Page 76 of The Pain We Allow

Her jaw dropped and she cracked her head sharply to look at Colin, who’d squatted behind her and put his lips to her neck with an amused chuckle.

She turned back and scowled hard at the screen.

“Yes, we have to come, Beau,” Colin replied, using Olivia’s nickname for her best friend. “Everyone’s under security watch right now. How bad would it be if while you’re out of the state something detrimental happened. It would be hours before we could get to you,” Colin said rather sternly, his fingers digging into Olivia’s shoulders and massaging her sore muscles firmly.

Though Colin was pissed at her temper and outbursts today, the stories that Zero shared with him gave him a fresher perspective on this woman. She was a beast, and he’d tamed her somehow. A grin graced his face at the knowledge, and unbeknownst to her, his chest puffed out slightly with male triumph.

“Ladies, I’ll take care of the arrangements, ok? You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll sit back, out of your hair and smoke our cigars and just be men in Bora Bora,” he smiled as Stella shot him a disbelieving look through the screen.

Aaliyah tsked. “I don’t even believe that shit though forreal,” she said with a slight laugh. “But uhm, bring me one of those cigars you like, and I’ll smoke with yall and be friendly. Now, love yall but I gotta go eat some ass now. Bye,” and with that she hung up.

They all either laughed uncontrollably or hid in embarrassment. Olivia did both.

“Bye you guys,” she said with a little wave as she disconnected the call and sat back with a sigh. Colin stood up and disappeared, coming back with a warm towel.

“Up you get, Lilith,” he joked, unplugging the tub and helping her up. Though he thought she’d put herself through it, he was sympathetic to her plight as she’d really been through a lot today. He wrapped the towel around her carefully, pulling her wet hair out from where it was snagged in the towel.

“Oww, and stop calling me that,” she complained with a wince, her body smarting everywhere.

“Yikes, that’s not a word that I’d have thought was in your vocabulary, beautiful,” Colin said, a twinkle in his eyes. He’d been in a much better mood once he saw how well Zero handled Olivia. He didn’t like him throwing dirt at her, but he wanted to see exactly how far she was wanting to push things, and what Zero’s response would be to her.

Colin was worried that they’d wind up with a security guard that would be easily manipulated. However, because Zero knew Olivia’s mannerisms, he had a heads up. He’d previously asked what the name Zero meant, knowing it wasn’t his God given name. And Zero explained to Colin that he’d earned his name because he had zero failures. He scored every time.

Colin breathed a genuine sigh of relief for the first time in weeks. He picked her up carefully, ignoring her little whines as he carried her to the vanity and blow dried her hair. He took the brush and caught her eye, not wanting to trigger her. This was brand new between them, so he was going slow. Olivia gave him a little nod and he kissed her lightly in between brushes, telling her how amazing he thought she was.

She listened quietly as the brush whooshed through her hair stroke after stroke and he turned the blow dryer on. He gave her a cheeky grin and massaged the muscles at her nape as he dried her air, playfully blowing some warm air in her face to shock her. She giggled, the sound warming his heart.

Colin’s eyes tightened as he regarded her beautiful face carefully, he did not like her on depression pills. They were going to have to seriously figure that out. Unfortunately, things were getting worse before they were getting better. They had all kinds of security, and yet it stole their freedom. Carmichael was still on a rampage, they were still in danger, and it didn’t look like it was going to get better yet.

Not yet.

Colin carried her to bed. Where he took oil and massaged her body thoroughly, waiting until she drifted off to sleep before he stopped. Placing the covers over her and crawling into bed after her.

No, it was going to get worse before it got better. And he’d be here to hold her through it all.

Chapter nineteen

Modus Operandi

The week flew by quickly, and they all chartered the private plane to Bora Bora for Vanessa’s vacation. Olivia was momentarily distracted, easing into having security, and finding herself thankful that constant surveillance wasn’t as bad as she initially thought. It helped her to observe that Vanessa seemed much more at peace knowing they were protected, and seeing some of the stress leave Colin’s features helped to soften her viewpoint as well.

They spent three days on vacation and between drinks with the girls and sex with Colin, she had a momentary lapse in her depression and let herself feel light for the first time in weeks. She went home feeling refreshed and made her and Colin the asian dish he’d come to love so much.

That night, while Olivia was getting ready for bed in their closet, she said a rare prayer of thanks for her new life, despite the struggles they were currently going through. Acknowledging that she could have been single, and left unprotected, attempting to fend herself off from Carmichael’s advances. She wouldn’t have stood a chance and could have easily been one of the millions of women who fell victim to a predator’s tactics.

She was staring off into space, pondering where she would have been had Colin not entered into her life, when she heard a ping come from her phone, breaking her out of her daydream. Walking over to the island, she picked it up, opening it. Her eyes widened as she read the text from an unknown number.

There’s only so long we can play this cat and mouse game. Will you only be satisfied when you are the last redhead left on Earth? Because if that’s the way you want to play it, we can. We can play as long of a game as you want to, Olivia Alexandra. You know how to stop this. The more you resist me, the more people are going to die. Because of you.-ANIMUS POSSIDENDI

Carmichael! Olivia felt all the blood drain from her head.

She swayed and hit the floor hard with a pained gasp, dropping her phone with a muted thump onto the carpet. Seeing his text still staring up at her from the lit screen, Olivia’s face contorted and she leaned her head into her hands and sobbed.Not as bad as I thought? Wishful thinking.

Worried that he hadn’t seen her in a while, Colin searched for her, finding her in a ball on the closet floor, crying. His heart stopped in his chest when he saw her curled in on herself, shaking and crying inconsolably.

He walked swiftly towards her. “Olivia, what’s happened, baby? Speak to me.” He got down on his knees and reached for her face, brushing her hair out of the way and wiping her tears. His eyes widened in concern, seeing her tear-streaked face. She made a small sound and sniffed, curling in on herself and put trembling hands to his wrists, her slender fingers wrapped delicately around him.

“Olivia? Are you hurt? Say something!” Colin ordered, working hard to keep the alarm out of his voice. He hauled her to his chest and rocked her, hearing small gasping sounds escape her throat. His eyes swiftly glanced over her body before seeing the phone laying face up on the carpet next to them. Reaching over, he grabbed it quickly and opened it.

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