Chapter 24
Olivia
I sat with the towel around my body as my mind slowly swirled. I thought about all the information I had on Wesley and how it would be easy to bring him down. I thought about all the women he’d robbed and how he’d done Destiny wrong. I thought about the boy he had been in high school, how sweet and caring he had been, despite the rumors that were obviously true about his mother. Then, I began to think about the times we had shared together over the past week and a half.
The erotic night in the shack on the beach. The beautiful evening at his home on Wednesday. The way he bent my body to his every will on his couch while the sun covered our bodies with beads of sweat. I raked my hand through my wet hair as I smiled at my memories. I giggled when I thought about how ecstatic I was whenever he would call me. I thought about how wonderful it felt when his arms were wrapped around me. When his dick was sinking into me. When his breath was pulsing in my ear or in the crevice of my neck.
I missed him. Even though I’d only seen him last night, I missed him. I wanted to wake up to him. To see his smiling face every morning. I wanted to have lazy morning sex with him, where our hips would only snap so fast and our bodies could only move so much. I wanted to wake him up with my lips wrapped around his cock. I wanted to beg him to take my ass, to take the virginity I still held onto there.
My only regret was that I hadn’t allowed him to have me in high school when I loved him.
I had loved Wesley in high school, that much was sure. But the burning in my chest now was something more. Something greater. I didn’t simply love Wesley because he was the hunk in high school who paid attention to me. I was in love with Wesley because of how beautiful he made me feel. Because of the lust he pulled from my body. I was in love with him because of this sexual part of me he pulled from deep inside. A part of me that wanted to take risks. Take chances. Maybe fool around with his cock underneath a tablecloth or dip into the woods by the ocean just so he could lick my pussy. My mind swirled with the risk, and I thought back to all the ones I’d taken with him. How much of a rush I’d felt when I thought I might have been caught. How addicted I was to teetering on the brink with him.
I wasn’t just in love with Wesley because he was cute, or good in bed, or a wonderful cook.
I was in love with Wesley because of the person he was.
Despite his actions and despite his past, I was in love with him. Despite what he had done to Destiny, I was in love with him.
I was in love with Wesley Wilton.
Or Fox.
Or whatever his last name was now.
I reached for my phone and shot Destiny a text message. I asked if we could meet up in LA again for coffee or something because I had a development in the story. Destiny shot me back nothing but an address, and I plugged it into my GPS before I started getting ready.
I had to come clean with my friend before I told her I could no longer work this case.
I pulled myself together enough to drive to the coffee shop Destiny had sent me. I walked in and looked around for my friend, but when I didn’t see her, I sat down at a table to wait. I rehearsed my speech in my head a thousand times while waiting for her to walk in, but I had been so deep in my thoughts that I didn’t realize Destiny had sat down in front of me.
“Earth to Olivia,” she said. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Here, I got you a coffee. Cold-brewed coffee with two pumps of caramel and some sweet cream.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“So, what’s this fun new development?” she asked. “Is today the day we get to throw him to the dogs?”
“That’s actually not it, no,” I said.
“All right. Well, talk to me. What’s going on?”
“I can’t do this anymore for you.”
Destiny stared at me like a chicken had just popped out of my shirt. Her brow knitted together, and I could see her hand trembling around her coffee mug.
“Can’t do what?” Destiny asked.
“Destiny, I haven’t been very forthcoming with you on some things.”
“Then why don’t you start now,” she said.
I knew. I knew this would destroy my reputation in the community, as well as any chance I had at staying on top. I knew this was likely to ruin my friendship with Destiny, but I respected her too much to keep lying to her.
But I also loved Wesley too much to keep pursuing him.
“Look, because I know you personally, I never should’ve taken this case,” I said. “But when I realized I also knew Wesley from high school, that’s when I really should’ve backed out.”
“Has he done something to you, Olivia?”
“No, nothing bad like that or anything,” I said.
“Then what’s going on. Why can’t you work this case any longer? We’re so fucking close to ruining this man’s life!”
“That’s just it, Destiny. I don’t want to ruin his life. I love him.”
Destiny almost dropped her coffee as the words flew from between my lips. Her eyes began to grow wild before she leaned closely into the table, almost like she was about to whisper a secret that would destroy someone’s life if anyone heard.
“You what?” she asked.
“I lied to you when I said I hadn’t been sleeping with him, Destiny. I had. I mean, I have. We just got to talking and kept seeing one another. I kept telling myself it was for the case, collecting information and all that, and in the process, I lost myself in that.”
“Then unlose yourself, Olivia. I’m paying you here.”
“No, I haven’t billed you a cent yet, and I won’t. Because I can’t pursue this case any longer.”
“You’re a fucking private detective, Olivia. You pursue men like him for a living. He’s fucking robbed, what, sixteen different women?”
“None of whom filed any police reports,” I said. “At best, it’s all conjecture if we can’t get them to testify, and he won’t even spend a year in prison.”
“What the hell are you gonna do about my money, huh? He robbed me blind, Olivia. Do you not get that?”
“I do, and I told you I’d call the credit card companies. I can send over the information I already have. It’s enough to reverse the transactions he’s made on your card.”
“But he still gets to take the money with him,” she said. “He won’t rot in prison! Where’s the fucking justice in that?”
“I wanted to come tell you in person—”
“Does he love you back?” she asked, interrupting me.
The question knocked the wind from my lungs.
“Did you hear me?” Destiny asked.
“Yes. I heard you.”
“Does he love you back?”
I was thrown back into last night. To how angry he was and how guarded he’d become. I wasn’t sure I believed him when he said he had been conning me, but everything was so topsy-turvy now that I wasn’t sure what to believe. Confusion roiled behind my eyes, and my breathing began to shallow out, and then Destiny’s low laughter began to roll over my ears.
“You’re in love with a man who doesn’t love you back,” she said. “Tell me, did he love you in high school?”
“Destiny, I’m so sorry. I wanted to come tell you in—”
“Did he love you in high school?” she asked.
“I don’t know, all right?”
I took a deep breath to calm myself as Destiny crossed her arms over her chest. I could feel my head pounding behind my eyes, shaking my vision as I brought my coffee to my lips.
“I can’t help you any more on this case,” I said.
“You gonna protect him, too?”
“If you come after him with the anger you’ve shown me over the past few days, yes,” I said.
“You’re a fucking piece of work, Olivia. We’re done here. And don’t bother with the fucking credit card companies. By the time I’m done with him, he’ll be rotting in jail, and the money won’t even matter at that point.”
“If you come after him, I’ll defend him with everything I’ve got,” I said. “He’s a good man underneath what he’s done. You have no idea what he’s been through.”
“Hell. He’s got you magnetized to him with that cock of his, doesn’t he? It’s nice, isn’t it? Feeling his breath on your neck. Hearing him whisper how beautiful you are. His hips thrusting into yours while his lips pepper kisses along your body.”
“Destiny, cut it out. You’re just angry.”
“You’re damn right I’m angry! I thought you were my friend, Olivia. On my side in this. How the fuck could you go and fall in love with a fucking criminal?”
I didn’t even know how to answer that question, so I simply stayed silent. I was aware people were staring, and I knew if we caused any more of a scene, someone would kick her out.
Kick us both out.
“This friendship is over, you piece of shit,” Destiny said.
“Oh, come on, Destiny. Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what? Cast you aside for a bit of emotion like you did to me? You’re not even casting me away because of emotion. You’re casting our entire friendship aside because you got the cobwebs knocked out from your pussy!”
“Destiny, we can still be friends,” I said.
“You’ve betrayed me in the worst possible way, and you can’t even see it.”
“If I remember correctly, you’re the one who told me to be seductive. Remember our phone conversations in the beginning? It was you who suggested I go undercover and use my womanly ways to get close to him.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t fucking tell you to fall in love, you insane human being. I didn’t tell you to start fucking protecting him!”
I saw someone from behind the counter go into the back room, and I knew I had to somehow get us out of here. I had to downplay the situation enough to get Destiny out of this place before someone called the police. If the police were called, Destiny would spill everything to them, and then this entire situation would be beyond my control.
“You’re getting your money back,” I said. “I’m still doing what you asked me to do. Can we please just go outside and take some deep breaths?”
“You’re a piece of work, you know that?”
“Please don’t stop being my friend.”
“Why? Because I’m the only one you’ve got? We all know you sit in your office, day in and day out, eating nothing but takeout and never going out. The entire fucking city knows you’re a damn workaholic with no life, no future, and no love prospects. Well, except for the criminal.”
“Destiny—”
“I don’t wanna hear it,” Destiny hissed. “I’m over this. I’m done. I’m outta here, and I expect you to get out of my life, too. Don’t worry about the damn credit card companies. I’ll fucking figure it out myself.”
“Destiny, please.”
“Keep it down, Olivia,” Destiny said. “I believe that’s the manager approaching.”
She scooted out of the coffee shop just as the manager approached my table. I knew he was talking, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. All I did was watch a very angry Destiny trip her way to her car before she ripped her door open and slammed it shut.
“Ma’am?”
“Hmm?” I asked.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, just, uh, delivering some bad news,” I said.
“Do we need to call someone for you?” the manager asked.
“No, no. Let me breathe, and then, I’ll be on my way.”
“Well, I was coming to escort your friend out, but since she’s gone, you’re more than welcome to stay as long as you’d like. I just want to let you know, however, that if she comes back, I’ll have to call the police.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Can I get you anything?”
My friend back. Wesley back. My life back before all this bullshit started.
“No, sir. I’m all right.”
“Well, let us know if we can be of assistance.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling.
As I sat there staring out the window, I felt more alone than ever. I was sipping on a coffee paid for by the only friend I had, who had just stormed out of my life. I thought about the one man I’d allowed myself to fall in love with since I caught my father cheating, and how he didn’t want to see me ever again. I thought about Destiny’s anger and how I was scared that it would backlash onto Wesley.
But the worst thing running through my mind as I sipped my coffee were the words both Wesley and Destiny had thrown at me.
Get out of my life.
I didn’t know what I was going to do, and I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do. So, I did the only thing I knew I could do in that very moment.
I sipped on my coffee, watched the cars roll by, and tried not to scream.