Chapter 6
A mocking smile curved Alex's lips. He said she did know. After learning the truth, she had fallen ill; once she recovered, she went abroad and never came back. "She can't face me."
The car stopped in front of Olivia's old apartment building. When she asked how he knew where she lived, Alex said Adam had told him.
He killed the engine, came around, and opened her door. "Go upstairs. Grab every file on Nathan's case. Starting tonight, you're staying at my place."
Olivia didn't move and asked why. Alex leaned down, bracing one hand against the car door. "Because from now on, I'm taking over Nathan's case.
"Whoever can arrange to have his ribs broken in prison can as easily have him killed. You've carried this alone for five years. That's enough. Leave the rest to me." His gaze settled on her face, dark as night.
Olivia looked into his eyes. Five years ago, they had blazed with youth and love; now the fire had turned into something deep and unreadable. Even so, she nodded.
While packing upstairs, Olivia answered a frantic call from Sophie. She cut in and said quietly, "I'm moving in with Alex tonight."
There was silence on the other end. Then Sophie blurted, "Have you lost your mind?"
Olivia wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, stuffing files into her suitcase. "He has a lead on my brother's case. And he says what happened back then was a setup. Someone was going after his weak spot. I was his weak spot."
Sophie sucked in a sharp breath. When Olivia added that Alex's mother had forced the breakup and had been used herself, Sophie went silent for several seconds before blurting out, "Holy crap."
Olivia zipped the suitcase shut. Sophie started to ask what moving in with Alex would mean for the two of them, but Olivia cut her off with a weary, "I don't know."
She truly didn't. When Alex said she had to repay him, was it hatred talking, or something else? She couldn't read him at all.
When she dragged her suitcase downstairs, Alex was leaning against the car smoking. The moment he saw her, he stubbed out the cigarette, took her suitcase, and put it in the trunk. "Let's go."
In the car, Olivia finally asked whether he hated her. Alex admitted he had: hated her silence, hated that she carried everything alone, hated that she tried to protect him.
Most of all, he said, he had hated her for five years and missed her for the same five years.
Olivia's heart tightened. She opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could speak, Alex's phone rang. The car screen showed the caller: Uncle William.
Alex pressed the answer button. A deep voice came from the other end. "Alex. I heard you took Olivia away from the dinner party today."
Alex's gaze turned cold. "News travels fast, Uncle William."
"Don't blame me for meddling. Didn't that woman nearly ruin you five years ago? Now you're mixed up with her again, what will your mother think when she finds out?"
Alex's voice was flat and sharp. "What my mother thinks, she can tell me herself when she gets back. As for Olivia..."
He turned and looked at her. "She is mine. She was mine five years ago, and she is still mine now. If anyone lays a finger on her again, don't expect me to play nice with family."
The line went quiet for a few beats. Then came an unreadable laugh and a warning that some people could not be protected because he wished it. After that, the call ended.