Page 7 of Psycho

“Taking you to your new apartment.” I walked to the passenger door and opened it for her, waiting for her to take me up on my offer. “I agree that you need to leave Hartington. Dane is—” I shrugged, “Difficult. So this is the only way to ensure your safety while giving you the space you both need.”

“Where is this apartment?” She took a tentative step away from the house.

“In the city.” I tilted my head, joking. “Where the smoke and chaos can settle your mind.”

“Why are you helping me?” She squinted her eyes pensively. “What do you get out of it?”

I shrugged, “I have nothing else to do right now.” I nodded to the open door, “Either get in or don’t. It’s up to you. But we both know Dane won’t let you off this property with anyone else but me, so you pick.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and then sighed, admitting to herself the truth. “Thank you.” Her breathy voice washed over me as she gently climbed up in my truck, and I barely refrained from touching her to help. Something told me she’d cringe from my touch, and not just because I was a beast.

I got in the driver’s seat and turned the truck around, watching her out of the corner of my eye as she stared up at the windows where Dane’s office sat overlooking the property. Was she regretting leaving? Or was it just how she left things with her sister?

“Give it a day.” I stated, drawing her attention back to me as I drove down the long winding drive, “And then call her.”

She stared at me, so I looked over at her, but she stayed silent and turned back to the windshield. Olivia Everett was used to holding everything tight to her chest, something I could understand.

“Thank you.” She said again, but I didn’t reply. “You don’t like those words, do you?”

“I don’t see a point in them.”

“You don’t see a point in appreciation, or voicing it?”

I drove down the road, contemplating my answer. “Voicing it, I guess. People shouldn’t do things simply to have them acknowledged. Just do the nice things and expect nothing in return.”

“Hmm.” She hummed and then yawned behind the sleeve of her sweater.

The oversized frumpy thing hid every inch of her from shoulders to mid-thigh. But that was her point, I was sure. When I found her that night, she had on a ripped-up T-shirt and shorts, almost as though someone had snatched her from her bed and thrown her into that basement.

Today, though, she hid. And I couldn’t help but wonder if that was her normal style, or a product of her ordeal.

“Feel free to take a nap.” I glanced over at her. “You’ve got time.”

“No,” She shook her head but toed her shoes off and brought her feet up onto the seat and crossed them. “I’m okay.”

“Suit yourself.” I shrugged. Part of me wanted her to sleep simply so I could watch her. The other part of me wanted to pry deep into her mind and life through conversation, but I didn’t know where to even start. I couldn’t remember the last time I held a conversation with a woman for the fun of it.

She yawned again and propped her head up on her hand, leaning her elbow on the center console. I could smell the faint, almost imperceptible, citrus notes in her shampoo as her head was close; my grip on the steering wheel involuntarily tightened.

Maybe inviting her into my space was a mistake. Maybe it was too dangerous for her to be so close to me after all.

I couldn’t think of a time before that I had ever lusted after a woman the way I did Olivia, her every movement seemed to captivate me.

And if the nagging little piece of my brain that told me she was hiding a secret bigger than her involvement with the Hell Eaters under that baggy sweater was right, she was off limits.

So, fucking far off limits.

Olivia’s head was using my forearm for a pillow on the center console between us, and her fingertips were peeking out of the sleeve of her sweater, laid against my wrist like she was cuddling into her pillow.

And I was bricked up so hard, I could hardly push the brake without moaning.

As I parked the truck, I silently thanked the powers that be for the reprieve I was going to get when she stopped touching me finally, and also cursed those same powers for ending my torment too soon.

I wanted to bask in that torment for just a while longer.

Watching her sleep, I noticed the subtle rise and fall of her chest, a light snore escaping her lips now and then, accompanied by the occasional drip of drool. Completely unaware that I would be coming home later that day with a captivating woman, I left my house that morning without taking the time to clean up, a decision I would later regret.

But there was no going back now, and I wouldn’t change anything about it either. There was only one way to get to the bottom of her secrets; to completely immerse myself in her life, leaving her no alternative but to tell me the truth.

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