The Husbands Debt

Part 7

They were back in New York a few days later because Riley was attending a fashion show. Due to the nature of their relationship, the other night had not been spoken about again. Olivia had decided to stay in the guest rooms from now on. Riley knew she was going to have to get used to sleeping alone. Her nightmares had subsided, but the comfort of someone beside her made her sleep easier. Olivia was feeling the same way, but she knew for her own sake she needed to keep some distance between them before she found it too hard to walk away.
Once back in New York, Riley was busy with phone calls and visits from people involved in the fashion industry. Olivia couldn’t handle all the girly stuff, so she excused herself for most of the day. She took the bike and cruised around the city she originally came from. She didn’t have that many memories of the place as she’d spent her teenage years with Riley at Westford. She admitted she was lucky to be able to get to go to Westford and get the education she had. She’d grown up so much different than her friends back in the Bronx. Her only regret was not spending more time with her mom before she died.

Walking back into the apartment, she saw about six people in a circle around something or someone. Closing the door, they all looked up at her.
“Wow, look at that face!” An Asian fashion guru walked up and grabbed her face. She smacked his hands and moved away. In doing so, the others moved and standing in the middle was Riley in a fabulous black dress.
“Wow.” Olivia stepped forward god smacked.
“You look.... gorgeous.” She couldn’t take her eyes off her. Unconsciously, she stopped in front of Riley, just captured. Riley looked back at her, struck by Olivia’s reaction. Hearing Olivia say she was gorgeous in the way she had made her believe she was. Standing before her now, all she could see was the fiery green in Olivia’s eyes. A hot flush washed over her.
“Riley, Riley.” A voice broke her hold.
“Yes, Pierre?”
“Is this who will be escorting tonight?” She searched Olivia’s smiling eyes upon her.
“Yes, Olivia will be escorting me tonight.”
“Say what?” Olivia snapped out of her trance.

An hour later, Riley had her face fully put on, and everyone was waiting for Olivia to come out of her room.
“Come on, Liv, we have to get going!”
“Alright!” She yelled, walking out into the lounge. The little Asian guy clapped his hands madly. They’d dressed her in a black fitted Armani suit. Her long hair had been straightened, and she had makeup on. While everyone surrounded her doing finishing touches, Riley stood back, just looking at her. Olivia looked amazing.
She had been worried that they would put her in a dress, but she was glad they hadn’t cause she was stunning. Olivia finally saw Riley’s reaction and smiled at the look she was being given. She wet her lips, feeling the blush come to her cheeks. She had seen herself in the mirror earlier and thought she looked pretty damn hot. Seeing the smile on Riley’s face, her confidence was boosted. She could pull this off.

Olivia had never had so much attention.
Granted, she was with Riley, who was attracting much attention from the paparazzi, men, and women. But she was attracting enough of her own, mainly from women. Trying to stay close to Riley and socialize simultaneously was becoming a bit of a mission. She turned around, and Riley had disappeared with a group of people over the other side of the room. She decided to stay where she was. She was feeling confident, sexy, and independent for the first time in a long time. A bit of harmless flirtation did no one any harm.
While talking to an extremely attractive Blonde, one of the models, Olivia noticed Riley talking to a tall, handsome gentleman at one of the tables. She knew what Riley was like around men. She was a natural flirt. It was all in her body language. Olivia brushed it off. Tonight she was more interested in the reactions she was getting herself from gorgeous people.
An announcement came over, and everyone started taking their seats. She found the ones in the front row that Riley had pointed out earlier and waited for her to arrive. The lights had dimmed, but she was still nowhere to be seen.
“Ladies and Gentleman, I’d like to welcome to the stage the representative of Munroe Textiles, Riley Munroe Devereux.”
The room filled with claps and cheers as Riley walked onto the centre runway. Olivia looked up at her friend in the centre spotlight. She could hear her voice but was captured more by her presence. Olivia had to admit, at that moment, that Riley was the most beautiful and sexiest woman she’d ever seen.
The lights went dark as she walked off the stage, and the show was about to begin. The first couple of models started walking out, and Olivia felt the seat beside her move, and Riley joined her to watch the show.
“Did I do ok up there?” Riley leaned over and whispered.
Olivia could still see the image in her head.
“I think the whole room just fell in love with you.”
“Stop it.” Riley smiled, squeezing Olivia’s knee before turning back to look at the show.

Olivia looked more at the models and how they wore the clothes than the clothes themselves. She could hear Riley and some others commenting on the fabric and cuts. She didn’t care about that stuff. Watching one of the models walk back, movement across from her caught her attention. It was the gentleman Riley had been flirting with earlier. He was sitting there trying to get her attention. Looking beside her, Riley had seen him and was flirting back. Olivia rolled her eyes and brought her attention back to the show.
Riley never stopped; it was so annoying.
After the show had finished, she headed outside for some fresh air. Checking her phone, she noticed she’d missed a call. The message was from PI Cruz. She walked down the street a bit to where it was quieter and rang him back. Listening to what he had to say, she began to panic. He had been informed that a member of the Romano family was attending the Fashion show. He was undoubtedly there because Riley was a headliner for the night. He had no accurate description of him that was different from anybody else that was there except that he had a skull tattoo on the outside of his wrist.
Olivia hung up the phone and ran back inside. The woman she’d been talking to earlier saw her and tried to get her attention. She excused herself and walked into the crowd, trying to find her needle in a haystack. All she could see now was every male in the room.
Where was Riley? She could feel her heart pumping harder, realizing she couldn’t find her. Heading outside onto the balcony, she saw the familiar Blonde hair. Pushing through the people, she got closer, seeing she was kissing the man she had been flirting with.
“Riley!” She said firmly, finally being able to reach her.
“Riley.” She said, pulling her back away from the man.
“Olivia, what the hell are you doing?!” Riley snatched her arm back.
“I need you to come with me.”
Riley looked at her, getting angry. “Can’t you see I’m otherwise occupied?” She grabbed the hand of the man she was with and went to walk away.
“Rye.” Olivia stood in front of her. “I need you to stay with me.”
Riley dropped the guy’s hand and asked him to go ahead for a minute. She turned around with anger in her eyes.
“Fuck you, Olivia! I’m not yours, nor your date, so cut out this jealous act. Go find another woman to hit on!”
Olivia was going to say something, but she decided not to. She just let Riley go.
She stood there momentarily, watching her friend disappear through the crowd.
“Damn it!” She said to herself. She would have to hang back and watch Riley’s back from afar.

After an hour of watching Riley make a fool of herself with this guy, Olivia was getting ready to walk out and go home and leave Riley to her own devices.
Watching her walk off to the toilets, she thought about following her but decided to stay where she was. If she liked this guy, she better get to know him. She approached him, intending to apologize for what had happened earlier. Introducing herself, she put her hand out, and he accepted her handshake. Her stomach flipped, looking at his hand in hers. A Skull tattoo was peeking out from under his cuff.
She had to do something before Riley came back. She apologized for earlier, but Riley had walked up behind her before she could excuse herself.
“Now, what are you doing?”
“I was just apologizing for my actions earlier.”
“So you should!” Riley said, linking her arm through the man’s arm beside her. “Well, if you will excuse us, we were going to walk outside...alone.”
Riley stared at her in a warning not to follow. Olivia nodded and watched them turn and leave. She picked up her phone and spotted a security guard beside the wall.
“Hey, excuse me?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her FBI badge. “I need your help.”

She ran outside, looking up and down the street for Riley. She saw them walking down the path together. A plainclothes cop car pulled up beside her. She pointed up towards them, and it took off up the road past them. She turned and started following them down the street. Her heart was pounding.
Riley had no idea how much trouble she was in.
Trying to stay calm, she saw the two undercover cops walking towards her with Riley in the middle. She hoped this went smoothly and Riley was not hurt. Closing the gap, she could hear Riley laughing just before her companion stopped and looked back at her, realizing what was happening. He grabbed Riley around the neck and dragged her onto the road.
“Police!”
The two cops pulled out their guns, and so did Olivia. It happened so quickly that Riley was helpless.
“Back off! I swear I will kill her.” He yelled, pulling a knife from his back and pressing it against her throat. Olivia moved into his view so that Riley could see her. She glimpsed at her, her eyes wide and fear written all over her face. She adjusted her fingers.
“Just stay calm, sir. No one needs to get hurt.” She kept his attention on her, seeing out of the corner of her eye the security guard coming around slowly behind him.
He looked between Olivia and the two cops.
“This broad owes my family thousands, and I plan to collect.” He tightened his grip, pulling her further out onto the street. Cars drove past, dodging them angrily, tooting their horns as Riley struggled to get air. Blood was starting to show on her neck.
Olivia wet her dry lips, keeping her focus on him. “I understand that, but we can do this calmly. Now, please come back off the road.” She held her gun steady, keeping her eyes locked on him away from the distraction of Riley’s fear. She had to do this right.
Seeing the security guard within arm’s length, she quickly looked at the cops beside her. The security guard pounced, and the three immediately took the guy down. Riley managed to break free in amongst the tackle, stepping out into the road.
“Riley!” Olivia stood pushing her violently, seeing she was in the path of an oncoming vehicle. Closing her eyes, she heard the tyres screech. Opening her eyes, the car had stopped just inches away from her.
Breath returned to her lungs; she crossed her chest thanks to any saint who had just saved her life. She looked over, seeing the guy now being held down and handcuffed. She turned to where Riley had landed. She was sitting in the middle of the road, tears running down her face, completely in shock.
“Rye.”
Olivia ran over, putting her hand out for her to grab. Riley looked up at her, completely lost. Seeing a vehicle's lights upon them, Olivia quickly pulled her into her arms, spinning them around, the car brushing past her jacket tails.
“I’ve got you.”
Somehow, she found the strength to sweep her into her arms and carry her back to the footpath. Putting her back on her feet, Riley didn’t let go of the tight hold wrapped around her neck.
“Are you ok?”
She was shaking. Olivia wrapped her arms around her again, her heartbreaking. She looked over at her colleagues, putting the asshole in the back of the police car. Sighing, she noticed the crowd that was starting to form. Feeling the tight hold on her, she yelled out to the security guard.
“Can you organize a car?” She rubbed Riley’s back. “I’m just going to take my jacket off to cover you.” She shook it off and draped it over Riley’s head. She pulled her closer, enveloping her in her arms. “I’m gonna get you out of here.”



They waited for the nurse to return to clean Riley's wounds at the hospital. Riley wouldn’t let Olivia leave her side. She had a death grip on her hand. The FBI had tried to get a statement out of her, but she wouldn’t talk.
She was numb.
Olivia told them as much as she could without going into the details about her friend being a complete airhead and putting herself in the situation in the first place.
Olivia looked next to her at her friend on the bed, staring out the window. Only a few hours ago, she’d been the most gorgeous leading woman at the event. Now she sat here, a gash on her neck, grazed and bruised from the road. Her hair was a shambles, her dress ruined. Olivia’s heart broke seeing the red and swollen brown eyes staring out to nowhere. Riley hadn’t said a word. She was broken.
Olivia lifted her hand, kissing the back of it. Riley turned and looked down at her in the visitor's chair. A tear fell down Riley’s cheek as soon as their eyes met. The door opened at that moment, and the nurse walked back in. Olivia looked back up at her. “I just need a minute to myself. Is that ok? I’ll be right outside the door.” She asked softly, her eyes watering up.
Riley squeezed her hand and then let it go.
“Are you alright?” The nurse asked.
“Yip.” Olivia walked to the door, looking back at Riley. “I’m just right out here, ok.”
Riley nodded. Olivia walked out and closed the door behind her. She couldn’t hold it anymore; the tears were already falling from her eyes.
“Fuck!” She said to herself, pacing before she slid down the cold wall, letting all her emotions out. She put her head in her hands and cried. Her body was shaking, the adrenaline wearing off. She put her head back and wiped her eyes on her ripped sleeve.
That was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.
She’d been in this kind of situation before, but not like this, not with Riley. She could have lost her tonight. She was in her care, and she almost got her killed. She sat there looking out to nowhere for a moment until the pain in her back started to set in. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself back up, trying to get herself under control.
She had to be there for Riley.
She needed her attention and protection now more than ever.





Opening the door to the apartment, Olivia led her inside by the hand. She turned the light on and threw the keys on the bench. Turning around, she took Riley's other hand.
“We need to get out of these clothes.” She looked down at both of them. “Will you eat something if I order it?” Riley shook her head. “Ok.” Olivia reached around her, taking her jacket from her shoulders.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
She took her into the ensuite, turned on the shower and started removing Riley’s jewellery. “Do you want me to do this?”
Riley nodded.
Olivia started taking Riley’s dress off, leaving her in her matching underwear. Just as she was going to throw it in the corner, Riley spoke.
“Burn it.” Olivia searched her eyes. “I don’t want it.”
Olivia nodded. “I’ll just be in there getting you something to put on and a change for me, ok? You alright?” Riley nodded. Olivia went to the door. “I’m just here.”
While Riley was there, she entered the guest bathroom and quickly jumped in the shower, changing into her track pants and t-shirt. Tying her hair up, she returned to Riley’s room, still hearing the water running.
“Riley, you alright?” She knocked on the door. Listening, she couldn’t hear anything. She pushed the door open, seeing Riley sobbing on the shower floor.
“Hey, hey....” She grabbed a towel, reached over and turned the water off. “I’ve got you, Hun.” She pulled her up, wrapping the towel around her.
“Come on.” She brought her into her bedroom. Drying her off, she noticed how badly grazed up she was. She reached over and grabbed her nightie off the bed. “Here, put this on.”
She held her hand, leading her to the door, wrapping her up in her dressing gown. Heading back downstairs into the kitchen, she flicked on the jug. Riley leaned into her back as she readied their cups of tea. Waiting for the jug to boil, she turned around and wrapped her arms around Riley, leaning back against the bench.
“I know this has been traumatic for you, but I wish you would say something, anything.” She whispered, kissing her forehead. She felt Riley start to cry against her.
“Hey.” She moved slightly so she could see her face. She wiped the tear off her cheek. “Talk to me.” She felt her own eyes watering up at the sight of her.
Riley took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, playing with the collar of Olivia’s t-shirt.
“Hey, don’t be,” Olivia whispered, brushing the hair off her face.
“I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I should have listened to you.”
Olivia smiled. “When have you ever listened to me?”
A tear ran down Riley's cheek again.
“This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t acted like an idiot.”
Olivia sighed. “This wasn’t your fault.”
Riley searched her eyes. “You saved my life, Livia. I am so sorry.” Tears came to her eyes again as her hand gripped her collar. “I promise with all my heart from now on, I will do anything you ask of me.”
Olivia chuckled. “Anything?”
Riley moved her head slightly. Her eyes glimpsed over Olivia’s lips. “Anything.”
Olivia looked down at her. She reached up and brought Riley’s palm to her lips. Gently, she kissed it. She closed her eyes for a moment.
“God, you have no idea....” She curled forward, shaking her head as the tears came to the back of her eyes, feeling herself trembling. She blew out her breath, trying to compose herself. “It’s been a tough night. We need to try and get some sleep.” She let go of Riley’s hand. “Get some sleep.” She whispered. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She watched Riley head up the stairs. How were they going to get through this?



She’d been asleep for a while before she felt the movement in her bed. She almost went back to sleep when she felt Riley’s hand on her shoulder, trying to turn her over to face her. Opening her eyes, Riley was stroking her face, sliding her thumb over her lips.
“Are you ok?”
Riley leaned forward, gently placing her lips against hers. Olivia’s breath caught. Riley didn’t move back, either. She opened her mouth and took Olivia’s bottom lip between hers. Olivia’s pulse was racing until she realized she wasn’t dreaming. She pulled away.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have,” Riley whispered, moving back.
Olivia rolled onto her side. Sighing, she brushed her hand over Riley’s cheek.
Riley ran her fingers through Olivia’s hair, circling her ear back down to her chin. “I realized tonight just how much you mean to me.”
Olivia cleared her throat, reaching for Riley’s hand upon her cheek. “I’ve never been so scared of losing you.” She whispered. “But is this? Is this really what you want?”
Riley ran her thumb over her lips again. “I...I don’t. Liv I...”
“It’s ok.”
Olivia squeezed her hand and brought it to her lips. Kissing her palm, she reached over and kissed Riley on the cheek.
“Let’s see if we can get some sleep.” She pulled Riley into her as she lay down on her back. Riley wrapped herself around her, dropping her head onto her shoulder.
“I’m such a screw-up.” She whimpered.
“Shh.” Olivia sighed, rubbing her back. She looked up into the darkness.
This was such a mess.