Suspicious Minds (Fate #3) (32 page)

“He never hurt me or anything,” she quickly assured him, “not
physically anyway, but for so long because of him my self-worth was in the
toilet. He was the one with all the power. I put up with so much, and he did me
wrong time after time. I swore I’d never be that person again. Then Lorenzo came
along and I fell harder than I ever had. I believed him when he said he’d
fallen just as hard. Then . . .”

She shook her head as her lips began the stupid quivering, and
that infuriating lump in her throat nearly suffocated her again. Jesus, would
she ever get past that? Isaiah reached out and hugged her, pulling her against
his chest. “It’s okay to feel hurt,” he whispered.

“I just never expected that from him,” she said, pulling away a
little. “I really thought I meant more to him. I sent him a text basically
telling him if he wasn’t going to give me an opportunity to explain then I knew
how much I’d actually meant to him. He never even bothered to respond.” She
shook her head, glancing down. “I’d never have it in me to do such a thing. I’m
too weak when I love someone that hard. I won’t allow myself to get back into
something like that, Isaiah. I just can’t. It’s too painful.”

Isaiah kissed her head. “Rosie told Emi about Lorenzo’s past. You
wanna know what I think?”

Olivia looked up at him and nodded.

“Emotionally, you’re both damaged goods. I personally think the
guy’s crazy about you. I see it in his eyes. The day you were missing I’d say
he was just as terrified as we were. But let me ask you something. What’s this
weak talk about? You say you’re nuts about the guy—love him so hard—yet here
you are even after all these days of reading his texts saying he’s sorry and
that he loves you, and I don’t see you running back to him. In fact, you just
said you won’t allow yourself.”

Olivia stared at him, feeling the slightest bit of excitement. “I
did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did.” He smiled. “According to Rosie, he made an
exception for you when he agreed to a relationship. I’m guessing it wasn’t an
easy exception to make. And yet here he is making yet another exception if he’s
gonna let you slide about taking off with your ex and hanging out for days with
him. Because let me tell you I would’ve been pretty hot about that too.”

“But that’s not how—”

“I know,” he said, nodding quickly. “I know it wasn’t like that,
but I’m just saying I can see why he’d be so quick to react given his past. I
like the guy.” He shrugged, but it made her smile. “He’s a good guy, has a
solid future, and he comes from good people, but most importantly, I like how
crazy he is about my little sister. Ultimately, it’s up to you. You say you won’t
allow yourself to. I say you might consider making an exception for him like he
did with you.”

Olivia could feel the corners of her lips lift slowly until she wore
a full smile. She hugged her brother tightly then let go, bringing her
attention to her phone. She clicked on the text from Lorenzo and texted to ask
if he was home. His response was an immediate yes, and if she weren’t still
feeling so choked up, she might have been tempted to squeal, but she smiled
even bigger, clutching her heart.

“Geez,” Isaiah said with a laugh, and she laughed now too as she
texted Lorenzo that she’d be there in five.

“I gotta go,” she said, already rushing down the driveway to her
car. “Don’t wait up.”

Isaiah muttered something about not driving crazily. Olivia
couldn’t help laughing. As much as her brother claimed he liked Lorenzo, she knew
him too well. The thought of why she didn’t plan on getting back early tonight
if
at all was not a pleasant one for her brother.

~~~

The moment Olivia was close enough she saw Lorenzo step
down from his porch where he was already waiting to meet her as she drove up
his driveway. As happy as she was to see him, she still got choked up when she
got out of the car and their eyes met over the roof of her car.

“I meant it when I said I won’t sacrifice my dignity for any man
ever again.”

“I know you won’t.” He started around the front of the car toward
her. “I’d never ask you to.”

Before she could say another word, he wrapped his arms around her
tightly, walking her backwards until she was against her car door. He brought
his hands to her head, cupping her face in them, and kissed her again all over
her face. “Thank God you’re okay,” he said between kisses then hugged her again,
bringing her face to his chest as she clung onto him for dear life, choking
back the tears.

She wanted to—needed to—stay strong so she could say everything
she had to say to him.

He pulled back again to look at her face. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

Staring at his remorseful eyes, she took a deep breath and began.
“The only way I’d ever beg you to forgive me,” she said as inwardly she cursed the
hot tears she could already feel filling her eyes, “is if I ever
willingly
hurt you, so I’m telling you right now that’ll never happen.”

“If you ever
willingly
did, I’d never forgive you, no
matter how much you begged,” he said without flinching, and before she could
retort, he added, “I made a mistake and I’m so sorry, but I wasn’t trying to
hurt you.” He brought his hands to either side of her face and cradled it. “I
let my anger nearly destroy what we have, but I promise you I’ll try harder the
next time it happens
.
I’m
telling
you
right now I will
always
snap when it comes to this stuff. I won’t bother trying to pretend or promise
that I won’t. I can’t help how insane the thought of sharing you with anyone
else in
any
way makes me, but I’ve had a taste of what my life would be
like without you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I
never
have
to live through that again.”

He kissed the tears that escaped her eyes, and she punched his
chest suddenly, pulling away. “You better never do that to me again!” she said
then pushed him again. “Dismiss what we have—discard
me
like that! You
have no idea what that did to me.”

“But I do,” he said, reaching out for her and pulling her to him
again, then brought his lips to hers but didn’t kiss her. Instead, he spoke
against her lips. “It nearly killed me, Liv. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep.
I could barely function. The thought that maybe you still had feelings for him
made me believe it was really over.”

Olivia tried pulling away from him again, but he brought his arm
around her waist and shifted his knee between her legs so he had her pinned
against her car.

“How could you even think—?”

“Don’t make me think about it, please,” he urged against her ear
as he hugged her tightly and inhaled deeply. “I’ve done that enough. I can
barely handle the fact that he got to spend any time around you, Liv. It drove
me fucking nuts for days. I don’t wanna go back to that. Just promise me I’ll
never have to deal with that again.”

“You won’t,” she whispered. “He’s moving to Miami. He gets it now.
Anything
between him and me is completely out of the question. He’s
finally accepted it.”

Feeling him go taut suddenly, Olivia decided to stick with her
initial decision to keep to herself Jay’s newest tattoo: the letter O written
in calligraphy with a crown tilted just off the top, on the inside of his
wrist. It was big enough that she’d noticed it before he told her about it. Jay
explained that no matter what Olivia would always be his queen.

Lorenzo pulled away slowly, staring at her with those hardened
dark eyes that could go either way, turn her to mush or make her quiver with
anxiety. At the moment, her body wasn’t sure which way to react, so she waited.

“How do I know he really has accepted it this time?”

She swallowed hard, not wanting to go into detail because she
didn’t want to tell him how she’d agreed to let Jay show her his collection of
exclusive tattoo designs he’d been putting together for over a year.

“He’s had an open offer for over a year now to leave Dallas and
move to Miami. His cousin owns a highly successful tattoo shop out there,” she
explained. “He’d be part owner because he’s saved up enough to buy in. Only he
hadn’t left because he was holding out hope all this time that he and I could
work something out. I let him know that it wasn’t happening even before I met
you and it certainly wasn’t going to now that I’ve fallen so hopelessly in love
with you. He asked me one last time before I left if I really meant it, because
once I was gone he would be too. Even though at the time I had no idea how
things would work out between you and me, I assured him I absolutely meant it. Margie
told me just the other day he’s already gone.”

Finally, she saw a break in that hardened expression as the
corners of his lips rose slowly; then he kissed her—softly, beautifully—just as
he’d done from the beginning.

“I love you,” he whispered between kisses. “Please be patient
with me, baby.” She nodded as he continued to kiss her deeply. “I know you’re
not that weak person you
think
you were once,” he said, stopping long
enough to look her in the eyes. “I know you won’t be putting up with my shit, and
believe me I’ve had a lot of time to think about this.
Dwell
on it all
fucking night some nights. Every time I think about that phone call . . . When
I heard that bike, and I knew . . .”

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if the very
thought put him in that awful place again.

“Note taken. Trust me,” she said, touching his face. “That’ll
never
happen again.”

“It’s not even that. What I’m saying,” he said, touching her hand
on his face and spoke almost a bit panicked. “Even after everything that’s
happened, I can’t change who I am. I can’t promise that I won’t react harshly.
I’ve never been an insecure person—”

“Because you have no reason to be,” she said, squeezing his arm
with her other hand.

“But I am when it comes to you, Liv. I’ll always be. I’ve learned
my lesson about overreacting, but I’m telling you right now I’ll always react
pretty strongly. I’m just asking for patience. I can’t help it. It’s what
you
do to me.”

Olivia stared into those tortured eyes and decided to let him in on
something that might not be the smartest, but he looked so tormented she wanted
to.

“I like—” She caught herself and shook her head. “No, I
love
your intensity, Lorenzo. I think it’s sexy as hell.” She smiled. “It was one of
the first things about you that took my breath away. I’d never ask you to
change. I just need assurance that no matter how upset you are about something,
just as I’d give it to you, I’ll always be given the opportunity to explain
myself. That you’ll never put me through what you did.”

“I promise,” he said quickly.

“Then I promise too. I’ll be patient.”

He leaned in, and she brought her hands up over his, around her
face, and surrendered to his long intense kisses, feeling instantly aroused. He
pressed his body to her, already hard against her upper thigh.

“God, I missed your lips,” he whispered then nipped her bottom
lip before diving in and kissing her even more profoundly. “I missed the taste
of your mouth,” he said and breathlessly continued to kiss her, sucking her tongue,
making the sudden warmth between her legs even hotter.

Lorenzo groaned against her mouth, pulling her slightly away from
the car, and brought his hands behind her. Olivia loved the feel of his big
hands all over her ass—loved when he squeezed hard then ran his fingers up and
down the middle over her pants but pressed in with enough force that, even over
the material of her pants, she could feel her ass spread. Shamelessly, she
arched her back so she’d spread for him even further, and that was it. He
groaned even louder then took her hand and pulled her with him.

“Let’s go inside.” He turned back to her as they rushed to his
front door. “You’re spending the night, right?”

“Yes,” she said, biting her bottom lip and already anticipating
everything they’d be doing tonight.

“Good,” he said, practically running up the stairs of his porch. “We
have a lot of catching up to do.”

Epilogue

Lorenzo

Spooning Olivia would never be the same after today.
Lorenzo had never doubted they were meant to be together, not even when he’d experienced
the most blinding fury of his life. Deep in his heart, that fact was the only
thing that got him through it. Despite how angry he’d been, those days without
her had only further confirmed what he’d already begun to believe. He couldn’t
live without her. And now he refused.

But this still felt too good to be true. Even as he slipped in
and out of her from behind and she arched her back, welcoming him in deeper,
this was just too damn good to be true.

Her tests regarding any sexual battery had all come back
negative. The authorities had found frightening evidence of what the sick
obsessed bastard had been planning on doing to her for over a year. Turned out
Olivia’s first impression of his creepy ass had been spot on. Elton was a deeply
disturbed individual who’d written endless entries in his journal about his
darling
Olivia
. Their trip to his cabin was only the first stop in his plans. He
wanted to first gain her love before taking her on a trip around the world on
his yacht.

Fortunately, they’d tracked her down before he’d gotten to any of
the other sick things he’d planned on doing to gain said love for him. The
emotional scars she’d carry forever from the whole ordeal were the most damage
the psycho had done. But Liv assured Lorenzo she was fine now—more than fine.

Everything else was great. Elton was in a mental institute now
and would likely spend the rest of his life there. His lawyers had since mailed
Liv the title papers to her van, and she was now free and clear of any debt to
Elton. As promised, Liv hadn’t had
any
contact with Jay since she left
Dallas that fateful night. She and King now lived with Lorenzo, and while there’d
been some talk about marriage, for now they’d concentrate on getting used to this
new big change in their lives—enjoy it. One of the first things they’d done
after Liv moved in with him because she’d always been big on having a family
portrait in their front room was go out and get one. They now had a 16 x 20
portrait of the two of them and King on the front-room wall. Life couldn’t be
better.

After everything she’d gone through, Lorenzo had decided there
were plenty of other ways he could enjoy her body without pushing for the kink.
Lorenzo had steered clear of what they’d been beginning to experiment with
before everything with Elton went down. He’d been afraid somehow anything even
the slightest bit uncomfortable or out of the ordinary might trigger something.
So he’d been content to never go there again. Then
she’d
brought it up,
and now here they were. Since getting past the initial discomfort of it, she
was actually enjoying it far more than he’d ever imagined.

“How the fuck did I get so lucky?” he whispered gruffly against
her ear as he slipped in as deeply as he could, and she moaned loudly.

Olivia arched her back, moving to the rhythm of his thrusts as he
began speeding up. “I’m not gonna last,” he grunted as the impending explosion
built fast. “This is gonna be bigger and messier than usual,” he warned through
his teeth.

That only made her arch her ass to him more, and he was done.

“
Ugh
!” It was everything he’d expected this to be and then
some. “Jesus, that was unbelievable!”

He let his head fall down on the pillow as his heart nearly
pounded through his chest. Lorenzo had only begun to catch his breath when he
felt her sit up, and he opened his eyes, prepared to reach for her. He wasn’t
ready for her to leave the bed.

“Where you going?” he said as he reached his hand out.

“To be continued in the shower.” She smiled wickedly. “We have a
game to go to, remember?”

AJ’s big league game. Lorenzo had forgotten all about it. But how
could he not? He’d woken up to Liv rubbing that beautiful naked ass against his
erection and handing him lubricant. When it became clear what she had in mind, she
could’ve asked him his name and he wouldn’t have remembered.

“We can’t be late,” she said with a giggle as he grunted when she
helped him out of bed. “Isaiah wants us all there when AJ’s introduced in the
starting lineup. Everyone’s gonna be there.”

Lorenzo couldn’t help but smile when he saw her smile so big, and
he pulled her to him, kissing her. “I think he’s in for good,” he said as they
started toward the bathroom.

She glanced at him, squeezing his hand. “Nathan said the same
thing.” She smiled this time, chewing her lower lip. “As long as that temper—”

“He’ll be fine,” Lorenzo squeezed her hand back.

“He will,” she agreed quickly.

They hadn’t been in the shower for a few minutes when Lorenzo’s
hands were already all over her wet slippery body. “Your turn, baby,” he
whispered against her lips as he lowered his fingers between her legs and felt
her gasp at his touch.

He smiled against her mouth when he felt her body begin to
tremble. The thought that this was forever now, was still surreal to him. He
slid two fingers inside her, kissing her even deeper as she moaned in his
mouth. Yep, life couldn’t get better than this.

~~~

Okay maybe it could get better. After finally finding a
parking spot in the huge stadium’s lot, Lorenzo decided to just do what he’d
been wanting to for weeks and kept chickening out. He’d originally thought he
wanted to do it in front of the entire family, but now he was having second thoughts.

Lorenzo respected the fact that she’d said she wanted to get used
to living together first before taking their relationship any further. It was a
huge change for both of them. Linda had stayed with him often, but she’d had
her own place the whole time. While they’d exchanged keys to each other’s
places, she’d never actually lived with him. So this was a first for him too.
But it had been a while since the subject of marriage or an engagement had been
brought up. Olivia was the one who’d suggested they should wait. Any talk of babies,
even after an entire day of watching Ruby and enjoying it immensely, was
another thing she was adamant they should hold off on, though she never had
very good reason for it. They were both exactly where they wanted to be in
their careers. Mostly she just seemed scared.

It bothered him at first, but he’d since found a way to deal with
it his way. He’d
told
her point blank they were getting married—maybe
not today, maybe not this year, or even the next—but it was happening. If he’d
learned anything from their brief break up it was this: Lorenzo wouldn’t even
entertain the idea of his future without her. And with their one year
anniversary in less than a week, this felt right.

Wasting no time as soon as he came around the car, he pulled her
to him, leaning his forehead against hers. “You’re marrying me, Livi.”

Her eyes brightened as they always did whenever he said this to
her. But before she could throw one of her usual safe responses of, “Am I?” or
even “You don’t say?” he lifted her hand and slipped the ring on.

Immediately, her other hand was over her mouth. “Oh my God.” She
gasped then looked up at him, her eyes full of question.

“What is this?” she finally asked.

He smiled with a shrug, trying not to let on just how nervous
this made him. “We’ll be together a year this week. I figured now was as good a
time as any to get a ring on your finger. We both know what this is, babe. But
if it makes you feel better, until you’re ready, you can call it an anniversary
ring.”

She glanced down at the three-carat rock on her finger. Who was
he kidding? That was an engagement ring if anyone had ever seen one. It felt
like forever, and he literally held his breath until she looked up at him again
and smiled big then brought her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank
you. It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “Happy anniversary, Enzo. I love you.”

He closed his eyes as the slight disappointment seeped in, but he
refused to show it. “Happy anniversary, baby,” he said, kissing the side of her
face. “I love you too.”

The whole walk into the stadium and even as they made their way through
the crowds inside she kept lifting her hand up in front of her to admire the
ring, smiling big and giddily. At least it made her happy regardless of what the
ring represented.

After purchasing beer and a couple of hotdogs, they headed down to
their seats. Everyone was there including Romero and his wife and Uncle Max,
Manny, and his wife.

“This is bullshit,” Lorenzo said with a smirk. “Why do I get
stuck next to Romero?

Her brothers laughed as did Romero’s wife. “
Shit
,” Romero
said as Lorenzo sat down next to him. “You’re the lucky one.”

They chatted and ate as they waited for the game to start. When
AJ was introduced at the beginning of the game, they all went nuts cheering and
whistling. Anytime AJ came up to bat, they’d go nuts all over again, especially
when he got a hit in the middle of the fifth and then went on to score.

Things got a little more exciting at the bottom of the seventh
when one of the players on AJ’s team was hit by a pitch and was visibly pissed
about it, saying something to the pitcher as he took first base. The rowdy
instigators in the crowd didn’t help as they ranted and cheered on obnoxiously,
trying to make more of the incident than it was. Manny and Max were two of the
loudest, yelling out crude remarks.

The inning was quickly over when the next batter grounded out and
the Padres took the field again to start the eighth inning. The very first
pitch hit the batter, causing another stir and the umpire issued warnings as
the batter took first base at annoying snail’s pace.

“Ah, fuck,” Nathan, who sat in the row in front of them, muttered,
shaking his head.

“What?” Romero asked.

“This is how it always starts,” Nathan said as Liv squeezed Lorenzo’s
hand.

Romero still didn’t seem to understand, so Nathan explained if
any of the next batters talked shit AJ would be the one hearing it since he was
behind the plate. At first it appeared Romero thought this was a good thing. “Hey,
if the guy’s stupid enough to get in his face, let AJ fuck him up!”

Emi turned to explain they didn’t want  AJ to be known as the
hotheaded ticking time bomb of the team. He was too talented for
that
to
be the one thing he stood out for. Lorenzo had to smile. Romero had been so
ready to start taunting Nathan about worrying too much. But seeing Emi’s sweet anxious
eyes had a completely different effect on him. It shut his argument down real
quick, and he sat back quietly.

To everyone’s relief, the next batter popped out without further
incident. Then the next batter started to the plate.

Nathan stood up and yelled through his hands. “Less than two
innings, AJ! You got this. Finish strong!”

Liv squirmed in her seat as did Isaiah. Lorenzo leaned over and
kissed her in an effort to calm her. He was about to tell her not to worry when
the crowd started rumbling and cheering. Liv was instantly on her feet as the
ref did his best to separate AJ and the batter. His catcher’s mask was already
off as he yelled something at the batter. The benches began clearing as the
distinct chant began in the stands.

“Rage! Rage! Rage! Rage!”

Both Isaiah and Nathan turned, glancing around, clearly not happy
about the chants. Liv reached out and squeezed Nathan’s shoulder then patted
Isaiah’s with her other hand.

“Yeah! That’s my boy!” Manny yelled out, standing up as people
around him cheered with him. “Shove that catcher’s mitt up his ass,
Rage
!
Don’t take shit from them pinstripe pansies!”

Max put his fingers between his lips, whistling so loud both
Lorenzo and Romero flinched away, holding their ears. The moment Romero noticed
the looks his uncles got from Isaiah and Nathan he turned back to them, shoving
Max’s shoulder since he was closest.

“Will you two sit your asses down and shut the fuck—?”

Isabel, Romero’s wife, nudged him before he could finish, giving
him a scowl. Romero glanced at his wife then turned back to his uncles with a
hiss through his teeth. “Sit your asses down! Can’t you see you’re making this
shit worse!”

Max and Manny tried to protest, but one glance at Romero’s wife,
then sweet Emi, looking so sternly at them, and they grudgingly sat down.

By the time it was all calmed, the mood in their section had
changed drastically. Liv hadn’t been kidding when she said she and her brothers
didn’t appreciate the nickname AJ had already picked up so early in his career.
When the inning was over, an uncomfortable silence enveloped them. Even Manny,
Max, and Romero were uncharacteristically quiet.

“Guess what?” Liv suddenly said.

Nathan and Emi turned to look at her from the row in front of
them.

Liv held her hand out, showing off the ring Lorenzo had given
her.
Great
. They’d gone from one uncomfortable subject to another.

“Isaiah, look,” she said, touching the back of his shoulder.

Emi’s hands were over her mouth as Liv had done in the parking
lot.

“Is that?” she asked, and to Lorenzo’s surprise, Liv nodded
excitedly.

“An engagement ring!” Liv chirped happily.

Before he knew what was happening, they got hugs all around and
congrats, and suddenly the somber mood turned celebratory. Lorenzo wasn’t sure
what to think. The game ended without further incident, and the moment he had
her alone, which wasn’t until they were out in the parking lot, he pulled her
aside, staring at her seriously. “What was that about back there?”

She looked up at him, her eyes full of worry. “You said until I
was ready.”

“I did,” he agreed immediately, slipping his hand into hers but
cautioning himself not to get too excited just yet. “And if you’re ready Liv,
you
know
I am. If it’s
really
what you want. But was that
announcement real or did you just do that to snap everyone out of—”