47. Victor

Chapter forty-seven

Victor

I ’m sitting in my office at the pub while I wait for Connor. I can’t stop thinking about Olivia’s revelation that she can’t get pregnant. How does she know that? I tried to push her about it, but she absolutely refused to talk about it. On Sunday when I brought it up again, she actually asked me if I was that dense, which pissed me off so I didn’t bring it up again. What the hell did that mean?

I had the hardest time dropping her off at her house knowing Donovan was around, but I knew if I demanded she stay, she’d think it was because I wanted answers and I could tell she needed some space. So, I threatened Lane and Arden. If anything happened to her, they’d pay with their lives. Lane nodded in understanding, Arden snorted, and I went home to take my frustrations out on my punching bag until my knuckles were bleeding.

There’s a knock on my door and one of the girls sticks her head in the door. “Connor is here, Mr. Valentine.” I nod and stand. Walking out of the hallway, I spot Connor waiting at the bar.

“Connor.” I extend my hand toward him and he shakes mine in greeting as I sit in the chair next to his. “How are you feeling? I bet it’s nice being home now.” I motion to Gale, the newest bartender, and he walks over.

“I’m still sore, but sleeping in my bed is nice,” he replies.

Humming in understanding, I glance at Gale. “Water for me. Do you want a beer?” I ask Connor.

He shakes his head. “No, still on pain medicine, so I don’t need that right now. I’ll take water too,” he says. Gale grabs two bottled waters and sets them in front of us. Connor takes a few swallows from his as he studies me. He wants to know why I wanted to talk to him. After what I found out over the weekend, it’s even more important.

“I appreciate you meeting me here. We had a shipment come in, and I wanted to be here to sign for it,” I tell him. Not that I owe him an explanation, but I watch all of that closely now.

He shrugs. “Do you always oversee shipments that come in?”

I rub the back of my neck. “Yep. I had an incident at a restaurant I used to own, and I don’t want a repeat of that.” Maybe one day I’ll tell him more, but today is not that day. We sit in an awkward silence for a few seconds. I need to ask him for help, but don’t know how to approach it.

“Thanks for helping while I was out of it,” he mumbles.

I can’t help but smirk. “I’m not a bad guy, Connor.”

He twists the water bottle cap between his fingers, staring down at the bar top. “That’s what I hear,” he replies. He finally looks at me and I raise an eyebrow. “Anyway, I still can’t do certain things, but as soon as I can drive again, I’ll be coming to the sites to at least oversee things.”

With a nod, I say, “I get that. I have a hard time sitting around doing nothing, too.” I scratch at my beard. Maybe if I show him we have more in common than he thinks, he’ll begin to trust me more.

He points at my tattoos. “How long did it take you to get that completed?”

I glance down and chuckle. This is just my arm. He hasn’t seen my back. “About twenty hours. I could only do it a couple of hours each Saturday, so it took about two months. You want one?” I ask.

“Yeah. I have one on my shoulder that wraps around my chest, but I’ve always wanted to get a sleeve.”

This is good. He’s opening up to me a little. I give him a sideways look, wondering if he’d be interested in going into business together. My main guy that has been running my construction business for years is leaving and I don’t want to go back to that full time. I enjoy helping with the commercial renovations and the occasional home renovations, but Connor seems to love it. My main love is the restaurant business. Fuck it, I’m just going to ask him.

“I’ll help you out until you’re fully recovered. I want to discuss us going into business together one day.”

His head snaps up and inhales quickly. “You want to go into business with me?”

“Don’t look so surprised. You’re good at what you do. Everyone in this town loves you. And you did everything within your power to clean up the streets. I admire that,” I say. He doesn’t respond, just stares at me. I shrug. “Just so you know, I always had an uneasy feeling about Donovan, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I had my reasons for remaining friends with him. I made a promise to his wife, and I didn’t intend to break it.”

I did break it though, didn’t I? I take a drink from my water bottle. “But I’m glad you saw him for who he was and did something about it.” There I’ve pretty much laid all my cards on the table, at least for now.

Connor nods. “I appreciate you saying that. Maybe one day you’ll be willing to tell me why you remained friends with him.”

I stand from my stool and clap him softly on the back, being careful I don’t jar him. I can’t do that unless Olivia tells her friends about me. “For what it’s worth, Donovan and I only saw each other once a month. The only reason I did that was to have an excuse to check in on his stepdaughter.” I begin backing away. “Call me if you have any questions when you start visiting sites. And if you decide you’d like to go into business with me, let me know.”

A few weeks later, Connor is able to drive, and he comes to visit one of the sites. I’m helping unload supplies, and he’s been scowling the entire time. It’s taking all I have not to laugh at him. I finally stop torturing him and go stand next to him.

“You’re hating this, aren’t you?”

He huffs and shakes his head. “You have no idea.”

With a tilt of my head, I smile. “I do. I was in a car accident that broke several ribs and was out of commission for six months. It was pure torture.” Not completely the truth, but the only information he’s going to get from me.

“That’s awful.”

I sigh and watch the guys moving the rest of the supplies. “In more ways than one,” I say.

“Do you still think Donovan is going to show up again?”

“One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was not seeing how destructive Donovan is. If I could go back and change anything, it would be opening my eyes much sooner. Things would be so different.” Leo hasn’t seen Donovan since that day, but it’s time to be proactive.

“Well, you know now. We can make a change before anything happens.” He arches an eyebrow at me.

I inhale deeply and nod. “I hope so.” Does he know Donovan is back in town? “Didn’t your brother used to be a detective?”

He eyes me. “Yes. why?”

“I heard he’s a professor now, though, right? But does he still do that kind of thing?” He’s staring at me hard and I can tell I’m piquing his interest. Good.

“He is a professor, but this is his last semester. He’s starting his own company to be a private detective,” he says.

I lean back on the balls of my feet and nod. Interesting. “I might have a case for him.” He stares at me like he wants more information, but he doesn’t ask for it.

“Well, we’re going over to Melissa’s house this weekend. You should come and talk to him there.” I remember Olivia telling me Melissa is Caroline and Bailey’s mom. I invited myself because it’s time her friends know about us.

“Yes. Olivia told me about it and asked me to come,” I tell him, smiling. I’m stretching the truth a lot today.

“Who’s Olivia?” I forgot he hasn’t known her for very long, so he may not recognize her given name.

“You all call her Liv.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’ve known her a long time, huh?”

I smile. I told him this at the pub a few months ago, but a lot has happened since then so I understand him not remembering.

“Her whole life.”

My phone begins ringing while I’m in the middle of a staff meeting with my restaurant managers. I grab it, Olivia’s name flashing across the screen. My eyebrows furrow as I glance at the time. It’s early for her to be calling me. I hold up my finger to everyone. Stepping away, I swipe it to answer.

“Olivia?”

“V-victor.” Her voice is shaky. “I…” She stops speaking. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“What is it, baby? Are you hurt?” I walk over to the bar and grab my car keys. Putting my hand over the speaker and looking at Lee. “I have to go. Take over.”

“No. I got flowers.” It’s all she says. My mind is racing a mile a minute, trying to put together what she’s not saying. I jump in my car, turning it over and pulling out into traffic. Someone honks at me for cutting them off, but I don’t give a fuck. “He sent me flowers.”

My heart stops beating, then takes off like a stallion racing at the Kentucky Derby. Son of a bitch. I’m going to kill him. I slam my hand into the steering wheel.

“He found me, Victor. What am I going to do?” She sounds so small and scared.

“Listen to me, treasure. You’re safe. James is in the lobby. Lane is watching the building.” Did either of them see who brought the flowers? “I’m on my way. I won’t let him touch you. I will fucking kill him.”

She sucks in a shuddering breath. “Okay,” she whispers. “Can you stay on the phone until you get here?”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere. Will Lincoln let you off work early?” I ask.

It takes her a moment to answer. “They were delivered in the middle of a meeting. I knew they were from him right away. Oh, god.”

“Shhh, we can talk later. I’m pulling on the street now.”

The entire time I keep my eyes on a swivel looking for Donovan’s car, but don’t see it. Of course, the coward wouldn’t show his fucking face knowing I have my men all around her. I can’t wait to watch him take his last breath.