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Rourke
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Watching Olivia sleep, I sigh to see even in her sleep tears are sliding down her cheeks. Fuck. I’m shaken by how completely our lives were pulled from perfection to hell in mere hours. I went to sleep with the woman I can’t hide from the fact I’m stone cold in love, and woke to her going through a special kind of hell. It kills me to see her in pain; I hated how helpless I felt for even minutes as I tried to work out what the hell I could and had the power to do.
Now that she’s asleep I make a call. The security company isn’t any normal security company. They specialize in joint special ops missions overseas. However they also do security as bodyguards for heads of state, and they aren’t just goons in suits, everyone is former military. Most of them special ops, so they know exactly what they are doing. Quickly, I’m routed to Sam King, one of the owners. I tell him everything that has happened so far.
“Mr. Vega, you’re very right to be concerned about the situation. I’m unsure how you want us to proceed, however. Are you wanting security around Ms. Casey and her sister or—”
“I want you to up the security on my mother’s place and my place. I’m thinking I’ll move them to my place, strategically, it’s safer. Right now, though, there are four kids under four unprotected at my mother’s home. We have another eight hours in the air. I want two people on the house and an evaluation of what can be done to fortify my place as well as my mom. I also want someone at Stella’s bedside. Keep out the mother-in-law and everyone who isn’t Gabriel Casey, me or Olivia Casey.”
“We’ll start now. I’ll have it together by the time you land. Just so you are aware, I know Gabe Casey personally.”
I’m not really surprised. “How do you know Gabe and will it be an issue?”
“I tried to hire him on once he recovered and came back, about the same time I came on board. He declined however since so many of my employees are former vets he’s become friends with them and me and my wife. As I’m sure you’re aware there are some things civilians just don’t get. And it won’t be an issue.”
His words have me remembering the months after I was released from the hospital when Mom tried to get me to talk about my experiences but I just couldn’t. How I ended up on some of my home flipping sites to be around former vets who’d seen the same things I’d seen.
“Good. I’ll see you in eight hours.” I hang up, tension easing inside me. Olivia was right to be scared: this is a fucked-up situation, and one that doesn’t feel like it’s going to be solved quickly or easily.
My final call is to a service who I’m up front with on the situation, but I’m willing to pay double the usual fee if I can get a nanny to help settle the kids and be on the job for the next week at least. Warily, the woman tells me she’ll call around then get back to me. I’m up pacing the length of the jet as I wait. A half hour later I get a call: someone is on her way right now, Lydia Sanchez, and she should be there within ten minutes.
With relief I use Olivia’s phone to call Gabe. “Yeah?” He sounds tired, and there’s a baby crying in the background.
“It’s Rourke. My mother is on her way home, she should be there within, hell, I think within the next ten minutes knowing the way she drives. I also have a nanny on the way, her name is Lydia Sanchez. Considering everything else, there will also be two guards sent from Miltiades Global Security. They’ll assess to see if anything more needs to be added. I also have a guard on the way to the hospital to keep Stella secure.”
“Thanks. If you’d asked me before I would have thought no problem on handling the girls for a few hours by myself. I found out I’m wrong. One of them hasn’t stopped crying since I picked her up. Turns out she got smacked by Larry pretty hard. I called CPS to get it on record against his ass. I got there before Melinda, his mom, and she tried to argue she should be the one to take them. No fucking way. The lady agreed and handed them over.” I hear Mom in the background. “Hey, your mom is here. She wants to talk to you.”
I hear the crying grow louder, then die away as Mom whispers soothing words to the crying child. “Rourke, we’ll be fine.”
“Maybe. It’s been a while since you changed a diaper. I have a nanny on the way, Lydia Sanchez. With the issues with Larry, I also have two guards, just in case.”
“Yes, my overanxious son. I’m not really surprised. We’ll be here and fine.”
I’m not tired, adrenaline is still flowing through my veins. I leave Olivia to sleep in the back of the jet and go through some work. Then about four hours in my email goes off. It’s from Sam, a file on Lawrence Theirry. Shit. The guy is a train wreck waiting to happen. He has a history of smacking women around from his first girlfriend at sixteen. At twenty he was charged with stalking and domestic violence.
The court-ordered psychiatrist diagnosed him a narcissist with borderline personality disorder. He was put on medications and he evened out, this is when he met Stella. There are pictures from the damage he did to one of his girlfriends. I cannot believe the fucker only got six months in jail for that. Then when he got out of jail he beat her to within an inch of her life. She has needed two facial reconstruction surgeries because of all the bones broken in her face.
An hour later Olivia comes into the cabin from the bedroom. It’s clear she’s washed her face, brushed her hair and put it into a braid. When I cross to her she sighs as she hugs me tight around the middle. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I mutter against the top of her head as I fight not to squeeze her tighter.
“For holding me together while I tried to fall apart. I’m sorry you’re getting dragged into this. When we land I’ll take my sister’s kids and we’ll check into a hotel until I find something more permanent once I talk to Stella and see how she wants to do it.”
I stiffen. “No, not happening. You stay with me, the kids will stay with me. I’m more equipped to protect you and them. I have guards at the house already and another by your sister. Her mother-in-law has already tried to get in to threaten her against pressing charges. Your sister went shaky on pressing charges. She didn’t agree until I told her CPS has already gotten involved because of Angela being struck by Larry, and he admitted to it.”
“You talked to Stella?”
“Yeah, she wasn’t happy about the guard I had put at her door. She changed her mind after the visit from her mother-in-law, though. I also made sure she knew there were guards on her kids. As far as I know Melinda, the mother-in-law, doesn’t know where my mother lives, but I was already thinking of taking them to my place anyway.”
She’s shaking her head. “Rourke, this is all—I can’t let you take over on this. I—”
I don’t let her finish; my hands go down to her hips, yanking them against me. “Who do you belong to?” Her eyes close, and tears leak out. I kiss them away, hating the way my chest knots at the sight of them. “I take care of what’s mine. No one gets to hurt you. Family is often a part of the collateral damage in domestic violence cases like this. Not this time, not you.”
“And who protects you? I love you and I don’t want you mixed up in all of this either.” I go still at her words. She pushes against my chest, but my arms tighten, not letting her go. “Yes, damn it. Don’t act like you didn’t know. I love you. I know about you being afraid of dying early and leaving behind someone grieving for you, but I don’t care. I don’t care if I get only ten years or five years or three years. I love you. There are no guarantees in life. You have to take each day and be grateful for it. Do you really think if you walked away from me today, I would be able to shrug it off?
“No, I couldn’t because if you leave you’re taking a part of me with you that I can’t get back. A part no one else can fill up. I figured it out: everyone you meet and care about, they add to and take from you, but there are some people who can add so much more. They heal the cracks you never thought could be the same again and they aren’t the same, they become something new with your love.
“I know you love me too. I know you belong to me the same way I belong to you. Your love has filled the cracks some I knew I had and others I didn’t know about until your love helped them heal. Yet I paid for it by giving up a part of my heart, my fucking soul to you. That’s what your mom has been missing all these years not just the loss of her husband but a part of herself she can’t get back, that no other man could give her.”
No, she has to be wrong. I’m trying to let her go, to push her away to find space, room to breathe only I can’t. Instead, I’m pulling her tighter to me. Olivia clings to me. “Shh...” I didn’t realize I’m battling for air until her soft, cool hand caresses my face. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I love you. Take a deep breath for me, baby, again, yes, like that.” She’s whispering she loves me against my temple again and again as she runs her hand over my cheek. We’re back in the bedroom without me being aware of how we got here.
Olivia presses me down, following me down as my grip on her hasn’t loosened. Her soft, full body against me soothes the tension in me, and I slip into sleep to the sound of her telling me she loves me.
***
Olivia
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I’m so screwed. The love of my entire fucking life almost had a panic attack when I told him I loved him and he figured out he loved me. When he figured we were too far gone to part with a kiss on the cheek, when he figured out how much him walking out of my life would destroy me—and it would. I will never be the same if I lose Rourke.
He’s not perfect, he’s too arrogant, he’s too demanding, he’s not the nicest person in the world, but he’s adores me, thinks I’m beautiful, puts up with my smart mouth, and he loves me. It’s not about finding a perfect person, it’s about finding the perfect person for you, and for me it’s Rourke. I sigh as I realize this is going to be harder to get him to cop to than I thought. Then I remember what Gabe said: give him something to live for.
At the time I was hurt I wasn’t enough, but I think I figured out what Gabe meant. It’s not just me it’s a life with me in it, and children, our children, a home, our home, a life worth living for. I go into my purse. These are a new packet, I actually didn’t take yesterday’s pill and haven’t taken one today either. Christ, what time is it? I push all the pills out of the blister pack until I have a pile on the bed, then scoop then into my hand and before I chicken out I flush them. My stomach drops as I watch them disappear in a whoosh of water. This is either the best thing I’ve ever done or the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
“Olivia?” Rourke’s voice, rough from lack of sleep, sets my heart pounding in my fingertips. The door to the bathroom is open as I flush my face with cool water. “What are you doing? Are you okay?”
I walk slowly back toward him, my hands on my stomach. “I just flushed my birth control pills. I didn’t take yesterday’s or today’s. If you can’t give me your love, give me something else. Give me your baby. Give me something to remember you. Give me your son.”
He’s shaking his head in shock. I pull off the sundress I snatched in the dead of night. By the bed, I push down my panties then undo the catch of my bra, knowing how much he loves my breasts. He is still shaking his head, but he doesn’t stop me from undoing his pants then pulling his hardening cock out. I lick the tip already glistening with his precome. Sweet, so sweet to me. With a sigh I move over him, then guide his cock inside my wet pussy. As I slowly take him inside me, even though I know it’s too early, there’s no way it’s possible, I taunt him. “Give me your son if you can’t give me yourself.”
Rourke roars as his hands go to my hips, his hold tight enough it guarantees bruises as he becomes a man possessed, fucking into me hard, fast, taking me over completely. I might be on top but he is in control, and I love it. Falling on his hard chest, I cling to him as he fucks me through one orgasm, then another before he comes with a growl low in his chest, sending vibrations through my whole body.
It’s how we fall asleep until the pilot comes over the speaker warning us we will be landing in twenty minutes.
We move slowly, our touches lingering as he helps me get dressed. Yet he says nothing. There wasn’t time for a flight attendant to be arranged. It’s weird to have left France at one in the morning only to arrive in Austin at three in morning. Despite the time, the small airport isn’t quiet. A large man, as tall and wide as Rourke, is waiting. He has a large scar on the side of his face that doesn’t detract a bit from his attractiveness.
“Sam King.” He shakes, Rourke’s hand then mine.
“Rourke Vega, this is Olivia Casey. Thank you for meeting us. Can you tell me about the updates for security?”
“Larry does have a gun, a nine mil that we know of. I want to replace the front door on your mother’s home with a bulletproof door and replace the sliding glass doors with French doors that will also be bulletproof. Your front door is thick enough it could take a bullet from a nine mil. I do want to replace your French doors with bulletproof doors on your patio. You were right, your home makes the most sense, we’ll know the minute he turns off the main road and have time to prepare. Your windows on the house aren’t just for show. Closing them will protect those inside, even though I don’t think they are thick enough to stop a bullet, they’ll come pretty damn close.”
“Make the updates, and can you get someone over to my place tonight? Once the kids are up and have had breakfast I’ll be moving everyone to my place. I don’t want them any more freaked out then they need to be by all the noise.”
“I can have someone at your place within the hour. It will take a few hours but should be done by the time you move the kids.”
“Good. My mom should go wherever the kids go, so I don’t believe we’ll need someone posted at the house. Someone does need to be with Stella at all times. Larry is expected to be arraigned in the afternoon. I want someone there. The prosecutor is shooting for no bail because of his past history, or as high as it can go. If for some stupid-ass reason he gets bail, I want someone on his ass.”
I can’t stay quiet anymore. “Don’t you think you’re going overboard here? We don’t even know for sure there will be any issues.”
Sam and Rourke exchange glances. Rourke is the one who breaks the silence. “This isn’t the first time Larry beat a woman, was arrested for it, then went after her as soon as he was released. He beat the woman so badly she’s had facial reconstruction surgeries. This also isn’t the first time he’s beat your sister—it’s when she said she wanted to leave he beat her badly.
“He threatened her with a gun and it is confirmed he has one, even though he shouldn’t. The time when a woman chooses to leave her abuser is the most dangerous. Larry isn’t going to shrug his shoulders and walk away. I told you, no one hurts you, no gets close enough to even touch you. If something happened to your sister or your nieces it would hurt you, so no one hurts them either.”
At the back of my mind I can’t help but wonder if this is the Connor situation all over again, me giving up control to someone else to deal with a difficult situation. No, the difference is Connor took over to control me. Rourke is taking over to protect me. There’s also the whole me loving Rourke and never loving Connor thing. With a sigh I lay my head back and let the two men talk, their words running over me like water bubbling through a river. I’m careful to stay away lest I get washed away in it all.
We’re stopped, and the overhead light comes on in the SUV. I’m in the back with Rourke in the passenger seat and Sam driving. I blink to see Rourke holding the door open. Sliding off the large leather seat, I’m caught by Rourke, his arm wrapping around me. “Why are we at your place? Shouldn’t we go to your mom’s?”
“Olivia, it’s three thirty in the morning. There are also now three adults and four kids there. From what I understand they put the girls and nanny in our room and Gabe is on the couch. There isn’t room for us, which is why I want to move everyone here. There is the master and four bedrooms, two with Jack and Jill bathrooms and the other two with their own bathrooms, and then the second master downstairs. The backyard is bigger too for the kids to play in. I’m going to make us something to eat then air out the rooms. The housekeeping team is supposed to change the sheets weekly, but I never know for certain.”
I give in and follow him inside. I’m starving.