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“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Luke takes me to the electronics store, which is an absolute madhouse. It takes almost an hour for us to be helped and then another forty-five minutes to sort out everything with my lost phone so I can keep the same number. When I crawl back into the SUV, I’m officially worn out, but I want to spend time with Cole, so I don’t say anything to Luke. And this day hasn’t turned out half bad. I got to spend some time with my guy in an elevator. Too much kink for me but it was fun, and I got a new cell phone, thankfully I’d recently backed everything up so I didn’t lose and phone numbers, pictures or content.
Luke shows me up to the third floor of Prescott Upper House. This time, he ushers me into an office area.
“I’m going to let Cole know you’re here,” he says, walking toward an office door, then disappearing behind it. I slump into a chair, playing around with my phone. The main office doors swing open and glimpse up to see Olivia walk in. I stand up immediately, taking the defensive. The urge to give her a piece of my mind and pull out at least a couple sections of her bottle blond head is overwhelming.
I must have startled her, because she jumps and stops walking. I say nothing, I just stand here staring at her. “Oh, Kitty Kat.” She narrows her eyes. “You’re here rather late. Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
“No, I don’t need as much beauty rest as you.” She purses her lips, then walks the rest of the way into the waiting area.
“What happened to lunch yesterday? You didn’t show and didn’t call to cancel.”
“Sorry about that,” Olivia says, laying on the charm. “I had something come up.”
“Oh really, what?”
“It was a lunch date with someone I couldn’t pass up.”
“You mean you didn’t come here and try to seduce my husband?” She didn’t see that coming. All the color drains out of her face.
She walks up to me. “I don’t know how many ways I have to tell you, Kitty Kat. You and Cole will never be husband and wife.”
That’s it. I don’t know what Cole’s plan is with his dad, but at this moment, I don’t care. I’ve had about all I can take from the wicked step-monster. I hold my rings up for her to see. “We’re already married, Olivia. Monday night in front of Elvis, we said I do for the rest of our lives. You were too late. Nobody stopped anything.”
“You’re a liar. I was there.”
“Not in time.”
Olivia regains her composure. “You think you’re so smart trying to pull one over on me?” She sticks her finger in my face, poking my neck.
I bat her hand away like it’s a nasty fly. “I am smart,andI’m telling you the truth. Your threats are hollow and empty. Cole and I are married. Husband. And. Wife.”
“Liar,” she shrieks, her hands wrapping around my throat. Her manicured nails digging into the back of my neck.
I hear myself scream, my hands flying to hers, trying to pry them off. She isn’t choking me as much as she’s trying to shake me, so I yank on her hair. One of her hands comes around my neck, scraping along my skin. “You are a fat, ugly, nothing of a woman with the class of bottom feeder. A plaything, there to warm Cole’s bed when he feels the need,” she hisses between her teeth.
Her words strike me like a poison dripped arrow, the poison flowing straight into my soul. The only cure is my own willpower to stave them off.
“No,” I sob. I still have a hold on her hair, and I tug harder on it, causing handfuls to come out in my hand. I gasp and momentarily forget I’m fighting as I look at the large chunks of blond hair in my hands. “It’s fake.”
“You bitch, it’s a weave.” Olivia hisses, slapping me in the face. My defenses go up automatically, my hand forms a fist and comes around, catching her in the mouth.
Large hands around my waist and I’m hoisted off the ground. My ring tangles in Olivia’s hair, causing several more sections of her weave to come out, and she swears. When my feet are on the ground again, I’m across the room from Olivia. Luke has Olivia by the waist. I turn around to find Cole behind me. A look of shock across his face.
“What in god’s name is going on out here?” Preston yells.
I bury myself in Cole’s chest and sob. He wraps his arms around me protectively. This isn’t really happening. I was not just pulled out of a cat fight with Olivia. She started it—oh hell—how old am I, ten? I practically begged her to hit me, telling her the truth like that. I’m mortified beyond words. I cannot believe I let myself sink to her level.
“Kate asked me to be honest with her, so I was. Apparently, she couldn’t handle the truth. She got visibly upset and attacked me.” I gasp, looking up at her. She gives me an evil grin, and I crawl back into my hiding place. I will not stoop to her level. It doesn’t matter who started it. It matters that it happened.
“What did you say, That made her so upset?” Cole’s words are hard and low.
“Yes, dear, what did you say?” Preston asks.
I turn my head, pressing my cheek into Cole’s chest. Olivia’s quiet for too long. If she was telling the truth, she wouldn’t have to think of something to say. I want to speak to stand up for myself. But Olivia’s words continue to seep into my soul, and I don’t have the strength or the self-assurance to contradict her.
