Page 34 of Chasing Danger

He started talking, but his voice failed before he finished forming the first word. Several more attempts ended in the same result, until eventually, he gave up talking and just hid his face in his hands. Curled up with his knees drawn to his chest, he looked like a confused little ball of misery.

I wanted to reach out to him, but I didn’t know how it would be received, so I just sat quietly and waited.

“Did that actually happen?” he eventually asked without looking up. “I smashed a coffee pot on someone’s head.”

I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me while he was still staring at his knees. “It was a very effective tactic.”

Oliver finally did look up, his expression both fearful and angry. “It wasn’t a tactic. I panicked. A bunch of guys attacked the coffee shop and tried to kidnap me. And then you showed up and... I don’t even know what you did.”

Despite everything he said, none of it was a question, so I didn’t know what to answer.

In the end, I didn’t need to say anything. Oliver regained his composure surprisingly quickly and sharp clarity returned to his eyes as his thoughts worked double-time piecing things together.

“You weren’t surprised then, and you don’t look surprised now. It’s like you already knew what was happening and what to do.”

Those hazel eyes, which were usually so warm, narrowed like the lens of a microscope, pinning me under observation.

“What’s going on? You obviously know, so just tell me.”

He was either exceptionally brave or hadn’t fully processed what he was saying. There were very few people who dared to demand answers from me. Even my past lovers weren’t usually so bold. I was unused to it, but seeing such audacity coming from Oliver... Well, I didn’t hate it.

“I’m not certain who attacked you.” He started to protest, but I stopped him. “I have a few ideas. I just can’t say which of my enemies are responsible.”

“Your enemies?”

Although he’d made his first deductions with such confidence, now that I’d agreed with him, he couldn’t seem to believe it. “Why do you have enemies like that? Why would they attack me? That doesn’t make sense. You’re not telling me something. Wait...” He looked around, noticing the unfamiliar bedroom he was lying in for the first time.

“Where am I? Did you... did you kidnap me?”

“Kidnap is a strong word. You were unconscious, so I brought you back to my place.” I gestured out the window at the view outside. We were in a penthouse on the edge of the city, so the Baltimore skyline stood tall against the cloudy night sky. “Or, at least the place I’m renting while I’m staying here in Baltimore. It’s only temporary.”

Oliver stared at the window like he was considering jumping out of it, but we were twenty-eight floors up and that particular window didn’t open, so I wasn’t worried. Surprisingly, this was a conversation I hadn’t experienced very often. Most people that needed to know who I was were already in the know, and I rarely needed to explain.

The words didn’t come easily.

I was saved from further questions by a knock on the door. A moment later, Gavriil poked his head inside.

“Boss. Alex Mariano has called several times. He wants an update about the situation.”

As much as I wanted to tell Alex to fuck off right now, the Mariano family was not an enemy I could afford to make.

“Tell him I’m figuring it out and I’ll let him know when I have answers. Just lay low for the time being.”

With a sharp nod, Gavriil disappeared, and I was once again left under the full scrutiny of Oliver’s suspicious gaze.

“Boss?” he repeated the word, turning it into a question. “Is he your employee?”

I could have lied, but then what?

One lie would lead to another and another. Once I went down that road there was no going back until it reached its inevitable disastrous end. That wasn’t what I wanted.

“He’s one of my bodyguards.”

Bodyguard,” Oliver repeated. “Why do you need a bodyguard? No, wait... go back. Why was I attacked... Oh, God. My family. Are they safe? What if they were attacked, too?”

He jumped up from the bed, tripping over the sheets tangled around his legs and nearly slamming his face into the bedpost.

Shooting out of my chair, I managed to catch him before he injured himself. “Whoa. Calm down. Everything’s fine.”

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