23. OLIVIA
CHAPTER 23
OLIVIA
“What am I even doing?” I mutter under my breath as I flip the eggs in the pan. They look less like eggs and more like a crime scene. I glance over my shoulder to see the guys sitting around the table in Ethan’s apartment, laughing about something I can’t hear over the sound of the sizzling pan.
I can’t stop thinking about last night—or, more accurately, about how thoroughly these three men ruined me in the best possible way. I woke up tangled in sheets that smelled of all of us, sore in places I didn’t know could be sore.
But now, standing at the stove, I’m acutely aware of how bad I am at this. I barely cook for myself, let alone three men who are built like trucks.
We’re all at Ethan’s apartment. Breakfast was supposed to be ordered online after Ethan made coffee for all of us. But I wanted to do this for them. Obviously, I regret it now.
Clawdia, the little traitor, is purring contentedly on Jax’s lap. He’s stroking her head like he’s some kind of cat whisperer. I don’t get it—she hisses at strangers like she’s auditioning for a villain role, but Jax? She’s basically in love with him.
“Breakfast is served,” I announce, setting plates down with a dramatic flourish.
Three pairs of eyes land on the food. Ethan blinks. Marcus tilts his head, examining the scrambled eggs like they’re a science experiment gone wrong. Jax, ever the optimist, picks up a fork.
He takes a bite and immediately chokes, grabbing for his water. “Jesus, Liv. What did you put in this? Salt? Or the entire salt shaker?”
Marcus tries a bite next and winces. “This is… unique.”
Ethan pokes at his toast with a suspicious expression. “Is it supposed to be this... black?”
“Excuse me,” I say, planting a hand on my hip. “I slaved over this meal for you ingrates.”
Jax snorts, rubbing Clawdia’s chin. “You should’ve just let me cook.”
“Well, you didn’t offer!” I shoot back, but I’m laughing now too.
Before anyone can take another stab at the disaster I’ve called breakfast, my phone buzzes on the counter. I glance at the screen. It’s my lawyer.
“Hang on,” I tell the guys, putting it on speaker. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Olivia,” he says, his voice all business. “We’ve received confirmation that the Green family has been notified about Adam’s parentage inquiry. I wanted to let you know that Charlie might try to contact you—or the others involved.”
The apartment goes silent. I glance at the guys. They’ve all stopped eating—or pretending to eat, in this case—and are staring at the phone. Marcus is the first to speak.
“Wait, they know?” His voice is sharp, cutting through the tension.
“Yes,” my lawyer confirms. “It’s standard protocol to notify all parties when this kind of inquiry is made. Just be prepared. She might reach out, or she might take other actions.”
“Great,” I mutter, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” he says before hanging up.
I take a deep breath, trying to process. Before I can say anything, there’s a loud, rapid knock at the door.
We all freeze.
“That’s not her,” Marcus says, narrowing his eyes at the door.
“Yeah, there’s no way she’s stupid enough to come here,” Ethan adds, though he doesn’t sound entirely convinced.
Jax stands, carefully setting Clawdia on the couch. “Only one way to find out.”
Marcus opens the door, and before any of us can react, Charlie Green storms inside like a hurricane with a vendetta. Her face is twisted with rage, her sharp features contorted even more as she zeroes in on Jax.
“You!” she spits, pointing a manicured finger at him. “How dare you do this?”
Jax blinks, momentarily stunned. “Do what?”
She doesn’t even give him the chance to finish. “Don’t play dumb with me, Jax. You think you can just waltz back into my family’s life and?—”
“Hold on,” I interrupt, stepping forward. “This wasn’t Jax. I was the one who made the inquiry.”
Charlie swivels her furious glare to me, her eyes narrowing as she takes in the room. For a brief moment, her gaze flickers between Marcus, Ethan, Jax, and me, her lips pressing into a tight line as if she’s putting together pieces of a puzzle she doesn’t quite like.
“You,” she hisses, pointing at me now. “You’re worse.”
“Well, you started it,” Ethan shoots back, crossing his arms. “Dragging our channel through the mud, spreading lies, trying to ruin everything we’ve built.”
“Everything you’ve built ?” Charlie laughs, the sound harsh and grating. “Your pathetic little channel is nothing compared to the damage you’ve done to my family.”
“Oh, please,” Ethan says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Let’s not pretend you’re some innocent victim in all this.”
Charlie’s face flushes a deep red, and for a moment, I think she’s going to lunge at him. “I’ll do worse,” she snarls. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“Really?” Marcus finally speaks, his tone calm but edged with steel. “Because from where I’m standing, it seems like you’ve already thrown everything you’ve got at us.”
Charlie narrows her eyes at him, then shifts her gaze to Jax. Her lips curl in a sneer. “And you,” she says, jabbing a finger at him again. “Don’t think for a second that this is over. You think you can just abandon your responsibilities and walk away scot-free?”
Jax’s jaw tightens, but he doesn’t reply. I glance at him, then back at Charlie. “We’re not trying to hurt anyone,” I say, my voice as steady as I can manage. “But you made this personal when you went after us.”
“This is personal,” she snaps, stepping closer to me. Her voice lowers, venom dripping from every word. “And if you think for a second that I’ll let you get away with this?—”
“You’re the one barging into our space, screaming threats,” Ethan cuts in, his voice rising. “You want to play the victim, but you’re the one who started this war.”
Charlie narrows her eyes at him, then at Marcus, and finally at me. There’s something calculating in her expression now, like she’s trying to piece together what’s really going on in this room. Her gaze lingers on me for a beat too long, then darts back to Jax.
“You’re all disgusting,” she spits. “I hope you know that.”
“Yeah, we’re devastated by your opinion,” Jax says dryly, but there’s tension in his voice, and I can see the way his hands clench at his sides.
“You walked away once!” she spits, her face red with fury as she glares at Jax. “What makes you think you have any right to be in our lives now?”
I blink, my heart skipping a beat. Did she just?—?
Jax freezes, his usually confident posture wilting under the weight of her words. “I didn’t—” he starts, but his voice falters.
Charlie doesn’t let up. “You think you can waltz back in like nothing happened? After what you did to Charmaine?”
“I didn’t even know she was with my child,” Jax says, exasperated. “I didn’t even know I had a kid till a few days ago.”
Marcus looks equally floored. My gaze falls to Ethan who has a weird expression on his face as he takes a few steps back. And I—well I already knew the truth but it still feels weird to hear it come out of Charlie’s mouth.
I take a deep breath, stepping forward before this explodes into something even worse. “Charlie,” I say, my voice steady but calm. “We’re not trying to disrupt your life.”
Her gaze snaps to me, her eyes blazing. “Aren’t you?” she sneers. “You dig up records, barge into things that don’t concern you?—”
“We’re just trying to understand the situation,” I cut her off, keeping my tone even. “This isn’t about prying into your life. It’s about figuring out how to handle this... together.”
“Together?” she scoffs, her hands flying up in exasperation. “What does that even mean?”
I take another step forward, forcing myself to hold her fiery gaze. “It means that no one here is trying to take Adam away from your family. It means that Jax is still processing this, too, and none of us want to make things harder than they already are.”
“Processing?” she finally snaps, her voice cracking. “You don’t think Charmaine’s been processing this for years? Raising him alone while he—” she points a trembling finger at Jax “—went off and lived his life without a second thought?”
“Like I said, I had no fucking idea,” Jax says, raking his fingers through his hair.
“Bullshit,” Charlie says. “You think you have some power over us now, thanks to your enquiry? You think a few kind words and some fake remorse are going to fix this? Let me make myself very clear,” she hisses, her gaze locking onto Jax like a hawk. “I am going to ruin your lives for this.”
“Even at the cost of Adam?” Jax finally asks.
Charlie’s face hardens, a flicker of something indiscernible passing through her eyes before she composes herself. “I’ll make sure your little show never sees the light of day again,” she snaps. “And I’ll bury all of you if I have to.”
Before any of us can respond, she spins on her heel and storms out, slamming the door so hard the frame rattles.
The silence that follows is deafening. My chest is tight, my breaths shallow as I try to process what just happened. Jax looks like he’s about to explode, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Marcus and Ethan exchange uneasy glances, both of them clearly trying to gauge the next move.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Ethan subtly step forward, his hand slipping into his pocket. There’s a faint click, barely audible, but it’s enough to snap me out of my stupor.
I whirl around to face him. “What was that?” I demand.
Ethan’s expression is unreadable as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, holding it up for all of us to see. “I got all of that on camera,” he says calmly, his voice low but steady.
Jax blinks, his anger momentarily replaced by surprise. “You—what?”
Marcus raises a brow, clearly caught off guard but quickly catching on. “You recorded her?”
Ethan nods, his grip on the phone tightening. “Every word.”
“You’re kidding,” I mutter, stepping closer to him. My pulse races as I think about the implications. “You actually recorded her threatening us?”
“And admitting she’s trying to sabotage us.”
Jax lets out a low whistle, running a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe you thought to do that.”
Marcus crosses his arms, his brow furrowed. “This changes things,” he says thoughtfully. “We might actually have leverage now.”
Ethan’s eyes meet mine, and for a moment, there’s a flicker of something softer in his gaze. “I wasn’t going to let her walk all over us,” he says simply. “Not without some kind of backup.”
Jax leans back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and a grin spreading across his face. “Great. We have immunity now. She can’t touch us.”
“Not so quick,” Marcus interjects, his voice calm but laced with skepticism. He moves to stand near Ethan, his brow furrowed as he glances at the phone still clutched in Ethan’s hand. “I don’t trust her. She’s calculating, and this might just be a trap to bait us into making the first move.”
“There’s more,” I say. “I can’t explain it, but I saw the way she looked at us….do you think she suspects something?”
“I can’t help it if it’s my fault,” Jax says. “We have great chemistry.”
A smile tugs on my lip. “Be serious Jax, for once.”
His small smile fades. “I’m with Marcus on this one. I don’t trust that snake.”
“If what you’re saying is true, she might try to twist our story before we come out with it ourselves,” Marcus says. “And that can’t mean anything good for us or Love Lab.”
“Marcus is right,” Ethan says, his voice surprisingly steady. He’s watching me, his expression unreadable, but there’s a determined glint in his eyes. “We need to take control of the narrative.”
“What are you suggesting?” Jax asks, his grin replaced by a wary frown.
Ethan takes a deep breath, his gaze flickering between the three of us before settling on me. “We put it on the channel.”
“What?” I say, startled. “Put what on the channel?”
“The truth,” Ethan replies, his voice firm. “We tell the world what’s really going on. That we’re…together.”
“Are you serious? That’s insane. People will lose their minds.”
“Maybe,” Ethan says, his gaze meeting mine steadily. “But it’s better than letting Charlie control the narrative. If we own it, no one can use it against us.”
Jax nods, his jaw tightening. “He’s right. If we come clean, it’s on our terms.”
Marcus, however, doesn’t look entirely convinced. “It’s a risk,” he says. “Not just for us, but for Olivia. Are you sure you’re ready for that kind of attention?”
I hesitate.
My career, my reputation, everything I’ve worked for—it could all be jeopardized by this one decision. Pretending to date three men simultaneously in front of cameras is one thing, but actually dating them…all at once, well, that’s definitely something.
“What’s on your mind?” I ask Marcus. “Ideas?”
He grins. “I thought you’d never ask.”