Page 63 of Twisted Secrets
“Olivia.” He grabbed her hand. Fromthe look on his face, he wanted to pull her into his arms, but he glanced at Hadley and just squeezed instead. “I’m glad you called. Never think otherwise.”
How could she argue with him when he was looking at her like that?
She couldn’t.
She opened her mouth to say…God, she wasn’t even sure…but her phone chose that moment to ring. With a frown, she hurried over to where she’d left it inside the screened porch. It was a Boston number, but not one she recognized. “Hello?”
“Is this Olivia Rashidi?” A woman’s voice, somehow managing to be both apologetic and official at the same time.
What the hell?“Yes?”
“We have you listed as Deborah Richards’s emergency contact. Does that sound right?”
She blindly reached for the doorframe as the room went sideways on her.Mrs. Richards. “Is she okay? What’s going on?”
“There was an attack last night—a home invasion. I don’t have the specifics, but she’s in the hospital right now.” The woman paused, as if realizing just how cold she sounded. “She’s going to be okay. She’s suffering from several broken bones and a few other minor injuries, but she should make a full recovery.”
Broken bones. Home invasion. Olivia tried to focus.What are the chances this is a coincidence?“Is she awake? Can I talk to her?”
“She’s under heavy sedation at the moment, but she should be waking up in the next hour or so. She was incredibly determined to call you whenshe was brought in—she tried to refuse surgery until someone would give her a phone.”
Not a coincidence, then. The only thing that would make Mrs. Richardsthatdetermined to get a hold of Olivia was if she had something important to tell her—to warn her about. “Thank you for calling me.”
“My name is Jessica Randolph. I’ll be on shift for the next few hours, so feel free to call and ask for me if you have any questions or concerns.” She sounded like she was reading off a script. It was enough to make Olivia wonder how often this woman had been forced to make calls like this. Probably too many times. “She’s a nice old lady. Stubborn, but nice.”
“Thank you. I’ll call to check on her in a little bit.”
“Great. Have a good day.”
Having a good day after receiving this news was impossible. She hung up and carefully set her phone down, even though she wanted to throw it across the room. The only reason she’d brought the damn thing in the first place was so Mrs. Richards or Benji could get a hold of her in case of an emergency. She just hadn’t thought that there wouldbean emergency.
Or that she’d be the cause of it.
“What’s wrong?”
She went to Cillian and wrapped her arms around him. After half a second, he returned the embrace, holding her so tightly, it was hard to draw a breath. It was exactly what she needed. She buried her face in his chest, trying to stop the shaking starting in her body, but it was no use. “It’s my neighbor, Mrs. Richards. She was attacked sometime last night.”
“Oh, sweetheart,I’m so sorry.”
“It’s my fault.” She hugged him tighter. “She was brought to the hospital, and even though she had broken bones that neededsurgeryto fix, she was demanding to call me. The only reason she would do that was to warn me.”
She half expected him to tell her that she was being paranoid. Hell, she kind of wanted him to. She really, really didn’t want this to be her fault. Mrs. Richards was a friend and had been there for her since the day she moved in. She had become like the mother Olivia always wished she had—at the very least, a beloved aunt. For her to be hurt because ofOlivia…God, she could barely breathe past the guilt.
Cillian stroked a hand over her hair. “Would they do something like this?”
She didn’t have to ask what “they” he meant. Dmitri. Sergei. She started to answer, took a shuddering breath, and forced herself to actually think about it. “Dmitri isn’t usually so…blunt. He would have gone over there, had tea, and threatened her with a smile on his face. Honestly, he’s smart enough to have figured out within a few minutes that I hadn’t told her where I was going, so he’d move on and wouldn’t waste the energy.”
But Sergei? He’d always had a temper. He’d never turned it on her, but there had been a few fights where she’d seen his fists clenched and wondered if that would be the day he’d finally hit her. There was a reason he was one of the most feared men in the Romanovs’ employ, and part of that was because he didn’t have the same boundaries that other men did. To Sergei a job was a job. It didn’t matter what the job required—he’d do it and never lose a minute of sleep afterward.
He was a dog on Dmitri’s leash,but as much as she wanted to lay this sin at her half brother’s feet, she just couldn’t see him ordering Sergei to rough up an old woman on the off chance that Olivia had told her something important. It didn’t make any sense. “I just don’t know.”
“I can find out.”
Don’t leave. She lifted her head. “How?”
“Your apartment is in O’Malley territory. I’m not going to pretend we’re do-gooders who investigate every little thing that goes on, but if this is connected to the Romanovs, then it’s not a simple assault.” His mouth twisted. “I can’t believe I just said that. Let me make a few calls, and I’ll see what information I can dig up.”
“Thank you.” There weren’t words to describe how grateful she was to have Cillian basically holding her hand through this. She couldn’t imagine getting that news alone. Her guilt was awful enough as it was—it was too tempting to rush back to the city and check on Mrs. Richards. To see with her own eyes that the old woman really would be okay.
