Chapter 16 Willow
WILLOW
We pile back into the elevator, and I can feel the attention of everyone at the party on us, watching as we step inside. It makes my pulse race, being this on display, but I try not to let it rattle me—at least, not outwardly.
I keep my head high, my shoulders back, and Malice punches the button for the floor we want, letting the elevator doors slide closed.
Once we’re out of view of everyone, I let out a small breath of relief, but for the most part, we all stay quiet. We did what we came to do, but until we’re out of the building, it won’t feel safe to relax.
The guys stick close to me, keeping me surrounded as if the three of them are some kind of human shield.
We walk out of the building, passing by the valet station and heading toward the car. I can feel the tension building in the air between us as we reach it, all the unspoken words we’ve been holding inside since we left Olivia and the Copelands behind bubbling up.
Vic opens one of the back doors for me, and I duck inside the car, sliding across the seat to let him climb in beside me.
Ransom and Malice are up front, Malice behind the wheel like he usually prefers to be, and as soon as all the doors slam closed, Ransom tips his head back and lets out a wordless sound of victory.
“Fuck yes!” He clenches one hand into a fist, his eyes blazing with accomplishment and pride. He’s practically bouncing on his seat with adrenaline. “Did you see their faces? You were so fucking incredible, angel.”
“Of course she was,” Malice chimes in, shoving the key into the ignition. “She’s a fucking queen, and now they’re all going to know it.”
Ransom chuckles, shaking his head like he’s enjoying reliving every moment of our confrontation. “Fucking Olivia with her smug face when she called the cops. Like she just knew she was going to get to see us dragged away. Too bad for her she’s not the only one who knows how to blackmail.”
“That was a particular high point,” Vic agrees, smiling a little.
“And you were right. This was the perfect place to confront her.” Ransom cranes his neck a little to look back at us.
“Two birds with one stone. We got to deliver the news to the Copelands that Troy the fucking rapist is dead, and make sure they know that we’ve got dirt on them we’ll use if they try to stop Willow from claiming what’s rightfully hers. Fucking brilliant.”
Malice, in true Malice fashion, cuts in to refocus everyone before the celebrations can go on too long.
“Yeah, yeah, it was great,” he says as he pulls out onto the street. “But we need to stay on our guard. We just pissed them the fuck off, and I doubt they’re going to let that shit go easily. We don’t know what move they’re going to make next.”
“He’s right,” Vic replies, nodding. “We can’t get overconfident now.”
“I know, I know. I just want to savor the victory for a bit,” Ransom says, but he gets more serious.
I listen to them past the rushing in my ears, my entire body buzzing like a live wire.
There’s so much leftover adrenaline coursing through me from everything that just happened that I feel like I could jump out of the car, sprint back to the hotel, and still manage to beat the guys there.
Seeing Olivia was terrifying, but it was freeing in a way too.
I’m committed now.
Olivia knows Troy is dead and that I have access to his money and his shares of his family’s business.
The chance to try to slip away and run from my grandmother has passed, and I’m glad, in a way.
Running was never going to be a permanent solution.
Even if we managed to evade her, which would’ve been difficult, I would’ve spent my whole life looking over my shoulder. I couldn’t live like that.
So I’m in this now, until the very end.
As Malice drives, the four of us talk, hashing out what comes next in our plan to get my life back.
“The only downside of leveraging Troy’s assets is that now you’ll have to get involved with his family’s company.” Ransom makes a face. “I hate the idea of you being around those fuckheads any more than you have to.”
“It’s necessary,” Vic says, reaching across the seat to take my hand. It’s a simple gesture, but from him, even the smallest touches always means so much. “I know it won’t be pleasant, but you made Troy sign all of that over to you for a reason.”
He looks over at me as he finishes speaking, and I nod. “I did. I have no idea how to navigate all of that stuff, but I know I have to do it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you prepare for it. I have all the information we’re going to need. And if I don’t, I can find it.”
I smile at Vic, always grateful for his help and his diligence.
“Do you think Olivia will try to make a move before the next board meeting?” Ransom asks.
“What can she do?” Vic replies. “We’ve bought ourselves some time while she tries to untangle how badly she fucked up here, so I think we should be okay for the moment.”
We’re in as good a position as we can be, but Malice is right.
We can’t let our guards down. Still, it is nice to have finally won something against Olivia.
After months of her having the upper hand, calling all the shots, leaving us to scramble and try to figure out what the next step is, we’ve finally hit her where it hurts.
Hopefully we can keep it up.
We get back to the hotel and pile out of the car, then head inside. The front desk guy looks at us curiously, taking in our outfits and the way the guys all cluster around me, but he doesn’t say anything as we head toward the stairs.
On the second floor, Vic lets us in. As I step through the door, something odd catches my attention. It’s a nondescript cardboard box, big enough to hold a good amount of stuff, and it’s pushed up against the side of one of the beds.
It looks innocent enough, but my heart rate jacks up at the sight of it.
Is this something from Olivia or the Copelands?
Some move they’re making already? And if so, how the hell did they get it here while we were out?
Even they can’t move that fast, can they?
My head swims with possibilities, each more horrifying than the last, and Malice glances at me with concern.
“Solnyshka? What’s wrong?”
Taking a step forward, I point to the box. “What is that? Is it from Olivia or Troy’s parents? Could they have—”
I break off as a strange look passes over Malice’s face. He almost looks a little abashed, but that can’t be right. I’ve never seen that expression on his face before.
He clears his throat, looking from the box back to me. “Oh, that. It’s not from them.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s from me. I ran out earlier while you were getting ready.”
He walks over and nudges the box closer to me with his foot, and when I stare at it in confusion, he rubs the back of his neck and lets out a sigh.
“It’s for you. I… just open it.”
He hefts the box, which looks fairly heavy, setting it down on the bed. Still having no clue what’s going on here, I sit down beside it and pull open the flaps at the top. My eyebrows shoot up as I examine the contents inside.
Books.
Lots of books.
I pick one up and turn it over so I can see the cover, then glance up at Malice. “Romance novels?”
He nods. “Yeah. They’re for you to read, if you want.”
“But… why?”
Now he really does look bashful, and it’s so interesting to see this expression on his usually so harsh and determined face.
“Our mom used to really like them,” he explains, running a hand over his jaw.
He shaved for tonight, so his scruff is gone.
“And when we asked her why, she said it was because they always had a happy ending. No matter what shit the main characters went through, they always ended up together and happy in the end. So she could read them with no stress, I guess. It helped her because in her job, she saw a lot of death and pain. And our dad was a piece of shit, so maybe she used it as an escape from that too.”
His voice turns a little rough as he talks about his mom, and without even meaning to, I drop my gaze to his arm. The tattoo of her name—Diana—curves over his upper arm, hidden by his shirt at the moment, but I know it’s there.
“Anyway,” he continues, “I thought maybe you’d like them for the same reasons she did. Not to escape us, but as something with a guaranteed happily ever after at the end. After what happened to you, I just wanted you to remember that… good things exist.”
“Oh.” A lump fills my throat as his words wash over me, and that’s all I can get out at first. I turn the book over in my hands, touched more than I know how to say. “Thank you.”
He shrugs again, his dark gray eyes locked on me. “I know you’ve been going through a lot, so I just wanted to help. I’m not as good with the talking about shit.”
“You’re better than you think,” I tell him, remembering our conversation a few days ago after I woke up from that nightmare.
One corner of his mouth twitches upward in a smile, and we gaze at each other in silence for a moment. Then Ransom chuckles, breaking the moment.
“Vic, remember when Mom got that new book, and it went missing before she could finish it?” he asks.
“I remember.”
“We all thought Dad took it just to be an asshole, but now I’m wondering if maybe…” He trails off with a significant look at Malice.
Vic smiles, amusement sparking in his sharp blue eyes. “Anything’s possible, I suppose. And Malice does seem to know an awful lot about the structure of a romance novel.”
Malice’s face shifts from warm and possessive to annoyed in less than a second. “Because I asked Mom,” he grunts. “Fuck off.”
“We’re just saying,” Ransom comments, decidedly not fucking off. “There’s no shame in it if you wanted to read a good story back then. If you wanted to dream about being some dashing hero.”