Page 24 of Protecting Olivia

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“Olivia time to wake up.”

I cracked my eyes open and looked out the window. We were stopped again, and it was dark outside.

“Where are we?” I asked.

Leo had woken me a few times and told me to drink, but after a few gulps, I was back asleep.

“Arkansas,” he told me.

He’d driven another ten hours, at least. There was a small tinge of guilt that he was doing all the driving while I slept. Then I remembered that he was a jerk and I shouldn’t care.

There was a tap on Leo’s driver side window. He rolled the window down halfway.

“Room 828,” Zane said and passed a key card through the window.

Leo took the card without answering, not that Zane waited for a reply. He’d already turned and was walking toward the hotel.

“Wait for me to come to your side of the truck before you get out. You walk on my left, keep your head down and do not speak to anyone should we pass someone in the hall,” Leo instructed.

“Why on your left?”

I’m not sure why I asked, it’s not that I cared. I just didn’t like him bossing me around.

“You're always on my left. My gun is on my right.”

Leo got out of the truck, grabbed two backpacks from the back seat, and came to my door.

“Head down,” he reminded me as we made our way to the room.

Jerk! Did he think I was so stupid I’d forget?

He keyed the lock to the hotel door, instead of him allowing me to enter first he very awkwardly walked us through the doorway together. He was huge, and it was a miracle we both fit.

The door clicked shut behind us, and he held up his left hand giving me some gesture I assumed meant to halt. He slowly pulled his gun out of the holster, his shirt pulling up the tiniest sliver, giving me a quick glance at his tanned stomach. If I wasn’t so pissed at him, I would’ve enjoyed the peek. He left me standing at the door while he checked the room.

“Clear,” he called out.

Was that supposed to mean something to me?

“You can come in now, Olivia.”

Jerk.

Why didn’t he just say that to begin with? When I rounded the corner, the backpack that Jasmin had left for me was on one of the beds. Leo was standing by the other bed with his backpack open.

“We’re sharing a room?” I stupidly asked.

Leo stopped rummaging through his bag and turned his full attention to me.

“Yes. You’re not to be out of my sight, ever. I’m sorry this is uncomfortable for you, but I’m not taking any chances with your safety.”

Leo must’ve caught the look on my face and realized I still didn’t understand what was going on. He took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Here’s what’s happening. Some bad guys took you to prove they could. Then, after they got their point across, they basically told us where you were so we could find you. Now that they have our attention, they’ve made their demands.”

“What do you mean demands?”

“I can’t tell you that.”