Chapter 7
seven
“So what’s your big plan?” Ricardo asked, sitting in the passenger seat of my Honda.
I should have made him get dressed but I had been running on adrenaline. Now I was going to have to deal with him in those black silk boxers, his chest smooth and silken, his junk flopping. Ricardo didn’t hit the gym and he didn’t seem to care. “Call your accountant.” I tossed him his phone as I drove. “Tell him to meet us at the bank so he can withdraw the money and give it to you.”
“Did it ever occur to you I don’t actually owe Benito dick?”
For a split second that gave me pause but then I knew he did. Benito wouldn’t take Olivia for revenge or to make a statement. It would be for money, pure and simple. Greed had driven him since we were kids. “Cut the crap. Just give him the money. It’s not like you don’t have it.”
“It wasn’t a fair deal.”
“I don’t need or want details. I just want this resolved. Now call your accountant. And then you need to make arrangements for Eva and Olivia to go somewhere safer than Miami.”
For the first time ever, Ricardo looked worried. “I don’t want anything to happen to Eva. I do love her. She’s a good wife.”
I notice he didn’t mention Olivia at all. I had the feeling there was no love lost between them. “That’s why you need to send her somewhere else, just in case. I think if you pay Benito back it will be the end of it, but you never know. Doesn’t your father has a bunch of houses in other cities?”
He nodded. “Telluride. Vegas. An apartment in New York.”
From a safety standpoint, I thought New York was the best bet. “Does the apartment in New York have a doorman?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’d send them there.” He may not be worried about Olivia, but I was. She was tough, and good at rolling with the punches, but she was no match for a bullet. “Where is your bank?”
Thirty minutes later we were sitting in the park, where there were no surveillance cameras, waiting for Benito. When he pulled in with a guard I got out of my car so he would see I wasn’t going to try anything. I went right over to his car and leaned down to talk to him. He was dressed casually in shorts and a T-shirt but I didn’t doubt he and his guard were both armed. “Hey, what’s up?” I said. “Sorry about the chaos earlier.”
He shrugged. “No worries. I expected it.”
“I know. That’s why you let me leave with her.”
He smiled. “Exactly.” He eyed my arm, which had stopped bleeding, but was stiff and immobile. My suit jacket was hard and crusted from my blood. “You okay?”
“Just a flesh wound.” I used a British accent, a la Monty Python.
Benito laughed. “Glad to hear it. So you got my money or what?”
“Yes, it’s in the car. Do you want Ricardo or not?” I was guessing he didn’t. It was a gamble, but one I’d been willing to risk to get this whole situation resolved.
“It’s tempting, but not worth the risk.”
“He is in his underwear, so I don’t blame you for not wanting him.”
Benito made a face. “Dude, seriously?”
I forced a grin, even though I was sweating in my suit. Anxiety had been settled into my bones for twelve hours and I was running on nothing but adrenaline and willpower. I hated this shit. That’s why I had chosen to walk away from this world. “It ain’t pretty.”
“Back up, I’m coming out.”
I complied and Benito opened the door. “Is he cuffed?”
“Yes.” Benito and I were being friendly, but there was tension there between us. The way there always was since the night Rachel died and I had blamed Benito for her overdose. I hoped after this, I wouldn’t have to see him again anytime soon. “You’re going to leave my girlfriend out of this, aren’t you?”
He paused, one sandal on the asphalt. “You don’t get to ask for favors. I let you live today, that was your last favor.”
Fury made my nostrils flare and my muscles tense. “Then I guess we’re even. Because I let you live six years ago.”
“Fair enough.”
I followed him to the car. He opened the car, grabbed the bag from Ricardo, whose hands were cuffed behind him, and pulled a gun on him. “Steal from me again and I’ll blow your fucking head off you greedy motherfucker.”
The accountant was still in his car across the parking lot and once Benito left, I handed Ricardo over to him. I wanted done with this whole mess. Now that I knew Eva and Olivia were safe for now, and Benito was satisfied, I started to feel the crash. The dark blanket that had been smothering me for years descended thick, heavy, wet with negative emotion. I didn’t want to think about Rachel. I avoided that at all costs.
I called Olivia with Ricardo’s phone, which I had kept.
“Ricardo?” she said, answering immediately. “What is going on? Do you want to talk to Eva?”
“It’s me, Wester. Ricardo is on his way back home. Everything okay there?”
“We’re fine.” She sounded clipped now that she knew it was me.
I sighed. I was hungry. Tired. My arm hurt like a bitch. I wanted a hot shower and a warm woman in my arms, but that wasn’t going to happen. “Ricardo is going to send you and Eva to New York City to stay in his apartment there until we know for sure everything is safe here.”
“What? I’m not going to New York. I start back to class in two days.”
I rubbed my temples, sighing into the phone. “Olivia. Use some common sense.”
“Why do you care?”
That was a good question. I shouldn’t. I didn’t want to. I wanted to walk away, go home, shower this day and night off me and go back to my very boring and ordinary daily routine.
But I pictured Olivia, beneath me, her eyes wide and dark, trusting me. Opening her body to me to save herself. I couldn’t quit that image. I couldn’t quit the way it had made me feel. The first thawing of my icy heart in years. I didn’t know what it meant and it kind of scared the hell out of me, but I couldn’t just walk away without knowing she was safe. That her sacrifice, in having sex with me, hadn’t been for nothing.
I wasn’t good at displaying genuine emotion. I wasn’t even good at caring. All I could manage was, “Because I do.”
It didn’t impress her. “Well, stop. I’m fine. I’m going back to the Gables and I’m forgetting all of this ever happened.”
If she could tell me how to do that, I’d love some advice. “All of it?” I asked, my tone seductive. I was back on sure footing, the charmer. The guy who knew how to shift through the women who wanted relationships and find the ones who didn’t. Who just wanted a good time. “You want to forget every last detail of my tongue on you?”
“Especially that.” But she suddenly sounded breathless. “That never happened as far as I’m concerned.”
“That’s too bad. Because that was my favorite part.” My car was hot as hell despite the air conditioning blasting and I wanted out of my jacket. I tried to shrug out of it but winced when dried blood prevented the fabric from moving on my arm.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just trying to take off my jacket. I’m fine. I’ve had worse.”
There was a long pause. “You should go to the emergency room.”
“No, thank you.” But I appreciated the concern. “I’d rather have you with me so I know you’re safe. That’s the only thing that will make me feel better.”
“I almost believe you,” she whispered.
She had a melodic voice when she wasn’t yelling at me. Not as sweet as her sister. Still sharp. But weightier. More purpose behind her words. I sat in my stifling car in the park and fought the urge to punch my dashboard. This wasn’t fair. To her. To me. Yet I pushed it. Pursued it. Craved her. “Believe it. Let me pick you up and take you home and make sure you’re safe.”
“Only if you let me see your arm and take care of it.”
The idea of having her touch me in a non-sexual way was oddly intriguing. No one had in years. I barely let my own mother touch me anymore. I granted her a hug on her birthday and Christmas, but for the most part I held people out of my personal space, unless it was a hook up. “It’s a deal, Olivia.” Her name came easily off my tongue. As lyrical as her voice. “Though I may not be welcome at Ricardo’s. Meet me at the security gate. Have one of the guards take you down there. Pack your stuff if you’re not planning on going back.”
“Okay. My sister will go wherever Ricardo tells her and if she leaves, I leave. But I’m not missing classes.”
“Then I hope Ricardo tells her to go to New York. She’ll be safe there.”
“Are you sure?”
There were no guarantees of anything, but I was sure. “Yeah. Don’t worry.”
“Too late. All I’ve been doing is worrying. But I’ve been worrying about Eva my whole life. People have always taken advantage of her.”
“She’s lucky she has you.” I meant that. It was clear Olivia would protect her twin with her own life.
“Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope. My mom was smart enough to stop after me.”
“Why, are you a lot to handle?”
She was flirting with me. My dark mood started to lift. I liked the sound of that. “I like to think so.”
Olivia laughed. I had only heard her laugh once before and it turned me on. It was a sexy, husky laugh. “Tell me what time to meet you, idiot. I’ll let you know if I can’t get out of here.”
“Be careful. Text me your number.” I needed to hang up. There was a fucking lump in my throat and I wanted to dig my fingers into my flesh and yank that golf ball right out.
This was a dangerous road to be traveling. Yet, I pushing down on the gas, literally and figuratively, accelerating straight forward.
Ricardo had a driver take Eva to the airport. She tried to get me to go with her, but I refused. I glared at Ricardo after she left. “You could at least go with her to the airport. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I have a headache.” He was wearing track pants and a T-shirt and carrying a mug of tea across his ginormous kitchen. “I was held at gun point today, you know.”
“I was held overnight in a locked room so I win.” Wester’s two colleagues had left and I thought Ricardo and I were actually alone in the house which made me more than a little uneasy.
“Fine. I’ll buy you a car if that will make you feel better.”
“I just want you to stop cheating on my sister.” It was time for us to be honest. Too much had gone down in the last eighteen hours for me to keep my mouth shut any longer. I had on jeans and a tank top and I felt more like myself. “Do you think you can manage that?”
“Probably not,” he said, sipping his tea. “I know it’s wrong, but Eva is too… sweet. She is a perfect wife, but she’s not a good lover. I’m sorry, she’s just not.”
I really actually hated him. “Maybe you’re just a lousy teacher.”
But he just shrugged. “Maybe. I’m used to whores. I’ve never had to put much effort into it.”
There was really nothing he could say that wasn’t gross. He was a human port-o-potty. “You are disgusting. I want to puke in my mouth when I listen to you.”
“Sometimes I feel the same way about myself.” He leaned against the counter and sighed. “I do wish I was a better person, you know. But no one taught me how. I’ve been a brat since birth and my parents encouraged it.”
I pulled my backpack up off the floor and threw it over my shoulder. His poor little rich boy routine was lost on me. “I don’t feel an ounce of sympathy for you. Everyone makes choices. Maybe you should make the conscious choice not to be a douchebag.”
“Maybe you should make the conscious choice not to be such an uptight bore. The only time I’ve ever seen you even remotely enjoy yourself was when Lewiston was between your legs on my patio.”
My cheeks heated. I was so furious I lost the ability to speak. I was done exchanging words with him. “God, I hope my sister divorces you and takes you to the cleaners, then donates all the money to charity.”
“I’ve got a prenup. Air tight. My father doesn’t have seven lawyers for no reason. But she’ll never divorce me anyway.”
I decided to leave the man-child without another word. I couldn’t take another second in his presence. I headed for the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
It was time to leave one surreal world for another.
Getting an Uber proved to be a huge pain in the ass but I was not asking Ricardo for one of his drivers to take me anywhere. I wanted to owe him absolutely nothing. After walking all the way to the guard gate, I convinced the guy in the booth to let me wait there for my ride. I sat and waited and tried to ignore his curious stares. He clearly thought I was Eva leaving her husband. I didn’t want that to be anyone’s perception because I knew it would hurt my sister so I said in a conversational voice, “My sister, Ricardo’s wife, had to go to New York. I’m going back to my own apartment. We’re identical twins, you know.”
“I did not know that. Mrs. Davis is very sweet. Everyone here likes her.”
“I’m not as sweet, but I try.” I wondered not for the first time what it would be like to be a single birth. No twin to be compared to. Would people think I was nicer because they wouldn’t hold me up against Eva and find me abrasive? Would I even be abrasive if I didn’t have a twin I had to protect?
Impossible to know. Irrelevant, really. But sometimes I felt like sighing. I was no ax murderer, yet apparently not very likable, either. College had been different. I had been on my own, without Eva, who had stayed behind in Jacksonville and gone to community college for a year before dropping out and getting a coffeehouse job. It had been a good fit for her. She liked people and they liked her. But on my own, I’d made friends, joined a sorority. Gone to Hurricane football games and generally had the standard undergrad experience. Two of my sorority sisters were still my best friends, though since graduation, one had moved to Atlanta.
Waiting for Wester, I stared at the bay and marveled at what the hell had happened to our lives, mine and Eva’s. It had been a fluke that she had met Ricardo. She had come down to visit me my senior year and we had gone to South Beach to a trendy nightclub that I kept telling her we’d be turned away from. But while on my own I might not have gotten in, as twin blondes, we’ve been given the green light.
Within five minutes Ricardo had bought Eva a drink. She had been sweet and demure and clearly wasn’t interested in his money. She had also refused to go home with him, which I think he’d seen as a challenge. I’d been leery, but I was happy she was happy. Now I just wanted to get as far away from his house of over-indulgence as possible.
Though when Wester pulled up I wasn’t sure this was a smart move. I didn’t trust myself with him. He made me forget reality. He got out of his car and said hello to the guard, who recognized him.
“I’m taking Olivia home,” he told him.
The guy nodded and smiled at me. “Nice to meet you. I hope you enjoyed your visit.”
“It was interesting. Nice to meet you, too.” I studied Wester as he went around the car and opened the door for me. He was favoring his right arm and moving stiffly but beyond that, it still amazed me how gorgeous he was. His features had all the beauty of chiseled lines and thick eyelashes, with a strong jaw and nose. His skin was flawless, his lips just the right form of temptation. As always though, it was the eyes that arrested me. When he peeled off his sunglasses and tucked them in his suit to lean in close and take my backpack from me, I swallowed hard.
It reminded me of the night before, when he had been propped on his hands, thrusting his cock inside me, staring intently down at me. I had had sex with this man. I had been naked with this man. And I’d been too afraid to actually touch him back or fully enjoy the beauty of his face and body. The beauty of what he could do to me.
I jumped in the car, unable to look at him. It was embarrassing. I was no virgin, but this wasn’t like facing a hook up the morning after too much tequila. I needed to focus on practical issues at hand. “You need to take off that jacket,” I said as soon as he got in the car, determined to leave no time for seductive glances. I had found myself flirting with him on the phone and that was just a bad idea.
“It needs to be cut off at this point. I just haven’t had a chance.”
“Should we stop at the store and get you a T-shirt and some bandages?” I had nothing in my apartment that would fit him unless he was partial to cap sleeves and v necks and slogans like “I run on lipstick and coffee.”
“We’re stopping at my place first.”
Anxiety crept over me. While I was curious to see what his apartment looked like, and see a glimpse of who he was as a person, I was afraid to be alone with him. Which was stupid because I would be alone with him at my apartment but at least there, I felt comfortable and safe in my own space. Not that I was scared of Wester. I was just scared of the way I felt. “Okay.”
“I need some clothes if I’m going to be staying with you.”
Wait. What the hell? I stared at him. “That is not what we agreed on. We agreed that I would bandage your arm and you would drive me home.” My heart rate kicked up several notches. I could not have Wester staying in my apartment for days. There was no way. I would self-combust from sexual frustration.
“We agreed I would keep you safe. This is how I plan to keep you safe.”
“By infringing on my privacy? Sleeping on my couch? No way. I’ll go to a hotel then. Ricardo can pay for it. I’ll be perfectly safe in a hotel.”
Wester glanced over at me, and his smile was naughty, confident. Arrogant. Alpha-male alert. “Do I make you nervous?”
Yes. “No, you make me annoyed.”
“Liar.” But he shrugged. “I won’t force you to do anything, Olivia. You’re an adult. If you want me to leave after I check your apartment, I will.”
That made me relieved he wasn’t going to be bossy and invasive but at the same time, I was deflated that he wasn’t going to push harder. Which was stupid. A small part of me, namely my vagina, wanted him to stick around for days on end until I had filled my sexual well for the next six months of celibacy. But we couldn’t have sex now again, anyway. It was too complicated, too awkward. Too loaded.
“Thanks, Wester. You’re an all right guy.”
He gave a small laugh. “That’s probably the most ringing endorsement I’ve gotten in a long time.”
“You did risk your life for me. I do appreciate that.” I tried to imagine how I would have felt locked in that room in Benito’s if Wester hadn’t shown up. I would have spent the entire night terrified, not knowing my fate or what was going on. “I was really scared and you were there for me.”
For a second he didn’t say anything. Then he just said gruffly, “You’re welcome.”
So Wester didn’t like compliments. Duly noted. I realized it might also just be the perfect way to level the playing field. He drove me crazy with his touch. I could knock him off balance by saying nice things to him. The thought amused me.
“What are you smiling about?”
“You. Being cute.”
His mouth fell open and he turned to give me a suspicious glare. “I am not cute. That’s ridiculous.”
“I think you’re cute. And you’re very pretty. Has anyone ever told you that?” I felt much more at ease the more uncomfortable he grew. He was practically squirming in his seat.
“No,” he said flatly.
“Liar.” I echoed his earlier words. “I did. The night we met. By the way, I could drive you know. I’m not sure how safe it is for the man with the bullet wound to be driving.”
“I’m fine.”
Of course he was. He was also stubborn. I wouldn’t know anything about that. “Do you ever let anyone help you?”
“I agreed to let you bandage my arm and trust me, that is a huge concession for me.”
Wester’s apartment was in an area I wasn’t familiar with. Since I had moved to Miami I had learned the areas around school like Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, as well as understanding where the trendy areas like South Beach and Brickell were, but this was all low houses, cheap restaurants, and worn out hair salons. “Did you grow up here?” I asked, staring out the window curiously.
“No.”
That was that apparently. “How do you know Benito?”
“We lived in the same apartment complex.”
He pulled into a parking lot. The building itself wasn’t that different from my own. Stucco, low roof, scrubby landscaping. “How long have you lived here?”
“Two years.”
Wester turned the car off. Then turned to me. “If you want to get to know me, where I live won’t tell you anything other than the fact that I’m broke.”
It seemed as if I’d hit a nerve. Whether that was because I had brought up Benito or not, I didn’t know. “Of course it tells me something. It tells me yes, that maybe you’re not exactly flush in cash, but there are a lot of neighborhoods that are affordable. Why did you choose this one?”
“Because it’s close to the strip club.” He shoved his door open.
I didn’t believe him for one second. Maybe there was a strip club around. That wouldn’t necessarily surprise me. But his voice was too flat, too annoyed for that statement to be the truth. He wanted to distract me. Offend me. Get me to drop the subject. That meant there was a story there, one I wanted to hear. I would let it go for now. He opened my door and I smiled up at him. “You are quite the gentleman.”
That made him frown again. “Just get out of the car.”
I did, but when he reached into the back and grabbed my bag I said, “See? Gentleman.”
His nostrils flared. “Stop it, Olivia.”
“Stop what? Thanking you?” He was definitely rattled. I loved it. It was about time the tables were turned.
“You’re making fun of me.”
That made me laugh as I followed him up the walk, taking my bag from him. “I am not. I’m complimenting you. Expressing gratitude.”
“I can think of a better way you can express your gratitude.”
His tone made my breath catch. I looked at him under my eyelashes. “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
Wester didn’t answer, but jogged up the exterior stair and stopped at the third door. 2C. The number was crooked. I reached out and straightened it. It fell crooked again.
He opened the door and gestured for me to step inside. “You know exactly what I mean.”
The door yawned open and illuminated a dark small room. All I could see in the dim light was a hulking TV. He had his blinds closed. “Your timing is incredibly creepy,” I said. “I feel like I’m stepping into the devil’s lair.”
“Nah. He would have better furniture.” Wester reached around me and flicked on the overhead light.
He was right. Nothing sexy in there. It was old royal blue carpet, one rickety wood chair next to a round oak table, the TV on a cardboard box, and that was it. “You ever hear of having things on the walls? You know, like art or mirrors?” The walls were completely bare and a dirty oatmeal color.
“You want me to hang a mirror so I can reflect the ugly of this apartment back? No thanks.”
He had a point. Wester shut the door and said, “Let me get some scissors so you can cut me out of the jacket. I want to be able to move my arm again and I don’t want you to have to stay here longer than necessary.”
His voice was gruff. I realized that he was genuinely embarrassed for me to see his apartment. “I’m not in any hurry,” I said. “I was supposed to be staying with Eva until the end of the week. I’ve suddenly got an extra five days on my hands.” Which did bother me. I had barely seen my sister in recent months. She almost never left the compound. Narnia had swallowed her.
“I’m sorry you have to leave paradise.” Wester went into his kitchen and rifled through a drawer. He pulled out bent scissors.
“Aside from the freedom from classes and access to a pool, it’s not really my scene. I don’t like the constant coming and going of random people. Plus I’m always afraid I’m going to break something. The robes are a bonus though, or at least they were before I was kidnapped in one.”
“I’m fond of the robes too.” He gave me a smirk. “Or at least on you. And off you.”
I really should put a stop to the flirting that seemed to ebb and flow between us, but I didn’t. Not even close. “It’s my turn to undress you.” I took the scissors and held them up. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t have a choice. I can’t get this off myself.” He looked stoic but uncomfortable. “Just do it really fast.”
“I thought the instructions are usually ‘be gentle.’” Eyeing his jacket with all that dried blood, I inserted the tip of the scissors down at the cuff. It didn’t cut easily. I felt like I was jerking his hand around too much as I hacked through the fabric. I bit my lip, afraid I was causing him pain. “Oh, geez, this is hard. Does it hurt?”
“I’m not as much of a pussy as you seem to think I am.”
I glanced up at his face. He didn’t look like he was in pain. He was watching me, the corner of his mouth turned up. I was standing close to him and I could see the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow on his chin inches away from me. “I don’t think you’re a pussy.” Saying the “p” word out loud made me just a twinge uncomfortable, but I didn’t want to shy away from the subject. “You risked your life to save me. You got shot because of me. So no, not a pussy.”
“They say you are what you eat though.” His voice was low and amused.
Even as my cheeks went pink, I rolled my eyes. “You’re being gross,” I murmured. “And I have scissors.”
He chuckled softly. “Cut my jacket, Olivia, before I kiss you.”
I couldn’t really remember why that would be such a bad thing. Other than the fact that I knew nothing about him and he didn’t seem interested in sharing. We were from two different worlds. He knew drug dealers and carried a concealed weapon. I was a self-described nerd who was born blond by accident. That didn’t mean I didn’t want him to kiss me anyway. I was having a very languid reaction to him. He smelled very manly. Earthy. I could kiss him just once.
“You want me, don’t you?” he asked.
The arrogant confidence snapped me out of my sensual haze. I jerked back slightly, ripped his sleeve the rest of the way up to his armpit and fought the urge to gag. “Oh my God.” Bile crawled up my throat at the sight of all that blood. Even dried to a dull rust color, it was everywhere on the white sleeve of his dress shirt. “That’s a lot of blood.”
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
That made me smile. I knew a Monty Python reference when I heard one. “You forgot the British accent.”
“You forgot I’m not a nerd.”
I cut off his sleeve. “Not a pussy. Not a nerd. What are you? Clearly not a comedian.”
“I’m a man who wants you to kiss him.”
He was smooth. I’d give him that. It was tempting. But then I peeled his sleeve back and well and truly gagged. The cotton was stuck to a weeping semi-coagulated wound. My vision blurred and I gripped his uninjured arm. “Holy shit, I’m going to pass out.”
For a second, it was dicey as hell, but Wester took my cheeks in both his hands and murmured, “Olivia. Look at me.”
I did. And he held me there, with his intense stare, and I felt dizziness recede.
So after I caught my breath, I kissed him.