VEGAS follows you home (36 page)

"Mr. Knyght has a difficult past, experiencing great losses. Anyone would be challenged—"

"I'm taking care of it," Damon growls, his hands fisting the folder, causing it to wrinkle.

"Damon," his lawyer hisses.

Damon's eyes, filled with blame and disbelief, meet mine once more.

"These records only prove my client’s dedication to become well enough for his wife and son." His lawyer swings the story almost perfectly.

He's not perfect. He's definitely out of his mind, but who wouldn't be with a mother like that? Who hasn't been through something so devastating you would do anything to feel something again? Didn't I do something similar when I decided to have Alex? The only difference is I didn't have a psycho obsessive mother going Mother Bates behind the scenes. She's using my son and me against him, tearing him down. Why?

"Alfonso," I rasp, trying to hold down the vomit.

"You now understand the request for supervision. Miss Harlow clearly—"

"Alfonso!" I try to shout, but it's more of a gurgle.

Covering my mouth, I shove away from the table, sending papers and my purse scattering across the floor. Grabbing the closest garbage can, I lean over and empty my stomach. Having not eaten since my last episode, my body is wracked with heaves.

A large hand rests on my back, rubbing. The other hand pushes my hair out of my face and holds it away.

"Why is she here if she's so ill?" Damon barks.

It's Damon comforting me. And hell if my body doesn't warm and relax at his touch.

"She didn't say anything about being sick." Alfonso sounds farther away than Damon.

Taking a deep breath, I wipe my mouth with my hand.

"I'll be fine."

I stand, keeping one hand against a wall for strength.

"Here." Alfonso hands me a glass of water and straightens my chair from where it tumbled to the floor.

"Thank you." I sip at the water and make an attempt back to my chair.

Damon quickly takes my arm and guides me.

"You shouldn't be here if you're sick." His hand cups my face. He jerks his hand away quickly, a frown marring his face.

I immediately miss his touch and am about to protest him moving away when he kneels down to the floor. With his back to mine, I can't see what he's doing.

"Damon," I gargle.

My throat burns from the vomiting episode. I sip the water again in an attempt to ease the pain.

"What is this?"

He turns, holding out the pink box of Morning Sickness lollipops Mercedes ordered for me online.

"I…" I don't know what to say. I didn't plan for him to find out this way.

"Please take your seats," the mediator announces.

Alfonso collects the rest of the items that had fallen from my purse and Damon tosses the box in my lap, a look of scheming in his narrowed eyes. Eyes I feel on me after everyone is reseated and throughout the rest of the meeting.

"I will take the new information into consideration with the judge. We will need to schedule another date to finalize the custody," the mediator dismisses. I hurry out of the room.

"Olivia," Damon calls.

I keep moving until I can duck inside a ladies room. I'm not ready to discuss this with him. Not yet. Leaning over a sink, I splash cold water on my face. Felicity and Mercedes follow and stand at my sides. The door opens again and I'm almost sure it's going to be Damon.

"Olivia, I know this is horrible timing." Heidi's voice draws my dripping face toward her. Disappointment once again gnaws at me.

I'm losing it! Really? I'm disappointed he hasn't barged in after me? What's wrong with me?

Grabbing some paper towels from a dispenser, I pat my face.

"Please, Heidi, I can't—"

"There are things you need to know." Scarlett enters behind Heidi.

"No." I shake my head. "I don't want to know anything else. Please, not right now."

"I owe it to you to tell you everything. Things I didn't know until a few weeks ago." Scarlett's pleading eyes and my exhaustion make me cave.

"Fine," I growl. "What do I need to know?"

I already know enough and hate what I know.

Scarlett launches into a tale of deception I wouldn't believe if I hadn't already seen what Damon's mother is capable of doing.

"Scarlett, I appreciate your love for Damon, and I get it. Mildred not only messed with his head, but set him up, too. However, she didn't force him to lie to me." I point at myself.

"We know." Heidi hugs me. "We just want you to know, to understand, exactly how she has manipulated him and his life. I only hope you see how you change that about him." She gives a sad smile.

"I think she's had enough," Felicity says, putting her six foot — in heels — body between them and me.

Scarlett steps up, almost nose to nose, with Felicity, but a knock at the door silences whatever she is about to say.

"Olivia? Felicity?" Alfonso calls through the door. "Is everything okay?"

Without taking her eyes off Scarlett, Felicity calls back a response.

"Everything will be fine, Al. We're just about to come out."

Heidi places her hand on Scarlett's tense shoulder.

"Come on, Liv." Mercedes wraps an arm around my waist, guiding me to the bathroom door.

My insides clench, sure Damon is waiting to pounce the moment I exit. When Mercedes pulls back the dark wood door, only Alfonso stands there. Disappointment makes another unwanted appearance, but there is also a spark of anger. The anger is directed at the only man waiting for me.

"How could you provide that information without telling me first?" I ask, low and harsh.

Alfonso's brows raise in surprise.

"I thought you would be happy to have a fighting chance against him." His words, too, are low and harsh.

"It's sneaky and low and you know it."

"Olivia, has something changed that I'm not aware of?" His face wrinkles in confusion.

My mouth pops open, but nothing comes out. I don't know what to say.

Nothing has changed. What would have changed? It's not like I've changed my mind. I'm not…I am NOT developing feelings for Damon. It’s hormones.

"Olivia."

His cool, calm, collected voice sends a shiver down my spine.

Turning my head toward his voice, Damon nods, passing by with a suspicious line at the corner of his mouth and a faint twinkle in his eyes. With Heidi and Scarlett flanking both sides of him, they disappear into the elevator, his legal team in tow.

Relief washes away the tightness in my shoulders.

"Well, I didn't expect that," Alfonso muses, drawing my attention back to him. "After the way he looked during the arbitration, I thought he would be a bit more disgruntled."

He shrugs and my spark of anger flickers once more.

"Why wouldn't he be pissed off?" I snap. "You blindsided him with those documents."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I narrow my eyes on Alfonso.

His shoulders fall in defeat.

"Olivia," he rubs his face, "you need to tell me what's going on. I'm using whatever methods I can to make this come out in your favor."

He looks at me, his eyes searching my face for an answer.

"I want to offer a custody deal."

"What? Why in the hell would you decide to do that? We are close to getting full custody and perhaps keeping him out of your life for good." An incredulous look replaces the confusion from before.

"I need this to end, Alfonso. You don't know everything and things could get—"

"What aren't you telling me?" he demands, cutting me off.

"Leave her alone, Al!" Felicity steps close to my side, glaring at her brother. "She's had a shit day and doesn't need more of it from you."

"I'm pregnant," I blurt out while I have the courage. "And he knows it."

"W-what? How did…nevermind, I know how it happens." He rubs his forehead and sighs. "Once his lawyer gets this information…" he trails off.

"I know, which is why I need to end this quickly."

"The elevator is here," Mercedes calls, holding the doors open.

We walk to the elevator, no one saying a word until we reach the car.

I look out the window of the backseat, not truly seeing anything.

"I won't agree to joint custody, but I will agree to long visits to New York. Occasionally." I swallow the lump forming in my throat. "He can also visit Alex here in Pittsburgh, as long as prior arrangements are made and he isn't just randomly showing up. No supervision will be required," I choke on the last words and a tear escapes.

"I'll prepare the change and submit it to his lawyer for review," he mumbles. "Olivia?"

Pulling my eyes from the window, I look at Alfonso in the rearview mirror.

"I'm sorry. If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

I nod, leaning my forehead against the cool glass and closing my eyes.

Alfonso drops us off, promising to let me know when the next meeting will take place. Since I'm changing the proposition, it may come sooner than later.

Damon

Having agreed to think about the decisions I need to make, I take a few days to myself. My mother still attempts to contact me, but I refuse to acknowledge her. She's already created rumors by crying on the shoulder of Blanche Baxtor and a few of the investors. Vincent has already contacted me to discuss gossip of my resignation, which I'm forced to explain without getting too personal.

Where the other investors are concerned, her plan is backfiring. Most have reached out to the office and spoken with Hugh. They want to hold a meeting, without my mother, to secure my presence in the company. A few even mention pushing my mother out altogether.

So many things race through my mind and I'm not sure what I'm going to do or how I'm going to officially resign from B.I.G. without causing a problem for the company. I could care less about my mother at this point, but the company and the employees are another story.

I don't protest the divorce petition, but counter with a custody arrangement I'm sure she won't agree to. Part of it is to piss her off, but it's mostly so there is a reason we have to see each other again. She will have to meet with me in order negotiate the custody terms. A piece of paper can dissolve the marriage if she so chooses, but she needs to understand that I won't be out of her life. We are connected until death do us part by the blood that runs in Alex's veins.

After weeks of contemplation about my life, I know one thing for certain — I'm moving to Pittsburgh. I can't be away from them — not this far, anyway — any longer. My career, family, and life in New York are still uncertain. With the move to Pittsburgh, I'll have no choice but to leave the company.

My mind is burdened when I arrive to the arbitration to discuss custody of Alex with my legal team in tow. Heidi and Scarlett insist on being at my side for support. I believe they are also sticking close in hopes of getting a chance to talk with Olivia.

Olivia avoids looking at me, but I watch her. She looks pale and tired.
Does she want to end this so badly she would come to this meeting sick?

The moment her counselor presents the manila folder, insinuating it incriminates me, my stomach knots. Finding my mother's signature on the release form doesn't shock me. This is her way of punishing me, hurting me. The familiar rage simmers, but it's different this time.

My legal counsel spars with hers and I sit back, feeling both vengeful toward my mother and angry that Olivia would take this route. I never thought she would use something like this, something from my mother, against me. Not after the way she boldly stood against her in New York.

Her raspy cry for her lawyer and sudden movement toward the garbage quenches the angry flames. Rushing to her side, I swipe back her hair and rub her back. It's sick, but just touching her sends my body into an animalistic craving. The sudden need to possess everything — her body, soul, and heart — fills me.