35 - Bookshelf

And if you were to ask me

After all that we've been through "Still believe in magic?"

Oh, yes, I do

- Coldplay

. . .

XERXES CREED

She walked out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body.

She looked at me and her eyes narrowed. I chuckled. She did not know how to not be a brat. "What's wrong, baby?"

She blushed. "Nothing!"

I rolled my eyes. I knew her ass was hurting her. She had barely let us put a t-shirt on her. I suppose the orgasm denial was what made her more complaining. She had pouted all through the aftercare, moving those gorgeous hips of her. It had been inviting, I couldn't lie, I wanted to make her cum over and over but she was a masochist, she enjoyed pain. Not orgasm denial, that put her in line.

"Come here."

She walked towards me. Good to know she was not acting fully by a brat. I picked her up and sat her on my lap in a way her ass did not hurt much. She still whimpered, hiding her face in my neck. I knew she was blushing.

I took off her towel. "Xerxes..."

I laid her down on the bed and looked at her ass. It was red and purple, I could see the faint straight lines here and there, too.

I laid down beside her and pulled her on my chest. I pulled up the covers on us, keeping her tucked to my chest. We had spent the night together. She had slept on Ashton with Zavier and me on either side. We, my brothers and I, had not slept. The last thing we wanted was her to hear us having nightmares

"Baby. I need to ask you some things about the fire." She froze.

I sighed, putting her beside me, and tipped her chin up so that she was looking at me. There was fear in her eyes. She hated thinking about the fire but we had put this off for too long.

"Do you remember anything out of the ordinary before the fire?"

She shook her head. "Everything was normal. I came back from shopping, I changed my clothes and I slept."

"Did you take off your rings at any point?"

She shook her head again. "Nope. They were there. I didn't feel anyone taking them off."

But someone did take them off. Someone was in her apartment that night. Someone who had access to the keys because no way in hell could anyone have broken down the door and manage to wake Olivia.

Someone with keys.

It could not have been lock picked because of the type of lock on the door.

I didn't voice my thoughts. "What about the man who followed you. What do you remember about him?"

She looked relieved. She really hated to think of the fire. "I just remember him being familiar."

I knew that. I had gotten the file from the cops. But we needed something which the cops didn't if we were to catch this guy. Maybe he was connected to the Russians. There was a good chance that he was.

"Is there anything you forgot to tell the cops?"

"No-" her eyes widened. "The day I didn't pick your phones up...do you remember where my bookshelf was?"

I frowned. "Yeah, it was against the wall beside your window."

She was frozen in my arms. "I had pushed it against the window the previous night."

And it had been moved from there. I knew that. I had looked at the books she had.

I rubbed her back, she slowly melted into me. "I'll find out what happened." I would try to find out what happened. Cameras and bodyguards had not been there before that day. It would be hard to find out. A four-floor climb.

Or it can be something else.

. . .

OLIVIA WOODS

"I missed you."

"You mean you missed my cupcakes," Cassandra said, giving money back to one of the customers.

I took a bite of the cupcake. "Yes."

She chuckled. "Good to have you back, Livy. You wanna talk about the handsome man who dropped you here in a Bugatti?"

Ashton had dropped me and given me a very public kiss in front of everyone when leaving.

I nibbled at my bottom lip. "Not entirely." She chuckled. "Alright."

We worked quietly then. I couldn't stop thinking about how the heck I did not notice any bookshelf had been moved. Moved. It was not a big shelf, and it did not make much noise when it moved because of the carpet on the floor.

And the door. Had I accidentally left the door open? I had been tired but locking the door was a habit...still...

Was it my ignorance that had gotten me and Ashton nearly killed? This thought was killing me.

Was it somehow my fault?

Georgia came inside the cafe after an hour before my shift was to end.

She smiled at me. She looked tired. Maybe her employers were overworking her, again. Or Mrs. Johnny had decided to be a child and not sleep the whole night.

"Hey, Li-Li."

I smiled. "Hey, Georgi. What do you wanna eat?"

She looked at the showcase. "Cherries."

I pointed at the chocolate pastry which had cherries on the top. "This one?" She nodded.

I took the pastry out and put it on a plate. She paid and picked the plate up. "Hey, Olivia?"

"Hm?"

"I..." She sighed. "Don't you think you should have taken more time off?" I frowned. "No. I would have gone insane without the city."

She nodded. "Be careful." "...alright."

She walked away to a table.

. . .