was starting to push him into getting closer and taking their relationship to the next level. Then you walked into his life.” She smiled.
“Yay me.”
“When he told me that he hired another nanny for Sophie, I rolled my eyes. I was giving it a week before she drove you out of here. When you walked through that door for the first time and I saw you, I knew right away you were the one.”
“How?”
“I just knew, Delilah, and I think Oliver did too. He was different when he talked about you. I’m going to tell you something. All the women he’s dated over the years, including Laurel, have never slept in his bed. You were the first and when I walked in that morning and saw both of your clothes lying on the kitchen floor, I was beyond happy.”
“Really?” I smiled.
“Yes. You are changing him and I see it every day. He’s more attentive with Sophie than he’s ever been and he seems happier. That child also sees it and she loves you. The change in her behavior since you moved in is astounding.”
“She just needed to feel loved and I could relate to that. I believe that was our connection.”
Clara reached over and placed her hand on mine. “Don’t worry about Mr. Wyatt. Whatever’s bothering him, he’ll come around and he’ll talk to you. Don’t give up on him yet. He has a lot of issues to work out.”
“Thanks, Clara.”
She got up from the table and took both our plates.
“You go home to your family. I’ll clean this up.”
“No. I’ll help you.” She gave a small sm
ile.
We cleaned up the dishes and I gave her a hug goodbye. I went up to my room and looked at the clock. It read eight thirty. I sat down on my bed and strummed my guitar, working on some new melodies. Before I knew it, it was eleven o’clock and he still wasn’t home. No phone call, no text message. Where was he? I got up from the bed and decided to go to the Red Room for a while and hang out with Jonah.
It was one-thirty in the morning when I walked through the door. I didn’t know if he was home and I didn’t care. I had a few White Russians and I was feeling it. When I reached the top of the stairs to the living room, I saw Oliver glaring at me from the leather chair.
“Where the hell were you?”
I held up my finger. “I was out. Where were you?”
“That’s none of your concern. I’m your boss. You aren’t mine.”
Those words punched me right in the gut. He was looking for a fight and I had no idea why. “And it’s none of your concern where I was either, boss. I’m not on the clock. Sophie isn’t here.”
“Don’t you dare give me that attitude,” he spoke sternly as he got up from the chair.
“I don’t have the strength to argue with you. I need to go to bed.”
“You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have and now I need to go sleep it off.”
“You aren’t going anywhere until I say you can go.” He took hold of my arm.
I jerked away from him and stumbled from the dizziness I was feeling from the alcohol.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I screamed. “Why can’t you talk to me?”
He turned around and took a few steps away from me. “Just go to bed.”
Now I was pissed off and I was going to get to the bottom of his sudden change. “No. I’m not going to bed until you tell me why you’re acting like this.”
“Go to bed, Delilah!” he yelled.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you’re being such a dick!” My voice could have raised the dead.
He stood there and didn’t say a word. His silence angered me. I walked up behind him and grabbed his arm.
“Damn you, Oliver. Talk to me! What the fuck did I do to deserve to be treated like this?” Tears had formed in my eyes.
He whipped his body around and grabbed hold of my arms, his face inches from mine. “You want to know what you did. You said last night that you loved me.” He let go of my arms and turned his back on me.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“You were asleep and you said that you loved me. You broke my trust. You weren’t supposed to fall in love with me.”
The tears streamed down my face as I tried to comprehend his words. A sickness crept up inside of me and my heart ached. My chest tightened and I found it hard to breathe. I was falling apart, losing control, and there was nothing that I could do to stop it but give in and give up.
“You made me fall in love with you.”
“Why? Because I fucked you? Is that all it takes for you to fall in love with someone?”
Cold hearted bastard. I couldn’t respond. His words were like a knife through my heart. I walked away and went up to my room. I stripped out of my clothes and climbed into bed. I didn’t have the energy to even put on my pajamas. I just wanted to crawl under the covers and die. I waited for him to come to my room and apologize, but he didn’t. I thought I knew Oliver Wyatt. I thought I saw past his flaws and his pain, but I was wrong, and now, I had fallen in love for the first time in my life and it left me broken.
****
How was I going to face him after last night? I didn’t even want to see him because the urge to slap him was still on the forefront of my mind. The only reason I slept was because of the alcohol I consumed. I looked at the clock as I rolled over, swollen eyes barely open. It was seven o’clock. If I stayed in my room another hour, he’d be gone to the office and I won’t have to see him. I got up, took my time in the shower, got dressed, and looked at the clock again. It was eight fifteen. I walked down the stairs to the kitchen to find Clara cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
“Good morning, Delilah.”
“Morning, Clara. Did he leave?”
“Yes. He’s gone. What happened last night? He was in a foul mood this morning.”
“He’s not the only one.” I poured a cup of coffee and took it outside on the patio.
As I was typing a text message to Liam, my phone rang with an unfamiliar number from Boston.
“Hello.”
“Miss Graham?” the voice on the other end spoke.
“Yes.”
“This is Massachusetts General Hospital calling. Your brother, Tanner, has been in an accident.”
My heart stopped. “What? What kind of accident?”
“He was hit by a car. We feel you should get here as soon as possible.”
I started to shake uncontrollably. “Is he alive?”
“Yes. But he’s in very critical condition. It’s imperative that you get here as soon as possible.”
“Thank you. I’m on my way.”
I went to get up from my seat and could barely stand. I gripped the arm of the chair for a moment to collect myself. Okay, calm down. Gather your thoughts, Delilah. The first thing I needed to do was book a flight to Boston. I called the airlines and asked when the next flight out was. Three hours. I booked the flight and went upstairs to pack my bag and grab my guitar.
“Clara, my brother was in an accident,” I said with tears in my eyes.
“Oh no, Delilah. Is he okay?”
“He’s in critical condition and I have to get there as soon as possible. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I have to leave now.”
“Do you need me to call Scott?”
“No. I’ll take a cab.”
“Take care of yourself, Delilah.” She gave me a warm hug.
“Sophie is coming home tomorrow. Please keep an eye on her while I’m gone.”
“Of course I will. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
I left the house, walked down the street, and took a cab to JKF airport. I sent a text message to Jenny.
“Tanner was in an accident and he’s in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital. I’m on my way there now. I’ll call you when I have more information.”
“Oh my God. He’ll be fine, Delilah. Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. Stay in New York. I’ll be fine.”
“Call me the minute you get to the hospital.”
On my way to the airport, I pondered whether or not to tell Oliver. I had no choice; he was my boss and I wasn’t going to be there when Sophie got home tomorrow. Shit. I was sure, after last night, I no longer had a job anyway. But, until he fired me, he was still my boss.
“My brother was in a bad accident and I had to leave to go be with him. I just wanted you to know that I don’t know when I’ll be back. Clara promised she would look after Sophie until I return.”
I waited for a response and one didn’t come through. I boarded the plane, turned off my phone, and curled up in my seat, praying to God that Tanner was okay.
Chapter 29
Oliver
I had been in meetings all day. Liam and I were about to head for a late lunch when I pulled my phone from my pocket and read Delilah’s text message.
“FUCK!”
“What’s wrong?” Liam asked.
“Delilah’s brother was in a bad accident and she left to go be with him. Sophie’s coming home tomorrow. She’ll be devastated if Delilah isn’t there.”
“Seriously? Where did she go?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t say and the thing is, she has two brothers.”
“Sorry, bro, but her brother takes precedent over you and Sophie.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I scowled.
“What’s going on with you and her? You’ve been in a shit mood for the past few days.”
“Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it. Now
let’s go grab some lunch before the next meeting.”
I wasn’t ready to talk to Liam about what Delilah said because I knew if I did, he’d go into a long-winded speech, and I wasn’t in the mood. I felt bad for what happened to her brother and wish I knew where she went off to. Maybe Clara knew. I dialed her.
“Hello, Mr. Wyatt.”
“Clara, where did Delilah go?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t say.”
“Did she tell you which brother was in an accident?”
“No. She just said she had to go and she packed a bag and left. Don’t worry about Sophie. I’ll take care of her when she returns tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Clara. If you hear anything from Delilah, let me know.”
I sighed.
“I was in meetings all day and just got your message. I’m sorry about your brother. Where are you?”
She didn’t respond. “Text Delilah and ask her where she is. Maybe she’ll respond to you,” I said to Liam as we sat down for lunch.
“Why wouldn’t she respond to you? What the fuck did you do to her?”
“Nothing. I’m not getting into this now. Just do it.”
He sent her a text message and, as we ate lunch, he kept checking his phone. “She’s not responding to me either. I swear to God, Oliver, if you hurt her in any way.”
“Drop it, Liam. I didn’t. We had an argument and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Whatever. But I’m going to say this once and only once. If this has anything to do with what happened with Kristen, you better fucking get over it. Go seek therapy if you have to. Delilah is the best thing that has ever happened in your life, aside from Sophie, and you’d be a fool to let her go. Shit, if you weren’t my brother, I’d go after her myself. It’s been thirteen years, Oliver. Thirteen fucking years.”
“Drop it!” I spat.
“I will for now because I said what I needed to say. Take my words and think about it.”
We ate the rest of lunch in silence and then headed back to the office for another meeting.
****
Delilah
I went up to the ICU and the nurse took me to Tanner’s room. I stopped in the doorway and stared at all the tubes and wires coming from him. His head was wrapped in white bandages, his face was bruised and swollen, and his leg was in a cast. Tears filled my eyes and I felt sick to my stomach as I began to shake.