14. Victor

Chapter fourteen

Victor

S itting at the desk in my home office, I stare at the report my assistant sent me until the words become blurry. I can’t stop thinking about Olivia and our lunch yesterday. Sighing, I push back from the desk and stand. My office has a door that leads out onto the upper deck of my house. It looks out over my backyard. The barn and horses are to the side, and the lake is further down the hill. Leaning my forearms against the railing, I think back over every interaction I had with Donovan and Olivia.

He abused her. Though I’ve had my suspicions for sometime, now I know without a shadow of a doubt after how she reacted yesterday. I’m pretty sure he somehow got her to hate her name as well. I’m going to figure out why, then I’m going to plan his slow, painful death. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I select her name and send her a text.

Victor: You’ll be getting a surprise from me today.

I asked Lee to have some pretzel balls delivered to her office. When she tasted it, I remembered how much she always liked those big pretzels at the mall or carnivals when she was little.

Olivia: I just got it! Thank you. It made my day.

Her reply makes me smile. I should have checked on her more. When Donovan said she ran away, why didn’t I look for her more? Connor knew something was wrong with Donovan. Instead of figuring out what he knew, I passed him off as an annoying kid with a savior complex.

I think back to the day we voted for the new sheriff. Connor told me to let Donovan know his days are numbered, but I didn’t take him seriously. Again. At the time, I was preoccupied with saving my marriage to Josie. I had just purchased this house and finished doing renovations in hopes it would make Josie happy. It didn’t. She never saw this house.

Everything about Josie wasn’t what I thought it was. Turns out she was a manipulator and a liar. I shake my head to dislodge the memories. Between her and Donovan, I’m obviously not a very good judge of character. I’m going to find out what happened to Olivia and I’m going to fix it. I don’t know how, but I will.

I want to see her again. Instead of texting her, I hit the call button. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to talk since she’s at work, but it’s worth a shot.

“Hello?”

The sound of her sweet voice brings a smile to my face. “Hi, Olivia.”

“Hi, Victor.”

I turn around and lean back against the railing. “Did you enjoy the pretzel balls?”

“Yes. I really meant it when I said it made my day.”

I run my thumb along my lip. “Simple things make you happy, I see.”

“They do. It’s also nice knowing someone thought about you and did something about it.”

As I think about her comment, I hum. “So, actions speak louder than words?”

“Exactly!”

“That’s why I love the ring you gave me. Did you know that?” I rub my finger along my ring. Every time I see it or touch it, I think about her.

“Really?”

“Yes. I told you I wanted a thumb ring, then you got it engraved with what we always said to each other. It was very thoughtful.” She’s quiet for so long I check my phone to make sure the call didn’t drop.

“Olivia?”

“I didn’t buy it.”

I must have stirred up some memories. I’ve noticed she becomes snappy or agitated when that happens.

“I still appreciate it, though.” I make sure my voice remains calm and reassuring.

“Thank you for the pretzel balls. I have to get back to work.”

I force myself not to react. “Of course. Have a good day.”

She hangs up without saying bye. I exhale sharply and turn back around to stare out at the lake. She’s so sweet and easy to talk to until something is said that reminds her of the past. Then she puts a wall up. I have to figure out how I can tear that wall down, but first I have to figure out why she erected it in the first place.

I don’t know if this is a mistake or not, but I’m going to try to see what happens. I park my construction truck behind Connor’s and walk to the gated off area. Connor has built a lot of the neighborhoods around here. And from what I’ve heard, he’s hired many of those who were in Donovan’s clutches. Connor is talking to one of his site hands. They’re looking at blueprints, so I wait until he notices me.

When they get done, he says something that has the site hand laughing. Connor claps him on the back and turns toward me. His eyes narrow immediately and he scowls. “What are you doing here?” He walks toward me with such hostility I’m wondering if he’s going to take a swing at me. I force myself to stay relaxed, but on guard just in case. I’m not here to fight.

“I wanted to stop by and speak to you if you have a few minutes.”

Connor scoffs, removes his hat, and rubs his hand through his hair before putting his hat back on. “I don’t want to speak to you.”

I nod. “Alright. Well, if you change your mind, you know where all my businesses are.”

“I won’t.”

With a shake of my head, I walk away. I may have missed my opportunity with Connor to show him Donovan and I were not in business together. I know one of Olivia’s friends is dating his best friend. Maybe that will open a door in the future.

The grand opening of the pub is chaotic and isn’t as smooth as I wanted it to be. The servers definitely need some more training. There’s a crash in the kitchen and I hold in a groan. Maybe I should have pushed the opening out another week or two. I walk past the bar, heading back to the kitchen to see what happened when I see a woman with raven black hair.

Stopping in my tracks, I stare at her. She’s biting on her bottom lip as she looks at the food menu. When the bartender hands her a drink menu, her eyebrows furrow before she takes a deep breath, looking back and forth between the two menus like she’s overwhelmed. I’m surprised to see her here. One of the things I’ve noticed about her in the short time I’ve been back in her life is she doesn’t normally go anywhere alone. Unless her friends are in the bathroom.

Olivia’s head pops up and her eyes frantically look around the bar. She felt me looking at her. I want to take her fear away. I’m captivated by her and she has no idea. Her eyes land on me and her relief is so visible that everything in me wants to walk over to her and haul her into my arms, but she’s not ready for sudden movements. Not yet.

Forgetting about the noise in the kitchen, I walk over to her then wedge myself between her and the other seat. Instead of sitting, I stay as close to her as I can. Leaning my arm against the counter, I smile at her. She returns my smile and for the first time, it also reaches her eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

She shrugs one shoulder and actually leans into me. “I wanted to support you.” She motions to the pub. “I love the atmosphere of this place. It’s cozy. Not like a normal bar.”

“Thank you. It’s a bit crazy tonight. I was just thinking it might have been better if I waited a couple more weeks before opening.” I wrap my arm around the back of her chair and she turns toward me, so I’m standing between her legs. If I leaned down a few inches I could … I stop that train of thought in its tracks. I wave at Sarah, our bartender. She seems to be the only employee that was ready for tonight.

She walks over with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Valentine.”

“Hey Sarah. This is Liv.” She only gave me permission to call her Olivia. I’ll respect that. “Everything she orders is on the house. Alright?”

She nods. “Of course. Did you decide what drink you’d like?”

Olivia glances from me to Sarah. “You don’t have to do that, Victor.”

I take a chance and rub my thumb along the column of her neck. She licks her lips and her nostrils flare, but she doesn’t pull away. Olivia leans into my touch.

“I want to. Okay?” Our eyes connect and I’m not sure how to identify this emotion that’s passing between the two of us.

“Well, could you choose for me?” She looks down like she’s ashamed to ask me to do that for her. Her voice is low, so I lean down to hear her better. Inhaling her enchanting lavender scent, it washes over me. I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself from all the blood that is rushing to my cock. Fuck, I didn’t expect this when she came back into my life. “I just, there’s a lot here. And I only taste tested a few things. I would like the pretzel bites for sure,” she rambles.

“I’ll be happy to order for you.” She lifts her head to look at me and I see it. The trust is there, but I need to continue to work on it. She can have a wall for everyone else, but I want her to let me in. Glancing at the pulse in her neck, I have to fight the urge to lean down and kiss it. “You don’t have to be afraid to ask me to help you. I’ll always help.”

She nods once; her gaze never leaves mine, and she doesn’t lean away from me even though I am in her personal space. I rub my thumb along her neck again, wishing it was my lips instead, and she sucks in a breath. I smirk before standing back to my full height and turn back to Sarah. “For the drink, get her a Tequila Sunrise.” I look back at Olivia. “Only one, unless you let me drive you home tonight.” I don’t wait for her to answer as I continue. “Pretzel bites for the appetizer, Korean Cheesesteak, and the chocolate souffle cake for dessert.” Sarah nods and walks off to put the order in.

“That’s a lot of food,” Olivia murmurs. She sounds anxious.

“You don’t have to eat it all, but at least try everything.”

Her lips lift into a small smile. I’m beginning to realize she likes when decisions are made for her. I don’t know if that’s because of the anxiety she tries her best to hide or if it’s just who she is. It could be a bit of both. She would be a perfect submissive. That thought causes my pulse to increase and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears. I always said never again after Josie, but for the first time I’m reconsidering that. Fuck.

“Okay, I can do that.” She takes a sip from the water that’s already been brought to her. I wonder if she realizes how at ease she’s become since I walked over here. Her shoulders aren’t tense and she’s only focused on me. Olivia hasn’t looked around the pub once. “I’ll definitely eat all of those pretzel bites, though.”

I chuckle and wink at her. “Oh, I expect you to.”

My voice drops an octave lower without me thinking. I clench the back of her chair until my hand aches as I wait to see how she reacts to that. I get to witness her eyes dilating for the first time. She liked that tone. Interesting.

“I have things I need to attend to in the kitchen. I’ll come check on you in a while. Okay?”

She nods and her hand extends toward me like she wants to touch me, but she pulls it back before she does.

“Okay,” she whispers.

Winking at her again, I walk away pretty sure I just made a breakthrough. I glance at her one more time before I disappear into the kitchen and she’s still watching me. My heart beats heavy in my chest at the realization this is so much more than I was expecting.