After standing here for twenty minutes, Marge was finally able to clear me, with Derek’s permission, and allow me up to Olivia’s room. I’m surprised he even answered the phone. Tonight is the grand opening of The Safe House and a lot of big names are supposed to show up. I am missing out on the party of a lifetime, so if this friend of Ren’s gives me any lip, I’m walkin’ away and letting someone else handle it. I knock on her door and wait.
~Olivia~
“Please, Jerry, I beg you, don’t hurt him. He’s just a little boy. I can call my friend and she will take him, so you don’t have to deal with him. Please just let me call her.” He keeps waving the gun between Alex and me, as if not sure which one of us he wants to shoot. I have never seen Jerry so crazy and tears stream down my face, I pray for his sanity to return. Please, God, just answer this one prayer for me; don’t let him hurt my baby. I need one more bit of good luck since my luck of staying hidden has run out. I knew it was just a matter of time and I should have left this town when I realized that I was being hunted, not only by Jerry, but another man as well. Marge had told me that there was a different man in town looking for me too. She said the locals have reported seeing a tall, dark-haired man two other times asking about me. I think Jerry may have hired someone else to help him look for us.
“This damn little boy has ruined my life. I see the longing in your eyes for his father every time you look at him. No matter what I did, I could not get you to love me like you loved your one-night stand. I took you in, even saddled with a kid. What have I gotten? A girlfriend who pines for a man she doesn’t know and won’t even have sex with me. I have invested a year waiting for you to be ready.”
“Jerry, I’m sorry. Let me call Ren so she can take Alex and I will go with you, wherever you want, do whatever you want. I know you don’t like Alex so please just let him go free.” Three quick knocks on the door have me whipping my head around, praying that it is not Marge.
“Who the hell is knocking at the door, Olivia? Have you been seeing someone? Is that why you ran from me so that you could shack up with someone else?”
Jerry is looking crazier by the minute and he has lowered his voice to a whisper. Someone is going to get hurt if I can’t calm him down.
“No, Jerry, please it’s probably just Marge or maybe the guy you hired to help find us. Put the gun away. If it is Marge, you’re going to scare her to death. I’ll do anything you want, Jerry. Please, let’s just go away together, okay.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Olivia? I didn’t hire anyone. I have been searching for you on my own for weeks. That stupid bitch threw me off of your trail for a little bit, but fate was on my side and brought me right to you. Open the door, Olivia, NOW!”
Slowly moving to the door, I pray that Marge will see the look on my face and run. Who knows what Jerry is going to do? I stretch up on my tiptoes to look through the peephole and my lungs freeze; my heart stops beating and my vision blurs. This can’t be. “Alexander,” whispers from my lips but Jerry must have heard me.
“Open the goddamn door, Olivia. I want to get a look at the man who ruined my life. Open the door and move to the side.”
I am more afraid in this moment than I was the day I found out I was pregnant and wouldn’t be able to find the father with just his first name. Oh my God, how could fate bring this man to my door at this moment? Why is he here? He left the morning he took my virginity and never came back; no, hey thanks, I had a nice time; no, can I give you a ride somewhere. Maybe this is just a fluke. Maybe he is not here for me at all; he just has terrible luck at being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He probably doesn’t even remember what I look like; it was dark after all.
“Olivia, if you don’t open the door I am going to shoot your son.”
He will do it. Jerry is so crazed right now that he will have no reservations about killing a small child; Alexander’s child. I slowly pull open the door and my heart breaks for the second time in two and a half years.
~Savage~
Stunned doesn’t even begin to describe what I feel at this moment. My eyes lock on hers as instant recognition stops my heart right before the bullet does. The pain that punches through my chest doesn’t compare to the loss I feel at just finding her, only to lose her again. I keep my eyes open as long as I can. I know my body is falling backward, but I refuse to blink and miss one second of seeing her face. Even screaming with tears running down her face, she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen or touched. When I can only stare at the ceiling, her face appears in front of mine as if I just willed it there. I’m sure she is screaming my name over and over
