45. Victor

Chapter forty-five

Victor

I take a sip of my drink as I wait impatiently for Olivia. Connor and Bec had a cookout today. This is his first attempt at having a gathering since he came home, so she didn’t want to miss it. Although, I did make her late. I’m upset I couldn’t go with her because apparently she still hasn’t told her friends about us. When she gets back, I’m going to have to talk to her about this.

But tonight is the night we’re supposed to do our first true scene and I don’t want to upset her before that. We’ve been talking about it for weeks. Me preparing her and her asking me questions. She chose the material I would use to bind her and decided that this time she didn’t want to be blindfolded.

We haven’t had sex yet, but we have done everything else. I can’t believe I waited as long as I did. Now that I’ve gotten a taste of her, I can’t get enough. In just a short time she’s overcome her fear of orgasming, but I still enjoy edging her. Sometimes I begin early in the morning and don’t let her come until that night. Like today. She was a mess when she left here to go to Connor’s.

I did that on purpose though because I want her desperate. I get the notification on my phone that she just entered the gate with Lane right behind her. She wanted to drive herself, which is understandable. Before they get to the house, though, Leo walks in.

“Boss,” he calls out. I stand and walk out to the foyer. He looks slightly upset, so I arch an eyebrow and wait for him. “Is Liv back yet?”

“Her and Lane just entered the gate.” He grabs his phone and begins texting. “What’s this about, Leo?” He pockets his phone and looks up.

“I was telling Lane to stall her,” he explains, and that puts me on alert.

“Why?” I demand.

He rubs a hand along the back of his neck. “I saw Donovan,” he says.

My blood begins boiling. “What the fuck did you say?” I take a step toward him and he backs up.

“I saw him today,” he clarifies. “Like forty-five minutes ago. I followed him to make sure it was him, then came back here to tell you.”

I cool down, but only slightly. Olivia was outside of these gates with that fuckwad out there. Tension seeps into my neck and arms, especially knowing that Olivia is about to walk through those doors. I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders, trying to calm myself. “Call Arden. Meet me in the lake house in twenty minutes.” He nods with a salute and walks toward the kitchen so he can leave that way.

I roll my shoulders one more time and walk out the door. Lane is pointing out some shrubs and Olivia is talking excitedly about how it would look beautiful if they were replaced with some butterfly plants. He gives her a curious look.

“Like a plant that attracts butterflies?”

She gives him a wide smile. “It does attract butterflies, but it’s called butterfly weed. The most common color is orange, but it can also be purple, which is my favorite.”

My chest tightens at the realization that I promised Olivia she could plant flowers and it never happened. She loves gardening and I’ve taken up a lot of her time. She hasn’t even had a lot of time to look after her flowers at her house. I make a mental note to talk to Grant and order the supplies Olivia needs. When she sees me, her smile gets bigger. She skips over to me and throws her arms around my neck.

“Hi.”

“Hi, dolce ragazza ,” I kiss her gently before sharing a look with Lane over her head. He nods slightly and turns on his heel. I turn around and guide her back into the house with my hand on her lower back. “Did you have fun?” I ask her.

She starts chuckling and nods. “I did. It’s the first time I’ve really interacted with Connor, and he’s really funny.” I smile at her and push her hair over her shoulder.

“I want you to tell me all about it, but there are a few things I need to take care of with Leo, Lane, and Arden.” She looks up at me with concern.

“Is everything okay?”

I grip the back of her head and massage it gently. “Yes, there’s nothing for you to worry about right now. Okay?”

Olivia nods. “Okay.” She looks around. “What do you want me to do while the three of you are talking?”

“Go take a bubble bath and relax, but get dressed in leggings and a T-shirt after. We need to talk about tonight.” She nibbles on her lip for a few seconds before nodding. I kiss her forehead before leaving to head to the lake house.

Walking in the front door, I’m met with three pairs of eyes, but I look at Leo. “Talk,” I demand.

Arden and Lane turn their attention to Leo. I don’t think about how Arden got here. He didn’t come through the front gate.

“Ever since Malachi said he saw Donovan, I’ve been keeping an eye out. I scout downtown all the time and that neighborhood he was always fond of. Of course, Connor made that hard for him when he started rebuilding down there, but there are still certain areas. Anyway, I was driving down there today, and I saw his black car. You know the Mercedes Benz. The man isn’t very stealthy; he always had a thing for that brand. You’d think if he didn’t want to get caught he’d change it up—”

“Leo!” His eyes snap up to mine.

“Sorry. Sorry. He didn’t meet with anyone, but…” The look he gives me makes a boulder drop into my gut. “He drove by her office building several times.” What the hell?

“It’s Saturday,” Arden says.

Leo rolls his eyes. “I know.”

I run my hand over my jaw. “Did he go by her house?” Leo shakes his head. I begin to pace as I think through everything. “He still owns the land in Louisiana, where he lived with Olivia and her mom, according to the county government office the last time I checked.” I look at Leo. “I need you to double check tomorrow. And check the property he had in Mississippi, the one he used to bring Olivia and her mom to, at the lake. I thought he sold that years ago, but maybe he didn’t.”

Looking between all three of them. “You are to never leave Olivia alone. Ever.” They all nod.

“She’s one of us, boss. We’d die for her,” Lane says. Some of the tension leaves my shoulders and I nod at them in appreciation.

“Thank you.”

It’s not enough, but it’s what I have for now. I walk back to the house with Leo. Betsy left him some food to eat.

“I’ll grab some real quick, then leave you two to your kinky shit,” he says.

I roll my eyes. “One day, Leo, I’m going to fire your ass.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “Love you too, boss.” He wraps his arms around my shoulders, but I shove him off.

Olivia must have heard us because she opens the back door and leans against the door in leggings and an oversized T-shirt. Fuck, she could wear a potato sack and still look sexy as hell. She steps back when we get to her.

Leo rubs the top of her head, and she scowls at him before pushing him away. “Awww, don’t be that way.” He goes to grab her to put her in a headlock, but I grab his wrist.

“Enough,” I warn him.

He holds his hands up in surrender and backs up. “My bad, boss.” Leo turns around and walks toward the kitchen.

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and close the door. “You took a quick bath,” I say as I run my nose along her forehead. She smells so good.

“Not really. I was in there for thirty minutes,” she says. I arch an eyebrow at her.

“You’ve taken longer baths with me.”

She turns in my arms and wraps her arms around my neck. “Well, we weren’t taking a bath together, were we?”

Olivia wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I smirk at her. Leaning down, I run my tongue over her bottom lip. When she gasps like I expect her to, I pull her close and kiss her long and hard. She took a bubble bath because I told her to, but she enjoys showers more.

I pull away with two small kisses, then grab her hand and pull her toward the kitchen. “Come on, tell me about your afternoon,” I say. She starts laughing again, and it intrigues me even more. “Are you hungry? Or did you get enough to eat there?” She shakes her head.

“No, I’m still full.” I load my plate with the pasta Betsy made after Leo does. Leo sits at the kitchen island and I sit next to him. Though I want to tell Olivia to come sit down too, she’s started cleaning the small amount of mess that’s left over. She hates leaving a mess behind even if it isn’t hers, so I let her be.

“Come on, gorgeous. I want to know about your afternoon.”

She stops rubbing down the counter and grins at me. She looks from me to Leo, then leans in like she’s going to tell me a secret. “He had a BDSM party.”

I choke on my pasta. Leo starts coughing, so it sounds like he did too.

“He had what?!?” My blood pressure rises. When Olivia starts laughing, I’m extremely close to pulling her over my knee and spanking her.

“A burgers, drinks, and salsa music party,” she says with the sweetest smile.

My mouth falls open as I stare at her. Leo slaps his hand on the counter and starts laughing. I scowl at him before looking back at Olivia.

“A burgers, drinks, and salsa music party?” I ask. She bites her lips as concern flits through her eyes when she sees I’m not laughing right away.

“Yeah, Connor told his dad BDSM stood for burgers, drinks, and salsa music. So, today he invited everyone over, including his parents. They had hamburgers and drinks. Bec played salsa music, and she decorated the house with boobs and penises.” She starts giggling again. “Connor even hung a pi?ata, a boob pi?ata and a dick pi?ata, but he called it a penisata.”

Leo barks out another laugh. “I have to meet this Connor.”

I snort and shake my head. “Why would he tell his dad that BDSM stood for that?” I ask. I had no idea Connor could have that kind of sense of humor.

She shrugs. “I have no idea. The funny thing is his dad knew what BDSM was, but he pretended like he didn’t.” I chuckle and shake my head. “He invited some of their friends over for a BDSM party to scare them away because he didn’t like them.” I laugh at that because that’s something I would do. I’d probably get along with Connor’s dad.

She smiles at me, and I love the look in her eyes. She’s become comfortable in her skin and genuinely happy. I don’t want Donovan to come along and ruin that.