17. Carmichael Confrontations
“Damn girl, you look like you feel like dogshit. What the hell?” Vanessa said as she walked in with Jonathan, putting a big folder on the island. Her swollen belly looked like it was ready to pop any minute, and embarrassingly enough, Vanessa’s waddle resembled the one she was currently sporting.
Olivia winced, placing a hand on her back and arching, trying to rid herself of the deep ache in her muscles.
Jonathan waved a hello before she pointed him to Colin’s study, where he was sitting, going over some paperwork for his company. He’d been walking and looking fresh as a daisy all morning. Olivia, however, was not. She looked thoroughly ran through. By one man, who ironically didn’t.
“Yeah well, disappear for four months and see how you can walk again once Jonathan gets ahold of you,” she mumbled in reply. She limped over to the folder, ignoring her sister’s amused giggles at her walking issue.
“That’s YOUR fault, babe.” Vanessa giggled, settling herself onto a stool and bending her head over the open folder and showing Olivia the first page.
“So you’re having a home birth, after all?” Olivia said surprised. She knew her sister had been contemplating this decision for months. “I am so not getting in the tub with you to help you push,” she said, almost mentally gagging at the image.
“Bitch. But yes, we’re going to have a doula, and we want everyone there. Allison, and you obviously. And that includes Colin. How do you think he’d feel about that?” Vanessa asked Olivia softly. Vanessa knew from her conversations with Jonathan how Colin felt about them raising Allison. She didn’t want to rub salt into a wound she couldn’t see.
“Well, I think he might say yes,” Olivia said slowly. “Let’s ask him?”
They both shuffled to the office door, shooting an embarrassed glance at each other before breaking out into laughter. Because how truly embarrassing. Olivia knocked on the office door, waiting for permission to be let in, having no clue what he and Jonathan were getting up to in there and wanting to save herself from any more embarrassment.
“You don’t have to knock Olivia, you can come in,” she heard Colin call to her as she opened and she and Vanessa walked through the door into the study together.
“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but, uhm, we have a quick question for you Col-babe,” she corrected quickly at his stern stare. At her self correction his face softened immediately.
Jonathan was sitting in one of the seats across from where Colin sat at his desk, his eyes flickering over Olivia in amusement before landing on Vanessa. Jonathan patted his leg, and Vanessa walked over, settling down on his lap with her arm around his shoulders. They shared an affectionate look.
Olivia smiled, walking over and sitting in the chair next to them. Ignoring Colin”s knowing look at the reason why she didn’t come over to him. They’d barely touched today in an unspoken agreement, knowing that the couple was coming over to discuss birth plans. They could surely go half a day without having sex.
Couldn’t they?Olivia, lost in her thoughts, startled when Colin cleared his throat, breaking her from her daydreaming.
“You had a question for me, amor?” he said, his eyes crinkling as he tried to keep from grinning. He was relaxed back in his seat, leaning slightly to the side with his elbow propped up on the armrest, his fingers rubbing his lips as he waited, his head tilted.
Olivia felt her vagina clench. He was just too sexy.
She licked her lips. “Vanessa would like to know, if you would want to be present while the baby’s being born.”
Colin’s brows furrowed. “What?” he said, confused. His eyes landed on Vanessa. “Are you two serious?”
“Yes,” Vanessa smiled. “You’re family, bro,” she whispered, leaning her head on Jonathan.
“Without you, none of us would have found each other. You’re special, Mr. Matchmaker,” Jonathan ribbed, rubbing Vanessa’s belly. The baby started kicking and Olivia leaned over to feel as well, smiling at the thumps. She leaned forward to press her lips against Vanessa’s stomach.
“Stop that peanut, stop kicking your momma!” she teased, murmuring into Vanessa’s stomach for a bit. Vanessa’s belly suddenly moved from one side to the other as the baby readjusted.
Colin frowned, his eyes widening.
My God,he thought, a new appreciation for mothers overcame him and his eyes slid to Olivia once more as he suddenly imagined her pregnant. A little grin broke out on his face and he started wondering if she’d forgive him if he started stealing her birth control pills. He’d have to talk to his therapist about those thoughts, they were mighty intrusive.
“Another thing, we decided on a name for the baby,” Jonathan spoke up, sharing another smile with Vanessa before turning his eyes onto Colin, who was now gracious enough to gift him his full attention.
“Oh really? I thought you’d never land on one. Olivia and I were resigned to calling the baby peanut,” he joked, crossing his feet on the corner of his desk in an uncharacteristically relaxed move. He smiled at Olivia again, who giggled because it was true. They were actually going to call the baby peanut anyway, but the couple didn’t need to know that.
“Ian.We’re going to name the baby Ian. After your middle name, Colin,” Vanessa said, tears coming to her eyes. She didn’t let them fall though.
Olivia gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.
“We wanted to get your permission first though, just in case you two decided to have kids of your own. We didn’t want to take away your chances of using the name for your own kid…” Jonathan trailed off softly, trying not to make things uncomfortable.
Olivia stayed quiet in the chair. Her eyes finally landed on Colin’s who suddenly seemed incapable of speech or movement.He sat in the chair still as stone, just staring at the three of them. She decided to speak up.
“I think Ian is a beautiful name. When we have our own kid, maybe we can name him Sinclair after you Jonathan, unless Colin wants a junior as a boy’s name? If we have a girl, then I’d like to name her after Colin’s mom, Elena,” she said softly, her eyes welling up with tears as they stayed on his. Jonathan smiled a big toothy grin as he gave Colin a discreet wink before leaning down to kiss Vanessa’s belly.
“Vanessa, I would love to be there for Ian’s birth. Thank you for offering, let us know what we can do to help during. And of course you know that we’ll help with Allison. Now, can you two give me and Olivia a minute alone? We won’t be long, I promise,” Colin said, his deep voice sounding tight.
Jonathan helped Vanessa up before they exited the room, the door clicking shut softly.
“Come here,” he said softly, his chest expanding tightly as he regarded her slight form, sitting curled up on the chair on the other side of his desk. She got up with effort, a wince passing her face before she schooled her features quickly into a calm expression. He could tell by her breasts that her breathing was slightly erratic. She was just as nervous as him.
He held his arms open and waited until she settled into him before he tilted her head back on his shoulder, looking down at her.
“I love you,” he breathed, his lips coming down to press against her nose, skimming down to her lips. He kissed her gently, his hand moving to her hip and squeezing lightly. He pulled his hand around to her top and slipped under, pressing against her belly.
“It doesn’t have to be now. We can wait a while, until you finish school. We can take time to enjoy each other. There are trips I’d love to take you on. So many things we can do before really settling down,” he said, staring into her beautiful green eyes.
“I know. I love you too. I just wanted you to know that I’m open to having kids with you Colin. I want your babies,” Olivia’s eyes flickered back and forth between his, her hand coming up to caress his face, her fingernails scraping through his slight beard at his jawline. Her face was serious, her brows scrunched.
“But not too many babies, ok?” she corrected, feeling his chest shake with barely contained laughter.
“Ok sweetheart,” he chuckled, leaning down to kiss her once more before he helped her off of him and they walked out of the office. He grinned as they made their way back to the kitchen where Jonathan and Vanessa were reading over a set of papers next to an open folder, proud that they didn’t wind up screwing each other on the desk. They could talk about the future and be vulnerable without being inside of one another. That had to be a good step in the right direction.
They spent time going over the birthing plan, deciding that they would move in temporarily a couple days before the expected birth of Ian, wanting to be close in case they needed support. Olivia would be there to help keep Vanessa company, and Colin of course would be there to help any way he could. He just knew he wasn’t letting Olivia out of his sight for a while.
Colin’s phone pinged. Vincent.
He opened the email on his phone.
My man,
I got the security detail you requested for Olivia ready, two men who are trained in torture techniques, sniper skills, and kidnapping. They are all specialized fighters who have been in private security for over 20 years each.
Names are Byson and Zero.
Per order, they will rotate shifts, and on the days that she leaves for campus or an outing, there will always be someone tailing her. When school starts back up and they’re on campus, they will be in plain clothes. I’ve also got one guy for you personally, as well. There will be two men who flank your property at all times. I have a set of six men to rotate these shifts. One set in the morning, one set in the evening, and one set during the night. I sent the invoice over for you to review and their specs are attached to this email for your approval. I also spoke with your P.I, Mr. Howard. Nice man.
Information was not nice though; another red head went missing. A woman in her early thirties. This one had green eyes this time. And her toddler was found dumped about a quarter of a mile away.
She was found decapitated, naked in a woodsy area about half an hour from your place. The man is definitely sending a warning. A huge one. Jonathan’s team is ready as well for Vanessa.
Contact me if you have any questions. I’d like to schedule a time for us all to meet so we can have you and Olivia formally meet the team.
Vincent
P.S-Stella is bugging me to death about going out to karaoke since apparently you can sing. She wants to do a duet. Have Olivia contact her with some dates you two are available. No negotiations-this is not a request. Peace.
Colin’s eyes hardened as he glanced up sharply, catching Jonathan’s eye. The women were currently on Vanessa’s small laptop, looking at baby furniture.
“Have you checked your email?” he gritted, his eyes flashing. A muscle was ticking in his jaw.
Jonathan shook his head no and pulled out his phone. His eyes scanned the email fast, pausing when he got to the place about the child. Jonathan froze, he looked at Colin and jerked his head to the terrace. They quietly stepped out together before Jonathan leaned against the railing and pulled up his email app.
“Son of a bitch,” he bit out, angry. Jonathan hardly ever got angry. He dialed a number, keeping the phone on speaker.
“Hello, Ewing Academy, Jasmine speaking,” a woman’s soft, cheery voice came through.
“Hi Jasmine, this is Jonathan Sinclair, Allison Reed”s father, how’re you doing?”
“Well, thanks, what can I help you with?” The woman sounded like she was typing in the background.
“You can start by connecting me to the principal’s office.”
“O-Oh…well I think he’s in a meeting-”
“Okay, so tell him there’s been an urgent matter and I need him to end the meeting to pick up the phone,” he growled.
Colin frowned. He hadn’t heard him sound like this since their marine days.
“Uhm…I don’t think I can-”
“If you value your job, you will.”
Colin whistled.
“I’ll see what I can do, sir. Please hold.” The line went to some cheery music for a couple minutes before an older man came on the line.
“Mr. Sinclair, Principal Felkins speaking. Is everything okay? I hear there’s something urgent that you need to speak to us about?” The older man sounded calm. Probably used to dealing with rich assholes.
“Absolutely, I need to know who is on Allison”s emergency pick up list and I also need the school’s rule on visitors who come in and out of the facility. Are there security measures in place for extenuating circumstances? Are there metal detectors and so forth?”
“Well….let me look at her chart real quick. While I’m doing that, I’ll have you know we are a peaceful school, and obviously promote no violence, though we do have two fully armed security officers at the school. We do not have metal detectors, but we do have a state-of-the-art security system on the outside of the buildings that includes the grounds of the buildings and there are cameras in every hallway and in the office. The only places that do not have them are the bathrooms, the teacher break rooms, and the classrooms. In order for a visitor to enter the building, they have to be buzzed in by a staff member, and sign in. They also need to be an approved visitor on an attending child’s chart. May I ask what prompted the question, sir?” Principal Felkins’ voice sounded confident and sure over the phone.
“Yes, there have been multiple deaths of redheaded women over the last four months around our area, we have reason to believe that my sister-in-law is a target, and these deaths are related to her. Allison is her niece, and we cannot rule out she is a target as well. Last night, there was a redheaded toddler killed with her mother about thirty minutes away from my sister in law”s property, and about ten minutes from the school. I would like to have my own security officer accompany Allison to class every day. I need him added to the list. Can I come in tomorrow to give you the information and get this handled please?”
Colin smiled. No ifs ands or butts about it. Jonathan was a bulldozer.
“Sir-we cannot have an officer who is not through our security company-” Principal Felkins stuttered, sounding slightly offended.
“I need you to really think about your next words, Felkins. Because if anything happens to my daughter while on your property and you’ve refused my request, I will dismantle your institution with you in it. You feel me?” Jonathan growled down the phone with his deep voice, his face flushing darker as he seethed.
“Sir, there’s no need- “
“Oh, there’s every need. I’ll be by tomorrow with the head of the security agency, we will get the school board all the needed information. You will make this happen. Be at your office by tomorrow by 7 a.m. sharp, we’ll be waiting,”
And with that, he hung up. Not even waiting for Allison’s emergency list.
“You’re such a good father,” Colin said, no malice in his tone. His anger at their situation had dissipated at some point. He reached his hand out to clasp Jonathan’s, feeling his strength. He’d been by his side through everything since he was sixteen years old, and if they had to find themselves in this situation, he couldn’t think of anyone who would have his back more.
“Thanks man,” Jonathan said, his eyes sorrowful. “Bro... I never told you this but… Ezra was pregnant when she died of her heart attack,” his voice came out strained. “Three months.”
Colin’s eyes widened in shock. The news hit him hard, knowing that Jonathan had been grieving an extra life, unbeknownst to him.
“Jonathan….brother I am so sorry. No, I didn’t know,” Colin stepped forward and clasped his hand on the back of his neck, squeezing. He was strung tight, and Colin realized he had deep seated fear too, he just handled it better. Probably because he’d already suffered a major loss.
“Man, I want to hunt Carmichael down and fuck him up so bad. He’s hunting our girls,” Colin breathed, his fist clenching as that ever present cloud of anxiety loomed closer. “I want to kill him, Jonathan. For even have the nerve to touch her, to look at her. To want her when she’s not his. Now all these women are dying and…a child? What the fuck man?”
“We have to be still and let Howards and Vincent do their thing,” Jonathan clipped, looking over at him. “Don’t be going off and doing anything reckless Colin.”
“Jonathan, come on man. You know I won’t.”
Jonathan was silent for a heartbeat. Colin bristled, already anticipating his smart-ass reply.
“Yea…but I also know you want to. And we all know how you are when you don’t get what you want,” Jonathan mused, looking over the expansive property.
“And can you blame me?” Colin growled. “We finally find a taste of happiness, and look. Just LOOK!” he barked, his eyes flashing.
Jonathan turned to face him head on. “You call me…when you get that urge. You don’t need to be alone,” Jonathan gritted, face tight.
“Fine. I’ll skin that punta alive, Jonathan. I’m not going to take many more dead redheads with no results. No justice. The man sits on the fucking bench of the highest order for Christ”s sake,” Colin gritted, folding his arms and turning away from him slightly. His heart pounded. The thought of the judge hurting Olivia, Allison, Vanessa…he just wouldn’t tolerate it.
“Not for long. That’s why he’s becoming reckless. Think about how desperate he must be to kill a child. And besides, you know I’ll help you. It’ll be like the good old days, yeah?” Jonathan turned an amused smile at his friend.
Colin grunted.
“Bro, I hate to be inappropriate, but what the fuck did she do to the man? He was a client for four years, right? Jesus, well, she drove him legit crazy. He’s turned serial killer obsessed and killing children and she didn’t even fuck him? Is she a witch or something? Could you imagine holding the amount of power he has and lose your fucking mind like that over a woman you haven’t even stuck your cock in? It’s kinda eerie,” Jonathan half laughed, his cheek twitching from trying to hold off a smile. The situation really wasn’t funny, but he had a dark sense of humor.
Colin turned an arched eyebrow at him. Thinking about his and Olivia’s sex life. He got a very sickening trickle of fear that he would kill over her. And not just the judge either. He opted not to answer. Jonathan already thought he was losing his mind half the time anyway.
He cocked his head, contemplating ordering her to give him one of the sessions she gave the client. He wasn’t into being beaten, but when she put the broken wine glass stem to his neck he definitely got a taste of her wild side and liked it. And when she spoke in his ear after sucking his cock, he realized her tongue was possibly just as bad as her bite. He just hadn’t ever given her the chance to show him. He hardened his jaw, feeling it ache.
“Let’s get back to the women. Think we need to discuss this shit with them before we upend all of our lives,” he said, turning his back on his oldest friend and making his way to the door.
The women were finishing up going over everything they had added to the cart. Vanessa opted not to have a baby registry or formal baby shower. She wanted to have a vacation weekend with Olivia, Aaliyah, Stella, Sara and her former work friend named Elizabeth. She’d asked Jonathan to let all his business associates and friends know that if they wanted to send gifts, the greatest gift they could give is a donation to their local hospital that conducts liver research. Vanessa asked for charity donations instead.
Colin gave the biggest donation, of course.
Jonathan and Colin both fretted over the women going on a trip with all the issues that were going on with the murdered redhead women, and with Vanessa being two months out from her delivery date. However, now with them hiring a security detail and several other women going, they decided they felt slightly better about that decision.
“Excuse me ladies,” Colin rumbled in his deep voice, sneaking a glance at the computer and seeing the price tag. His chest visibly swelled at the dollar amount and he smiled. There was no rationale for him to feel the way he felt about spending money.
Both Olivia and Vanessa looked up at the men as they rounded the island to face them.
“Where’d y’all wander off to?” Olivia said, her eyes flicking briefly back to the screen. That’s how she’d been coping, not looking at him. If she didn’t look at him, she couldn’t succumb to his stare. And if she didn’t succumb, then she shouldn’t be spreading her legs.
Right?
“We both received an email from Vincent,” Jonathan said matter of factly across the island. He turned to open up the refrigerator and saw some deli meat and cheese roll ups stacked in a nice little bundle. Courtesy of Mary. “Is this-”
“Yes,” Olivia harshly cut him off, with an extremely annoyed look on her face. She swore one of these days she was going to buy a pork hot dog and shove it down his throat.
She grinned, the thought immediately making her feel better.
“Anyways,” Colin said, throwing Olivia an amused glance, his eyes raking over her form. She was wearing a burnt orange strapless dress, her gold necklace that said Ally, and simple diamond stud earrings in her ears next to a pair of pearl earrings that she’d never gotten a chance to wear.
Colin remembered the day he took her to get the diamonds. He wanted something much more expensive, but she saw these and fell in love with them. So, not being able to deny her anything, he bought them even though they were one tenth the price of the ones he’d preferred. Then she shocked him by driving them to a tattoo shop where she’d gotten a second piercing in her ears, before she let him take them back to the jewelry department and he’d bought her an expensive pair of real tear drop pearl earrings.
She’d left before her ears were healed up enough to switch out of the starter studs and into other earrings, and he was pleased to see that the pearls were dangling rather nicely next to the small diamonds in her ears. His heart swelled with pride.
Colin watched her tuck the heavy lock of hair that had fallen over her brow and dangled down, curling against the island marble top. She’d had her hair in a deep side part, sort of making herself look like Ariel off the Little Mermaid that Ally loved. That paired with the pearl earrings made him want to buy her a ridiculous mermaid tail. One of those expensive realistic looking ones and then make her do a photo shoot on top of the grotto outside. He grinned, mentally playing the image in his head. He may even play the soundtrack to the movie over the speakers while she poses.
He wondered if he could get a lobster floatation device for the pool.
“Dude what the fuck are you thinking about right now? Jesus,” Vanessa said, her eyebrow raised as she frowned at him over the computer.
Colin shook his head of the thoughts as Jonathan munched on the deli rolls and offered him one. He refused.
“I told y’all he’s crazy,” Jonathan murmured, ignoring the filthy look that Colin threw him as he crossed his arms and looked back at the women across the expansive island.
“Anyways, Vincent just emailed us both. The two of your security details are ready. We’ll be going tomorrow after Jonathan and Vincent go to Allison’s school to meet the team. Starting tomorrow evening, we’ll all have security and Allison will have personal security at school. You’ll each get two personal guards. Allison will have one. Both our households have a rotation of two security guards at the house in morning, evening, and night shifts,”
Vanessa looked at Jonathan.
“Jonathan, isn’t this a little nuts? That means we’ll have three security officers tailing us personally, and six people on the property every day? Can we even have our own security officer at Allison’s school? I mean, is that even necessary? It seems like the two of you might be overreacting a little bit,” Vanessa said, a frown gracing her face as she sat back to take a sip of water.
“Well,” Jonathan said, clearing his throat around a bite of food. We’ll actually have seven. Colin and I both have security as well,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Vanessa, who’d suddenly hit the keyboard harder than normal, paying for the items in her cart.
“I want to know what you two aren’t saying,” Vanessa said, closing her laptop and folding her hands on the island. Her curly hair showed beautifully in the light of the kitchen, pregnancy made her absolutely glow. “Because this is fucking ridiculous, to be honest.”
Colin clenched his jaw and rolled his lips in between his teeth. He leaned his hips against the counter behind him and crossed his legs. His eyes flickered over to Olivia, who had placed her elbows on the island and threaded her fingers together, leaning her chin on them and regarding him silently.
Jonathan shifted uncomfortably before shooting Colin a quick glance. Both men were trying to wait each other out.
“I know one of you had better answer the fucking question. We’re waiting,” Olivia whispered, her voice tight. Colin’s eyes snapped back at her and narrowed.
Not in their home she wouldn’t be using that tone of voice.A muscle ticked in his jaw and his fingers twitched. She saw the action and raised her chin at him in a dare.
There was a tense second while they had a rather uncomfortable battle of wills.
“Don’t fuck with me Colin,” she breathed, her facial expression hardened. She looked wild.
“A green-eyed redhead in her early thirties was found murdered, naked, and decapitated about thirty minutes from here, and ten minutes from Allison’s school. The woman’s toddler was also found killed, dumped a short ways away in the woods,” Colin said, his cold stare hard on hers.
He expected her to pale, but what he didn’t expect was the absolutely feral look that came over her face. Her lips pulled back and her teeth bared. She let out a ragged exhale.
“Baby-” Colin said, almost stunned with her transformation.
She turned without a word and disappeared before he heard her slam the door that held her purse. She went back into the kitchen without a word and passed all of them, heading to the mudroom that led to the garage. Vanessa exchanged a panicked look with Jonathan before scrambling off the seat.
“We need to follow her. Let’s go,” she hissed, snatching her own purse and heading to the front where her and Jonathan’s car was situated.
Colin grabbed his own keys racing to the garage as he heard her car door slam and the engine start. Audibly cursing, he flung himself out of the way as she backed up violently, crashing into his bikes again, only taking out three this time. He threw himself into his car and backed out just as the garage doors opened. She revved her engine hard, the tires squealing as she almost clipped the top of her car on the garage doors.
He called her phone over the car. She ignored him. Cursing, he took his phone out of the docking station so the cops wouldn’t be alerted to reckless driving.
He peeled out after her, seeing Jonathan’s Land Rover pull in easily behind them. The gates opened and she clipped her passenger window. It hit the side of the car hard before flapping in the wind.
Jonathan called him over the speaker. Colin answered.
“Bro, what the fuck is going on? Do we need to call the police?” Jonathan said angrily over the speaker.
“My gut is telling me no. Do you have a gun on you? Mine isn’t in this car,” he cursed, promising himself to go ahead and order guns for all the vehicles so he didn’t have to worry about this again.
“Of course, I stay strapped. Any idea where we’re headed? She isn’t answering the phone for Vanessa.”
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say we’re about to see Carmichael,” he said, knowing deep in his gut he was right.
“Fucking God, this woman!”Jonathan bellowed.
“I tried to tell you guys she was crazy too!” Vanessa hollered in the background.
“I’M HAVING YOU BOTH FUCKING COMMITED-”Jonathan yelled down the phone. Colin quickly ended the call, revving the engine to keep up with her mangled Porsche. He hated to admit that the big guy was probably justified this time.
He sent Jonathan his location just in case they got separated, but looking into his rearview mirror, he realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. If he tapped his breaks too hard, Jonathan would easily rear end him.
Baby what are you thinking?he snarled to himself, his own car almost touching hers as she swerved into the oncoming traffic to pass a slow car, he stayed with her, not even wincing at how close the three of them came to hitting a car head on. He prayed silently that there wouldn’t be any cops, trying to figure out a story to tell them as to why they suddenly found themselves in a car chase with the police.
Because he knew she wouldn’t stop, and if she wouldn’t stop, then he’d be damned if he’d stop either. Vanessa being pregnant was their only out and he would use it unashamedly.
Fifteen minutes later, they rounded into a seriously nice residential neighborhood and he paled as she reached over and typed in a code. The gates opened and she backed up almost slamming into the front of him and she revved her engine so hard he was scared she would blow up her engine. Her car shot forward and she rounded the bend before turning again, and a vast mansion behind a wooden gate loomed in the distance. She revved her engine impossibly harder, and he sent a hail mary up, pressing his fingers into the beads of his mother”s rosemary he’d been carrying around with him these last several weeks while he was trying to keep his sanity intact.
“NO!” he yelled out at no one in particular, knowing that she couldn’t hear him.
Her car shot forward and he saw her hair slip out the open window of her car as she raced for the gate and crashed into it. She bounced off, denting it hard on its hinges, and she backed up. Colin could hear the car complain as she ripped through the gears, flinging herself forward and barreling completely through the gates in an almighty crash. He followed, watching carefully as she flew into the main yard of the house, ruining every bush flower and shrub as she parked on the walkway. He parked close, leaving his car open in order to get the hell out of there with no problem later. Jonathan pulled in on a squeal behind them, slammed his car door and then they both roared out for Olivia at the same time.
Olivia continued to ignore them. Feeling like she was about to drop dead of a stroke or a heart attack. Her blood was rushing so fast through her body that she felt like any more pressure and she’d implode. Trying the front door and seeing it was locked, she bent down and grabbed a rather large rock with both hands, feeling her right arm strain as she swung it back and crashed it through the window.
“Olivia! You fucking stupid girl,”Vanessa screamed, running towards them.
Colin got to her the second she clambered through the window, hearing the alarm system go off. He cursed under his breath, grabbing the sill and climbing in after her, taking a few seconds to take in his surroundings. Olivia was screaming for Carmichael as she walked to the front door, unlocking and opening it. Apparently, she was a tiny bit calmer than he gave her credit for.
It fucking infuriated him. He tamped down those emotions, planning to take it out on her later.
Jonathan barreled in just as soon as Carmichael appeared at the top of the staircase.
Carmichael’s older face looked shocked before settling into a sick expression of pleasure and delight at Olivia at the bottom of his stairs. A maid came running from the back of the house, with a dishrag in her hands and a startled look on her face.
Carmichael glanced at her.
“We’re fine. I’ve been expecting them,” he said to her. “You can continue cleaning Charlotte,” he said, his eyes never leaving Olivia, who was currently breathing so hard she sounded like she could hyperventilate any minute. Carmichael began to walk down the stairs, and Colin reached forward to snatch her to him, backing her up a few steps as the older man approached.
Carmichael didn’t look the least bit scared of the four of them in his house. He pulled out a phone and tapped a button, the alarm system stopping. Colin’s chest relaxed a tiny amount, and he pulled Olivia back further. His eyes narrowed as she yanked out of his arms and marched up to the man, her head cranked back and she narrowed her own eyes at him.
“Guest house. Now,” she snarled up at him, turned on her heels and walked out the door, not waiting for anyone.
Colin gave Carmichael a filthy look as Colin swept his hand out, gesturing for the older man to go ahead of him. He wasn’t putting his back to him.
Jonathan gave him a “what the fuck” look as they all filed out of the house, following Olivia to his guest house at the back of the property. She let herself in, stepping through and turning on a light.
Soon, they were all standing in the lush foyer. Colin”s eyebrow raised rather judgmentally as he spotted a huge oil painting of the man in his robes, his eyes looking sternly down at them all. Everyone was silent except for Olivia, who continued to pant, fueled with anger and adrenaline.
He tightened his lips, suddenly scared he might beat her to death when they got home because this was beyond a temper tantrum. But then he thought back to the information he’d shared with her and his lips tightened.
Can’t blame her, he thought. He stayed on high alert, trusting that Jonathan would know when to use his gun if he needed to.
“You wanted my attention? Well, you’ve got my full attention. START TALKING,” Olivia yelled, making Vanessa jump.
Carmichael smiled at her. And Colin’s eyes widened at the expression in his face. Holy fuck, he’s crazy. Colin thought to himself, sharing a look with Jonathan. Of course he’s crazy, he’s killing people to get to my wife.
“I just want you back, Kat,” Carmichael said softly to Olivia, his eyes softened, his demeanor softened, even his crossed arms relaxed.
Colin looked down further before his body tightened in anger. Not everything on him was soft, apparently.He rolled his eyes, he would let Olivia see what he had to say, then get their security team in place and let the man think that they were backing down after this little fiasco. Then he’d pay the man his own visit. He wanted Olivia to get hers first. Because he instinctively knew if he didn’t, then their home life was about to suffer in a major way.
She walked a couple steps towards him.“You will never have me,” she hissed at him. They stared at each other.
“Kat-”
“You leave my fucking family alone. Do you hear me? You see that woman right there?” she pointed behind her back to Vanessa, who was currently half hiding behind Jonathan, rubbing her belly. Carmichael’s eyes shifted to Vanessa and Jonathan stepped the rest of the way in front of her, shielding her from his gaze.
“You get a good motherfucking look at her. I know you think what we had was love, and if you ever thought your love for me was real, then you will leave that woman right there alone. Kill every fucking redhead on the planet if you want to. But if you touch her, I’ll pay you another visit and this time I’ll eat your fucking flesh RAW motherfucker, WHILE you’re still alive. And you want to know the first cut I’d make?” she whispered, sounding deranged.
“Ew,” Vanessa whispered, scrunching her nose.
Carmichael shook his head, something flashing in his eyes.
“Your tongue. I’ll rip it out of your fucking mouth and eat it happily while you watch,” she said softly.
Colin winced, believing her. The weird shit and the weird way she ate convinced him she would actually do it. He frowned again.
Carmichael raised a haughty eyebrow at her, a slight grin on his face.
“I will become your worst nightmare. I wasn’t Gypsy’s head bitch because I was weak, Carmichael. I was the top dog in a ring of thousands of women. You’re stupid, trifling, disgusting, low down, tore back country bumpkin wanna be having ass doesn’t scare me,” Olivia said with pure disgust, like she just swallowed shit.
“If that’s the case,” Carmichael said, his eyes narrowing at her. “Then why did you struggle so badly?” he cocked his head at her.
“If I didn’t have responsibilities beyond my control, I’d be ruling that fucking ring right now. Don’t mistake Carmichael. We all have a weakness. I’m apparently yours. Don’t fuck with mine. It won’t be pretty. I promise you. Colin can’t save you from me, the law can’t save you from me, no one will be able to save you from me if you don’t stop. You should be truly careful which buttons you push. Because if you push the right one Carmichael, I will burn this whole world to the ground,” she whispered, staring him down with an expression he couldn’t place before turning and walking to the door. She stopped, giving his imposing oil painting a little stare as she hesitated in the doorway.
“Oh, I’ll have a tow truck come by momentarily to get my car. If you go to the police about ANY of what’s transpired today, I will leak the video of you assaulting me at the gala, and all the times I’ve recorded our sessions where I’ve made you tell me about trails that you’ve falsified and the illegal shit you’ve been doing in our government.”
Colin furrowed his brow deeper, he didn’t even think to ask her if she had any dirt on the man they could use.
Carmichael took a step forward, his hands splayed in a gesture of submission.
“Kat-I love you. Why would you do this to me? We’re supposed to be together, and yet you’re fucking HIM when I’ve been begging you for four years to be with me,” he half yelled.
Vanessa gagged.
“There’s a very thin line between love and hate, Carmichael. You’ve overplayed your hand way too soon, in my opinion. Gotta be better than that,” and with that she walked out without another word for any of them.
“You’re just mad right now!” Carmichael yelled out after her. She flipped him the bird and kept moving. Jonathan confidently sidled through the doorway with Vanessa first and Colin paused before turning back to the old man.
“I only let her do this because she needed it and would be hell on wheels if she didn’t get what she wanted. I’d think very carefully about what she’s said if I were you. I’ll be seeing you around, Carmichael,” Colin said, raising his eyebrow against the hate in the man’s face.
He walked himself to his car, seeing Olivia already in the passenger seat of his SUV and calling a tow truck. The Porsche was beyond ruined. His phone pinged with a text from Jonathan.
Ya’ll deserve each other, that was admirable. Let’s meet for lunch, follow me. Vanessa’s hungry. -J-Dawg
Fine. -C
***
Thirty minutes later they were sitting at a booth, eating their food at a Mexican restaurant.
Jonathan was looking rather green at Olivia taking a bite out of her order. Braised spicy pig tongue tacos. Colin bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.
“I’m just practicing,” she said, before taking another bite and closing her eyes, savoring it.
Colin took a bite of his ranchero steak, watching Vanessa who was attacking her nachos with gusto.
“Sis, watching you smash through that gate was epic, like watching something straight out of a movie. But when you crawled through that window, I about had a heart attack. I did get a little of a lady boner, though. Sorry, you’re crazy, but I think you’re also my hero,” Vanessa said, shoving an impossibly large mouthful in her mouth and moaning. She sat back and rubbed her belly.
“I guess we don’t need to lecture you about how dangerous that could have been?” Jonathan said across the table, wincing as Olivia bit through a piece of gristle, her teeth grinding. She swallowed.
I don’t give a fuck if you lecture me or not. The point stands, Jonathan. He fucks with what’s mine, then he’ll get what’s coming to him. You guys don’t understand what I’m talking about. But I guarantee you that he does. He can decide whether or not he wants to take that risk,” Olivia chirped back, seriously looking like she didn’t just have a manic episode, burst through some gates, trashed her car, and broke into a man’s house. Just thirty minutes ago.
She looked like she was glowing. She’d been in her element.
“The point was, for him to stay away from the three-four of you guys,” she stared rather blatantly at Jonathan.
“Allison,” Jonathan breathed.
She nodded her head.
“If anything, I’ve bought us some time to get the team going, to iron out any kinks, and to get a new schedule in place if we need to,” she whispered. Throwing down her last taco, not wanting it as she was full.
“So would you-would you really do what you said back there?” Jonathan said, conversationally, as if they weren’t talking about cannibalism to a woman who was just eating pig tongue.
She smiled, folding her arms under her breasts.
“I’m surprised Jonathan, you of all people should know that when a person gets pushed beyond their limits then they’ll do crazy stuff to survive. Right?” she asked, tilting her head and regarding him tightly. He’d shared a few stories with her about his past as a torture specialist.
They all finished their food before walking outside to the parking lot.
“Vincent and I are meeting at Allison’s school tomorrow at seven in the morning to get the security shit figured out, then we’ll all meet up at Vincent’s office to meet with the teams and go over protocol, correct?” Jonathan said, wanting confirmation. He placed his arm around Vanessa and held her close.
Colin nodded, taking Olivia’s waist and pulling her close as well. The woman was magnetic. He agreed with Vanessa that what she did today was straight out of a movie, and he didn’t think he’d be erasing that particular scene from his head anytime soon.
However, she was still going to be punished for doing it. And he began to formulate a plan.