“What’d you tell her?”
“I told her Olivia was safe and that the Escalade had been dumped under the bridge.”
“Great! Now she’ll go straight to the cops.”
“No, I told her that’s the worst thing she could do, that it would only draw the attention of these people toward her. Trust me, she doesn’t want that. And I think she understands that. She’s got a lot of selfish bitch in her. She probably wouldn’t have listened to me if I hadn’t put it to her that way.”
“Well, as long as she doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“You’ll just have to…reiterate the importance of leaving the cops out.”
“I won’t be reiterating anything. Why would I need to call her after you did? I’ve never even met the woman.”
“You don’t need to call her. She’ll be here to check on Olivia tonight. After she gets everything straightened out with her SUV.”
“She’s coming here?” My voice is unnaturally high in my shock.
Gavin grins. “Damn, did someone just punch you in the nuts? What was that?”
“Not yet, but if what Olivia says about that woman is accurate, she’ll probably be grabbing herself a fistful while she’s here. And not in the way you were talking about.”
“Trust me, you don’t want that woman touching anything below your waist. Ever. For any reason. That Sheila could make a man’s body parts shrivel up and fall off. Hypothermia.”
“And she’s coming here.” Not that I’d ever really wanted to meet Olivia’s mother, but I figured if it ever had to be done, it would be in circumstances much better than these. “Shit.”
“Any word from Nash yet?”
“No, but he should be—”
“Coming in the door right now,” Nash says as he pushes the office door wider and steps inside. “I see you got the princess back in one piece.”
I grit my teeth and ignore his comment. I thought we’d come to a sort of agreement to be civil, but it looks like that didn’t last very long. I wonder to myself when it was, exactly, that my brother became such a douche. “Did you get Marissa to her dad’s all right?”
“Yeah. But let me tell you, that is gonna be one messed up female.”
“Why? What happened?”
“I left her in the back seat until I got her to her dad’s place. She didn’t say much on the ride. She might’ve passed out or something. I don’t know, but when I untied her and took her blindfold off and she saw me, I think it pushed her over the edge, man. She just started crying and threw her arms around my neck. I felt kinda bad for her. I guess once she recovers from being scared shitless, she’ll be cursing the day she ever met you.”
I clench my fingers into tight fists, but again, I ignore him.
“Was her father there? Did he say anything?”
“Yes, but I didn’t give him a chance to say anything. I helped her to the door and was gonna see her on up to her bedroom, but he came down the steps, so I just left.”
“Neither one of them said anything?”
“As I was walking out the door, I heard him ask her what the hell was going on, but other than that, I don’t know. I shut the door and left.”
“Well, I guess that’s one way to do it.” I should’ve known better than to expect any amount of tact and sensitivity from such a jackass.
“As much fun as it is to sit around and wait for you two to go at it, I need some sleep,” Gavin says standing to his feet and stretching, moving his shoulders in a circle.
“I think we could all use a little shut-eye.”
“I’m not sleeping on the couch, so I guess I’ll be borrowing your car again to go to the condo,” Nash says.
“That’s fine. Take your time, make yourself at home.” I actually prefer it. Anything to get him and his attitude out of my hair. When he’s like this, I get the feeling the guy is nothing but trouble.
“Thanks, bro.” The sarcasm is unmistakable. I don’t know what happened in the last few hours to get his dick all bent out of shape, but something sure did.
“I’ll be back to go over the schedule and work for a while before we open,” Gavin says before he opens the door leading back into the apartment.
“Cool. Get some rest, man. And thanks again.” Gavin nods and I turn grudgingly to my brother. “You, too, Nash.”
Much to my surprise, he doesn’t make any pissy comments; he just nods as well.
Poor bastard’s probably bipolar or some shit like that. He’s moodier than a damn woman!
I follow them out to lock up behind them. When I hear the sounds of the BMW fade as Nash drives off, I wander back to the bedroom. I stand in the doorway to watch Olivia. Seeing her relaxed in sleep, so peaceful and so alive, I feel myself start to calm. Within a few minutes, I become more and more aware of the effects of the last twelve hours. My muscles ache, a combination of tension and beating the shit out of a couple people. My head hurts, most likely from head butting anonymous henchmen number three. And the kisses from the two bullets I wasn’t quite able to dodge are starting to sting, especially the one on my ribs.