Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Atlanta—Present Day
He was having a heart attack. It was the only explanation. Declan could feel his heart thundering painfully as it tried to break out of his ribcage, but he also felt ice cold. “Courtney did what? ”
“That makes sense.” Declan heard his sister-in-law faintly through the blood pumping furiously in his ears. “We said it at the time. It happened so fast. What did she give you? Did Chris say?”
Olivia’s wide eyes were still looking up at him. He was probably crushing her fingers, but Olivia didn’t complain. “Xanax. She thought I was flirting with Chris… and Declan.”
Declan tried to rein in his anger, making a conscious effort to control his breathing. He wasn’t successful.
“She could have killed you.” Air sawed painfully in Declan’s lungs. “As it was, Chris almost got you out of the building.” His nostrils flared, and through his rage he heard Cami agree with him.
“That was really dangerous. Courtney didn’t know if Olivia was on other medications or?—”
“Not helping, sweetheart.” Declan heard James say.
The memory of Olivia’s clammy skin as she took shallow breaths that night, and how he’d ripped her dress in half trying to make her more comfortable flashed in front of him. He’d held her hair when she was sick twice and slumped to the floor, before he cleaned her up and put her in his T-shirt… He thought she was drunk… He should have gotten a doctor.
Declan let go of Olivia, and spun to give his family his back, his fists bunched at his side. He felt her hand on his back, rubbing firm circles.
“I’m okay.”
His control was rapidly slipping away, and he needed to hold on. Declan didn’t want to frighten her.
“Where is she now?” Luke’s voice was hard.
“A spa in New York,” James said. “It’s too late to press charges.”
His brother’s calm words snapped the last tether holding him together, and Declan pivoted to face his family. “Press charges? I’m going to kill her with my bare hands,” he snarled.
“Declan,” he heard Olivia’s voice trying to soothe him, and saw the looks on his family’s faces.
He jabbed a finger at his brothers. “I told you the time was coming. The time is now. Courtney could have killed her.” A shudder ran through his body. “Because of me.”
“Declan,” Cara began, but he held up his hand.
“No.”
“Declan, if you kill her, our father’s fortune will go to Chris. They’re married.”
“Without our father’s remains, we need Courtney alive to get a confession,” Luke said, but his eyes were sympathetic. “But after…”
“And since we can’t find the ashes,” James added.
They both watched Declan warily, and he knew by the looks on the others’ faces he’d rattled them.
“Damn it!” he roared.
“I know where the ashes are, or… at least, where they were a few weeks ago.”
All eyes turned to Olivia. “Chris told me at dinner. Looking back, I realize he was making the case about why I should feel bad for Courtney. Apparently, she had the ashes of her sons and David Bloom sent to one of those companies that make fake diamonds out of human remains. Chris says she doesn’t take it off. She’s wearing it around her neck.”
Dahlia’s face wrinkled. “That’s bizarre.”
“It’s worse than bizarre,” Wes said. “The ashes are compromised now. It will be almost impossible to prove the presence of thallium for one set of remains.”
“They didn’t use them all. Chris mentioned she left enough to have earrings made. The company should still have the individual ashes,” Olivia added.
“If we could somehow get our hands on them,” James said.
“I’ll call Vincent and Brady” Luke said. “I’m sure they have someone who can get it done.”
The words were slow to process in Declan’s brain. He seemed to be stuck in a loop as his family made plans around him.
If she’d been under my protection all these years, none of this would have happened.
“Declan.” He felt Olivia’s cool hands on either side of his face, forcing his head down to hers. Declan’s eyes focused on the clear, deep blue of her eyes and sucked in a breath, his body settling when she smiled at him. “Ashes first. Then deal with her.”
Declan couldn’t fathom what he had ever done for the universe to have brought Olivia into his life. But he knew he didn’t deserve her.
Her hands fell away, and he dipped his chin in a tiny nod. Declan looked at his family, who were all staring at him like they’d never seen him before.
“Don’t worry about Vincent. There’s no time for all that. I’ll buy the company.”
They hadn’t stayed much longer. Declan’s nerves were so badly frayed from what Olivia revealed, he wanted to be alone with her. Sensing his discomfort, Olivia whispered, “Are you ready to go home?”
Home.
Declan wanted nothing more than to be wrapped around Olivia in front of the fire. Ignoring his family’s objections that they hadn’t eaten yet, Declan practically dragged Olivia to the elevator.
They were barely through the front door before Declan was kissing her, needing to feel her alive and warm in his arms. To reassure himself that she was safe and with him.
“Puppy,” Olivia panted as his teeth scraped along her collarbone. Her hands pushed at him gently when he yanked at her buttons. “Seriously, Oscar needs to go out.”
Declan lifted his chest off of Olivia, where she lay sprawled across the kitchen island, hearing for the first time the whimpers from the crate in the corner. He shoved a hand back through his hair and exhaled hard, but released the lever and the puppy bounded out. “I think I hate you,” he told the dog.
Olivia stared at him from her semi-reclined position, face flushed with arousal and laughter. “Don’t talk to my baby like that.”
Declan pointed a finger at her as he strode toward the front door, grabbing Oscar’s leash. “Naked.”
“Hurry up,” he muttered to the puppy as Oscar sniffed, circling the same spot of grass for the fiftieth time. The sound of a car approaching had Declan looking toward the road. However, because of Olivia’s steep lot, Declan could only see headlight beams slowly sweep the cul-de-sac, illuminating his car parked halfway down the driveway.
The beams slowed for a moment, and the hair on the back of Declan’s neck rose. His body tensed, but the car continued on, leaving the street in darkness again.
Closing the front door, Declan set the alarm, and as soon as he unclipped the leash, the puppy galloped off. Declan cast one more look at the door. With his car in the driveway and the alarm set, he didn’t think Kyle would try anything, but it infuriated him that the man was still walking around.
All thoughts of Kyle vanished when Declan reached the kitchen and found Olivia exactly where he had left her, but this time she had laid out her bare skin for him like a feast.
“Are you awake?” Olivia whispered.
“No,” he muttered. “You wore me out.”
“Did you sleep with Courtney?”
Declan reared up on his elbow and looked down at her face, lit by the moonlight coming through her sheer drapes.
“Why would you even ask that?”
Olivia’s face was serious. “I had put most of the night in New York out of my mind, but after tonight, I was thinking about the things Courtney said… and what you said tonight.”
“What did I say?”
“That I could have died because of you .”
Had he said that? “I was angry?—”
“Don’t lie to me,” Olivia said quietly.
Declan traced the delicate lines of her face and then sighed, sinking back down next to her, and pulling her into his arms.
“I swear I never touched her. Though she tried… relentlessly. Before she went after my father, Courtney came on to me, hard. Chris was there the night we met at a party. I have to believe that was where they first met as well—or at least they didn’t seem to know each other.”
He threw an arm over his eyes. “But looking back… I don’t know that I can trust anything Chris ever said or did. He completely fooled me. I turned her down at the party, but over the next several months, she seemed to be everywhere I was, always making it abundantly clear she was available.”
“How did she end up with your father?”
“I don’t know. I think she had her eyes set on the Bloom fortune and thought she could manipulate me. She’s a beautiful woman, but there was no chance I was going there.”
“Because you’re impervious to manipulation?” Olivia drawled.
“Yes.”
She snorted a soft laugh. Declan tucked her hair behind her ear and stroked his fingers down her cheek and over her lips. “In order to be manipulated you have to have a heart.”
A tiny frown formed in her eyes. “You have a heart, Declan.”
He shook his head with a soft smile. “I’d already left it with you.”
The next two weeks passed quickly. As much as Declan hated leaving Olivia, it was necessary to fly to each of the major shareholders’ homes around the country to meet with them in person. He was on his way back to a private airport outside of Billings, Montana, when Brady’s name appeared on his screen.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your girl’s got a visitor. Want us to intervene?”
“Who?”
“It’s a woman. She sat in her car for awhile, so we ran an image search. It’s her ex’s cousin.”
The friend. Jessica . Declan’s jaw tightened. This woman, who should have looked out for Olivia, and had let her down. As much as he would like to get revenge, once he learned the woman had two small sons, he’d held off. That didn’t mean Jessica got off completely free. One of Brady’s cyber guys added some questionable items to her internet search history. For the rest of her life, Declan hoped Jessica wondered why TSA always selected her for additional screening. It was petty, but it made him smile.
“What do you want us to do? She’s at the door.”
“Olivia let her in?”
“Yeah.”
Declan wanted to tell Brady to instruct his man to swoop in and remove the traitor, but he knew Olivia would kill him if he interfered.
“Tell them to keep their eyes peeled. I’m on my way home now.”
“You’re going back to New York?” When Declan didn’t answer, Brady chuckled. “Just kidding. You Bloom men are so sensitive about your women.”
Declan ended the call and immediately dialed another. “I need a favor.”
“Anything,” his sister’s voice immediately responded.
“I need you to take dinner to Olivia’s house.”
“Um, okay?”
“Right now. Ask Cami and Dahlia to meet you there.”
“I think Dahlia left for set this morning, but I’ll call Cami.”
Declan heard Cara whisper something to who he assumed was her husband.
“Wes wants to know if he should come with me.” He could hear the eye roll in his sister’s voice.
“No. But I need you to go, now.”
“That’s all I get?”
“Please, Car-bear.”
He heard a beep. “I’m already in the car. Now hang up, so I can call Cami.”