16. Olivia
16
OLIVIA
It took me a while to recover from my stupor. My brain had to process what just happened. I was pretty much almost kidnapped by a gangster because my brother was more messed up than I thought, and the last person I expected to see came to my rescue.
“Olivia, are you alright?” Alex’s deep voice seeped into me and pulled me from the edge of panic. The sound of his voice still soothed me like it used to.
Still caught up in my panicked haze, I turned to him and whacked him on the chest with my purse. “Goddamn it, Alex! Why would you do that?”
His eyes widened and his jaw slackened. “Olivia, what…?” He shook his head. “I just saved your ass and the thanks I get is to be battered with a goddamn purse?”
The sound that escaped me was something between a humorless laugh and a groan. I clutched my head with one hand while I stared at my weapon in the other. “God, Alex, I’m sorry… It’s just…” I threw my arms up. “You just put yourself in the same pile of shit I’m in! Why did you have to come out here and be your usual cocky and reckless self?”
“Helping you is cocky and reckless? Unbelievable! If I’m still my old reckless self, then you’re still the same arrogant woman who thinks she can take on gangsters because of her last name.”
His words were like a bucket of cold water jolting me back to reality. Goodness, I didn’t tell him thanks. His harshness also stung because I didn’t want him to think of me like that. Sure, I could be arrogant. It came with being in charge of a multibillion-dollar empire, but I wasn’t an ungrateful bitch.
“I… Alex… Thank you. I don’t mean to come off as unappreciative. I just hate that you’ve put yourself in danger. You realize that man will figure out who you are soon, right? I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He blinked. “Oh…”
His bewildered expression made me feel like the worst. Did he really think I was heartless? Then again, I had no one to blame for that but myself.
“I guess I’m also shocked.” I searched his face. “I don’t understand why you’d help me.”
It could be my imagination or a trick of the poor lighting, but I thought I saw the slightest tinge of pink highlight his cheeks. “It’s the decent thing to do,” he muttered. “I would have done it for anyone.”
My eyes narrowed on him as he rubbed the back of his neck. My driver chose that moment to arrive. I glared at him, wondering where the hell he’d been. After he apologized and explained about being held up by a truck a few blocks down, my annoyance vanished.
Alex opened the back door, and I slid in. To my surprise, he got in with me. “What are you doing? ”
He shrugged. “Now I have to make sure you get home okay. Besides, I need a ride. My driver is taking my date home.”
When I gawked at him, he explained. “She’s still having dessert.”
“Okay… Why aren’t you going back to join her?”
“Never mind that,” he said as he settled in. “Let’s get you home, Liv.”
Before tonight, his use of my nickname was irritating because it reminded me that we were no longer that close. Hearing it at the moment, however, relaxed me. That feeling evaporated fast when I thought of the word home . I sat forward and clutched my purse as if I’d made a harrowing discovery. “I can’t go home.”
Alex gave me a raised eyebrow stare. “Why not?”
“Mr. Nameless knows where I live.”
“Mr. Nameless?”
“ Scarface ,” I clarified.
Alex caught on quickly. Of course, he’d seen the hideous scar on my tormentor’s face. “That’s funny. That's what I called him too.” Then realization seemed to kick in because his little smirk faded. “For fuck’s sake, Liv. How does he know where you live? Do you even know the extent to which that man’s treachery goes?”
The breath I released ruffled my loose tendrils of hair. “After tonight, I have a pretty good idea.”
“How did you get involved with those people?” Alex asked.
My eyes filled with tears. It wasn’t just that I’d gotten caught up in Liam’s mess… again. It was the years of built up stress, carrying my family’s empire on my shoulders, my frustration with my brother, potentially losing the company I’d helped to build… It was everything .
“My brother,” I choked out as I fought back tears. “Apparently, he stole from them.”
“For the love of God,” Alex sighed. “Fucking Liam. I thought he would have gotten his shit together by now.”
I snorted and then I studied him through blurry eyes. “How did you know that man was a criminal, anyway?” The guy had a dangerous edge for sure, but Alex spoke as if he knew exactly what he was into.
His silence made me forget about holding back my tears. Now, I was just plain suspicious. “Alex?”
Shifting uncomfortably, he murmured, “I checked him out.”
“When?”
“In the restaurant.”
“You were on a date. Why would you do that?”
He rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Liv, you’re still annoyingly relentless, I see.”
I gave him a dirty look, but I wasn’t offended. I accepted that I could be dogged at times. At the moment, we felt like the old us. We never shied away from calling out each other’s flaws and annoying habits. I suppose that was why we just worked back then. We put it all out on the table…
Despite his irritation, he answered, “When you walked in with the guy, I didn’t think he was your type. I was vigilant and noticed your discomfort.”
I never could hide things from him the way I did from everyone else.
“I did a quick check on him, and the shit I got back was terrifying, so I followed you guys out.”
I wasn’t sure what to think or say. Alex had been paying that much attention to me while with another woman. He left his date to rescue me. I thought he hated me. I didn’t address any of that though because I suspected he’d get defensive. I’d like to avoid the stifling tension that always rose when we were in proximity.
“You always were good at getting information at the drop of a hat,” I noted instead.
“I have quick fingers,” he quipped, lifting his phone, which he had taken out of his breast pocket.
“I know,” I whispered. I’d lost count of how many times he’d achieved what I deemed impossible with a keyboard at his fingertips.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Making sure Lila is safely on her way home and getting eyes on Scarface so you can go home without worrying.”
I let out a sigh of relief. The damsel in distress wasn’t my favorite role, but tonight had unnerved me more than I cared to admit. Sometimes a girl just needed rescuing and there was nothing wrong with that.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Alex grunted his response and continued to tap away on his phone. Jealousy flared inside me at the thought of him checking on his date. It was irrational and absurd. Alex and I had been long over. However, I still thought Lila was a lucky woman.
As I gazed at him from my periphery, taking in his handsome features twisted in a frown of concentration, I thought how amazing it would be to have his affection again. He had been an amazing boyfriend, and he loved hard. Did he love Lila? Did he treat her like a queen the way he used to treat me? Alex was presently known as Boston’s richest playboy, but I suspected he hadn’t really changed all that much from the sweet guy I fell in love with. I swallowed the lump of regret rising in my throat.
I waited until he put his phone away to speak again. “Alex, thanks for whatever you just did.” I assumed he had friends in law enforcement. “But I don’t want you getting caught up in this. That man is dangerous…”
He turned to me with an unreadable expression. “Don’t worry about me. I guarantee I’m more dangerous than he is. I just choose not to get my hands dirty the way he does.”
There was no conceit in his tone, just a matter-of-fact confidence that frightened me a little. I had an idea of the extent of his capabilities to keep someone like Mr. Nameless in line. That was why I was so anxious about being in his crosshairs.
Alex could take everything from me. Yet at the moment, he made me feel safe. It was a perplexing combination of emotions. Suddenly feeling exhausted, I sat back and didn’t say another word until my apartment building came into view.
For once, home wasn’t a welcoming sight.
Alex must have noticed the way I tensed when the car pulled into the underground parking lot because he turned to me with a frown. “There are already eyes on this place, Liv… people I trust. You don’t have to worry about that guy showing up.”
“I thought your specialty was cyber security,” I said, although I knew he had his hands in multiple things.
“You know me… I get around.”
His little smirk made me smile. “Yeah, I know you.”
My statement cast a familiar shadow of awkwardness over us. Alluding to our past always did that.
I cleared my throat lightly. “I’m not nervous about anyone showing up. I’m just anxious about Liam. I don’t know where he is. Plus, I think I need to get my mother protection too. If Liam’s associates found out where I live, there’s no doubt they know where she is.”
Alex nodded, his expression turning serious once more. “Your mother will be fine. I’ll have someone watch her place too.” He lifted an eyebrow. “She’s still at the Brentwood mansion, I presume?”
I nodded.
“Alright…” He hummed as he tapped on his phone again. He then asked, “Where was Liam last?”
Raking my fingers through my hair, I shrugged. “Last he answered my call, he mentioned something about an inn on the south end.”
Alex lifted an eyebrow, and I nodded.
“Yeah, he’s likely to find lots of trouble there,” I said dryly. “But that was last week. I doubt he’s in the same place and that guy said he couldn’t find Liam anywhere, so I doubt I will. I just want to know he’s alive at least…” My last words dropped to a sad murmur because I didn’t even want to say them out loud.
Alex checked his watch. “I can find him before morning.”
My gaze snapped to his face. In the dim interior of the car, I saw the certainty in his eyes. “You’ve done enough tonight. I’ll just get the cops involved or?—”
“I’ll find him, Liv. Hold off on calling the cops… unless you want a media shit show at your doorsteps by sunrise…”
I most definitely did not want that. I stared at Alex as I contemplated trusting the man trying to destroy my family legacy. What if he used my family mess to blackmail me into handing over BioTech or something?
Alex sighed. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. No, I’m not executing some ploy to set you up. You forget that Liam and I were friends when you and I…” His expression darkened. “I don’t want to hear that anything has happened to him. I’ll find him.”
My shoulders sagged with mild relief. “Okay. I’m coming with you.”
“Like hell you are. ”
“He’s my brother, Alex. I should help.”
“And what exactly are you going to do to help me other than distract me with all your nervous energy? Look at you. You’re barely holding it together.”
I harrumphed, but I didn’t refute his claim.
“Go inside, Olivia. I’ll be back soon.”
While I was grateful for his help, it was still a struggle to get my inner control freak to let go and let him take care of things for me.
It took me a moment to nod and agree.
“Okay. Thank you.”