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“I met a friend who introduced me into some…work… and then I took a job at the diner so I could have a proper job and the government wouldn’t get suspicious due to what I did as a side hustle. I quickly found I could make a lot of money doing it. But between the diner, the bartending, and the other work I barely had time to eat or sleep much less be a parent. So, I begged Vanessa not to tell her the truth. I refused to let her lose her mommy, the only mommy she knew, because of my mistakes,” she said, her voice breaking, her green eyes almost black with pain. “I mean, who wants to hurt a little girl like that? I’d rather cut my own heart out than break hers!”
Olivia closed her eyes, jerking slightly when she felt Colin’s lips against hers, softly kissing her. He pulled back.
“You were a victim of some horrible sets of unfortunate circumstances,” he said hoarsely, his heart breaking for these two women and the little girl upstairs sleeping peacefully. He looked at her, silently encouraging her to continue.
Olivia’s eyes widened as she realized what he wanted. She pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly.
“Colin I can’t, you won’t understand,” Olivia whispered. She flinched as Jonathan leaned forward and poured a small amount of liquor into her glass. He spoke quietly.
“Olivia, you need to get this off your chest, we can see it’s eating you from the inside out. We all care about you and want to see you acknowledge this and start healing. It’s the only way to move forward,” Jonathan said softly, ever the therapy guru.
Vanessa looked up at Colin’s questioning glance.
“I can’t help on this one, she never told me. I already told you this multiple times,” she said, rubbing her thumb on the back of Olivia’s hand.
He leaned forward again, his eyes searching hers, begging her to see that he loved her regardless.
“You won’t want me,” Olivia whispered, trembling. “Not when you hear. You’ll never want to touch me again,” she threw the words out vehemently.
“That’s not possible,” Colin said, seeing nothing but heart break in her eyes.
Her heart was pounding, making her feel dizzy.
Colin sat back, taking his gaze from her eyes. He stood on his feet and grabbed a huge pillow from the couch. He stood and pushed the coffee table back with his foot and dropped it to the ground in front of her. He took a second to release his watch, needing the moment to steel himself for what he was about to do. It dropped to the table with a loud clank.
They all jumped slightly at the sound.
“Kneel,” he said, folding his arms and waiting. Her brows furrowed in shock as she stiffened, her eyes slowly turning to Vanessa and Jonathan.
“Eyes on me.”
An inaudible gasp escaped her lips as she paused.
“What did I just ask you to do?” Colin said sternly, patiently waiting.
Olivia stared up at him. She leaned over and picked up her drink, they all waited as she finished it quickly, wincing at the burn. Looking like a weight lifted off her shoulders, she slid off the couch onto the dark blue cushion and kneeled before him. He paused a second, letting her adjust before he crouched down and turned her, so she was kneeling with her back to her sister and Jonathan. He stepped next to her and placed his hand on her head, lending her his comfort.
After a tense second, she sobbed, and leaned her head against his thick thigh.
Colin could hear Vanessa’s jaw hitting the floor.
He turned his body away from the couple next to him. Stroking her hair slowly, talking to her quietly.
“I’ve got you, in every circumstance. I won’t ever make you do this in front of Allison, or anyone else, but you need our support. They are family, the closest ones to us. I am willing to let them be here to help you through this,” Colin said softly, continuously stroking her head as she leaned against him tiredly.
Olivia let the weight go, lowered her eyes to her lap before sighing, mentally steeling herself to utter the next words. “I spent four years b-beating wealthy men for money. Twenty-five hundred dollars an hour, sometimes more, depending,” she whispered, so low Jonathan had to lean in closer to hear her.
There was silence before Vanessa spoke first. “What. What do you mean you beat them?” she asked, her voice small.
“I had several clients I would meet throughout the month, sometimes at hotels, sometimes in their homes. They paid me to degrade and beat them. Whips, chains, some liked to be burned until they were physically sick. They liked to be choked, some like to be cut until they bled. I saw a couple of them at the charity gala we went to. Judge Carmichael was a client, among others,” Olivia finished quietly.
Biting her lip, she pulled her head away from his thigh and rubbed her hands over her face. Heaving out a big sigh, she moved to stand up, pulling her long skirt out of the way.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Colin asked sternly. His hand suddenly tightened on her head, refusing to let her up.
“I’m going to go pack my stuff,” she said, simply refusing to meet his eyes. Her heart was splintering into a million pieces, she was so hurt she couldn’t even cry anymore.
“The hell you are, Olivia,” he said sternly. Raising his eyebrows when she didn’t move, just sitting there confused with her hands in her lap. “We still have an agreement. For the next four years in fact,” he said, lowering to a squat next to her and getting in her face.
