A Tragic Wreck (17 page)

Alexander had been putting that off, wanting to enjoy his last few months of being single. Plus, Chelsea wanted him to get rid of Runner and he wasn’t ready for that just yet. He loved that dog, although he was another painful memory of Olivia. He started to wonder whether he would ever be able to fully rid his life of her. He didn’t think he could even if he wanted to. And he wasn’t sure he really wanted to, as much as he knew he should.

As he walked around to the other side of the car, Martin stopped him. “Sir, Carter has been trying to get in touch with you. He wouldn’t say what it was about, but you should probably call him.”

“Okay, Martin. I will when I get home.” He opened the door and climbed in beside Chelsea, grabbing her hand and planting a sensual kiss on it. Her heart fluttered a little, loving the feel of Alexander’s lips on her skin.

A few minutes later, Alexander led Chelsea into his large penthouse apartment.

“Jesus Christ, Alex,” she scowled as Runner bounded down the stairs. “Will you get rid of that fucking dog already?” She cringed when the dog jumped on Alexander, his tail wagging, obviously happy to see him.

“Why don’t you like animals?” he asked.

“They’re just so dirty.”

“Runner, down.” Alexander looked at Chelsea, who appeared horrified. “Give me a minute. I’ll put him somewhere. And I need to make one quick phone call. I’ll be right back.” He turned to Runner. “Come here, boy.”

He walked away from Chelsea and the dog followed him down the hallway toward his office. After punching his code into the keypad, Alexander strode over to the desk as Runner walked to his doggie bed in the corner and lay down. Picking up his phone, Alexander called Carter.

“Sir.”

“What is so important tonight, Carter?”

“Sir, it’s Miss Adler,” he replied cautiously. Alexander could almost hear the hesitation in his voice. “You asked me to remotely monitor any entry or exit on her home security system. Well, tonight, there was an entry just after eight in the evening and an exit a few minutes before nine.”

Alexander sunk into his chair, his heart dropping to his stomach. Just when everything was starting to go well. Just when he had finally gotten over her, or so he thought. “Has there been any follow-up?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“Yes, sir. No one who had access to her key-codes has been there.”

“Okay. Thank you, Carter.” He hung up and went back out to the living area. Chelsea was sitting on the couch, batting her eyes.

He sighed and walked up to her. “Chelsea, I’m sorry, but I have some work business I need to attend to this evening. I need to go. Martin will drive you home.” He turned abruptly and dashed to the elevator, pressing the call button repeatedly. An elevator car arrived almost immediately.

Within a few moments, he jumped into his Maserati and drove the few miles to Olivia’s house. He leapt out of his car and ran up the steps, banging on her front door. It all seemed so familiar. He did the same thing the day she left. Why was he getting roped back into her life when everything seemed to be going so well with Chelsea? He was supposed to be getting married in a few weeks.

There was no answer. He banged again. “Olivia! Are you in there? I just want to make sure you’re okay. That’s all. Then I’ll leave you alone.” Nothing. No movement. He checked inside and the house looked dark. He punched the code into her keypad door lock and quickly disarmed the security system, surprised that nearly three months later, he still remembered those numbers.

Walking through the foyer and into the kitchen, he took in his surroundings. A thousand happy memories came rushing back before he noticed her cell phone still lying on the island, the battery long dead.
Has she even been here?

He turned when he heard a faint sound coming down the stairs. “Nepenthe!” Alexander exclaimed when the cat appeared in the doorway. Olivia was back. And she would be coming back there. She would never leave Nepenthe alone for too long. He sat on the couch and let the cat snuggle next to him for a while, thinking about what Olivia being back in town meant for her own safety. And for him.

He had moved on, but he desperately needed closure. He knew she lied to him all those months ago when he confronted her. He willed himself to remain strong. She had hurt him more than any other person had hurt him in his entire life. If he simply took her back, could he possibly survive when she left him again? He didn’t know. And she would, inevitably, leave him again. It was what she did. It was all she knew. Raising himself off the couch, he knew that he would just have to be patient.

T
HE
NEXT
MORNING
, O
LIVIA
sat at the table in Mo’s kitchen, reunited with her two best friends.
 

“I swear to god, Libby. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will cut a bitch. And that bitch will be you,” Kiera said, laughing. “I knew something was up last night when Carter called asking if I had gone to your house for any reason.”

“What are you talking about?” Olivia asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

“Well, I guess Alexander asked them to monitor your alarm system and let him know if there were any entries or exits. And last night there were.”

“Controlling bastard,” Olivia muttered.

“That he is." Mo laughed. "So what did you come back here for? It surely wasn’t just for me and Kiera.” He eyed Olivia, knowing full well the reason that she was back in town but wanting her to open up and not keep it all locked inside for once.

“No. You’re right,” she sighed. “I mean, you’re part of the reason, but after hearing about Alexander’s engagement to that Chelsea girl…”

“Uggh,” Kiera interrupted. “Don’t even get me started on that fake bitch.”

“She’s not that bad,” Mo said.

Kiera glared at him. “Team Olivia all the way!” She threw a donut hole at him.

Olivia laughed. “Please don’t turn my life into a stupid love triangle.”

Kiera whispered, “Go Team Olivia!”

Olivia couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, well, anyway, after I found out he had been seeing her, I just snapped. I shut myself in my house and barely ate, probably didn’t shower, and just closed the world out. Then I found out about the engagement and things got worse. I wanted to stop feeling and I wanted to forget, but this surfer boy I got to know fairly well helped me snap out of it. He pretty much pushed me into my car and made me drive back up here.” Olivia left out the part about them screwing and him finding her practically comatose on her living room floor.

“Well, he’s officially my new best friend,” Kiera said, clutching Olivia’s hand. “I’m just so glad you’re back.”

“So am I.” She smiled weakly. “But I won’t feel like I’m home until I do one more thing. Maybe I just need some closure. If he’s happy with Chelsea, so be it. I get it. But I just need to see Alexander face-to-face and tell him those things I said when he…” Olivia stopped short, wondering how much she should tell her friends about what happened when Alexander found her in Florida.

Kiera stared at her. “When he what, Libby?” she asked calmly.

Olivia took a deep breath. “When he tracked me down in Florida,” she responded.

“He WHAT?!” Kiera screeched. “That fucking bastard never said anything to us about that! What the hell happened?”

Shrugging, Olivia raised her coffee mug to her lips, savoring the taste and remembering all those mornings Alexander brought her coffee in bed. “He found me on my little island in Florida and confronted me, begging me to tell him to his face that I wanted nothing to do with him. He said if that was what I really wanted, then he would leave and never bother me again. And, of course, stupid me told him exactly that, even though I didn’t mean it. So not only did I push him away once, but I did it twice.”

Kiera stared at her, her eyes wide as she processed what Olivia just told her.

“What are you going to do?” Mo asked.

“I don’t know yet. I just want to talk to him. Explain everything. And if he still hates me, I guess I’ll have to live with that.”

“I don’t think he hates you, Olivia,” he said. “But you hurt him pretty bad.”

“Wait a minute. How do you know that?”

Kiera and Mo shared a look. “We got to be pretty close friends these past few months,” Mo explained.

Olivia stared at her two best friends, shocked at what they were saying. She immediately felt a twinge of jealousy. Her best friends were hanging out with Alexander on a regular basis. Then she remembered it wasn’t her place to be jealous. She pushed him away, like she always did.

“You have to stop running when things get bad. You need to start letting people in, Olivia,” Kiera said, interrupting her thoughts.

“I know,” Olivia sighed. “And it took my surfer boy psychiatrist friend to help me realize that.”

“Ooh… So surfer boy is a shrink? Kinky.” Kiera laughed.

Mo shoved her playfully. “Get your mind out of the gutter, babe.”

Olivia gave them a look, wondering if they finally hooked up. She made a mental note to talk to Kiera about that later.

“Yes. He’s a shrink. I realized that the pain I felt when I found out Alexander was engaged to someone else, even though I told him to move on, was worse than anything I have ever felt in my life. I just wanted to end the pain. I tried to turn it off. To stop from feeling. That way I wouldn’t hurt anymore. But it didn’t work. Nothing did. And I was the one that caused the pain. Me. Not anyone else. And I think that’s what made it hurt even more. If I hadn’t been so selfish and thinking only about myself, I could have avoided that hurt. But, instead, I did it to myself so it’s my own damn fault if Alexander slams the door in my face. He should, especially after the way I treated him when he found me and begged me to come back to him. But I, at least, want to talk to him.”

“When are you going to do it?” Mo asked, ever the practical one.

“I was thinking about just heading over to his office today,” Olivia said, her heart racing at the thought of possibly seeing Alexander that day.

“Great,” Kiera said excitedly. “Have you thought about what you’re going to wear?”

Olivia laughed. “No. I haven’t thought about that yet.”

Kiera stood up and grabbed her hand. “We’ll be back later, Mo. Girl thing.” She dragged her out of the house and, within a few minutes, they were on their way back into the city.

“So, what’s the deal with you and Mo?” Olivia asked. “I noticed something a little different between you two. Come on. What’s the status?”

“Status?” Kiera asked, a look of disgust on her face. “I’m not one for labels. Just, suffice it to say, he’s my one-way ticket to pound town, okay?”

Olivia laughed, happy to be back home.

W
ITHIN
A
FEW
HOURS
, Kiera had successfully helped Olivia find a new outfit to wear when she confronted Alexander. Their last stop was a swanky shoe boutique on Newbury Street. Boston was flooded with tourists still milling about in the city after celebrating the New Year. Shops were packed, and there was a chill in the air that Olivia had missed when she lived in Florida. The gray clouds made it feel like the sky would open up at any second and cover the city with a fluffy blanket of snow.

“I don’t know, Kiera. I don’t think I really need another pair of shoes. Have you seen my closet?”

Kiera stared at her friend, indignant. “Of course I have, and I’m incredibly jealous. However, never underestimate the power of a pair of shoes. Cinderella is living proof that a pair of shoes can change your life.”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “I’m not so sure Cinderella could be classified as ‘living proof’. Aren’t you in publishing?”

“Yeah. I read that somewhere. Isn’t it a great quote?” Kiera laughed.

Olivia ended up buying the shoes because her friend was right. She wanted to face Alexander feeling the best she possibly could, given the circumstances. The shoes were pricey, but she had missed Christmas so she considered them a gift to herself.

The girls got back to Olivia’s house and Kiera helped her friend get ready. She put on her tight black sweater dress and accented it with a thin red belt. Then she pulled on the overpriced black leather boots.

“Hot!” Kiera announced when Olivia walked downstairs. “You look fucking smoking!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Want to give me a ride?” Olivia asked, butterflies forming in her stomach.

“Okay. Come on.”

A short ten minutes later, Kiera pulled up outside the office building in the Financial District. She turned to her friend. “Nervous?”

“A little,” Olivia responded, fidgeting with her coat. “He might not even be here.”

“Well, at least you’re giving it a shot.”

Olivia opened the car door, taking a deep breath, her hands shaking.

“Good luck, Libby. And, no matter what happens, I love you.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Care Bear.”

Olivia’s heart began to beat rapidly as she walked into her old work building. She made her way across the large lobby toward the turnstiles, unsure of whether she would actually be able to follow through with what she had planned.

“Olivia! You’re back!” Jerry shouted as she swiped her keycard through the turnstiles.

“Yeah. For now, at least.”

“Hey. Are you okay? It looks like you lost a lot of weight. And you didn’t have it to lose.” He looked at her, the concern apparent on his face.

“I’m fine, Jerry. Don’t worry about me,” she said dryly.

Olivia hit the call button for the elevator and one arrived almost immediately. She pressed the button for the top floor, sliding the extra key card Alexander had given her months ago into the slot. She gasped when it actually worked. Within a few seconds, the doors opened and she walked out into the reception area in front of Alexander’s office.