Page 46 of Protecting Olivia

Now I was done fighting the pull between us. The mission objective had changed. I would do everything in my power to tie her to me. She repeatedly had told me she was ready. But the poor girl had no clue what full steam ahead really meant. She was about to find out, and I was willing to wear her down if she fought it.

This was it.

I pulled into the underground parking and parked. I was suddenly nervous, a wholly new feeling for me. I didn’t get nervous – not on a mission, not with a woman, never.

“Everything alright?” Olivia asked, when I didn’t get out of the car right away.

“Perfect,” I answered.

“Then why are you staring out the windshield into space? Have you changed your mind?” she whispered the last part.

“Fuck no,” I said little more abrupt than I had intended. “Truth? And I can’t believe I’m telling you this, only further hammering home how I feel about you. This is new for me. I’m scared that all of this will be too much for you and you’ll run. I’ll chase you down if you do, but I’m not used to this feeling. Hell, I’m not used to feeling at all.”

“You won’t have to chase me. I won’t run.”

She says that now. But she is twenty-five and has her whole life in front of her. She could have a man without a cargo ship full of guilt and memories. She could have a man that is not scarred on both the outside and inside.

“Do you want to know what I was thinking when I was sitting in your mom’s house? How good it felt to be there. How much I loved them already. That I hoped they would accept me because if they didn’t, and I lost you, I would never recover. And I thought your mom was wrong. I was not made for you. Leo, you were made for me. Not to save me from bad guys, but to save me from a lonely, loveless life. Because if you hadn’t come into my life, that’s what it would’ve been – a half-life.

With a few words, this woman soothed my fears.

“One last thing. You know what I do for a living. You know that most of my ops are top secret. I cannot tell you about them, or where I’m going. Most of the time I won’t know for how long. When I leave for work, you have to know I go out with the intention of killing someone. I’ve never thought what my job would mean to someone else because I’ve never considered bringing anyone else into my life.”

I waited for her to fully comprehend what I did. When I said I was going hunting, I meant that literally. Only I wasn’t hunting cute, furry, defenseless animals. I was hunting the human variety of animals.

“Will you come straight home to me after you get back?” she asked.

I wasn’t sure she was grasping what I was telling her. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Yes, Leo. I fully understand what your job entails. It has no bearing on how I feel about you. I’m proud of what you do. I don’t need to know the details. In fact, it’s better that I don’t. I will not get in the way of your job, I’ll stand next to you, and wait for you to come home. Now will you come straight home to me in DC or will I need to meet you in Annapolis?”

Silly girl. She thought she still lived in DC.

“Annapolis,” I answered.

“Perfect. You call me when you land back in Baltimore, and I’ll hightail my ass to see you. My insurance will probably skyrocket with all the speeding tickets I’m going to get. But I don’t care.”

She still wasn’t getting it.

“Olivia, I want you here in Annapolis,” I told her.

“And I will be. As soon as you call, I’ll be right here. Promise.” She smiled at me.

“No, tesorino. I want you in my apartment – permanently,” I explained.

Her smile faded, and she cocked her head to the side. “I don’t think I’m understanding.”

“I want you to live here, with me.”

“What? Are you crazy?” she asked.

Now she was getting it.

“I told you, full steam ahead. There’s no use waiting. I know what I want.”

“This isn’t full steam ahead. This is breaking the speed of light, or sound, or whichever is faster. I can’t move in.”

She was fucking hot when she was flustered. I wished I’d waited to have this conversation in my apartment.