A Beautiful Mess (5 page)

Alexander looked at his older sister. “I know, Carol. I know that. Call it penance. We failed her that day. I have to do this. For me. And for the little girl we couldn’t help that day. That’s all.”
And did you see those eyes?
he wanted to ask her. She didn’t have to look into those eyes as they took their last breaths in her dreams like he did.

“I know.” She hugged him. “We were all torn about that day. Dad never got over it. But you have to start forgiving him. And yourself. Think about it.” She walked into the reception area, leaving Alexander alone with his thoughts for a moment.

Snapping back to reality, he quickly returned to his office, his heart skipping a beat when he saw Olivia sitting on his love seat, deep in thought. “Do you need a ride home?”

She looked up and hesitated. “No. I’ll be fine. I need to get my stuff from my office and then I’ll just call for a cab to take me to my place.”

He sat next to her. “You were just attacked outside of my building. I run a security company and I couldn’t even keep people who work in my building secure. The least I could do is make sure you get home safe.”

Olivia turned to look at his face and could see how badly he felt. “Fine,” she conceded. “But only because it’s after three in the morning and I don’t feel like waiting for a cab.”

Alexander smiled, happy to spend even a little more time with Olivia. “Great. I’ll accompany you down to your office and have Martin meet us out front with the car.” The pair headed out of Alexander’s office and through the security door to wait for an elevator.

A tall, built man in his mid-fifties wearing a black suit sat in the reception area, standing immediately when he noticed his boss emerge.

“Mr. Burnham, anything else I can do for you?”

“Martin, this is Miss Olivia Adler. Miss Adler this is Martin.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Adler,” Martin said, extending his hand to Olivia.

“Martin, I will accompany Miss Adler to her office on the twentieth floor. Please bring the car around and meet us out front.”

“Yes, sir,” Martin answered as the elevator car arrived. They all stepped into the car and Martin pressed the button for twenty and the basement garage. In a few seconds they stopped on Olivia’s floor. As they turned to exit the elevator, Alexander placed his hand on Olivia’s lower back, leading her in the direction of the front door to the wellness center.

The placement of his hand sent even more intense shivers up and down her spine. Olivia took a quick inhale of air as she wondered how a simple touch could affect her so. Turning her head in his direction, she noticed him exhale very slowly before their eyes met. She thought to herself that maybe she had the same effect on him. Then she remembered that she just met this guy. No one fell for someone after just an hour. That only happened in romance novels, not in real life.

“This is where I work,” she said as Alexander followed Olivia through the center and down a corridor to her own office.
Why did I say that?
Olivia thought to herself. Obviously, she worked there. She had a tendency to just talk when she was nervous. “Well, this is where I deal with paperwork. When I’m instructing, I’m in one of the studio rooms.”

She kept rambling as Alexander stared at her, loving the way her mouth caressed certain words. He couldn’t believe how breathtaking the woman standing in front of him was. There was something stirring within his depths, other than the obvious arousal. It was something more. “I’ll just grab my stuff and we can get out of here.”

Alexander walked around her office, glancing at the various motivational prints containing words of encouragement. That wasn’t what he was interested in. No. He wanted to get a sense of her personality. He stopped when he reached a medal rack containing close to fifty medals, clearly from a variety of marathons and half-marathons.

“Wow,” he said. “Run much?”

Olivia laughed. “You could say that.”

“I’m impressed,” he replied.

“So, you must be important to have a police detective at your beck and call at three o’clock on a Saturday morning,” Olivia joked as she gathered her laptop and other items she needed for the weekend.

“Well, actually, she’s my older sister. She helps me out from time to time.”

“Ah, I see.” After Olivia turned off the lights and locked her office doors, they headed back down the hall to the bay of elevators and waited. Once an elevator arrived, it whisked them to the bottom floor where they exited through the night entrance.

Alexander grabbed Olivia’s hand, noticing her reluctance to return to the scene of her attack. He whispered into her ear, “You’re safe with me. I promise. You can trust me.” He looked deep into her brown eyes, urging her to feel safe with him.

There was that phrase again.
You can trust me.
Olivia searched her brain. Why was it so familiar?

The pair walked onto the main road where a black Escalade waited. Alexander helped Olivia into the back seat of the car before running around to the other side and climbing in next to her.

After Olivia gave Martin her address, he turned the car into the empty Boston streets and drove toward the Back Bay. Alexander reached his hand across the seat and grabbed Olivia’s, squeezing it. He needed the flesh-to-flesh contact. Olivia turned to look at him and he gave her a small smile. She didn’t pull her hand away as she normally would have. She needed his touch, just like he needed hers. They held hands in silence during the short ride to Olivia’s brownstone on Commonwealth Avenue.

When Martin pulled up outside her house, Alexander quickly exited the car and ran around to open Olivia’s door for her. He grabbed her bags and led her up the front stairs, placing his hand on her lower back again.

Reaching her door, she turned to thank him for all of his help. “If you hadn’t shown up…” she trailed off, the memory of Simon holding a knife to her throat returning after being blissfully absent for the past hour.

“I don’t want to think about what could have happened if I didn’t show up when I did. I guess my insomnia paid off tonight.” He reached for Olivia’s face and caressed her head where her injury was.

He flashed back to a summer at the beach house and a young girl falling down on the rocks by the beach, cutting her head. She had to get stitches. His eyes wandered briefly to the other side of her forehead and noticed there was a very slight red scar underneath her hairline.
Coincidence, Alex. It’s just a coincidence
.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Burnham,” Olivia said, grabbing her bags from him. She hated awkward situations like this. She wondered what the proper protocol was for saying good-bye to someone who just, literally, saved your ass.

After a brief pause, he placed a gentle kiss on Olivia’s forehead where the old scar was and said good night. “People only have to call me Mr. Burnham in the bedroom,” he whispered in her ear.

She gasped, her eyes growing wide.

He smiled, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. “Call me Alexander… For now.” He winked as he pulled his hand away from Olivia’s face. She immediately felt sad at the loss of contact. “And if you need anything, please call me. If you’re scared or worried or just need someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to call. I don’t sleep much as it is, so I would welcome the distraction.” He reached into his pocket and handed Olivia his business card.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Olivia said, turning to enter her house.

“Miss Adler…” Alexander said, causing her to turn and stare back into his eyes again. He didn’t want to leave her. And he didn’t want her to walk out of his life just yet.

“Yes?”

Alexander hesitated. He contemplated asking her out. But like Olivia, he didn’t date. He fucked. And that was it. “It was a pleasure meeting you. I do hope our paths cross again, but under better circumstances.”

Olivia had no idea what to say to that. She simply nodded her head and turned to enter her house, closing her door and leaving Alexander standing on her front stoop, amazed at how different his evening had turned out from where it began. He went out for a drink and ran into Chelsea, an old friend that he had hooked up with from time to time over the past decade. The tall red-head helped him forget everything for a few hours. He had been in total control of everything. That was what he needed. It was what he desired. Control made him happy. After that day all those years ago, he had decided to always be in control from then on. But now, after meeting Olivia, he was slowly starting to lose control over his own emotions. He wanted to know that girl, even if she didn’t turn out to be
his
Olivia.

When Alexander heard the click of the front door, he turned and got into the SUV, directing Martin to take him back to the office.

Inside her house, Olivia walked to the kitchen, the hardwood floors of the old house creaking. She grabbed a bottle of water, filled the cat’s food bowl, and walked up the stairs to the master bedroom on the second floor. She remembered how badly she wanted to wash the evening off her body. After taking a quick shower and getting ready for bed, she popped a few aspirin and collapsed on her soft bed. Her cat, Nepenthe, soon joined her. After the evening she had, she planned on staying in her bed the following day. Screw the long run. Olivia sent Kiera a quick text, letting her know she was home, before setting her cell phone on the charger.

Olivia drifted off to sleep fairly easily for once and dreamed of beautiful green eyes.

On the other side of town, Alexander entered his office and unlocked the wall safe. For the first time since his father was killed over five years ago, he took out an envelope addressed to him, recognizing his father’s handwriting instantly. He debated opening it. And he sat staring at the letter all night, scared of what his father’s last words to him would reveal.

“S
WEETHEART
, hurry up. We need to get a move on!” a young Olivia’s mother shouted at her as she grabbed a few last things from her summer home. They usually didn’t leave their beach house until after Labor Day, but they had to leave early. Olivia’s mother said it was an emergency and that she had to be a brave girl. But she was only six years old. Olivia didn’t know why they had to leave so quickly.

Olivia sat in the back seat of the car, playing with Mr. Bear, her favorite stuffed animal, as her father sped away. Her mama must have been tired from all the packing because she had fallen asleep in the front seat.

The car merged onto the interstate and her father became more relaxed, although he checked the rear-view mirror more than he usually did. Out of nowhere, a dark SUV pulled up behind their car. Someone had found them. He tried to accelerate, but his sedan was no match for the SUV steadily catching up. His face remained calm, a staple of his CIA training. He was no longer trying to save his family. He was protecting his assets.

“I love you,” he said to his sleeping wife. He turned around, his face neutral, trying not to scare Olivia in the back seat. “We love you very much, Livvy.”

Olivia didn’t look up from her bear. “I know.”

Then a crash. Olivia’s head snapped hard against the seat in front of her. She slipped into unconsciousness.

“Hey, Olibia. We need to get out of here, okay?” a boy with green eyes suddenly woke Olivia up as he tried to unbuckle her seat belt. Olivia knew this boy somehow. He always called her Olibia.

“My mama and papa…” Olivia cried, remembering that there was a crash and her head hurt. She hoped her parents’ heads didn’t hurt.

“I know. But this is an emergency and you have to be brave,” the boy pled with her.

Olivia wanted to be brave for the boy. “Okay. I’ll be a brave little girl.” She reached out her hand and he pulled her through the shattered car window. Although he was not very strong, he picked Olivia up, running as he carried her to safety. As he did, Olivia noticed her Uncle looking into the passenger side of the crashed car, a scared look across his face.

“I don’t feel so well,” she said to the boy. The world spun around her. Her head hurt. She didn’t know what was going on.

“I know sweetheart. We’re going to get you help. We’re going to protect you always, Olibia. Nothing bad will ever happen again. You can trust me.” And then nothing. Black. Emptiness.

~~~~~~~~~~

Olivia woke up with a start, shaking. She hadn’t had a dream like that in a while. It was always the same. Her parents always died in the dream. She usually never saw who pulled her to safety, but that time she did. The boy with the green eyes. She knew him somehow, but couldn’t remember how. And those words.
You can trust me
. What did it all mean?

She tried to get her bearings. She was in her bedroom. She was laying in her large king size bed, Nepenthe curled up at her feet. The shades were drawn and it was pitch black. She heard a buzzing sound and realized that her cell phone was vibrating on the nightstand. She looked at the phone and saw Kiera’s name and photo flashing. She answered groggily.

“Libby, oh my God. You’re alive. Are you okay?” Kiera screamed into the phone.

“I’m fine,” Olivia answered.

“It’s almost five and you haven’t been answering your phone all day long! I’ve been worried sick!” she chastised her friend.

“Kiera, I’m sorry. I didn’t get to bed until after four in the morning last night. I’m exhausted.”

“Oh, yeah? Did you break down and invite Simon over for one last fling?”

“God, no!” she shouted into the phone. “But something happened last night that did involve Simon,” Olivia said gravely.

“What happened, Libs? I know he was drunk when he left the bar last night, but he left at like ten. I saw him get into a cab.”

“Well, apparently he circled the fucking block because when I went to get into my office building after I left the bar, he was waiting by the night entrance.” Olivia thought about why he would leave the bar just to come back. Something didn’t add up.