Chapter 28 TRACE
TRACE
Olivia’s scream reverberates throughout the darkness, cutting into the cold air and sinking into the walls.
I reach for her, pulling her into me, cradling her head against my chest. This is what I miss most. The soft, genuine moments of needing one another.
Of craving to be in each other’s arms. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll never stop making my little reckless’s heart beat out her fucking chest for the sake of scaring her into submission, giving her the pleasure she gets from being afraid.
But this—her needing me, me needing her—terrifies me how fucking deeply I feel this in my soul
I calm her down, after having to kick the body over to prove to her it wasn’t Alli. The blood that seeped into the strands of blonde hair made it look red in the lack of lighting provided to us, so I flipped the body over revealing that it was not Alli.
It’s Natasha. Declan’s ex.
I look down, seeing her body laid out; a puddle of blood surrounding her. That must have been what fell when Olivia stumbled back. But the blood seems fairly fresh, I can feel it on my skin as Oliva wraps her arms around me, holding onto me as cries and shivers rack her body.
“It’s okay, baby,” I whisper into her hair and that’s when I feel her stiffening in my arms.
“Who the fuck did that? Who-”
Olivia stops her words, slowly turning her head in my grasp. She puts her hands against my abs, gently pushing herself away as she calms her sniffles and looks up at me with cautious intention.
I stare down at her, feeling my body tense, knowing what she’s likely thinking. I can feel the heat coming from her eyes as she recoils.
“Olivia,” I warn her, keeping my voice low and stern as she steps away from me but she doesn’t respond to me. She keeps her eyes trained on me as she slowly recedes, further into the darkness.
“Livie, I haven’t killed anyone,” I tell her, but the look in her eyes is filled with uncertainty. “Yet,” I add because she had to know that I still plan to get my token of blood.
But I do realize that if what Broden told Olivia is true, and Tyre and Jett are the names of the sick fucks who did that to her, then what the fuck left is there for me to do?
It infuriates me to know that I won’t be able to serve my sister the justice she deserves, but the fact remains .
. . someone else did kill them; Declan, Tyre, and Jett.
Someone killed them and though it seems it might have been a vigilante act . . . who?
“I swear to god, Olivia, if you try to run from me right now, the night will not end well for you,” I threaten her, seeing that look in her eye. The one that tells me that she’s about to turn and run. But it would be a very dumb decision on her part.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asks and I hear the quiver in her voice. Either she’s genuinely scared of me right now or on the verge of tears again.
I take a step toward her, watching as she puts distance between us, somewhat of a judgmental glare falling from her eyes.
“It means that I need you to fucking trust me and I need you to stay put,” I tell her, trying not to sound like a demanding prick, but I can’t help it when she’s keen on being so fucking stubborn.
“Why? How do I know that you didn’t do this?” she asks, taking another step back. “How do I know that…”
“That I’m not the killer?” I whisper in a low, sinister tone before rushing to crowd her, pushing her up against the nearest surface.
She gasps as her back hits the wall and her eyes go wide as I wrap my hand around her throat.
“I thought you were into that kind of stuff, Reckless?” I tease, knowing what my voice does to her, seeing it evidently as her lips part and little airy pants pass through.
“Did you come up here to kill someone?” she asks, keeping her eye contact locked on my eyes.
“Yes,” I answer honestly.
“Why?” She looks between my eyes and I tilt my head at her, ignoring her question and for some reason, wondering how she would react if I told her I wanted to fuck her over her dead brother’s, ex-girlfriend’s dead body.
I lower my face to hers, touching my lips to her jaw, but only hovering as I breath against her.
Her body tenses when I touch her thigh. Her breath hitches when I slide my hand up under her disarrayed skirt. She gasps when my hand reaches the apex between her thighs. And she moans when my fingers touch her pussy.
“You think I’m a monster, don’t you, Livie?” I ask her as I brush my finger over her clit. She throws her head back and unmistakably, she widens her thighs for me. I chuckle against her.
“I know you are,” she whispers back.
“If you know I’m a monster,” I slip my finger inside her, feeling just how fucking tight she’s gripping me already, “then why does your pussy squeeze me like this, Olivia?”
She sighs, lowering her eyelids and tilting her head at me. “Because I’m reckless, remember, Trace? And for some fucked up reason, I’m in love with a monster.”
My dick aches. God, she's good at pulling me under. Even in her vulnerability, Olivia swallows me up into a chasm of euphoria and desire, further feeding my obsession as she swaddles me there for a moment before spitting me back out.
I can’t get lost in that right now though.
I press a kiss to her lips as I remove my finger from her pussy.
She doesn’t whine, she doesn’t beg for me to come back, instead she pulls me into her mouth, deepening the kiss and I succumb.
We’re covered in blood, bruises and half naked as our tongues meet, eager to taste one another, but god she feels like home.
She breaks the kiss and I dip my forehead to hers, pressing the palms of my hands at either side of her head.
“I need you to do me a favor, Livie,” I say between my eager pants of breath.
“What’s that?” she asks.
“I need you to take off Natasha's pants and put them on you.”
Olivia gasps. “What the fuck? No! That’s not happening.” She shakes her head against me and I see the horror coat her eyes when she realizes I'm not joking.
“Baby.” I kiss her cheek. “You don’t have any fucking underwear on. And I need you to come with me. It’s not a choice. Either you take them off her, or I’ll have to.”
I give her one last kiss before pushing away from her and I hear her let out an annoyed sigh. Luckily, the puddle of blood isn’t saturating her pants, most of it looking like it comes from the slit across Natasha’s neck.
I watch as Olivia bravely slides the pants of the body, only gagging a few times and when the task is done she falls backward, vomiting.
I reach for her, pulling her up and helping her to stand. “You did so good, Livie,” I tell her as I urge her to lift one of her legs so I can help slide the pants on her body.
Once on, I pull her into me, desperate to hold her close again knowing that we should probably make our way out of here at some point. I should probably check with the boys to see if they scooped up Broden like I had asked them to before I took off after Olivia earlier.
I press a kiss to her hair, reveling in the way it feels to be wrapped up by her.
“I needed to find out who raped Seren,” I tell her, answering her earlier question.
She leans back and tilts her head up at me.
“Why wait until now?” she questions.
“Because I didn’t have the journal until about six months ago.
I found it while I was packing up the house.
If I would have known sooner, I would have come back sooner, but as it is, it seems like someone already did the job for me.
” I let out a slow breath, letting my failures pummel with regret and rage.
I can feel Olivia deflate, I already know what she's thinking. I can feel it in the way she breathes against me.
“Do you really think Deck did that to Seren, Trace?”
I lean back, moving to hold her head in my hands as I look her in the eyes.
“Olivia, I know how much your brother meant to you,” I start, already witnessing the little quiver of her top lip as her emotions storm her.
“I know what his death did to you. I wish I was there to help you through it. But I’m here now.
And at the end of the fucking day, all I know is what Seren wrote in her journal.
Declan was probably the closest thing I’d consider a best friend and if he were still alive, I’d fucking kill him. ”
“What if he’s innocent, Trace? What if we can prove that he didn’t do that to her? I mean, from what Seren said, he loved her. I can’t-”
“Olivia.” I press her head into my chest, eager to quiet the flood of thoughts she must be feeling right now.
She sniffles against me, sobs eluding her. “I just- I thought I knew him better than I really did. Both of them.”
I hold her like this for a moment, letting her get it all out. Letting her use me as a vessel for her grief, her pain.
She pulls me in tighter, her arms wrapped around my back.
“You know Seren knew about us?” she starts. “Alli told me that she told her. And to think that whole time, I was trying to protect her. All while she already had a feeling about us and all while she was in love with my fucking brother.”
My heart hurts for her. I know how fucking destroyed seeing her with Jensen made me.
I saw fucking red. But back then, even though I gave her a lot of shit for it, I knew that in her heart she thought she was doing the right thing by wanting to keep us a secret from Seren.
Though I can’t help but to wonder what would have happened if we had just told her sooner.
“What are we doing, Trace?” Olivia unravels her arms and steps back, worry swirls in her eyes. “What are we going to do?”