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I went above and beyond for this cake. I broke my back and shredded my brain for it. The first picture of the cake was already sparking hot takes on social media.
“I’m ruined,” I sniff, and then it hits me again, but I try to hold myself together because the people around me don’t deserve my tears.
“We will get through this,” Ruth says, reaching out to take my hand. I nod, soaking up the support of our friendship.
It is good to know I have one person I can lean on in times like this.
“Thank you,” I swallow.
“You don’t have to show up at the store; I will take care of things and close it down if it goes wild,” she strokes the inside of my palm, and again I nod, grateful for her.
“Get up, time to go,” Ronan beckons me, but I shake my head, declining. I'm not sure why, but I don’t want to go anywhere with him. “It’s not a request, Olivia,” he groans, but I shake my head again.
“I think it’s wise to listen to him,” Ruth says, letting go of my palm and standing. “I will keep in touch and keep you updated,” she says, leaning down to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Be safe; we will get to the bottom of this,” she whispers into my ear and then joins the rest of my team around the table.
“We don’t have all the time in the world, Olivia,” Ronan says, and I stand, my bravery melting away as I near his looming frame.
Why do I want to run away and hide from him but simultaneously want to run into his arms and have him protect me, keeping me safe like only he can?
Like he used to.
“Where are we going?” I ask, but instead of answering, his hand wraps around my wrist and pulls me away. Some men follow us.
“They are following us,” I pull my arm away, but his grip is too strong for me to break free. “Why are they following us?” My heart hammers against my chest as I catch one of the men playing with a gun in his hand. “I don’t want to go,” I drag harder, and I feel a scratch from Ronan’s nails as he tries to keep me from slipping away.
He halts and spins to face me, our bodies brushing against each other, igniting sparks, things that should have no place in a situation like this one. But I doubt there are ever any situations where contact with Ronan won’t affect me.
“I’m your best bet to get out of this hall alive,” he dips his head as if to kill me, but instead, he slides it to my ear. I swallow a nervous, shaky breath. “I want to keep you alive, Olivia,” he whispers into my ear, and my stomach spins in the wrong way. “Behave and help me achieve that,” he pulls away, and his slithering eyes pin me.
I nod. He has a point. He is the only one aside from Ruth that I can trust, and Ruth cannot do anything to protect me.
Only I can be good for him.
Chapter Six
RONAN
“For the love of everything good, stop doing that,” I snap at Olivia bouncing her leg beside me.
She knows I can’t stand it, reoccurring movements or sounds make me want to claw my brains out.
“I can’t help it,” she says, chewing on her nails.
Right now, she doesn’t look like the Olivia I met a week ago in her store. There’s a shadow of the high-school Olivia. The confidence from that day is gone, and I see her weakness, a girl I want to comfort and protect.
But for now, I can’t. I have to get to the root of everything. I need to sieve through the surface and things.
I unbutton the first three buttons of my dress shirt. “You have to pull yourself together,” I say, starting to unhook the cufflinks on my sleeves, a gift from my father.
In the end, the wedding was all a waste of time, money, resources, and most fucking importantly, my fucking energy.
“What will happen to me?” Olivia drops her hands between her lap and claps her legs together to keep her from fidgeting.
I flip my eyes to the driver, who is one of my men, but on the passenger seat beside him is one of Cesare’s men, who said he was coming with me to make sure that Olivia does not leave.
The plan is to hold her until I find a way out of this mess. I doubt it was her fault at this point, but I can’t find any solid fucking proof that I’m right.
“For now,” I clear my throat and breathe quietly, “you tell me the truth, and we will see from there,” I fold the sleeve of my dress shirt.
