77. Victor

Chapter seventy-seven

Victor

E veryone is at my house. The Outsiders, Olivia’s friends, mine too, according to her, and the FBI. A doctor has come to check on Olivia. She’s hooked up to an IV to help her with dehydration. He said whoever did her stitches knew what they were doing because they’re beautiful. I still don’t know who that is because she’s still sleeping. When she passed out, my entire body lost feeling because I thought she had died in my arms. I almost dropped her, but Connor was there and stepped in so I could lean on him.

That’s when I realized she was still breathing and still very much alive. The doctor came in and checked her. He said she’s fine, but the day’s events caught up with her, and her body couldn’t handle it anymore. So, she’s asleep in our bedroom. Everyone is downstairs talking about what happened today. I refuse to leave Olivia’s side, so I told them if they needed me, they knew where to find me.

There’s a light knock on the open door. I turn my head toward the door to see Ansley and Lincoln standing there. “I brought you a cup of coffee,” Ansley says. She steps in and hands it to me.

“Thank you.” I take a sip and hum. I needed this. “How’s your eye?” I ask Lincoln. He touches the nasty bruise that surrounds his eye gingerly and shrugs.

“It’s alright. I’m still not sure how it happened. It must have been when that beam came down. I grabbed Liv and her arm got cut.” He shrugs again. “How are you doing?” he asks.

When I glance back at Olivia, my gut churns, looking at how helpless she seems. There are dark circles under her eyes and she’s even paler than she usually is. I look back at Lincoln.

“I’m relieved Donovan is dead, but I want to know who took her and why. I’m ready for her to wake up, so I can find out.”

“She may not be up for questions when she wakes up,” Ansley says softly. I smile at her, appreciating the protectiveness I hear in her voice.

“I promise I won’t bombard her,” I assure her. “Anything going on downstairs?” They step further into the room and exchange looks.

“Malachi says Donovan was working with that woman, Alice Brighton, and that is who probably took Liv,” Lincoln says, keeping his voice low so he doesn’t disturb Olivia. I lean back in the chair and nod, remembering Malachi telling me about that. “Arden seemed to know some about this woman too. He’s making some calls and said he’d give you an update soon.”

“Arden is here? How’s Leo doing?” I stand, willing to leave Olivia for a few minutes to go check on Leo. Ansley and Lincoln exchange looks again.

“I’m sorry, man. He didn’t make it.” I stare at Lincoln, his words taking several moments to click in my brain. I turn away from them and rub my hands over my head. My throat gets tight as emotions swell in my chest. Fuck!

“Tell Arden I want to see him as soon as he’s done making his phone calls,” I say, not turning around.

“Of course,” Ansley whispers. “We’ll leave you alone for a few minutes. Just text us if you need something.”

I don’t respond, but hear their retreating steps. Once I’m sure they’re gone, I walk to the door and close it. I’d like to slam it, but I restrain myself. My shoulders shake as I try to suppress the emotions I’m not ready to deal with yet.

“Victor?”

I turn so quickly it makes me dizzy, but that doesn’t stop me from rushing over to the bed and sitting beside Olivia. Her piercing blue eyes are gazing up at me. I cup her face and kiss her softly. “Treasure,” I whisper reverently.

She brings one hand up and rubs my jaw. I close my eyes and lean into her touch. The emotions I’m trying to suppress erupt and a tear escapes. Olivia wipes it away with her thumb. “What’s wrong?” she asks.

The news of Leo is going to devastate her. They were close.

“I was worried about you,” I tell her instead, which isn’t a lie. After everything that happened today, I’m surprised I’m holding it together as well as I am. “Seeing you awake…”

“I know.” Her voice is rough, so I lean over and grab the glass of water I brought up for when she woke up. “Running into you was like an answered prayer. I thought they were going to kill me.” I help her sit up so she can take some sips of water. She studies me, her eyes taking in my face. “What happened?”

“Olivia, maybe we should wait until—”

“No,” she cuts me off. “I want to know everything, then I’ll tell you what happened to me.” She hands me the glass back to put on the nightstand. I take a deep breath and nod.

“Okay, but let me get the doctor up here to check you out first and if you’re feeling up to it, we’ll go downstairs with everyone else to talk.”

She sighs, but nods. I call the doctor, even though he’s downstairs, but I’m not leaving Olivia. He comes up and I lean against the dresser to watch. He goes through various questions, then examines her arm.

“Who did the stitches?”

Olivia’s eyes flit to mine before looking back at the doctor. “He was a doctor. His name is Dr. Chamberland.”

I try to wrack my brain on that name. It doesn’t sound familiar, but Malachi or Arden will know something. After he finishes checking her, he stands and looks between the two of us.

“Everything looks fine, but I would like to see you at my practice in two weeks to check your arm and to do another thorough exam.” I push away from the dresser and extend my arm to shake his hand.

“Thank you, Dr. Franklin. I’ll call and set up an appointment first thing next week.”

After Dr. Franklin leaves, I inhale deeply before turning my attention back to Olivia. I quickly move toward her because she’s turning to get off the bed. “Olivia,” I admonish her. I offer her my hand and help her stand. “I could call everyone up here. There’s enough space in my office.”

She glances up at me with disapproval in her eyes. “That’s our place. No one else is allowed in there.”

I chuckle, and she glares at me. “I don’t think you’ve ever used that tone of voice with me.” No longer able to stop myself, I kiss her quickly. “I kind of liked it.”

She giggles and shakes her head. “I don’t think you’d like it if you were in your Dom role.” She arches an eyebrow at me as I nod in agreement. “I need to use the bathroom, then we can go downstairs.”

I hold on to her hand even though I’m sure she’s perfectly capable of walking to the bathroom, but I need her touch as much as she probably needs mine. Today was a hard day, and it’s about to get even harder when she hears the news.

While she uses the bathroom, I wait at the door and send a quick text to the group chat that was created to let everyone know she’s awake and we’re coming downstairs in a few minutes. When she comes out of the bathroom, we both turn to head out of the bedroom. In the hallway, we stop short at the sight of Bec and Connor. Connor gives me an apologetic smile.

“I know you two were coming downstairs, but I had to see you,” Bec says to Olivia. She steps forward, but stops. “Can I hug you?”

Olivia snorts, but nods. “Of course, just be careful with my arm. It’s tender.”

Bec wraps her arms around Olivia, and they hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” Bec whispers as they hold on to each other. “I was so worried.” She sniffs and Connor steps forward to offer comfort once they stop hugging.

“Thank you, Bec. If anyone understands, it’s you,” Olivia whispers.

Connor and I exchange a look. Who would have thought I’d form a friendship with the man that once hated me? He steps forward and offers his hand. I shake it and he pulls me into a one arm hug before stepping back quickly. Bec and Olivia separate and both are wiping at their eyes. I wrap my arm around Olivia’s waist, and Connor does the same to Bec.

“Come on, Shortcake. Let’s go downstairs.”

Olivia moves slowly down the stairs. When we get to the bottom, she sighs. “I still feel a little dizzy,” she says.

“When is the last time you ate?” I ask her. It’s almost dinnertime now, and everything happened at the beginning of the workday.

She thinks for a moment. “Last night at dinner with you,” she says.

I stop her and stare down at her. “Why didn’t you eat breakfast this morning?” I had to leave early this morning to prepare for the staff meeting.

“I grabbed one of the blueberry muffins Betsy made. I was going to eat it at my desk with a cup of coffee, but…” She swallows and takes a shaky breath.

“Okay. I know Betsy is making food for everyone. I’ll make sure she brings you a plate as soon as she can. That might be one of the reasons you’re dizzy.”

We walk into the dining room where everyone is. It has a large enough table to seat everyone. All the girls are standing and waiting, though. Each one gives her a hug before we sit down. Even Caroline and Bass are here with the baby.

“Can I hold her?” Olivia asks.

“Of course.”

Caroline smiles at her and places a sleeping Mia in her arms. Olivia smiles down at Mia and runs her index finger lightly over the bridge of her nose before settling into the chair. Looks are exchanged around the table. Since this is my house, I guess I need to begin.

“I killed Donovan,” I say. There are various reactions, but the one I’m focused on is Olivia’s. Her eyes snap up to mine. There’s a hesitant hope in them.

“Really?” she asks.

“Yes, really.”

Olivia heaves a huge sigh of relief and leans back in her chair. “I told that woman he was dead, but I wasn’t sure,” she says, as she cradles Mia close to her chest and my heart clenches at the sight. Maybe she’d want to adopt at least one baby. We have enough rooms for us to have an orphanage if she wanted. We can rescue as many children as she wants. I’ll do anything to make her happy.

Olivia and Bec share a look. Bec may have not been abused by Donovan like Olivia was, but he wanted her too. Even if it was for a very different purpose. She leans into Connor. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and kisses the side of her head. Arden walks into the room and all eyes turn to him.

“Arden, I’m so glad to see you,” Olivia greets him.

He gives her a sad smile. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he tells her.

Lane walks in behind him. Olivia looks from him up to me. She was there when Lane revealed himself. He surprised me too. I wasn’t expecting him, but I’m sure we’ll find out about everything in a few moments. Olivia glances back at the door like she’s looking for someone else, and I know exactly who it is.

“Where’s Leo?”