Page 130 of The Professor's Possession (Crystal River Billionaire Brothers)

“I don’t need your protection,” Olivia replies. “I would have rather been by your side through all of this. You don’t have to go through these things alone, you know.”

“Hm.”

“You don’t have to be a one-man army,” Olivia says softly. “You can lean on other people, especially those who might want to help you. You’re gonna need a support team to help you fight these upcoming legal battles with Quinn.Iwant to help you.”

I look at the girl. Her eyes are full of support and gleam.

It’s beautiful.

I can’t believe someone could look at me like that. Look at me without thinking of who I might be. Thefamousprofessor. The man with a billionaire surname. Some conjured projection of the successful man I appear to the world. But not this girl sitting next to me in my car.

Olivia Weldon is simply looking at therealme.

“So, what’s the deal with the rehab?” she asks. “What about Daisy? What’s going to happen to her?”

“I’ve organized it all,” I say. “I’m going to have full custody of Daisy until Quinn is...better, and from then there’s going to be a sharing arrangement made.”

“That’s great,” Olivia says. “That’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I reply. “But it’s notallI’ve wanted.”

“What?”

“My life doesn’t feel wholly complete. Not yet. Not without you.”

Olivia goes silent again for a moment as my words linger in the air between us.

“What does that mean?” she asks. “What are you saying?”

“I want to keep seeing you,” I reply slowly. Every word is leaden with purpose. “If you want to keep seeing me, of course.”

“Wow. That’s a lot to process.”

I’m afraid of what she’s going to say next. “I know this is a big thing for you to think about,” I say. “The past few days have really brought things into focus for me - themostimportant things.”

“I have to be brutally honest,” Olivia says. “I’ve still got my doubts about you. You kept your family hidden from me. You kept yourpasthidden from me. You’ve made me sign a document saying that this is nothing more than acasualrelationship, but your actions have made it seem like it is anything but that. You can see why I might be a little skeptical, yeah?”

I take in a deep breath. “I am sorry about keeping things hidden from you. It’s hard to...trustanyone when I’m from the family I’m from.”

Olivia casts her eyes downward. “Yep. I understand.”

“But I am more than just my name,” I reply.

Olivia sighs. “You know how difficult it is to talk to you sometimes?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She gesticulates in the air. “Your...walls. It can be so freaking hard to even get through to you.”

I see what she means. I know I’m someone with a strong array of defenses.

“Yes. I can see that. I do have a lot of... walls.”

“Good,” Olivia replies. “Because it’s been so damn difficult to break through those walls. Sometimes, Spencer, you have an air of arrogance about you.”

She’s really giving it to me right now. I probably deserve it, though.

“Yeah?”

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