One of Us Is Dead(74)

“I know, honey. I know.” I pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back. “It was self-defense.”

“The gun just went off,” she cried into my shoulder.

I had known about Crystal’s past for months. After reading all the police reports and statements provided by the private investigator, I decided to keep her secret, a secret she didn’t even know I had. That girl had been through hell and back with an abusive ex-boyfriend. There was more after the case closed, after it was deemed self-defense. There were restraining orders against his friends and family. They harassed her, tried to retaliate against her, tried to make her pay for killing her abuser. The police reports were hard to read, but the one thing I learned from her past was that Crystal was strong. She was a fighter, and I would never use another woman’s strength against her.

She pulled away from me, looking into my eyes. “Thank you.”

I grabbed a Kleenex from the coffee table and handed it to her. “Of course.”

Crystal wiped her eyes dry, looked at the laptop and then back at me. “What do we do now?”

“We do what women do: we handle it.”

“There’s more,” Crystal said, looking down at her hands and then back again.

“More? What is it?” My eyes searched hers.

How could there be more than this?

“It’s about Jenny.”

My eyes went wide and my heart sank.





66

Olivia


I strolled into Bryce’s office building and walked right past the secretary. She attempted to stop me, but she was no match for me. I flung open the door with force and found Bryce standing, facing his floor-to-ceiling windows. He was dressed in a custom suit, perfectly pulled together as usual.

“I’ll take care of it.” He ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket.

He turned toward me. “Olivia, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Bryce pulled out his chair and took a seat.

I plopped my bag on the desk and sat across from him, folding my arms to my chest. “We need to talk.”

“Do we?” He cocked his head and began shuffling papers on his desk, practically dismissing me. He had no idea who he was dealing with. I was not one to be trifled with. I was Olivia fucking Petrov.

I grabbed my cell phone and pulled up the video. Turning the screen toward him, I pushed Play. His face tensed up. His shoulders slumped. A vein in the center of his forehead became very prominent. Pulled-together Bryce wasn’t so pulled together anymore. I smirked.

After Bryce made the comment about my body ending up in the pile and laughed, I stopped the video and put the phone back in my purse.

“Where did you get that?” His eyes darted all over as if he were looking for an answer to this little problem he now had. I’m sure he was thinking about what object in the room he could bludgeon me with, but I wasn’t scared of Bryce. I had all the power, and power makes you fearless.

“It doesn’t matter where I got it. It matters what I’m going to do with it.” I raised an eyebrow.

He took a deep breath and refocused his eyes on me, staring intently. “And what are you going to do with it?” He clenched his jaw.

“That’s up to you.” I pulled out a tube of lip gloss from my purse and applied it without a care in the world, slowly and with precision.

Bryce leaned back in his chair and swiveled it slightly, contemplating what to say next. He was finally taking me seriously. Women had to do drastic things to be taken seriously these days.

“What do you want, Olivia?”

“I want in,” I said, returning the tube of gloss to my purse.

“Interesting.” He brought his hands in front of him, placing the tips of his fingers together.

“And I want money.”

“Of course you do. Women are so shortsighted.” He chuckled.

I stood from my seat and threw my bag over my shoulder. I was not about to be laughed at. I had all the power. I knew that. He just needed to be reminded of it. Just as I was turning for the door, he stood from his seat. “Hold on, wait,” Bryce said putting his hands up.

I smiled and turned back toward him.

“How much?”

“Five hundred thousand dollars,” I said without missing a beat.

“And you give me the video.” He jutted up his chin.

“Not a chance. I’ll hold on to the video as a life insurance policy. But I’d like in. As long as you treat me like a fair partner, this video will never see the light of day,” I said, putting a hand on my hip. “We can work out the exact terms of our partnership later, but I want the money by tomorrow night.”

He pretended to be considering the offer, but he knew he had no other choice, and I knew it too.

“If you go to the police, you and your husband will be done as well,” he said confidently. Oh, silly boy, still thinking he had the upper hand.

“Without money, we’re already done,” I spat back.

He walked to my side of the desk and stood in front of me, less than a step between us. He was so close I could feel his breath on me. I wasn’t backing down. I looked him right in the eye.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, little girl.”

I took one small step toward him, closing the distance between us. I reached my hand out, grabbing his dick with force—just hard enough to hurt in a pleasurable way. He jolted a tiny bit, but he didn’t resist. He smiled and raised an eyebrow, the tightness in his eyes disappeared.