48. Olivia

Chapter forty-eight

Olivia

I stare at the note, unable to look away. How long has he known I’ve been here? How long has he been watching me? My fingers are trembling so badly I have to sit on them. Caroline walks into my office with a bottle of water.

“Here you go. Did you get in touch with Victor?”

I take a swallow from the bottle of water. “Yes,” I answer. We just hung up because he said he had just parked.

She eyes me curiously and I know she’s wondering about us, but she doesn’t ask. I look at the note again, but before I can read the terrifying words for the thousandth time, there’s another knock on the door. Caroline turns, then opens it. Victor walks in and I slump in relief.

He doesn’t give Caroline a glance, but he does give the flowers on my desk a death glare. In two long strides, he’s kneeling in front of me, grasping my face. “ Dolce ragazza ?” I don’t care what Caroline thinks, but there’s a soft click indicating she’s left and closed my door. I lean my forehead against his.

“I’m scared,” I whisper. My heart is beating so hard in my chest it feels like I might pass out.

“I know, but I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Staring into his green eyes, I finally nod, choosing to trust him. “Thank you for coming.”

My insides are still quivering, but the calmness only he can bring is seeping into my body, and I can finally breathe again. He stands quickly, places his hands under my arms, lifts me, then turns so he’s sitting in my chair and I’m straddling his lap.

He yanks my arms behind my back, and I swallow. “Why would you thank me for coming?”

Swallowing, I’m confused by his sudden change in demeanor. His grip is tight on my wrists, but he’s not hurting me. “W-what did I do wrong?” My stomach clenches at his obvious disappointment.

He sighs before releasing my wrists, rubbing his palms up and down my arms. “I am your Dom, treasure. You did the right thing in calling me. You don’t have to thank me for coming.”

Looking down, I fold my lips between my teeth. “I’m sorry. I just…” I shrug. “I know you have your manager meetings on Tuesdays.” He cups my jaw with the palm of his hand and lifts my face until I’m looking at him.

“You are more important, treasure. I don’t care if I was meeting with the President of the United States or the King of England. I would have left just like I left that meeting.” My heart flutters at his declaration. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.” He moves his palm to the back of my head and massages my scalp.

“Good girl. Now tell me what happened.”

I gulp down air, not wanting to relive it, but knowing he needs to know what happened. “We were having our morning meeting when it was interrupted by the flower delivery guy.”

His eyebrows furrow. “The delivery guy was allowed up here?” he asks.

“Delivery people are allowed on each floor. Uber Eats, flowers, UPS, whatever,” I tell him.

He leans back in my chair and quickly adjusts me, so I’m sitting in his lap and leaning against his chest. “That’s going to change. Didn’t Lincoln hire James?”

I think it’s rhetorical, but I answer anyway. “Yes.”

Victor absentmindedly runs his hand through my hair, causing goosebumps to break out along my arms. “What’s on the other floors of this building?” He tilts his head to look at me.

“The company on the first floor just moved out like a month ago. I think Lincoln is thinking about buying it. The second floor is like those office spaces that can be rented, and the third floor is a payment processing company.”

“And they don’t help pay for James’ salary?”

I stare at Victor. “I don’t know. Lincoln doesn’t share that kind of stuff with me. You would have to ask him.” He rubs his palm along his beard and nods. I can see the wheels turning in his brain. “Do you know something you’re not telling me?” When he doesn’t look at me right away, I know he is.

“Leo spotted Donovan several weeks ago. He said he kept driving past your office.” His hold on me tightens as he tells me like he knows I want to jump out of his lap.

It feels like a betrayal. “How could you keep that from me?”

“For the first time in your life you weren’t constantly looking over your shoulder—”

I do jump off his lap, this time almost falling over because his hold on me is so tight, but I catch myself. “You had no right,” I whisper yell through my teeth.

“Treasure—” His voice is laced with a warning, but I slice my hand through the air.

“No. You don’t get to pull the Dom card with this. I lived with that fucking monster for years. He raped me for eight years. If you want me to trust you, then you can not withhold information from me because of how I might take it. Especially when it comes to Donovan. Please Victor. Don’t keep secrets from me where he’s concerned. That is a hard limit for me.” I speak his language and instant regret fills his eyes.

He sits forward in the chair and takes my hands in his, bringing them to his lips, kissing them. “I’m so sorry. You’re right.”

I study him closely, making sure he’s not trying to placate me, but the pained expression on his face tells me he really is sorry. I step forward slightly, but I stay standing. He looks up at me and wraps his arms around my waist, placing his cheek against my stomach. I run my hands over his head, neck, and down his back. His muscles ripple beneath my touch.

“Olivia, it took you months to get to the point where you weren’t looking over your shoulder. I didn’t want that asshole to take that away from you.” His hot breath seeps through the silk of my shirt, and a shiver works through me.

“I know you had good intentions.” I release a pent up breath. “But if you had told me, I would have been better prepared for today.” Squeezing my eyes shut, he tightens his hold on me, like if he could physically rip the pain out of me he would. I would let him.

“As soon as the delivery man walked in with the flowers, I knew they were from Donovan. He didn’t even say my name.” Victor sits back at that. Grabbing my hand, he gives me a questioning look and I allow him to pull me back into his lap.

“How did you know they were from him?” he asks softly as he alternates running his fingers through my hair and massaging my scalp. I lean into him and lay my head on his shoulder.

“Anytime he had been particularly rough, he always brought me flowers. They were always purple Forget Me Nots.” He was never sorry for what he did to me, but supposedly he didn’t like hurting me. The hand that’s resting on my thigh balls into a fist as tension radiates through Victor’s body. I trace the veins that protrude from the action. “You know some women love men in gray sweatpants, but these right here…”

He tilts his head down to look at me, a smirk playing on his lips. “Please continue.”

I pull my lip between my teeth, trying to hide my smile. “I could lick all of them.” My stomach swoops at my confession. I’ve never been so bold, but part of me needs an intermission from everything, even if it’s just for a moment.

He hums. “You do have a particular liking for the vein on my cock, and I definitely like when you lick it.” His smirk has turned into a wicked grin. My mouth pops open as my cheeks heat up. He laughs and leans down to kiss me, open mouth and all. “I expect you to follow through with that tonight.”

I swallow. “Tonight?”

“I’ll be staying at your house during the week from now,” he says. A streak of excitement skitters along my spine as I breathe a sigh of relief. I grab the card and show it to him. As he reads it, his expression becomes thunderous. “I’m going to fucking kill him.” He closes his eyes as he brings his emotions under control. When he opens them, he looks at me. “We have to let everyone know.”