“I’m never leaving you, and I’m never letting you leave me again. This is it, Olivia Ann, somehow, some way, we’re going to make it work so that we all get what we want and need.”
“Here’s the ginger ale and medication. Livvy, how many pills? It says one to two as needed.” At her confused look, Joshua held out his hand and said, “Two.”
Fifteen minutes after she had taken her pills, she was sound asleep. The men had drawn the blinds in the office and told Adam to hold all calls. They discussed the next steps of the investigation and both agreed that Joshua would have better luck talking to the Boston PD than Ian would. Ian would probably just antagonize them. So, Joshua left Ian alone in the darkened office with Olivia. Ian spent the rest of the morning watching the woman who had captured his heart sleep.
Joshua called Ian when he was done at one o’clock. Olivia had gotten up once to use the bathroom that was attached to her office and fell back asleep. But by the time Joshua called she was beginning to get restive. They decided it was probably a good time to get her back to her condominium.
When Joshua got back to the office, he explained to Adam what was going on. Chance had already explained that Adam had been with Olivia and AHC from almost the beginning and could be utterly trusted. When Joshua got to the part that Olivia dreamt something about the Prescott hard drive possibly having been copied, Adam was appalled and immediately explained all of the security that went on internally and externally to keep all of their systems from being compromised.
Both Ian and Joshua had already agreed that Ian was going to be taking a look at Olivia’s computer either tonight or tomorrow, because no matter how good the security was, Ian’s electronics skills were better.
Joshua got directions to Olivia’s condominium from Adam, and to the building parking garage, so that one of them could drive Olivia Ann’s car home while the other drove the rental car. He just hoped she would be able to walk out of her office, not that he minded carrying her. He just knew she wouldn’t want to be seen that way. When he got into the darkened office, Ian had Olivia sitting up. She looked much better than she had that morning. She no longer had that wounded expression. Unable to help himself, he walked over and placed a kiss on her lips. When she grimaced, he frowned at her.
“What?” he asked, slightly offended.
“Well, duh, throw-up breath?”
“You mean you haven’t used your fancy office bathroom to brush your teeth? I expected better out of you, Olivia Ann.” And with that he finally got his first smile.
* * * *
“What did you find out with the police?” Ian asked.
“Let’s discuss that back at Olivia’s. Come on, let’s go.” Joshua extended a hand to Olivia to help her off the sofa.
“What are you talking about? I have a lot of work I need to get done. You’re not thinking I’m going home now, are you?” she asked.
“No, I’m not thinking you’re going home. I’m thinking we’re going home. All three of us are going to your condo,” Joshua answered. Olivia realized her hand was trembling as she brushed back her hair, but she ignored it and walked carefully over to her desk and sat down. “I have work to do.”
“Go ahead and try.” Joshua sat down on the couch beside Ian and crossed his arms. Despite the medication that was still flowing freely through her system, she felt the migraine trying to punch its way through the drug barrier. She looked at the computer in front of her, and then back at the men on her sofa who seemed so relaxed.
“You didn’t,” she breathed.
“Go ahead and try, so we can all go home.” She rebooted her computer and tried to log in only to find that her password no longer worked. She tried going out to the Internet and logging into the system from the web-enabled browser instead, and found that her access had been disabled as well.
“You bastards!” she screeched in a whisper, so Adam couldn’t hear.
“Chance said to tell you that, once again, he and Adam will be taking care of all of your e-mails and meetings. As soon as we tell him you are no longer in danger and that you are no longer having migraines, he will have all of your access restored.”
“I’ve always suffered from occasional migraines,” she interrupted.
“Debilitating migraines,” Ian clarified.
“What the hell are you two doing, acting all friendly? Didn’t I ruin that?” It seemed Joshua liked the fact that Olivia was grasping at straws.
“Apparently not, because here we are, working together to ensure your safety. Your security is far more important than any little squabbles the two of us might have,” he assured her.
Olivia closed her eyes and started rubbing the muscles in her neck, but there was no way in hell that she could possibly dig deeply enough to unkink the knots that had manifested there since that morning. Her hands were pushed away, and she felt strong, warm fingers press into her flesh, making her wince in pain and sigh in pleasure simultaneously. Ian. She would recognize his touch even on her death bed. He rolled his knuckles so that they were buried into the knotted flesh, until it finally gave way, causing her to hiss in relief. Finally, she was able to move her neck again, her shoulders able to sag in release. She opened her eyes to see Joshua sitting on the couch watching them. His gray eyes seemed to be glittering in pleasure. How was that even possible? It was all too much, so she closed her eyes, just letting Ian continue with his massage.
When they arrived at her condo, she was still feeling the effects of the migraine medication and the intense massage. Then there was the emotional roller coaster of having been stripped of her ability to do her job, and Joshua’s strange reaction to seeing Ian’s hands on her. So despite Ian’s hope of her answering his questions and Joshua’s intention to share his findings, she once again found herself literally falling asleep on them. One moment she was sitting at her dining room table starting a conversation with them, and the next moment she was sliding down her chair. Luckily, she was surrounded by firefighters with good reflexes.
She was vaguely aware of being carried to her bedroom. Ian. Then she was being stripped. That felt like both of them. It felt…nice. She frowned just a little when she realized they were sliding her between her sheets naked. She didn’t sleep in her bed naked. She thought she told them that, and she was pretty sure she heard Joshua chuckle, but that was the last thing she remembered.
* * * *
Olivia woke slowly and stretched. She was surprised at how good she felt. Normally she felt hungover after a migraine, but instead she felt the best she had since that terrible day she had fled Fate Harbor. Then the memory of the day’s events came flooding back, and she twisted around to look at the clock, seeing that it was nearly midnight. She flopped back onto her pillows and replayed the time in her office with Joshua. It was really muddled. She had been hurting so badly. But she did recall that for the first time she had allowed herself to cry since coming home to Boston.
Trying to sort through the events with a clear head, they still didn’t make sense. Her reactions she understood. She’d been confronted with a man she cared about…Oh, hell, she finally admitted it. She loved Joshua Parker. She’d been contemplating building a life with him before meeting Ian. She loved him with all of her heart, and then she had betrayed him.
She turned her face into her pillow and muffled a sob, because Joshua was still a man she wanted to build a life with, but she knew that she had destroyed all of that. No wonder she had lost it earlier when she had seen him. No wonder she was still losing it. She hadn’t dealt with that loss, that insurmountable pain since returning to Boston. But what hadn’t made sense was Joshua. Why was he here? Why was he being nice? Hell, he was being more than nice, he was being the caring and loving…She stopped and rubbed her face. Her tears dried up. She went into her bathroom and threw water on her face, and looked at herself in the mirror. Then she remembered.
He’d said he loved her! He’d said he knew about her and Ian! She grabbed her robe and ran out of her bedroom to
the living room. When she didn’t find anyone, she looked in the dining room, saw the light on in the kitchen, and found Ian at the stove. She stopped short.
“Where’s Joshua?”
“He went to bed about a half hour ago, he was wiped out,” Ian answered.
“He said he loved me. He said he knew about us,” Olivia said bluntly.
“Yep, I heard him,” Ian agreed in a monotone voice.
“He can’t mean that,” she protested.
“Oh, he means it.” Ian turned back to the pan on the stove, stirring the eggs.
Olivia felt such a rush of warmth, of hope, and as quickly as it rushed in, it crashed out. She let out a low moan and grabbed for the kitchen counter, her gaze fixated on Ian’s hand as it held the spatula that turned the eggs. At her gasp, he immediately turned.
“Livvy, what’s wrong? Is it your head, do you need more medication?”
“You need to leave. You both need to leave.” Her voice wasn’t firm like she wanted it to be, it came out as a plea for help.
“I told you, we’re staying, you need protection.” His voice was implacable. He looked at her, saw her gripping the counter with trembling hands. “Anyway, aren’t you happy to have Joshua here? Knowing he loves you?” Ian couldn’t help the bitterness in his voice. He’d tried not to care, but it hurt that she immediately asked after Joshua when she awoke.
“Ian, please—leave. I’m begging you, please, leave.” Olivia felt the first tear fall. Oh God, it was going to be a replay of this morning. “Please, please—just leave.” She watched as he moved the pan off the burner and turned off the flame. He came over to stand in front of her.
“Livvy, we can’t leave, it’s important. We’re really worried about you. If my presence is bothering you so much, I’ll stay in the hotel and you won’t have to see me. I’ll run checks and just call into Joshua. That way you can just be with him, okay?” He reached out to take both of her shoulders in his hands, but she jerked away so violently that she almost fell. He caught her.
“Jesus, Olivia, do you hate me so much?” he asked in an anguished voice.
Olivia looked at him through her tears. “Hate you? How could I hate you, Ian? You’re a part of me. Don’t you get it? You’re both so deep in my heart that the only way to get you out is for me to die.” She shook off his hands and backed up.
“But Joshua…”
“Joshua?” she cried out. “It’s both of you. But I broke down this morning because it was the first time I’d seen Joshua since you and I had been together, since I had betrayed him. How could I have done that to him? If the roles would have been reversed, I would have been just as broken. But Ian, you need to understand something, seeing you here in my kitchen, wishing it could be forever, is like holding the world in my hands. So I’m begging you, please leave.” The first sob broke out, no matter how much she had tried to contain it.
“Oh Livvy, I’ve got you, girl.” Ian pulled her into his arms.
“It’s both of you. I know it’s wrong. I know I’m wrong. Ian, I don’t want to be a bad person. I want to do what’s right. What’s right is not to come between two men who have been friends for twenty years.” She knew that he probably couldn’t understand her between her sobs, but she prayed he did. She ripped herself out of his arms.
“Livvy,” Ian started. He stopped when Olivia held up her hand. She wiped her eyes, and took three long, shuddering breaths so that she could speak clearly.
“I can’t choose. I admit it. I have to be honest, it’s not fair if I’m not honest with myself and with both of you. I love you both. I finally realized it. That’s why this is killing me. I don’t understand how it happened so fast with you, Ian! I really don’t.” She paused, sighing deeply. “Ian, I’m like you, I like logic, too. I believe in reality. I’ve never considered myself a fanciful person.” She found herself taking another shuddering sigh. “But it’s almost as if I’ve known you before, like I looked at you and a missing piece of my heart was suddenly filled.” She started to cry again.
Ian just continued to look at her steadily, his eyes never wavering. “I finally admitted tonight that I love Joshua. Well, tonight I’m admitting that I love you, too. I don’t love you equally,” she tried to clarify. “I love each of you like my life depends on it. But I love each of you differently. This is it for me, for the rest of my life.” She took a long, deep breath, steadying herself, and finally said in a quiet and even voice, “You’ve got to leave. You both have to leave—forever.”
“Olivia, you really are in trouble, you need protection,” Ian protested.
“I’ll hire bodyguards. I’ll go into witness protection. I cannot spend any more time with you and Joshua. Please, be gone when I get up in the morning.” She turned and went to the living room, grabbed her purse, and then went to her bedroom.
Ian watched her and assumed that she needed her purse for her migraine medication. He had read the bottle. She was taking at least the maximum dosage for a day, maybe even more. Great, it looked like their presence was causing the woman they loved nothing but pain. This had to stop. He took the pan of half-cooked eggs and dumped them down the disposal, his stomach a churning mess of acid. He strode down the hall to Joshua’s room and slammed open the door. Joshua sat straight up in bed.
“What’s wrong? Is it Olivia?”
“Yes, it’s Olivia.” Ian all but growled. “Get dressed, and get your ass out here. We need to talk.” Ian slammed the door shut, and Joshua looked over at his phone on the nightstand. It was five minutes after midnight. He smiled. They had just hit the three day mark. It looked like they were on schedule.
Chapter 8
Olivia peeked her head out of the bedroom after she got up the next morning, relieved to hear nothing but silence. She felt hungover and depressed. She made her way to the shower. As she dressed, she really didn’t know what the point was since she couldn’t go into the office, but she considered going down to the South Side Pantry and helping out, or maybe going back to the community garden. She grabbed her purse and her keys, since she had them in the bedroom with her, and made her way to the kitchen, knowing she had to eat something or she wouldn’t make it through the morning. She stopped short when she saw both Ian and Joshua leaning against the granite countertop, drinking coffee, waiting for her.
She realized this was the first time she had seen them together when she wasn’t overwrought. They were both mouthwatering. Joshua was shorter by a couple of inches, but he had the lean look of a predator, with darker skin and hair that made his gray eyes stand out. His high cheekbones spoke of some Native American ancestry. Meanwhile, Ian was all muscle. He obviously worked out a lot. His shaggy hair was past his ears, shining with red highlights in the sun, and he always had at least a day’s worth of stubble that grew in auburn. Olivia was angry with the two of them for ignoring her pleas with them to leave her. Despite that, though, she couldn’t help but admire the masculine beauty standing in her kitchen. She forced herself to shake it off and glared at them.
Finally she said, “I want you to leave.” When she got no response, she continued, “Now!”
“Not going to happen,” Ian said calmly.
“I told you I would get bodyguards,” Olivia said.
“That’s why you have your purse and your keys in your hands?” Ian challenged her.
“I was going to call them later today,” Olivia said, not liking the sound of desperation in her voice.
“Damn it, Livvy, this is serious!” Ian exploded. Damn, this much emotion from Ian told her that she had really pushed him.
Joshua set down his coffee cup and looked between the two. “Stop it, both of you. Olivia Ann, we’re not leaving. Come into the living room. We need to speak with you. It’s important.”
Joshua guided her to the sofa, positioning her at the end next to the arm, and he sat down beside her. Ian pulled up one of the straight-back chairs and sat right in front of her, their knees touching. Olivia was effectively boxed in. She look
ed from one to the other.
“Okay, Joshua, what did you find out from the Boston Police yesterday?” she asked resignedly. She looked down at her hands, keeping them in her lap, narrowing her focus so she didn’t see Ian’s knees.
“That’s not what we’re going to discuss, Olivia Ann. We want to discuss us,” Joshua quietly stated.
“There is no us, Joshua,” she said woodenly.
As one, each man reached out and gently took one of her hands. “Yes,” Ian said. “There is an us.” The heat of their touch was like a magnet to the ball of steel that surrounded her heart. She turned over her hands and clasped each hand, desperate. She raised her eyes, not saying a word, merely looking from one to the other.
Joshua smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss, the kind of kiss that she thought she’d never feel again, the kiss of her dreams. His lips brushed hers, softly tasting, parting, and finally opening on her so that she accepted him in. She sighed at the comfort of having Joshua inside her once again. She started as she felt Ian stroking her cheek, brushing her hair back behind her ear. Joshua eased back, and Ian released her hand and cupped her face. Where Joshua had coaxed, Ian invaded and devoured. Olivia whimpered, her mouth open to his ravenous kiss, her body arching up, trying to get closer. She felt Joshua’s hand smooth down her back, reminding her of his presence, but also soothing her as she moaned her passion into Ian’s mouth. Ian might have trouble expressing emotions verbally, but he had no problem expressing them physically!
Ever so gently, Ian broke the kiss, his lips trailing up her cheek to rest at her temple. “Oh, Livvy, I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this. I know I only had you for a day, but you’ve been missing my whole life.” Okay, maybe Ian didn’t have trouble expressing emotions verbally. No wonder she loved this man! When she turned to Joshua he only smiled as if in agreement.
Protecting Olivia [Fate Harbor 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10
