Too Close

Chapter 29

Tyler's P.O.V

He sat on the edge of his desk with an arm resting on the arm of his chair and a glass in his hand.

"You're here!" I looked around the room. There were guys flanking each wall with stoned, frozen faces, just like last time. I was surprised no one stepped up to pull me away from in front of the desk.

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Stop with the games, just tell me where she is."

"Oh! Your burd." He stood and walked around the desk to look out of the window pane behind it. His hand stroked his suit jacket where small creases had formed. "I don't know."

"What the hell do you mean you don't know? Who is there watching her?"

"Oh at the restaurant?" I never felt more rage when I looked at him until this moment. He turned to face me. "I just needed a way to get you over here. She's perfectly fine, going about her business. They didn't go anywhere near her." They? I swallowed, attempting to keep my anger at bay.

"Tell them to back off."

"So Reed's moved up a few ranks." He talked over me before I could finish.

"And?"

"And, I'd like for you to come back and join us."

"That's not going to happen."

"Really?" He walked toward me until he was only a few feet away. "You're still a part of this. You're not goin' anywhere." I balled up my fists then relaxed them and stared at him.

"I'm going to leave now," I said slowly, trying to keep my voice steady and turned to leave but one of the guys lining the walls stepped in front of the door.

"Didn't I just say yer not goin' anywhere?" He said behind me. "Ah, you think I'm jokin'!" I turned back around. "Hmm, you must not care about yer girl that much." He paused and searched my face. "This time I didn't lay a finger on her, I can't make any promises for the next time."

"No." My teeth were clenched so tight I had to force the air out of my mouth. He cocked his head to the side, the way he does when he realizes he has the upper hand.

"I can and I will." I knew he could and I knew he would if I didn't agree to stay with him. "Why is she with you anyway? Doesn't she know about yer reputation? That you've never cared about anybody other than yourself? She must not know you're in a gang, aye? Which family do you want to have around when she leaves you?"

"That's why you want me so bad? Because you want to pick me up when I'm down?"

"Exactly. I'll give you two options, you stay with Ciro and your burd will remain untouched or you can try and leave and we'll drag your ass right back and your life will be a living hell."

"It already is a living hell, having you as a father."

He had me caught in his trap once again. But this time the life of someone I loved was his ammo.

"What do you say?" He took a sip from his glass, watching me. I felt my shoulders slump forward in defeat. "Hmm?"

"Fine." Only to protect her.

Olivia's P.O.V

I unlocked the front door and hurried in the warm house. I pushed the door closed before any more cold air could get in. It was almost completely dark except for the hallway light, and there wasn't any noise except for the sound of the refrigerator silently humming in the kitchen. Clyde came running from somewhere in the house and tackled my shins in the darkness.

"Hey, boy," I whispered and bent down to pat the top of his head. He followed me upstairs to Tyler's room. I opened his door and the moonlight pouring in through the window illuminated a sleeping Tyler sprawled atop the covers on his bed. I turned and unstrapped my heels and unfastened my dress on my way to the bathroom down the other end of the hall. I was exhausted from my day trip to Palm Beach, but I was in a better mood after I took a quick soak and washed up.

"Hmm? Oh," Tyler smiled when I climbed under the covers.

"Hey," I whispered.

"Hey." I pulled back the covers and motioned for him to get under. He saw I was only wearing one of his T-Shirts and grinned. I giggled when he tickled me and we sunk into the blankets.

The next morning, warm sunlight and the trash pickup emptying the bins out front woke me up. I turned over on the bed and reached for Tyler. My arm came in contact with the messy sheets. I stretched then propped myself up on my elbow. The room was empty and the door was closed. I got to my feet and walked to my room to grab some pants.

He wasn't downstairs either and Clyde was whining like crazy at the door, asking for a walk. I grabbed a muffin from the fridge and took him outside. It was a really warm day for February, sunny enough for a walk to the park so that's where we went. I let him off his leash when I found an empty bench and he went flying across the grass to the other dogs there.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I looked up at an older woman.

"Not at all," I smiled back. She sat down and folded her gloved hands in her lap.

"Come here, Tootsie," she called to her white poodle.

"Tootsie, huh?" I asked when the fluffy ball came over and smelled my shoes. I leaned over and rubbed its back.

"Yes, Tootsie," she picked up the dog and placed her on her lap. "My Tootsie." She smiled sadly. After a while she placed her back on the ground. "She was my granddaughter, Lucy's."

"Was?"

"Lucy has leukemia. My son asked me to take care of Tootsie for her while she's in chemo."

"I'm so sorry." She looked at me with her sad blue eyes that were lined with fine lines and wrinkles.

"Thank you." She looked ahead at the little kids in the distance playing on a seesaw. We sat in silence and watched the kids play. After a while, Clyde came bouncing back over to us.

"Oh, who's this little guy?" She asked and I talked a little while longer until Clyde became frantic to head back home.

At home I gave Clyde a bath, cleaned out the fridge, and did anything that I thought would keep my mind off of the fact that I hadn't heard from Tyler all day and that he'd ignored my messages about picking up groceries for me. By three I was worried and called Colton who said he was home today and that I should try Reed who'd told him he was hanging out with Tyler at the shop.

"Hello?" Reed answered on the first ring.

"Reed, it's Olivia. Is Tyler with you?"

"Yeah he's right here—It's Liv," he said to the background.

"Hello?" It was Tyler's voice.

"Hey, I haven't heard from you all day. I just wanted to ask if you could pick up a few things on your way back."

"I told you last night I had to work today."

"No you didn't," I frowned.

"I did babe, but then we started...you know. So you probably forgot."

"Oh," I let out a nervous giggle, grateful he couldn't see my face.

"I've gotta go. I'll see you when I'm done here, okay?"

"Sure," I smiled into the phone.

He hung up and I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it. I couldn't figure it out, but something felt off. I brushed it off as him being busy at work.