My Forbidden Love

Chapter 66

Olivia's pov:

Janeen, seeing me standing alone in the dark on the back deck, staring into space, comes outside and shuts the door behind her.

"Hey. You all right?"
She asks.

"I just...... I'm in so deep, Janeen. And the closer we get, the scarier it is - and I'm a bad person."

"You are not!"

I cock my head at her, raising my eyebrows.

Because she knows my plan - she knows what's coming up.

But she just shakes her head at me again.

"You're playing by different rules that the rest of society, Olivia, and you didn't start this game - you were born into it. What does a good person get, in your world?"

I cock my head to the side, thinking about it.

"That's right. If you were a good little mafia girl, you'd be married off to whoever your dad picked out for you. A miserable little pawn for them to play with. But you? My brave, smart sister? You took this game into your own hands. People did you wrong, and now you're giving it right back to them. So stop judging yourself for surviving - for thriving, okay? Kent wouldn't judge himself for doing the same. Neither would your father. Neither does Ivan, for that matter. Even if he has a shiny badge that lets him pretend he's a good guy."

I stare at my sister in surprise because..... I definitely didn't think of it that way before.

"When did you get so perceptive?"

"Oh, I've been this perceptive. I've just been hanging out with you nerds for long enough now that I have the vocab to tell you about it."

She grins at me and squeezes my waist, pulling me towards the house.

I burst into laughter at this, and I'm still laughing when we come into the house.

Jack and Jerome stand up from their spots on the couch, smiling at me.

"It's good to see you looking so cheerful."
Jack says.

"I think it was Ivan's kiss that did it."
Jerome teases.

"Don't be gross! I just let him give me a peck as part of the plan."

"I'm just saying. It could have been a hug."

"Jerome, you can be grateful I'm not aggressive. Because if I was, I would put a bullet in the middle of your head right now."

I smack him, making him laugh and I give it up.

Then I take a deep breath, looking around at my team, and my dad in the kitchen, who declines to join me.

"Okay. So..... this is it. Only a couple of hours now. Everything is in place and all that's left to do is....... rest."

"Yeah, like you're going to be able to sleep, Olivia."
Jack says.

"Well, no. But you should, if you can. You all should."

They're all quiet for a moment before Jerome speaks.

"Well, I'm going to stay up. I never went to college, never got to do the all-nighter thing. So, why not give it a try?"
Jerome says.

"Ohhh! Me too! What do we do? Take a bunch of amphetamines?"
Janeen says excitedly.

I look at her in horror but she just laughs at me, shaking her head.

"Seriously, Olivia, everything that you have planned and you're appalled by the idea of some stimulants to help us stay up?"

"Excuse you, some of us are pregnant."