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His eyes narrowed at the contents and a sharp snarl ripped from his own throat.
Motherfucker, he thought. Swallowing hard, he tightened his mental grip on his floundering sanity and breathed deeply, trying to right himself. Needing to be strong for Olivia.
His arm tightened hard around Olivia as he processed the words. Hauling them both up off the floor, he carried her into the bedroom and opened the door swiftly, seeing Zero stationed outside. He shoved Olivia’s phone to him, his chocolate eyes furious as they landed onto Zero’s cold impassive ones.
“Handle this. AHORA!” he barked, before slamming the door back shut. Turning with her in his arms, he carried her to their lounge and sat with her in his lap, rocking her until her tears subsided and she cried herself to sleep. Much like the first time he’d made love to her, he refused to placate her with senseless words of reassurance. He would never reassure her when he knew there was none to give. He made a vow in the beginning of their relationship that he would not give her any false hope if there was none. No, he knew this was a terrible predicament they were in. People were dying, children were being murdered.
And he’d be damned if Olivia or anyone in her family were going to be a victim.
***
Olivia refused to get out of bed the next morning. Mary and the security team messaged, letting him know that they were stationed in the home and outside on the property. Colin brought up breakfast, and tried to get Olivia to sit up and eat but she wasn’t interested. She’d woken up crying in the middle of the night and he held her for a long time, until she’d exhausted herself once again and fell back asleep.
Worried, he sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on the side of Olivia’s face, seeing her eyes, cheeks, and nose tinted red.
“Amor, you need to eat something,” he said softly, stroking his thumb across her cheek.
“No,” she sobbed, turning and pressing her face into her pillow.
Colin’s features hardened painfully as she closed her eyes, and a tear escaped, falling to the pillow under her cheek. He turned, placing the oatmeal he’d made her to the side and crawled in next to her, sliding under the covers and wrapping himself around her.
He heard his phone ding, and he reached into his pocket, recognizing the tone for Jonathan.
Hey brother, are you meeting me and Alex for boxing later this evening? -J. Dawg
Colin pressed his lips together, seeing Olivia’s quiet, slight form, hearing her sniffle. He wasn’t leaving her like this.
Not tonight, tell Alexander I’m sorry. I’ll have to meet him next time. Olivia is going through something. I don’t want to leave her. -C. Kent
Anything we can do to help? -J. Dawg
Abandoning texting, he opened the microphone. Speaking softly into the phone, he sent a voice message to Jonathan, his hand rubbed Olivia’s head gently, soothing her.
“Brother, I don’t know what you are doing later, but can you cancel your plans? We have an errand to run. Someone needs to be paid a visit. I’m taking Olivia to her counseling appointment at three o’clock and we’ll go right after I drop her off. Be ready, please.” Colin turned on a soothing classical music station and put his phone down, turning back to Olivia.
“It’s going to be ok, love. Everything is going to work out. I got you, always,” he breathed, kissing the top of her head.
Olivia flipped over, pressing her face into his neck and curling her fingers into his t-shirt. Colin shifted, yanking his shirt off then settling back down, pressing his bare skin to hers, pulling her impossibly close. Pressing her head into his chest he rocked her against him, soothing her with broad strokes of his hand down her back and her hair.
“Colin,” she whispered, her fingers gripping his neck hard. “He’s getting too close!” her voice was muffled against his chest, thick with emotion and angst. She clutched at him, feeling fear and desperation fill her at the unfairness of why they were in this situation.
Judge Carmichael. She hated herself for getting into that lifestyle, and now her choices were coming back to haunt them all.
Colin held her like that for an hour, skin to skin, before making her get up. He carried her into the bathroom and straight into the bathtub, where he bathed her and washed her hair. He took his time to blow dry her hair, not even minding that she kept her eyes downcast. Leaning forward, giving her a kiss on each swollen eyelid, his hand splayed against the back of her head. His other hand curled around her waist.
“Whatever we have to face, my love, we’re facing it together. As one,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. Olivia nodded, sniffing and looping her arms around his neck in a desperate hug.
***
A few hours later, Colin and Jonathan pulled out from the therapist’s office. Olivia had chosen a quaint, small therapy practice based in a nice residential area. The office was a small house, and Colin instructed both of Olivia’s security guards to stay with her; one stationed outside, and the other in the lobby. Colin and Jonathan rode alone, with their security detail following in a separate vehicle. They were headed to see Carmichael, who was in his office today, according to inside intel. Jonathan had paid a pretty penny to guarantee they would be able to have an audience with the judge.
“Do you have any idea what you want to say to him? I would expect that we’re not going to go to prison today and that you can control yourself?” Jonathan asked, looking over at his friend in concern. Colin’s features were tight with worry for his wife. He briefly grimaced, hating that Jonathan even had to suggest that he couldn’t control himself.
He turned efficiently into the parking space of the building he knew the judge’s office was located in, and showed his ID to the security officer before they waved him in.
“Jon, I’m just going to speak to the man. Okay?” Colin cleared his throat as he pulled into a spot and put the car into park. He kept his eyes studiously off his best friend.
Jonathan grunted and opened his car door, sliding out smoothly. “Whatever you say, friend.”
