Page 36 of Before the Night Falls
But he hated seeing someone with such a sick personality hurting people he cared about.
Yes, cared about.
He cared about Olivia—as much as he could after knowing her only a week.
But he also had another possibility to consider.
What if the person threatening him was trying to get to Olivia also?
What if this had nothing to do with The Admirer?
What if this had to do with that casino Damon Kudlow wanted to build? What if Damon had seen that article claiming Tyson and Olivia were dating? What if he’d seen Olivia as an easy target and a good way to distract Tyson from building that school?
The possibility made him feel nauseous.
“What should we do?” Tyson asked. “You two know her the best.”
“Give her time,” Wes said. “She . . . well, she hasn’t been the same since everything happened. That man stole something from her . . . and I don’t think we’ll ever get that carefree Olivia back again. She pretends to be carefree, like she’s healed. But . . . she’s not. Maybe she never will be.”
Tyson’s heart panged with grief at the finality of his words. More than anything, he wanted to make sure Wes’ assessment wasn’t true. Olivia could heal.
But she needed to believe that first.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Olivia escaped to her room,trying also to flee the memories.
It didn’t work.
They hit her at full force. Visions of finding roses at her doorstep just over a year ago. Memories of the terror that followed.
Her breath came out in labored spasms as she fought to remain in control.
“Olivia,” Wes called from outside her door. “Can I come in?”
“I guess.” She hugged her legs to her chest as she sat on her bed leaning against the headboard.
Wes came inside and gently lowered himself beside her. “I looked through the box.”
She figured he would. Wes was protective of her and wouldn’t just let this slide, as much as she wished otherwise.
“And?” Her voice caught. Did she want to know?
“It was a dozen red roses, no note.”
Olivia hugged her legs more tightly. She desperately wanted to wake up and realize that this was just another one of her nightmares.
Only she knew it wasn’t.
This was real.
Wes’ eyes met hers. “I think we should call the police.”
Olivia shook her head. “What would I say to them? Officer, I got a dozen roses. Please arrest whoever sent them to me.”
His expression remained stony. “Based on what happened . . .”
“It’s probably a joke.”
