Page 50 of Acquiring Ainsley
The officer sighed. “If you leave now, I won’t arrest you. If you don’t, then I’ll have to take some more drastic measures, and I promise you, you don’t want to have that happen. That would be one of the worst things for you. Let’s end this quietly, and without incident.”
“Without incident?” Ainsley huffed. “That’s an understatement. I’m sure half of our party guests already noticed her. She made quite an entrance.”
“I like to offer people a choice. They can do things the easy way, or the hard way. And, miss, that is up to you tonight,” the policeman said to Olivia.
Our attention returned to Olivia, who by then had fought so hard that she had frazzled hair, a disheveled dress, and smeared lipstick that gave a harsh, joker-like quality. I’d never seen her like this before, and she was so far away from the woman that I’d thought I had loved once. It was like seeing the end of something and the beginning, all at once.
You don’t want to get arrested, Olivia. You won’t be able to turn this one back on me,” I said. “Not this time.”
Ainsley crossed to my side and took my hand. “This is supposed to be one of the most important nights of our lives. And I won’t let her ruin it.” She shot me a wide-eyed glance then focused on Olivia. “Miss van Hewitt, this is your last chance to leave and let us get on with celebrating.”
“Yes.” I gripped Ainsley’s hand tighter. “It’s your last shot, Olivia.”
Bizarre would have been an optimum word for this moment. I’d never pretended that my life made sense, I’d never kidded myself about the privilege my life had contained, or the access my family’s money and name had given me. But, through it all, we’d never ventured into bizarre territory.
Until then.
“Okay,” Olivia said after a long moment of staring at us. “I’ll go. But not willingly. I’m not…” She shook her head. “I know you don’t want a scene, so I’ll honor your wishes.”
I huffed. “You’ve already created one, trust me. I don’t think you can make it much worse.”
She ignored me and turned to Trevor. “You’re going to regret this. Regrether.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.” He shook his head. “And I don’t have to justify that to you. I don’t have to explain it to anyone.”
“Fine.” She backed away from us, and tears began to stream down her face. “I get it. She wins. You’re delusional, but I get it. I’ll go.”
Before the officer handcuffed her, Olivia turned on her heel and stumbled away from the main entrance to the Flagler Museum. We watched her grow smaller as she staggered down the wide path to the main parking lot, then she got into her car and backed out of the parking space.
When her car exited the lot, I gaped at Trevor. “I’m… I’m in shock.”
“Shock is a pretty good word for it.” He set his jaw. “Just can’t believe she showed up, as if she thought that she’d be able to convince me in some way that we could get back together again. I don’t—she’s crazy.” He threw up a hand. “The biggest mistake of my life.”
“Unbelievable.”
Still not sure she was gone, I strode through the parking lot, then out to the main street, and up to the large sign for the museum. The balmy Florida air kicked up around me, blowing my dress in the wind. I shivered as I studied the street, half expecting her to show up again. What a night it had been. What a week. What a month.
“At least most of the party guests didn’t see her,” Trevor said when he reached my side. “So, we have that going for us.”
I laughed. “I’d hardly call that a victory.”
“We have to take what we can.”
I laughed again, louder and fuller this time. “I never thought I’d have a life like this, I have to say it. And I never thought I’d end up with someone like you, but I’m so glad that I did.” I shrugged. “And I’m—I’m falling for you, Trevor.”
“You are?” He took me by the hand. “You mean that?”
“I don’t say things that I don’t mean.” I smiled at him. “And lately, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what you told me that afternoon in New York, when you said you wanted a chance for this to be real.” I put a hand on the lapel of his suit. “Well, I want that, too, Trevor. In fact, I want more than that.”
He grinned back at me. “Good, because it would be a shame if you didn’t.”
With that, he kissed me. His lips molded to mine, and the warmth of his passion spread through my body. Every part of me felt amplified, and I knew I was right where I needed to be. I’d found someone I liked, someone who wanted to save my family. Most of all, I’d found someone to love.
Which is why I didn’t see the car until it was too late.
With a screech, the speeding Acura crossed two lanes of traffic, then jumped the curb, headed right to us. We had a nanosecond to get out of its path before it slammed head-on into the Flagler Museum sign behind us. I only heard a crunch of glass and a twist of metal as the car crashed against the concrete at a rate of speed I guessed to be three to four times the speed limit
Everything seemed to slow down, and I could have sworn that I was floating above my body as I heard myself scream. “Oh, my god! Oh, my god!Oh, my god!”
