Page 48 of Twisted Secrets
No. He’d spent the majority of his life thinking only of himself and being a selfish little shit. Now wasn’t the time to backslide into that.
And she still hadn’t said a damn thing. He rubbed the scar on his shoulder, wondering why the hell it decided to start aching rightnow. “Is that what you need, sweetheart? It’ll take me a little time to put together, but I can make it happen.” He had money of his own, though he rarely touched it for anything other than his clothing. It would be nothing to withdraw the amount she’d need to land on her feet somewhere else. He didn’t have to think twice about it. The papers would be slightly more complicated, because he needed to keep that information out of O’Malley hands.
“You’re being for real, aren’t you? You’d just write me a check and let me go.”
She sounded so shocked, he almost smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t write you a check, since that shit can be tracked. But a duffel bag full of cash wouldn’t be a horrible idea.”
“I don’t even know what to think of you, Cillian O’Malley.”
Yeah, he didn’t know what to think of himself most days, either. He leaned on the edge of his desk. “I just need the names you want the papers under and Ican get started.” He didn’t want to. Fuck, it hurt just thinking about it—a whole lot more than he would have expected. He’d do it, though. For her, he was starting to realize that he’d do damn near anything.
You’re a goddamn sucker.
Probably, but that was neither here nor there.
Something rustled over the line as Olivia shifted. “God, you have no idea how tempting that is. But I can’t take you up on it.”
It took him two seconds to process her words. She wasn’t going to disappear. Relief was quickly followed by a strange mix of fear and anger. “If it’s dangerous enough that you were thinking of running in the first place, then that’s what you need to do. Letting your pride get in the way of your safety is fucking stupid, Olivia, and you damn well know it.”
“I don’t need to owe another man, okay? I’ll find another way.”
Damn it, he was fucking this up. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, protective instincts he hadn’t even been aware of clamoring for him to do whatever it took to keep her safe. There had to be another way—something he could do that she wouldn’t see as charity. A thought blossomed, one guaranteed to get him into a shit-ton of trouble with his family. He leaned against his desk. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been there before. He’d deal with the fallout, and it would have the added bonus of keeping Olivia close. “I have another idea.”
A pause. “I’m listening.”
“My family has a house out in the country in Connecticut. It’s isolated and sits on twenty acres or some shit. It would be child’s play to set up a perimeterwith a few men. No one could sneak in or out without us knowing, so it’s as safe as we could get without you pulling a disappearing act.”
“We?”
“Sweetheart, I’m going with you.” Another thing his family wouldn’t be happy about, though his taking a near-stranger there would overshadow pretty much everything else. The house in the country had come from his father’s side of the family, and it wasn’t used by anyone who wasn’t directly related to them. Growing up, it had been that one oasis in the middle of the politics and shady dealings that he hadn’t understood until he was older. Out there, even his father relaxed and became less of a hard-ass. He still wasn’t going to win any Dad of the Year awards, but he’d actually cracked a smile on occasion.
Another pause, longer this time. He could picture her thinking it over, but the truth was that if she was calling him for help, she was backed into a corner and didn’t have a damn thing going for her. She wouldn’t have picked up the phone if she had any other option. He had no illusions about that.
Finally, she said, “I don’t like this.”
“If you’re worried about owing me, I take payment in sexual favors.”
She laughed. It was nowhere near her infectious one he’d heard the other night, but it was a start. “You’re insufferable.”
“That’s what my mother tells me every day.” He hesitated. He didn’t want to push her, but it would take some maneuvering to get things in place if they were going to leave as quickly as possible. “What do you say?”
“You’re not even going to ask what happened that mademe need to rabbit?”
“It’s irrelevant.” And, yeah, he was definitely going to ask, but getting her to safety was more important than knowing all the dirty details. “You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”
“I really don’t know what to make of you most days.”
Hell, he didn’t know what to make of himself right now. He was still wrapping his mind around the fact that he’d offered to help her disappear without hesitation. So he waited while she thought it over.
A voice in the background sounded, a little girl. He couldn’t make out what she said, but the innocence made his heart skip a beat. It was one thing to know Olivia had a kid. It was entirely another to hear evidence of her daughter.She’s going to be bringing that kid with her, so you better get used to the idearealquick.
Her daughter—Hadley, that was her name—was part of the Olivia package. He’d already decided that he wanted her and everything that came with her, so he’d just have to deal with it.
She murmured something and then she was back. “Okay. I’ll go with you. Tell me what you need from me.”
He let go of the breath he hadn’t even been aware he was holding.She said yes. “I need your address and an hour. Pack a bag with everything you need for you and Hadley and I’ll text you when I’m outside.”
“An hour.” She cleared her throat. “Right. Okay. I can do that.”
