Hush (16 page)

Hushed voices woke me.  My eyes popped open and were instantly stung by the brilliant flow of sunlight coming at me from all directions.  I had moved from the bedroom to the couch after Callem had fallen asleep last night.  I couldn’t get comfortable sleeping next to him, which used to be something I could barely live without.

I sat up slowly, twisting a kink out of my neck.  Looking over my shoulder, I found Callem standing in the kitchen with another man.  I stood up and shuffled into the kitchen.  “Good morning,” Callem said, obviously annoyed I had awoken from my slumber on the couch, rather than in the bed.  “Liv, you remember Nick?  He’s from the Vegas office.  You met him both times we went there.”

I nodded.  Nick was just a few years older than me, but was already managing the office out of Vegas and had been for a few years.  I remembered Callem telling me he used to be a police officer who left the profession because it wasn’t what he had expected it to be.  Nick had one of those hard faces; the kind you see in a dark bar and instantly know not to mess with that guy.  I did, however, remember him having a good sense of humor.  Many of the men I had met from Callem’s business were much like Nick.  Very professional, very rigid, very emotionless, but as soon as you get some food and drink in them, you learn so much about who they really are.

“I’ve got a problem in Chicago that I need to take care of.  I’ll only be gone over night so Nick is going to stay with you while I’m away,” Callem explained, taking a sip from his coffee cup.

I looked from Callem to Nick and back.  “What is this?  You got me a fucking babysitter?”

Nick stood unaffected by my comment.  Callem eyed me, probably wondering how far I was going to take this.  He had to have been prepared for this kind of reaction out of me.  “He’s just going to look after you, take you around while you do the job search you wanted.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.  This is what we’ve resorted to?”

“Olivia, please don’t start with me.  I shouldn’t have to keep telling you I’m doing all of this to protect you.”

“From doing anything stupid,” I stepped in, finishing his sentence for him.  “Yeah, I get that.  I don’t have a PhD or anything.  I don’t have trouble remembering things.  I haven’t forgotten.  I just choose not to use excuses as explanations.  You still aren’t telling me the truth.  What are you really doing this for?”

“Could you just try to stay out of trouble while I’m away?  Nick can get you what you need.”

“Can he help me pack up my shit while you’re gone?  Can he get me a hotel room?  Can he take me to my lawyer?”

“Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be, please.”  He spoke to me like a father punishing his daughter.  It made my skin crawl.  “Perhaps you and I can talk about it tomorrow when I’m home.  Right now, I’ve got a plane to catch.”  He leaned in to kiss me.  I stepped back, dodging his advance.  “See you tomorrow,” he mumbled angrily before heading for the door.

Nick and I stood sizing each other up.  “Did he tell you why you’re here?”  I asked him after a moment of uncomfortable silence between us.

“To keep an eye on you while Mr. Tate is away,” Nick spat out like a robot.

I scoffed under my breath.  “Did he tell you if there’s anything you’re supposed to stop me from doing?”

“Asking a lot of questions was one of them,” he said.

Now I scoffed out loud.  “I’m taking a shower.  I guess you can make yourself at home.  Not sure if that was one of your instructions, but then again, I don’t make the rules.”

My toes dug into the warm sand.  The Caribbean sun painted every inch of my skin in a lustrous shroud.  I hadn’t been this at ease in my entire life.  The sound of the ocean lapped in and out only a few feet from where I was lounging.  I could hear Callem’s breathing had gotten shallow and deep. 

I peaked over at him.  He was asleep.  It had been nearly a year since I stepped down from the practice and this was the first real vacation we had been on.  Callem had taken me with him on a number of business trips, because I now had that luxury, but this was the first work-free trip we’d been on.  I had to confiscate his phone, though, because he was making calls to the office at all hours of the night when he thought I was sleeping.

“Cal,” I said.  “Cal, honey.”  I shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes.  He sucked in a deep breath, sitting up in his chaise.

“God, how long was I asleep?”

I shrugged . “I’m not sure.  I only just noticed.  I don’t want you to burn.”

“Oh, this is so nice.  I don’t think I’ve been this relaxed in a long time.”

“I was just thinking the exact same thing,” I mumbled lazily, drowning myself in sun rays.

“You know, this is a private beach,” he reached over and started tugging at my bikini strings.  “Don’t you think tan lines are overrated?”

I smiled.  “You just woke up from an impromptu nap and you’re already trying to devour me yet again.”

“Can you blame me?”

I chuckled as he invaded my chaise, showering me with kisses as his hands fluttered across my nearly nude body.  “Not here.  Let’s go into the water,” I said.  He stopped and looked down on me like playful prey before hoisting me from the seat, heading for the shoreline.

I stood in the shower a few hours later, scrubbing the sand off of my body.  The sun was setting and Callem was taking me to dinner.  We’d been here for three days, had three more left, and this was the first time he’d taken me out.  We’ve just been eating in so far, not venturing out too far from our backyard beach.  The villa had a fully stocked kitchen and it was just easier for us to cook at our leisure.

“Don’t you look nice?” I asked, stepping out of the bathroom to find Callem dressed and ready to go.

“You look amazing,” he whispered, taking his eyes on a guided tour of my physique.

“Thank you.” I blushed.  He still had that effect on me.  Sometimes I didn’t understand how I could have come from nothing to being with him.

“Shall we?” he asked, holding his hand out for me.  He led me to the backdoor and out onto the veranda.  He pulled me close to him, squeezing my hand.  He led me, not towards the drive, but towards the beach.  “Can I carry your shoes for you?” he asked.

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously.

“To dinner,” he said with a smile.

I smiled back, wondering what he was up to.  “Alright.  My shoes it is.”  I pulled my sandals off my feet and handed them over.  He held them delicately by the straps as he led me across the moonlit sands.  We rounded the curving tree line in silence.  We kept walking and walking.  “Where are you taking me?” I asked anxiously.

“You’ll see,” he answered mysteriously.  As we rounded another bend in the forest that encroached on the beach, I found candles in the sand pointing us in the right direction.

“What did you do?” I gushed, excited by the idea of a romantic beach dinner.  As we got closer, I gasped at the scene we’d come across.  A single table perched perfectly in the middle of the beach, covered by a grand canopy with elegant linens and exotic greenery hanging from it.  The table was set and had a carpet runway leading up to it, like a Hollywood movie premiere.  There were flowers and candles and crystals accessorizing every nook of the setting.  It was breathtaking and that’s exactly the affect it had on me.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Callem whispered in my ear.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I said, still awestricken.  Callem offered me my sandals when we reached the edge of the carpeting.  He ushered me to my seat before taking his.  “I just can’t believe you right now.  This is amazing.  This is so romantic.  Thank you so much for doing this for me.  This is too much.”

Callem smiled from the other side of the table.  “I’m glad you like it.  I’ve been waiting to bring you here for too long.”

“Have you?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  I’ve been planning this for longer than I can recall.  It’s perfect.  You’re perfect.  I wanted to wait until after we ate, but I think if I wait any longer, I’ll…”  He sucked in a deep breath.  “Olivia, I brought you here to be with you.  I find myself waking up every morning and doing everything for you.  Everything I have is for you.  Everything I am is for you.  Everything I’ve been waiting for is you.  Remember when I told you what my ‘why’ was?  We were sitting at a dinner table then, too.  We were next to the ocean then, too.  You looked just as gorgeous then, too.  We’ve come so far since then.  I have to tell you, Liv, you’re my why.  You’re the one I’ve been waiting for and now that I have you, I don’t want to ever let you go.”

I took a breath and felt my chest tighten.  What was happening?  Was this really happening?  Now?  Here?

Callem slid from his chair and walked next to mine, crouching down on one knee.  He took my hand in his.  “Marry me.  Be my wife.”  He slid a too-large diamond onto my ring finger.

I lost feeling in my legs and my heart was beating a mile a minute.  I just stared down at the ring and I kept reminding myself to breathe.

“Livy?”

I looked at him with wide eyes.  I hadn’t answered him yet.  “Yes, yes.” I finally whispered with a smile.  Callem smiled twice as wide before diving in for a kiss.  We wrapped our arms around each other.  I was his why.  I was his.  If I had ever been sure of something in my life, it was this.

He was exactly where he wanted to be and so was I.

“So are we doing this?” I said, startling Nick.  He was lounging comfortably on the couch in the living room, playing a game on his phone.  He perked up at the sound of me approaching.  I had been upstairs preparing for a possible job interview.  “I need to go downtown to CHLA to see if they have any positions available.  I’m guessing you need to chauffeur me around, per my husband’s demands.”

Nick silently stood and headed for the front door.  “You look very nice, Mrs. Tate,” he said as he walked past me.

“It’s Dr. Reinbeck, actually.  And thank you,” I mumbled.  I unconsciously ran my palms down the length of my pencil skirt, straightening the wrinkles that weren’t there.  This skirt hadn’t failed me yet so I was hoping it’d do the job.

“You’re a doctor?  I didn’t think you worked.”

“I don’t work, but I’ve got my PhD and I’m hoping to start putting it to good use again.  Why else would we be going to the hospital?”  I don’t know why I was so short and snotty to Nick.  He hadn’t done anything wrong.  He was just doing his job.

Nick shrugged as he pulled open the back door of his black BMW X5.  Why the security vehicle for me, I didn’t know.  These SUVs were designed to withstand an AK-47 and were usually used for Callem’s high-priority clients.  “How long have you worked for the company?” I asked Nick as he backed out of the drive.

“About nine years now.”

“How long are you going to be working here in LA?”

“As long as I’m needed.”

“But aren’t you the head honcho in Vegas?  Won’t you be needed; missed?”

“We’ve got an excellent staff in our Vegas branch and I’m certain the office will be running like clockwork, even in my absence.  They’re aware I could be gone for an extended period of time, but are prepared to man the ship while I’m away, no matter how long I’m gone.”

“Are you married, Nick?”

“No, ma’am.”

“It’s just Olivia, Nick.  You don’t need to call me anything but Olivia.  Do you have any children?”

“No I don’t.”

“So it’s just you?  No girlfriend, no prospects.  Just you and your job?”

There was a pause.  “I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

“Nowhere fast,” I mumbled, turning to look out the window.  “Are you a part of it?  Does Callem’s other business stretch all the way to Vegas?  Is that why he asked you to do this, because you get it, you understand?  You’re a part of the family?”

He sat silently.  I figured, if I was going to get myself out of this mess, I’d have to work from the inside and I’d start with Nick.  I didn’t know him well enough, which was going to be my biggest obstacle.  I’d have to poke around to see which angle of approach would do the most damage and then start to get my hands dirty with his help.  I’ve got to get him on my side and at the moment, the sympathy card was the only one I could think of.  Unfortunately, the apparent lack of a female presence in his life to soften his heart could spoil my game plan.  Pitching a fit, causing a scene, shouting demands, that just wasn’t going to cut it anymore.  That wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

I could always find a way to blackmail Nick; fight fire with fire.  But then I could get him into some serious trouble, fatal trouble.  I suppose if he’s got his hand in Callem’s cookie jar, maybe he’s got it coming to him already.

If he couldn’t sympathize with me now, maybe I could show him how.  Maybe I could get him to fall for me.  Maybe I could get him to love me enough to want to save me.  I rolled my eyes at the thought of it.  I unintentionally gained Callem’s love.  I wasn’t even sure how to genuinely make someone fall in love with me on purpose, let alone trick someone into it.

It didn’t matter at this point.  If I had been incapable of it before, I’d have to adapt.  I couldn’t just sit idly by.  I had to do something.  I had to fight back in the most strategic way I could, starting with Nick.  He’d have to be my first victim.  Collateral damage.

She was so beautiful.  I had never seen her so beautiful; so happy.  And it wasn’t just her smile that gave it away.  It was her eyes.  We stood facing each other, her trembling hands in mine.  “With this ring, I thee wed,” I whispered.

I slipped a diamond encrusted wedding band onto her ring finger, coupling it with the solitaire already glistening on her finger.  In exchange, she recited the same vow, slipping a wide black band onto my ring finger.

The pastor announced our union to our four witnesses.  “You may now kiss your bride.”

“Thank you.  I will,” I smirked, pulling Liv into my lips.  We spent the rest of the day sipping on wine on a Venetian terrace with Olivia’s family and Red.  I couldn’t take my eyes off her.  I couldn’t believe I was sitting here, with my bride, my wife.  I was at her mercy and I still didn’t understand it.  My entire world was unfolding to become wrapped around her.

What have I done?  Not even the empty wine bottles spinning on the table could spin my thoughts away from my transgressions.  What was once a dark corner of my life was now an overbearing abyss.  I shouldn’t have let this happen.  I was the only one with control in the matter and I hadn’t done a thing about it.

Looking at Red in between the laughter and the food, I could see it in his eye.  He was taunting me with an I-told-you-so gaze.  “You blew it, man.  You blew it and now you have to deal with it and I’m not going to say I told you so, but I will silently hang this over your head.”  I could almost hear him saying the words with that cheap grin on his face.

But he would have been right.  I dug a hole and put both Olivia and I in it with no hopes of escape.  Shit, I even brought her along with me to conduct my business before our honeymoon officially kicks off.  I was walking on the most delicate of egg shells, ushering her on the border of truth and deceit, almost as if I hoped she would discover me.  I was being so careless, it was as if I wanted to be caught, although I couldn’t bear the thought of it.

And yet there she was, a vision, sitting across from me with playful eyes and a smile that lit up all of Italy.  She had no idea and I planned on keeping it that way.  It was working for us.  It had worked for us up to this point and I hadn’t seen any reason to change that.  She’s convinced of a few facts that I intend on keeping planted firmly in her mind.

To the victor goes the spoils and I had never before felt so spoiled.