A Beautiful Mess

by T. K. Leigh

  She was in pain from her head being smashed into the brick wall. She felt dizzy and nauseous, probably from the combination of the head injury and the liquor she drank. The rage inside of her rose. She was not going to let Simon get away with this. She knew she needed to fight. Her eyes grew wide when she realized a way to get out from Simon’s grasp. Parting her lips, she sunk her teeth into his skin, biting down hard on his hand covering her mouth. When she tasted metal, she knew she had drawn blood.

  “Ouch! Fucking bitch!” Simon screamed, releasing Olivia. She kneed him in the groin and he fell to the ground. She started to run away, but Simon was fast. He reached his hand out and grasped onto her ankle. Olivia screamed as he pulled her to the ground, her cries becoming desperate and loud.

  With her free leg, Olivia kicked him repeatedly. Simon was forced to release her other leg when she landed a hard blow to his head. He moaned in pain, clutching his head as blood streamed down his face. Olivia quickly raised herself off the ground, desperate to get away from Simon, and fled onto State Street. She frantically ran down the cobblestone sidewalk, crying out for someone to help her. The silence around her was deafening as fear consumed her body, her hands shaking. The normally busy street was barren, the last of the bar patrons long gone for the evening.

  The clouds in the sky created an ominous feel. All of the buildings were eerily dark. Street lights dimly illuminated each corner, casting shadows on the vacant street. As she tried to find someone to help her, Olivia heard a noise coming from the direction of the night entrance and she started running again, adrenaline coursing through her entire body. She wasn’t sure where to go but she knew she didn’t want Simon to ever touch her again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  PENANCE

  IN the early morning hours of a Saturday in mid-August, Alexander Burnham found himself walking from his penthouse apartment on the Waterfront to his office building in the Financial District. He had trouble sleeping, as happened from time to time, so he decided to head into the office to see how a few of his security operations were going. He had been awoken earlier from a dream. A dream he hadn’t had in years. He saw those brown eyes that he hadn’t seen in ages. Those brown eyes he never thought he would see again. Those brown eyes he had let down. Why, after all these years, was she haunting his dreams again?

  He left the leggy red-head in his bed and walked to his office building to clear his head.

  As he walked down State Street, he heard a woman scream in the general direction of his office building. He immediately started to run, not caring about ruining his crisp gray suit. Closing in on the building, a tall woman with long wavy hair came running out of the street where the night entrance was located, frantically crying for help.

  He slowed, hoping that he wouldn’t scare her even more than it appeared she already was. Then he saw someone chasing her. He doubled his efforts, his SEAL training kicking in. He noticed the knife her attacker carried and shuddered at what that man had done to the woman who fled so desperately. Within seconds, Alexander caught up to the man a block away from his office building. He quickly incapacitated him, knocking him to the ground.

  When Olivia heard a commotion behind her, she glanced over her shoulder and saw a man in a gray suit attacking Simon, punching him repeatedly. She stopped abruptly, her heart racing and her breathing labored. She sank to the ground, shaking and relieved to have gotten away from Simon. Adrenaline still coursed through her veins, but she was exhausted and couldn’t take another step.

  Olivia watched in curiosity as the man in the suit restrained Simon with a pair of zip ties. She wondered why someone would need to carry such an item with him.

  Alexander walked over to the frightened woman as she sat on the ground trembling against a storefront. “Are you okay?” He stared into her big brown eyes. This must be a trick, he thought to himself. Surely, it couldn’t be. He had just seen those eyes in his dreams and now here he was, staring into what appeared to be the same eyes. He could recall only one girl ever having wide brown eyes like those, and she was long gone. He had given up hope years ago. “I think you might be in shock. I’m just going to place my jacket around your shoulders. You’re shaking.”

  Olivia watched as he removed his suit jacket and took a few steps toward her, gingerly placing it around her back. She felt his hands linger on her shoulders for a brief second and a tingling sensation permeated her body. She looked into his beautiful green eyes, completely dumbstruck, a calm feeling overtaking her.

  He stepped back again and Olivia was unable to take her eyes off his six-foot-five frame. She knew her reaction was completely inappropriate, considering Simon had just attacked her, but she couldn’t control it. She couldn’t remember ever being so attracted to someone.

  He smiled, noticing her openly gawk at him, bringing attention to the boy-like quality of his face. Olivia wondered how old he could be as she took in his suit, his crisp white button down shirt doing a bad job at hiding the muscular torso underneath. She licked her lips, staring at his chest, soft little tendrils of dark hair escaping from the top of his shirt. Her eyes made their way lower, her breathing increasing as she ogled the dark gray pants that fell nicely from his hips, matching the suit jacket he had placed around her.

  Olivia all but forgot about Simon’s attack as her eyes returned to meet his, a smirk on his face, before falling into a different sort of look. Maybe compassion. And something else, like he was searching his brain for a piece of information that was missing at a crucial moment.

  “I’m sorry. I’m usually so careful. I don’t know what happened.” Olivia finally found her voice.

  “Hey, hey,” he said rushing toward her, kneeling in front of her. “You have nothing to apologize for.” His voice was soft but firm.

  “I know, but I was stupid to not have my keycard out and ready to go.” She touched her head and felt blood.

  “Do you want to file a report? I can have a detective come and meet us up in my office.”

  Olivia gazed at him, a look of hesitation apparent on her face. She had just been attacked outside of her office building by someone she thought she knew and now a total stranger asked her to go with him, alone, to his office.

  “I’m one of the good guys, I promise,” he assured her, noticing her hesitation.

  She looked deep into his green eyes. “You can trust me,” he said softly. Her brain flashed back, remembering those words from a childhood memory. She didn’t know why, but she believed him.

  “What do we do about him?” Olivia asked, nodding toward where Simon lay on the sidewalk, unconscious and restrained.

  “I’ll take care of him.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and punched a button on it.

  “Martin. Burnham here. I need you to send someone down around the corner of the night entrance on State and detain the individual you see restrained. Please call Detective Wilder and escort her to my office the moment she arrives. There’s been an incident outside the building this evening.” He immediately hung up and turned to face Olivia. “My office is in that building,” he said, gesturing to the same building where Olivia’s office was located. She smiled. “I can take a better look at that head, too.”

  Olivia nodded. “Okay.”

  “Let’s get you inside…” Alexander looked at the woman in front of him with a questioning look. She quickly realized he was asking her name.

  “Olivia Adler. Libby.” She reached her hand toward him.

  He looked at her, unable to believe he just heard that name. It couldn’t be her, surely. Same first name, but the last name was different. Still, she was taken from him over twenty years ago. If she were alive, he would have found her already. And why would his father lie to him and say that she didn’t make it after that tragic day?

  He took her outreached hand and felt a certain electricity. “Alexander Burnham. Can I help you up, Miss Adler?”

  “Yes, please, Mr. Burnham.” Still holding onto Olivia’s hand, he placed an arm aroun
d her and gently helped her stand.

  “I’ve never seen you here before,” Olivia said to him as they walked down the block toward the office building. “I’ve been working at Downtown Wellness for the past few months.” The pair turned down the side street, heading toward the night entrance to the building. He held the door for her after swiping his keycard, granting them both access.

  “Well, I tend to work all sorts of strange hours.” He led her toward the bank of elevators and swiped his card again before punching the button for the twenty-ninth floor. The penthouse.

  Olivia immediately turned to look at him. She had always heard stories about the man who occupied the twenty-ninth floor, mostly from Melanie who told Olivia time and time again how “absolutely breathtaking” the guy was. She had also said that he was some sort of “Billionaire Super Spy.” Olivia quickly brushed it off. Melanie clearly read too many romance novels.

  “Who are you?” she asked with a curious look on her face. He just smirked at her with a sparkle in his eyes as the elevator continued to ascend the twenty-nine floors to his office. “Wait a minute. You’re Alexander Burnham. The Alexander Burnham?” Olivia exclaimed. “You run Burnham & Associates, don’t you?”

  “No. I own it,” he replied, smirking at her even more. “That, and this entire building, if we’re being honest. And I feel partly responsible for what happened to you this evening,” he admitted, the smirk being replaced with a look of compassion. “I’ll be changing some things around here next week.”

  The elevator doors opened and Olivia was immersed in a posh office. Alexander walked her into the foyer and toward a small reception area in front of a large mirror glass wall with Burnham & Associates in giant block letters. Several modern black chairs surrounded a coffee table in the waiting area with large black and white art prints adorning the gray walls. It was understated and elegant at the same time.

  Alexander punched several numbers into a keypad on a large black door in the middle of the glass wall before placing his thumbprint on a scanner. The door beeped and he opened it for Olivia.

  “What is it your company does?” she asked, curious about all the security protocols in place.

  “This is a private security company, ironically, among other ventures,” he responded, punching yet another security code into another door after leading Olivia down a long corridor. So he is a Super Spy, Olivia thought.

  The door beeped and he held it open for Olivia. As she entered the room, lights sprang to life. The room was enormous and palatial. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered three of the walls. To the right was a sitting area with a black leather couch, love seat, and a few lounge chairs surrounding a black coffee table. Adjacent to the sitting area was a wet bar. On the opposite side of the room sat a simple black desk, which Olivia assumed was his workspace. Unlike Olivia’s office, there were no papers or files scattered across the room. It was neat and orderly.

  “Does your office take up the entire floor? It seems like it.” Olivia couldn’t believe how large the room was.

  “Kind of. The main offices of the company are on the five lower floors. And this office is not the entire floor. I have a few other private rooms on this floor. Usually operation specific. I can’t really discuss it. I’m sorry.”

  As she took in her surroundings, Alexander turned to her. “Can I take a look at that injury of yours?” He took her hand and led her into his en-suite bathroom before she even had a chance to respond.

  The bathroom was larger than Olivia’s entire bedroom. The gorgeous white tile throughout contrasted with the deep black of the dual vanity. Olivia salivated over the large tub with multiple shower heads, thinking she would give anything to use his shower at that moment to clean Simon off her.

  “I tend to spend a lot of time at the office, so I like to have somewhere comfortable to clean up when I need to,” he explained to her, answering the question that was clearly etched on her face.

  He led her to a cushioned vanity chair and had her sit down as he grabbed the first aid kit and a few towels out of a nearby linen closet. Running one of the towels underneath the faucet, he gently removed the now caked-on blood from her face.

  “We were kind of seeing each other, I guess,” Olivia blurted out after a few awkward silent moments. “I mean, we were sleeping with each other the past few weeks, but tonight I told him I was done with him. He said he was on a job and needed me to give him the proof, whatever that means.”

  Alexander stilled. He gathered his thoughts, staring at her for several long moments. Was her attacker simply drunk or was Olivia in more danger than Alexander had originally believed? “You don’t have to tell me what happened.” He looked deep into her eyes, sending undercurrents of electricity through her spine. With just one look, Olivia was convinced he could peek into her soul.

  Olivia gazed over him again, words escaping her. His eyes looked so familiar, but she would have remembered beautiful eyes like that. They were full of something she had never seen in another person before, but she just could not put her finger on what. “I know I don’t have to,” she said, finally finding her voice. “But maybe talking about it helps. That’s what my therapist tells me, at least.”

  He laughed and the sparkle in his eyes returned. She smiled, wanting to run her hands through his dark brown hair that went in every direction possible. It was messy but incredibly sexy as well.

  “Mine used to say the same thing.” Alexander wondered what she was in therapy for. Too many puzzle pieces were falling into place. But it was impossible. Alexander could hear his sister’s voice in his head. “You need to stop seeing her face in everyone you see. She’s gone.” And Alexander had stopped over a year ago. Until that night.

  “It wasn’t a serious relationship,” Olivia continued rambling, her nerves causing her to tell Alexander about herself when normally she wouldn’t. Something about him made her want to open up to him and tell him about herself. And she didn’t want him to see her as a helpless victim or a weak person. She was much stronger than that. “I have issues with serious relationships, I guess. But a girl has needs and I’ve always done the no-strings-attached type of thing.”

  He cocked his head and looked at her.

  “Safely though,” she interjected immediately. “I’m a stickler for protection.” She blushed. Olivia never blushed. Why am I telling this total stranger about my sex life? she thought to herself.

  Olivia greatly intrigued him. There was something so familiar about her. Even so, she was a beautiful woman who admitted she was not interested in a serious relationship. She could most certainly suit his needs as well.

  “I have no idea why I’m telling you all this. I’m sure the last thing you wanted to have to do on a Friday night was rescue some idiotic girl from her drunken ex outside of your building and then have to hear about her sex life,” she blurted out, overwhelmed by the handsome man standing in front of her. She looked down, tying her hands in knots on her lap.

  “It’s okay,” he said, turning back to the first aid kit, grabbing a bandage and some Neosporin. He tilted Olivia’s chin up, forcing her to gaze into his green eyes again. Leaning down, his lips were only inches from hers. “This might sting a little,” he said quietly, sending shivers through Olivia’s body. Not only was the proximity overwhelming, but his husky voice forced a reaction from her that she had never experienced before.

  He watched as Olivia opened her mouth slightly, her breathing increasing. He could smell her sweet breath. Alexander rubbed a little cream over the cut on her forehead, trying to hide that he was seriously checking out her fit body. She clearly worked out, and often.

  “This cut could have been a lot worse. You won’t need stitches.” His fingers gently brushed one of her curls behind her ear and placed a small bandage on the treated wound. His hand lingered on her face, gently caressing her cheek and chin. God, her skin is so soft, he thought to himself.

  She stared back into his eyes, biting her lower lip, and Olivia felt that strang
e tingling feeling again. It was an odd sensation. There was something about that beautiful man in front of her that made her want to drop all her normal defenses and get close to him. Who was this guy and why did he have this kind of power over her? That worried her.

  Alexander’s cell phone buzzed, breaking the growing tension, and he quickly removed his hand from Olivia’s face, leaving to answer his phone in private. Olivia snapped back to reality and remembered her reason for keeping everyone away, the fear of getting close to someone and losing them resurfacing in her subconscious.

  She turned to glance in the mirror and examined her injury. Even with the bandage, it was clear that there was a slight bump where Simon slammed her head into the wall. Other than that, there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage.

  “You’ll probably have a bruise there,” Alexander said, startling Olivia as he walked back into the bathroom. She turned to face him. “Detective Wilder is here. I’ll give you some privacy to speak with her here in my office.” The last thing Alexander wanted to do was leave that woman’s side, but he knew privacy sometimes helped people be more forthcoming when making a statement.

  “Umm, I’d prefer if you stay with me, if that’s okay with you.” She stood up, looking into his eyes as a smile spread across his face.

  “I’d like that.” He grabbed her hand and led her into his sitting area where a petite woman sat with her laptop open. When Olivia entered, she looked up and smiled, her face warm and her eyes the same blazing green color as Alexander’s. She appeared to be in her mid-forties and in good shape. Olivia immediately felt comfortable with her.