Stone Guardian(47)

Without answering, Olivia stood up and walked toward the kitchen. “Olivia?”

Opening the refrigerator door, Olivia held up a couple more bottles of wine. “With all the stories we are going to be telling tonight, I think we’re going to need these.”

Larissa lifted her glass. “Top me up.”

After wine was poured and they were once again settled, Larissa started. “I have no idea what’s going on. None. Zilch. I’m as in the dark as I was after I was attacked by zombies. The only difference is I know now that it wasn’t an accident. I am the target of all this.”

Olivia tilted her head, polite disbelief written all over her face. “How can you not have a clue? These people… this isn’t tiny, this isn’t a scrap of information you might have stumbled across in a book or the wrong person crossing your path.”

Only the same question that had been on endless loop since she accepted the attacks were meant for her. Frustration beat a strong rhythm through her head and had her digging her toes into the carpet. “Believe me, if I had ever done anything that might be causing this, I’d be confessing it the town square, in front of dad and whoever else might be watching. I don’t want any of this.”

“Speaking of dad,” Olivia ran her hand through her brunette curls, the aftereffect a tousled look most women paid salons big bucks for. “Could this have something to do with your dad or one of your brothers? Have you talked to them at all about this?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Larissa ran her hand through her own hair, and with long experience knew the look was nowhere near as flattering as Olivia achieved. “Because dad can’t help me, and if I bring him into this, I’m going to get him killed. You know how dad is, how my brothers are.”

Narrowed-eyed disbelief met that statement. “Maybe – maybe – you can justify not telling the family when you thought it was a mistake or a one-off. But now, it’s wrong to keep them out of this.”

Larissa quelled the urge to squirm like a seven-year old under the Olivia’s look. “If I go to dad, he’s going to lock me down. I won’t be allowed out of the house.”

“Yeah, that’s horrible, having a family love you that much. What was I thinking?”

The urge to squirm morphed into an urge to hang her head in shame under the harsh tone. It wasn’t something they talked about, but Olivia had been abandoned when she was little and on her own most of her life. Though she never voiced the thought aloud, Larissa was sure one of the reasons Olivia hung out with her was to be able to experience a tight-knit family.

“You’re right. I am a lucky woman to have these people back me up like I know they would. They would put their own lives on the line to protect me.” Larissa kneaded the back of her neck, her fingernails scraping the sensitive skin there. How to make Olivia understand? “Would you give up your freedom for prison? A wonderful prison, one with amazing people and great food and lots of love within its walls, but still a prison.”

Olivia wasn’t about to be placated. “You have no clue what a prison is like, or being on your own.”

“No, but I do know what it’s like to suffocate because no one around will let you breathe. No matter how loud you yell, or what you say, it’s always a pat on the head and they send you down the path they want you to take, no matter what your wishes are.” Larissa placed her hand on Olivia’s forearm, forcing the brunette to look at her. “I was a good daughter, and I did what was expected of me, and you know what? I’m happy I did. I don’t have any regrets, because I love my family and I love my life. But if I go to dad now, I will never have another moment in my life where I am not under his thumb, and he’ll justify every second by saying he’s protecting me. And I love him enough that I’ll let him do it, because the only other option is to lose him, and I can’t abide that thought.”

Olivia covered Larissa’s hand with her own. “So you’re saying family is a little overrated sometimes?”

Larissa smiled, though she couldn’t quite manage the laugh Olivia was angling for. “I’m saying my family has to stay in the dark, at least for a short while. I’m not yet at the point where I have no other choice except to inform them and take the consequences.”

Olivia squeezed Larissa’s hand before letting go, and Larissa removed her hand from Olivia’s forearm. “How are you going to protect yourself then? You are the only one of the Miller clan who doesn’t know at least three martial arts and can shoot a gnat from a mile away.”