Chapter Five #2
After experiencing the worst day of my life, something only Dr. Alfie knows about, I’d gotten black out drunk for a week or two before stepping aside from The Organization completely.
It was the reminder of that day that led me to Dr. Alfie.
And then, bumping into one of my father’s associates, for the first time in my life, I panicked.
I ran into a random juice bar, and that was when I saw Olivia.
Sure, I hadn’t imagined her exactly, but she was so strikingly similar.
My fantasy girl had come to life, and she was more than what I had imagined.
She was kind, hardworking, and ambitious.
She was someone I could look up to, build a life for, and change my life for.
So I’d left my father’s business. I’d struck out on my own and created The Unseen.
And although the general opinion is that The Unseen is a branch of my father’s business, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
My father allows the rumor mill to assume, but he knows nothing about my operation.
If word got out about its true existence, that his son had left the business, his reputation would be destroyed.
I wasn’t lying when I said that no one left this business alive. But I may just be the exception.
To add insult to injury, I had taken a few of the boys with me when I left. Luca, of course, a few others that we’d gone through the ranks with, and Danny—the tech genius that’s setting us up to be legit .
The option wasn’t there for them to quit.
There were no resignation letters and fond farewells in this business.
But I wanted to move away from senseless violence.
I have a ledger to balance out. And right now, I’m still in massive fucking debt.
Besides, their staying with me keeps them safe.
I’m not forcing them to stay, and they know the risk if they leave: they’re on their own.
And that means they’d be fair game to my father.
At least continuing to work for me means they’re protected.
Olivia deserves someone better than a man with so much blood on his hands.
I shrug. “It’s a family business. I didn’t have much choice.”
“You have a choice now, though.”
I smile. “Yeah, Killer, but I don’t make the rules.”
“What’s the point in being the boss if you can’t make the rules?” She wiggles her eyebrows, attempting a tactic of playful teasing despite the undertone of desperation seeping into her voice.
“I’m not the boss. My father is.”
“Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks.” She leans back, relaxed. It’s an act. She’s about to pull the pin. What has Danny been telling her?
“I have a theory,” she continues.
“A theory about me? You’ve been thinking about me an awful lot, Killer. You know you could have just asked me on a date. You didn’t need to go through all this trouble.” I lift the chains and let them fall back down over my thighs.
She rolls her eyes. “As if you would have said yes.”
“In a heartbeat. Have you seen yourself?”
She stutters, her lips slightly parted. For a split second, she seems surprised by my admission, but then the flush crawls up her skin, and my chest thumps wildly. She’s not embarrassed; she’s pleased.
I implore her to understand with my eyes, pushing every honest thought I’ve had at her so she knows how serious I am. Once she’s composed, she deflects, just as I knew she would. And that’s okay. We’re taking baby steps.
“How about, if my theory is correct, you do me one favor of my choosing?” she says.
“Nice try.” I laugh.
“Scared?”
I raise an eyebrow and let out a deep sigh.
“Terrified. You’re a loose cannon. Unpredictable. Acting out of character and desperation. If we both make it out alive, the two of us will be looking over our shoulders until one, or both of us, decides to do something about it.”
“And what would you do?”
“I haven’t decided yet. That depends on how well you keep feeding me.” I tap my stomach.
Her eyes roll again, but I can tell she’s softening. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
“So what’s this theory then?”
Taking a deep breath, she pulls up her other leg so she’s sitting cross-legged on the chair.
“I think you’re the boss. Like the real boss.
I don’t think your dad has anything to do with The Unseen.
” She pauses for a moment, waiting for a response.
I say nothing, so she continues. “My brother is nineteen. There’s no way in hell he’s idolizing a man in his mid-sixties.
But a thirty-something-year-old? Sure, I can believe that. ”
She’s so close. I almost want her big, beautiful brain to work it out.
“You’re charming, accomplished, and have a reputation for taking no shit. You’re handsome...” She flushes, tilting her chin down. “Of course he’d look up to you.”
It astounds me that for someone who isn’t in our world, she’s astute and nearly on the fucking money.
Without knowing our internal politics, she could never guess the full truth, of course, but still.
She’s fucking smart. And that’s without mentioning that she thinks I’m handsome. Fuck, I’m a goner .
She looks up through her lashes, waiting to hear my thoughts. But what can I say?
She doesn’t realize the game she’s playing, or maybe she does, and she really is just that desperate.
I have to put her straight. I have to make her hate me just enough that she forgets this endeavor and moves on.
I can’t outright tell her I’m not part of The Unseen.
The name allows my team a level of protection in addition to my own.
If people found out what I was actually doing, that protection would disappear immediately.
My father is included in that. As soon as he changes his mind, I could be dead, and so could her brother.
“How old are you, Olivia?”
“Twenty-four . . . why?”
“You have a lot of life ahead of you. I’d suggest you keep out of shit you don’t understand. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you for what you just said.”
“But not you,” she says, lifting her chin in defiance.
Fuck, she’s so brazen. Pushing her away is going to be harder than I thought .
“No, not me. I’m not exactly in a position to hurt anyone right now.”
She glances down at the chains. I’ll let her believe that’s all there is. Not that I am cleaning my ledger, for her and for me. To prove that I could be more than what I was born into.
“Are you going to let my brother go?” she asks again.
“No.”
“Then you’re hurting me,” she whispers.
She uncrosses her legs and steps in front of me with her hands out so I can pass her my plate.
I hold it out to her but run my fingertip over her knuckle. Her quick intake of breath tells me she’s shocked. Her feet staying put tells me she liked it.
“I’m making you feel something, Killer, but I don’t think it’s hurt.”
Her pink lips press together in a flat line. Seems I’ve struck a nerve.
“Good night, Austin.”
“Good night, Olivia.”