Chapter 10
Olivia’s whole body ached from fighting against her attacker, but none of her bones were broken. She had a slight concussion from hitting her head when she was thrown into the van and enough bruises to keep the makeup department busy for hours, but she was going to be okay.
She’d faced the boogeyman who’d been terrifying her for weeks and was that much stronger for it. The reality of the monster who was after her was far easier to take than the fear of who he might be and what might happen to her at his mercy.
The fact that she’d been betrayed by the man who was supposed to protect her wasn’t lost on her, though one thing failed to make sense. The bodyguard was brought on board after she first received a threatening note, not before.
Maybe he was working elsewhere on the movie.
He clearly had his sights set on her even before he’d been granted such good access. Maybe he’d even asked for the job when it became available.
She shook her shoulders. It was difficult to imagine the mind of a stalker. Truly upsetting, and the last thing she needed right now was to be upset.
She turned her thoughts to Trevor, her mind replaying the scene as he’d darted from relative safety behind a vendor cart across the expanse between them.
She’d thought for sure he’d be killed. His name had been torn from a vulnerable place deep inside her, the scream of a woman with more to lose than she’d ever realized in her life.
Remembering the moment, a tear slipped down her cheek, then another. It felt good to cry after all she’d been through, and she wept wholeheartedly for what might have been. By the time Trevor walked in, she was all worked up. She covered her face with her hands and wiped at her eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
She frowned harshly, trying not to break down again. “Because I love you so much and I almost lost you forever.” She reached for him and he sat on the edge of the bed, holding her. “I’m sorry I’m so emotional.”
“Shh. It’s okay. You’re the one I almost lost.”
“Before that,” she said. “I didn’t know how to tell you what I needed from you.”
“Which is?”
“I have to be stronger than I have been. I can’t hide behind a man, even if that man is you.”
“I never asked you to hide behind me.”
“No, but I did it anyway. You led and I followed. You talked and I listened. I didn’t matter to myself as much as you mattered to me.”
He cupped her cheek. “And I was the opposite. I put myself before you, when I should have put you before everything. It won’t happen again.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to start another HERO Force office. One I own myself so I can decide when I work and when I take care of my family. Mac’s willing to help me.”
“Your family?”
“Yes. You and me, for starters, but I hope we have a couple of kids, too. Marry me, Olivia.”
How many times had she imagined him asking? But in the time she’d been here, she’d changed the way she saw herself—especially in a relationship. “How do we know it will work? That we can walk alongside each other instead of one in front of the other?”
“We don’t. We have faith and we work hard. We love each other and we work together to change what needs fixing. I want to be your husband, Olivia. I want you by my side, and I want to be there for you, always—through the good times and the bad.”
“And if I’m scared?”
“All the good stuff is scary.” He chuckled and kissed the back of her hand. “But I’ll wait as long as it takes. We don’t have to do this now unless you want to.”
She thought of the time she’d spent away from him working on the film. How much she’d missed him. There was no question she wanted to marry him; there was only her own uncertainty about how she was changing. “I’ve been standing behind people for so long, I need to lead the way for a while.”
“There’s no one I’d rather follow,” he said.
“You mean that?”
He nodded. “You might have to put me in my place once in a while. Wrestle me to the ground, that kind of thing.”
She laughed. “I can do that.”
“So you’ll marry me?”
Become his wife. Face the rest of their lives together, helping each other grow into the best they could be. She could trust him to do that. She knew she could. A smile spread slowly across her face, accompanied by a sense of peace. “I will.”
He kissed her, their lips sealing the deal to become husband and wife. “I love you,” she whispered against his mouth.
“I love you, too. More than you know, Livy.”