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“What’s what?”
“I can see you’re stressing, more than ever, and it has me concerned. You need to talk to me.”
“It’s nothing.” Her words were barely above a whisper and he had to strain to hear her.
“No, it’s something. You’re trembling. You need to tell me what’s wrong.” He waited but she refused to answer.
“Liv?”
“I said it’s nothing.”
He suddenly swung the car and pulled to the side of the road. “What are you doing?” Olivia demanded but Paul remained silent as he eased the car to a stop and flipped on the emergency flashers. He then turned in his seat to face her. “Talk to me, Liv. I know something is troubling you and I can’t have you closing yourself off from me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Why did you stop? They’ll catch up with us, Paul. You can’t slow down now!” She clutched his sleeve and shook his arm. “Please! Please start driving again!”
“Honey, no one is following us. I promise to keep you safe. Talk to me.”
“What’s there to say that I haven’t already shared? He’s coming. I have no life. I want more but I’ll never have it because I chose to trust the wrong man years ago. It’s a prison sentence, Paul. I can’t see beyond today.”
“I know, honey. I know.” He gathered her in a hug despite the seatbelts and center console separating them, but it was enough. “I know you’re worried about the future and you can’t think further ahead than the next hour, but I see it clearly. We’re going to shake the idiot. No one knows where we are. We’ll find someplace safe. And my buddies in the Fed are going to close in on him. Even now they’re gathering evidence and guarding it closely. He can’t touch every last person. At some point he’ll make a mistake that will seal his fate. He’ll be put behind bars and you’ll be free.”
Olivia gave a bitter laugh. “You think I’ll be free? It won’t matter if you shipped Ethan to Antarctica and forced him to live in a cave. He’d still find a way to reach me! I don’t think you realize how obsessed he is. I won’t ever be free of him! Do you know he cut my wrist? I thought he was trying to kill me.” She held up her arm but it was impossible to see the scar in the dim light. “He cut my wrist and then he did his own. He pressed them together as they bled. He said the life in our blood now belongs to both of us. That my life flows through his body and his flows through mine. He says that I was created for him and he will kill anyone who tries to come between us. Paul, you have to understand! Your life is at risk because I love you and I can do nothing to keep you safe, except to say goodbye!”
Paul stilled. She loved him.
He didn’t want to focus on the maniacal abuse she’d suffered at Moore’s hands. Yet it was important for her to talk about it and release all the horror. He had to force himself to remain detached as he had when he worked undercover. This time was harder because it was his lady who suffered harm and all he wanted was to beat Ethan Moore into the ground for giving Liv scars. And those scars ran deep. If it was in his power, he would take them all and carry the burden for her. He could see the fear and resignation in her eyes. He could hear her emotional control slipping. And he knew her nerves were hanging by a thread. He wanted to gather her in his arms and reassure her again that everything was going to be fine but he knew she wouldn’t believe him.
Paul reached out and traced his knuckles down her cheek. She turned her face into his hand. “I love you too, Liv honey. We’re going to figure this out. I won’t let him hurt you again.” She gave him a sad smile and he knew she didn’t believe he could honor his word. He had to, dammit! He didn’t know how to keep the promise against such an elusive threat, but the first step was getting her as far away from Moore’s goons as possible. He turned and put the car into gear then headed back on the road. They needed to reach Laramie and then they would make new plans. She may think he was better off without her but he wasn’t letting her go.
The snow came down harder and the roads grew icier the further north they went. There was little traffic and Paul had to slow the car to keep them on the highway. They passed a few cars that had slid into the ditch and were abandoned.
“It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” Olivia asked with a shiver. She reached and turned up the heat but then the windshield started to fog. Paul flipped the dial so the windows would defrost.
“Nothing to worry about. We get these storms every winter. They don’t even cancel school for a storm like this.” He glanced in his rearview mirror. He expected no one to be following with the snow coming down so heavy, but there was a pair of headlights that hung back. When he changed lanes, so did they. It wasn’t enough to raise an alarm but he was keeping an eye on them. “You ever try skiing?”
Olivia laughed at the question. “No. I couldn’t risk falling and injuring myself. And now, well, I’m not sure I have the strength and balance to try it.”
“Maybe after some proper medical treatment it would be different. We could go sledding instead. You ever ice skate?” He glanced again at the headlights; they still followed at the same measured distance.
“No, no skating for me. I can handle pirouettes on the ground. Anyone who can do them on ice
is a miracle worker in my opinion.”
“You’ll have to see Chloe skate sometime. She’s been in lessons for a few years and has become an artist on the ice. You have any nieces or nephews?” He wanted to keep her talking about mundane things.
Olivia shook her head. “No, there’s just my parents and sister, Marissa. I have no idea where my parents are. Marissa hired someone to help relocate them safely. And Rissa, well she travels around a lot – too much to settle down and have a family. She helped me escape, you know.”
Paul could hear the longing and worry in her voice, but also the pride when she talked of her sister. “You and Marissa are close?”
Olivia nodded. “I was always the safe one. I got good grades and never took risks. I never stayed out past curfew and I worked hard at ballet. Marissa was the opposite. Dad always said she caused his gray hair. For her thirteenth birthday she wanted to go skydiving – and that was only the beginning. She’s now twenty-five and she’s lived in six different countries. She’s always walked on the edge while I was the good girl playing it safe. And yet I got stuck with Ethan. I was too naïve. Rissa always told me that; that I should get out and live more or something was going to bite me in the ass. I guess it did.”
“You’re not alone in this anymore, honey. And don’t ever think it was your fault you got involved with an abuser.” He squeezed her fingers reassuringly before his hand slipped to her thigh. They both seemed content with his familiar touch.
“Rissa has had dozens of boyfriends. You probably would have chosen her if you met her first. She’s very charismatic and beautiful. Men can’t help falling at her feet.”
“I would have chosen you,” Paul stated firmly. “You’re the only one I want.”
When his fingers moved restlessly on her thigh heat filled her cheeks. “I miss my family,” Olivia admitted and Paul had a feeling she was grasping at the subject to distract herself. He grinned indulgently and allowed the subject change.
