Muscle Tears and Family ties
After they’d stopped by her apartment to grab the original blueprints and the shoebox with the money in it, he’d surprised her by taking her to the doctor. Not just any doctor, a special commissioned on call doctor who apparently catered to folks with money.
Man, the shit you can do and get away with when you have money,Olivia thought, scrunching her nose at the entire situation.
The young doctor huffed as he took her through a string of exercises that left her depleted and tears in her eyes.
“The muscle’s torn. You’ll need a minor procedure and physical therapy. No lifting and all that jazz. The nurses will walk you through it. Healing time won’t take long. How long did you let it go like that?”
The handsome blonde-haired doctor pushed away from her in his chair, swinging around to type into his computer.
Colin kept an impassive look on his face as she told the doctor how long she’d been suffering with the injury. But inside he was silently seething with the need to punish her for neglecting her body and her health to that extent.
“Do you play tennis? Shot put? Despite the injury, your arms are quite strong. You’re well defined. Recovery shouldn’t take too long,” the doctor said rather absentmindedly as he typed some more.
“No…I don’t play anything. I’m not very athletic,” she joked with a small grin. It was the truth. She chanced a glance at Colin before looking away quickly. He looked rather irritated.
The doctor turned to give her a quick glance before arching his eyebrow. He didn’t believe her. She crossed her legs and arms, looking away from both men, her own mood souring. She knew she had secrets, but she didn’t consider herself a liar. Not really.
“Ok, let’s go over some basic questions. Some of these are quite personal, so it’s up to you if you would like Colin to leave the room,” the doctor asked, still facing the computer. He pulled up some sort of document. She peeked at Colin, who shook his head slightly. Her jaw dropped before his eyebrow raised.
“It’s fine,” she gritted, her face heating up. She threw Colin a filthy look.
“Ok, any chance you are pregnant?”
“Nope, I’m not sexually active,” she said, with a big emphasis on the ‘I’m’ leaving that up for the doctor’s interpretation. She hoped Colin was as embarrassed as she was.
The doctor glanced briefly between the two of them before putting his eyes back on the computer. Colin’s eyebrow raised and he crossed his ankle over his knee. He began tapping the toe of his shoe on the tiled floor. The action made her nervous.
“Would you like us to do an STD test while you are here today?”
“W-what?” she sputtered. “No. I don”t need one,” she said, pissed. The man swiveled all the way in his chair, his hands clasping between his knees.
“I get you”re upset but if you’re going to be a patient of mine, I need basic information about you for your file. Mr. McDermott pays a lot of money for my services however If you would like, I can refer you to a female doctor here in the office. But her next available appointment isn’t for another three months. Seeing as you need your arm attended to, I am the quickest option at the moment to get you referred for surgery. You let me know what you’re comfortable with, Miss Cameron,” the doctor finished, rolling back and forth slightly in his chair, regarding her kindly.
Olivia calmed herself with a deep breath, not even daring to look at Colin. She felt his energy from across the room, choking her. She blew out a breath and nodded.
“It’s fine, sorry. I’m just a little nervous. I’m on edge because of the pain,” she put a hand up to her hair and tugged, breathing a sigh of relief at the tingles breaking across her scalp.
“I can prescribe you something for that. Can we continue?” he replied, turning back to his computer when she nodded her consent. Olivia felt her face was flushed.
“I’ve only had one sexual partner six years ago so no, I don’t need an STD test. But he does. Can we make him an appointment?” she said, referencing Colin. His lips twitched in amusement.
“Yes, we can get him in right after you, actually.”
Olivia looked at him and gave him a self-satisfied smile. Her phone dinged.
Keep it up. I dare you.-C
She smiled brighter.
Just giving you your money’s worth. You fucking told the man to ask me if I needed an STD test, you could have just asked me and I would have told you. -O
“Date of your last period, and are there any issues there that need addressing?” the doctor”s voice interrupted her glee.
“Two and a half weeks ago, and no,” she pursed her lips, turning even more red. She threw her phone back in her purse and pushed it away from her.
The doctor proceeded to ask her all kinds of questions before doing a careful exam of her body. Worried about any freckles or moles, instructing her to keep a good eye on any changes in her freckles, as any change might be a sign of cancer. There were more and younger people dying of melanoma, unaware of the risks and what to look for. He gave her a couple of recommendations for a dermatologist, which she shoved into her purse.
They got her surgery scheduled for a couple of weeks out, due to a patient dropping out of their surgery date.
Olivia became more withdrawn as reality began to settle in. Colin put his arm around her comfortingly at her shocked look, he made an encouraging noise and pressed his lips to her hair when she shared with him she”d never had surgery before. He was pleased that she squeezed his hand as they walked to his car, and though she walked slow almost as if in a daze, he didn”t rush her.
Colin apparently didn’t need any testing. He’d already had all of that taken care of because he was responsible. She bristled when he told her that.
Her hand felt slightly clammy in his warm palm.
Olivia bit her lip and looked out the window blinking away tears, suddenly really missing her parents. Colin started his vehicle and patiently waited as she called her sister to tell her the news, and to let her know that she was bringing dinner over. Ignoring Vanessa”s usual ‘can we afford that’ statement she looked at Colin, thinking that because of him, they could now afford just about whatever they wanted.
He called the local Chinese restaurant over the car system while they drove, putting in an obnoxiously large order. She raised her eyebrows at the price but stayed silent.
It was more of an effort to stay silent as she watched him add his facial recognition to her phone and made her do the same to his. As well as adding her phone to the car’s bluetooth system.
While they were on the way to her sister”s house, he’d called a dealership and ordered her a cherry red Porsche Cayenne. He took her hand in a vice grip as she snapped, trying to stab at the many prompts on the touch screen to disconnect the call before he could complete the order. His hand stayed tight on hers until his GPS pulled him up to her sister’s house.
After a few minutes he finished up the call and exited the vehicle, rounding it and opening her door.
Olivia glanced at his hand as he held it out for her. Her eyes flickered between his as she slowly met his gaze. Seeing his expression was warm, open, non-judgmental. Blowing a breath out to clear her nerves, suddenly almost terrified as she”d never brought a man to meet her sister or her niece. She swallowed hard, imploring silently with her eyes for this to go ok. Olivia grimaced past the pain as she extended her arm, letting Colin help her out of the car.
He grabbed the Chinese food out of the backseat and then gestured for her to lead him.
Colin”s eyes scanned the worn-down house with its downtrodden yard that was missing grass in places. He made note of the white picket fence in the back missing posts and half its white paint.
Eyeing Vanessa”s semi collapsed carport, he saw that it just barely missed touching the top of her dark blue SUV, making him frown in displeasure. Her house paint was faded and peeling, and the salmon colored front door looked scuffed from years of neglect.
The overgrown grass was half swallowed with weeds, and tiny dots of white flowers littered the lawn. The short asphalt driveway was a sorry mess, half missing its asphalt in some places. Their feet crunched loudly over it as they made their way to the side door under the carport.
Colin wryly wondered if Olivia”s sister had checked her bank account yet. Knowing Olivia hadn’t checked hers, and he was revving himself up to deal with that when she finally got around to it.
Olivia glanced silently at him as she prayed and hoped that it reached where it needed to go this time. She sighed as she led him through the carport and to the side door, into the kitchen, and into the clusterfuck that was her and Vanessa’s life.
***
“Tee-Tee Ollie!” the little ball of strawberry blonde curls hurled its mass at Olivia as she tried unsuccessfully to walk through the door.
Olivia hissed around the pain and fell back a step, hauling the quivering mass up her body as best as she could with her left arm.
Sympathetic, Colin reached out a hand to help her pull the little girl the rest of the way up. Balancing the Chinese on his knee, he watched as Allison squealed and planted a big slobbery kiss on Olivia, leaving drool on her chin.
He grinned thinking the girl was adorable.
Colin”s heart warmed as Allison squirmed and threw her hands around Olivia’s neck, who was still trying to walk into the house.
“Ally,calm down! Calm down, sweetheart,” Olivia laughed softly, finally able to finish getting through the door. She pulled back to look in the girls’ eyes, which were the same stunning shade of green as hers. “I have someone for you to meet,” Olivia smiled at Allison as she placed her hands on either side of her face and squashed her little nose into Olivia’s.
Colin chuckled, maneuvering around them to place the overflowing bag of Chinese food on the counter height table in the kitchen. Allison clocked his presence with her eyes before ducking quickly under Olivia’s chin, snuggling in tight, and peeking out at him from her hiding spot.
“Who are yoouu?” she trilled the word out in her high-pitched voice. Her shy grin revealed gapped front teeth. Olivia stayed quiet, watching as Colin assessed Allison. His eyes roamed, taking in the dark circles around her eyes and ashen skin tone. She watched a momentary flash of sadness cross his features at seeing how frail and tiny her little body looked.
Oddly, she felt better knowing he had compassion for others.
“My name is Colin, it”s nice to meet you, Allison,” he answered softly, extending a hand to take her outstretched finger in two of his and shaking it gently.
“Collie!” the little girl suddenly yelped, sitting back up and looking into Olivia’s eyes. “Ollie and Collie!” she cheered while yanking at Olivia’s hair.
Olivia tsked and put Allison down gingerly, being careful of her shoulder.
“Hey sis,” Vanessa called from somewhere down the hallway. “I just checked my bank account. Something’s gone really really wrong, so we need to call them together tomorrow; I think the clerk must have added a couple extra zeroes to the amount you deposited,” there was a slam before she spoke again. “Whatever happened, they majorly screwed up. I hope they can fix it before her bill is due this month,” her voice became louder as she walked up the hallway towards them.
“And thank you for putting it in the bank for me early this month. Last month the doctors made it a big deal-,” she paused as she emerged from the hallway into the kitchen, spotting Colin and breaking out into a bright smile.
“Hiii! Oh, you must be Ollie’s date!” Vanessa said brightly, hurrying to straighten her messy bun, coming towards him with her hand outstretched. He took it warmly, flashing her his most charming smile.
Colin regarded her intently. The woman was gorgeous with strawberry blonde hair rather than the dark red locks that Olivia boasted. She had a cat eye shape, but hers was a light gray instead of green. She was taller and curvier than Olivia, probably due to having a child.
Colin frowned slightly at her tired countenance, though Vanessa tried hard to hide it. He noticed she was slightly pale under her smattering of freckles and his eyes softened slightly. He knew exhaustion when he saw it. Vanessa was young, too young to be dealing with a sick child.
“It’s Olivia, not Ollie in front of non-family members. You know this,” Olivia hissed to Vanessa as she shook his hand. Colin smiled teasingly down at her. He jumped into the conversation quickly.
“Yes,” he chuckled, not worried about Olivia”s little outburst. ”I’m Colin. Hi Vanessa, it’s so nice to meet you and Allison. I’ve heard great things,” he responded in his deep voice, grasping Vanessa’s hand firmly in his before leaning back again and sharing a quick glance with Olivia.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he silently encouraged her to explain the banking ‘mishap’. Olivia took the hint, thankfully. She ran a hand through her hair nervously, making the strands even more voluptous.
“So um… Nessie. About the banking stuff, can I talk to you really quick?” Olivia asked, reaching forward to pull Vanessa back down the hallway. Leaving Colin alone with Allison, who was currently rifling through the Chinese food. She took a piece of chicken and shoved it in her mouth with her fingers. He moved quickly, gently taking her off the table top and placing her onto a counter height chair.
Colin murmured to her as he unwrapped and pulled out a plastic fork out for her to eat her lo mien noodles and chicken.
His ears strained to hear the girls talking, but all he could hear was furious whispering and then a “Oh hell no Olivia! What the FUUUCK?” before Vanessa hurdled herself down the hallway and snatched up Allison who yelped, busy trying to shovel another forkful of noodles in her mouth.
Throwing him a filthy look, Vanessa walked backwards until she bumped into the loveseat. Turning, she placed Allison down gently before snatching up her food, placing it on the coffee table in front of the little girl, and turning on a cartoon. She turned back to face him, seething, her arms crossed and walking back into the kitchen.
Somehow, her gray gaze was even more piercing than Olivia’s. Colin could tell this was the ‘older sister’ gaze. He raised an eyebrow, never having had one, so it didn’t bother him.
Olivia’s sister rounded the table fast as shit and got in Colin”s face. Lowering his chopsticks, he placed the carton of sweet and sour chicken down, amused by Vanessa’s flash of temper. He cleared his throat and folded his arms as he leaned his hips against the sink, biting back a grin.
“Explain yourself this instant! What the fuck is she talking about? That’s way too much money. Are you crazy?! What the fuck is GOING ON?” Vanessa bit out, her eyes flashing dangerously at him. He saw Olivia appear in the hallway timidly, looking at her sister as if she was superwoman. Olivia inched closer, wringing her hands.
He smiled, thinking they were both adorable, and no match for him.
“For what!?” Vanessa hissed, drawing his attention back to her. She narrowed her eyes even further at him as she poked her finger into his chest. “What the fuck did she promise you for that money? That’s more than most people see in a lifetime!” she whispered angrily, trying to not be overheard by Allison.
Vanessa squeaked as he moved suddenly, picking her up and placing her on a chair.
Colin ignored her surprised expression and pressed an unopened box of chicken kung pao in her hands firmly along with some chop sticks. He turned his head and threw Olivia his brightest smile in repentance for touching her sister, however innocent.
“There’s not really too much to explain. Olivia and I came to a mutually beneficial understanding. She agreed to give me two and a half years of her time in exchange for money for Allison’s treatments, finishing architect school, letting me help build her business and giving me a three percent profit from said future architect business. Along with some other bonuses. Simple. So simple.”
Colin curiously watched Vanessa”s face slowly turn redder with each word and wondered how long that could go on before her head popped off. He continued.
“She couldn’t give me a numerical value on Allison’s treatment and her contribution to this household. So I took it upon myself to estimate two million should suffice for a while unless something major happens. And in that event, I expect you to call me,” he met Vanessa”s stare just as directly as she gave it. Waiting patiently, silently letting her know that she didn’t intimidate him. ”Was I wrong, would three million be better?” he studiously ignored Olivia”s gasp of suprise, keeping his eyes on her sister.
”Five?” he kept going. ”Ten? Fifteen? Tell me what I”m working with,” Vanessa”s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her face. She turned her head to look at Olivia, who pulled out the other chair and was sitting down, looking weary.
”God is your pussy lined with gold or something? What the hell?” Vanessa breathed so quietly, if it weren”t for Colin”s military background he wouldn”t have been able to hear it.
”Vanessa!”Olivia”s jaw dropped in shock and embarrassment, and she turned her head away from the two of them so hard her neck audibly cracked.
She”s shy...timid about sex. Interesting,it”s going to be so fun breaking her in, Colin thought, pleased. He refocused his attention back on Vanessa, who was talking again.
“She-she said something about a binding agreement…two and a half years?” Vanessa turned and threw Olivia a filthy look, getting up and pacing the small kitchen back and forth. “Well, she gets to finish architect school...Gramps would like that,” she mused to herself quietly, tapping a fingernail against her tooth. “But, ok…what if you guys don’t like each other? What if something happens, and she wants to break the agreement? Well?” Vanessa asked, turning on both with incredulous eyes.
Colin waited for Olivia to tell her, putting his dark chocolate eyes on her green, still shell-shocked ones. When no explanation was forthcoming, he had pity on her, answering her sister himself.
“Oh she’ll be stuck paying me back every cent, every day, for the rest of her life. Even if she leaves a day early,” his voice came out rough, his eyes still on Olivia’s wary ones. His own crinkled as he felt that illicit thread pull tighter between them.
Christ, he thought, getting lost in her eyes. He hadn’t even touched her properly yet, and he felt like a simpering mess. He didn’t know what was going to happen when he finally got inside of her.
Maybe we”ll burn each other up with our passion and neither one of us would have to owe anyone anything, he thought rather wistfully.
Vanessa’s head cranked to the side as she looked at her sister in sympathy.
“Oh Ollie! I knew you were getting into something you shouldn’t have,” Vanessa put her head in her hands, taking a deep breath. “The way you consistently brought in all that money every month for four years. Damn you girl,” she looked sadly at her.
Leaning forward, Vanessa placed her forehead against Olivia’s momentarily, giving her a soft kiss on her cheek and pulling back.
Colin studied this interaction closely. Olivia’s relationship with Allison and Vanessa would be one he would have to protect. His eyes flickered back to Olivia.
“I’ve been telling you! I wasn’t sleeping with anyone to get that money!” Olivia flashed annoyed eyes at her sister before pulling open her own carton of food.
Colin watched, enamored, as she poured an interesting amount of sweet and sour sauce and soy sauce on her food, before mixing it with a completely different beef dish. His nose crinkled in surprise, and he frowned.
Gross, he thought with some amusement.
“What else brings in that kind of money?” Vanessa shot at her sister, and he could hear a smidgen of anger in her voice. She cocked her head at Olivia.
“Drugs? You’re in with the cartel?” Vanessa asked.
Olivia rolled her eyes, chewing and swallowing her food with a long suffering sigh.
“Stealing?” Vanessa pushed. Olivia shook her head no, starting to dissociate and get annoyed, putting some more food in her mouth. Colin noticed she ate a lot neater than her sister, who dropped her food onto the table with a horrified expression on her face.
“Trafficking? You fell into the black market, didn’t you?” Vanessa whispered. Her face went pale instead of red.
“It’s not your business. Just accept the money and shut up,” Olivia suddenly hissed, leaning forward and pinning the two of them with angry green eyes. “Stop pushing me. I wouldn’t do anything that would potentially put you and Allison in danger.”
Colin, who had been silently eating and just observing them, got an incredibly painful hard on at her sudden attitude. It was almost like she flipped a switch on for him internally. His eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, ok. Either way, I’m thankful,” Vanessa tilted her head up and regarded Colin’s stare haughtily. “And you, if this goes bad, I hope you know I’ll kill you first before she spends the rest of her life doing whatever she did to fuck up her shoulder to pay you back. So, I really hope for all our sakes this works out the way it’s supposed to.”
Colin nodded solemnly, understanding her need to push back.
He picked up more rice, preferring to lean against the counter and watch Allison fall asleep on the couch, having barely finished her food. Olivia padded over and pulled the blanket over her before efficiently cleaning up the mess her niece made. They ate for a while, and Vanessa and Colin sized each other up, talking about each other’s jobs and interests.
She was quite impressed when he told her what he did for a living. She listened intently as he explained a little about his tech company which supplied safety features for car brands. This led to Vanessa explaining to him how their parents had died, being killed by a drunk driver. The news hit him hard, and he worked to keep his facial expression from being too telling.
When they were done Colin hurriedly put the food in the fridge with Vanessa, who snatched the kitchen towel out of Olivia’s hand, making her stop cleaning.
“Your arm! Jesus, woman!” she admonished.
Colin realized his girl was just Uber independent and couldn’t wait to beat that out of her, instinctively knowing her attitude was going to be a problem. He dismissed Vanessa’s need to be there during her surgery, knowing she’d need to be available for her daughter.
He traded credentials with Vanessa, giving her his address and code for the house so Olivia wouldn’t feel so ostracized.
Colin tensed as Vanessa caught them on the way out the door, placing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. “Don’t hurt her, she’s special,” she said before whispering a tearful “thank you” in his ear. He softened slightly, patting her back and gruffly saying goodbye.
He placed Olivia in his car, and she waved goodbye to Vanessa when they finally pulled off in the late evening. Letting his eyes roam her face and body, he noted she looked exhausted.
He knew the revelation of her surgery came as a shock, and she didn’t really react much today besides annoyance at the doctor’s office when he wouldn’t leave. Guessing the shock of it all was dampening her usual temperament. He’d caught her checking her student loan account already. Almost as if she thought the zero balance was going to magically reappear with over one hundred thousand dollars to be owed.
No, I got you mama, Colin thought to himself. Knowing she just needed time for it to sink in.
She fell asleep quickly, the Chinese food and excitement of the day finally catching up to her. Colin reached over and traced a knuckle over her exposed breastbone before turning the soft music slightly up and settled into the drive to his house.
It wasn’t lost on him that Olivia had no clue where she was going, had no clothes or belongings with her, save her phone and her purse. For her to fall asleep without being curious as to their destination meant that she’d finally found a modicum of peace. His chest once again swelled with pride at being able to put that much money into her sister’s account without having missed it. He looked over at her beautiful face, illuminated by the setting sun, and smiled slightly.
Enjoy your rest now, baby, he thought wryly.
“You’re working off every cent whether you break the contract or not. We just need to get you healed up first,” he turned her seat warmer on low before placing his hand back on hers, his thumb stroking over the delicate blue veins under her skin.
Colin let himself breathe a sigh of relief, thanking God that he had her with him. Even if he had to essentially trap her.
He still had her.