Page 40 of Pieces Into Place

“She gave me bits and pieces about her family,” I reply. “Someone from her past crossed Profaci. His retaliation killed her entire family, and Shaemus adopted her as part of his plan to make Profaci pay.”

“That makes things a bit more clear.” Henry pauses for a moment and sighs heavily. “Try to get more details out of her if you can. She knows something we don’t. I’m going to see what else I can find out on my end. We’ll talk again soon.”

The air whooshes out of my lungs as I exhale. I’m relieved that the school was left unscathed, but a darker part of me can’t help but think how easy it would be to hunt those responsible down if anything had happened to just one child. The thought terrifies me.

My heart is pounding and my mind races as I try to process everything Henry just told me. Who was Simone Holt? What secrets did her past life hold that could be related to the current situation? Why were we unable to locate whoever had paid for her protection?

Struggling to make sense of it all, I know I need some space to clear my head. Scenes of the fire that destroyed her apartment flash through my mind, followed by more anger that someone could have set a building full of innocent people ablaze. My hands shake at my sides as I clamp them together tightly.

In an effort to calm my nerves, I decide a perimeter check is just what I need. Taking a deep breath, I begin to move about the snow-covered grounds. This is a ritual for me at least twice per day, one which usually yields nothing more interesting than animal tracks in the fresh powder. But this time, I hope it will give me some answers.

As I trudge through the snow, my mind swims with thoughts of Olivia’s face this morning. Her sad eyes are a painful reminder of the hurt I had caused her. Normally, I would brush it off and carry on without a care, but something about today felt different. She has been through so much, and more and more lately I’ve felt a greater connection to her. Even though I tried to talk myself out of it, the attraction I feel toward her keeps growing stronger.

I realize she was right: things have changed between us. My heart feels both warm and heavy as my protective instincts kick in, in a way I haven’t experienced in a long time. I want to keep her safe – not just because it’s expected of me, but because I truly want to protect her from any further pain. Yet, at the same time, my desire to protect her conflicts with the fact that I could potentially do more harm than good. I return to the cabin with no answers and feeling even more conflicted than before.

This entire day has been full of uncomfortable silences, punctuated only by the occasional clatter from the kitchen when Olivia made sandwiches for lunch earlier. I must have fallen asleep on the couch because the next thing I know, I hear an ear splitting shriek, followed by a thump.

I leap off the couch and race up the stairs, not realizing until it’s too late that I must have thrown off my sweatshirt in my sleep and I’m now wearing nothing but jeans. My heart pounds with worry as I burst upstairs to find Olivia huddled in the corner, pointing to her bed.

“There was a spider!” she shrieks, her voice trembling. Her eyes are wide with terror as she gestures to the pillow where it must have been perched. “It was right there, Kane. It was huge… all eight of its little eyes were fixed on me!”

A fucking spider? My jaw clenches as I turn to Olivia. “So what is it you’d like me to do here?”

She stands up and places her hands on her hips; a look of indignation on her face.

“I’d like you to find it and get rid of it,” she says, her arms crossing over her chest.

Resisting the urge to rub my temples in frustration, I survey the bed. The sheets are rumpled and tossed aside, revealing the mattress where the eight-legged creature wildly scurried about moments earlier. Ignoring my near naked state, I search beneath pillows and peer into dark corners, but I’m unable to locate the intruder.

I cross my arms and regard her skeptically. “What am I doing right now that you couldn’t be doing for yourself?”

Her voice breaks and she stammers, “I...I don’t like spiders. It’s not an irrational fear.”

Although I keep my expression neutral, I can’t help but smirk inwardly. In a calm tone, I reply, “It’s actually very irrational; most species are harmless and actually provide important services to our ecosystem.”

She huffs in annoyance before raising her eyes skyward with exasperation.

Suddenly remembering why we were here in the first place, I throw up my hands in triumph. “Well, it’s gone now!”

Her mouth drops open in confusion. “What do you mean it’s gone?”

“I mean it’s not here. Poor bastard probably found a crack in the wall when you screamed like a banshee and decided to take its chances outside,” I say.

“It didn’t just disappear, Kane. I don’t know if I can sleep here until I wash all the bedding,” she states matter of factly with a shake of her head.

“That’s just ridiculous,” I reply in frustration.

She looks me square in the eye with a seriousness that could stop traffic. “I know it is. It’s ridiculous. I’m ridiculous. Go ahead and add it to the list of things you don’t like about me. I’m sure your list must be as long as a football field by now.”

I want to tell her how wrong she is and that there was no such list written down anywhere or even jotted in my mind. But before I have the chance, she charges ahead with her words.

“Don’t even deny it. You have one reason after another ready for any moment when you need an excuse to keep me at arm’s length; another rationalization to justify your contempt towards me. So go ahead, write it down. Give yourself every reason to stay away from me.”

A million unspoken words battle against each other on my tongue and lips. Words about how strong I think she is; how when she kissed my scar it felt better than any one night stand; and how alive I feel when she looks into my eyes and challenges me, but none of them make it out of my mouth. Instead, I slowly begin to turn around without saying anything. Before I can take three steps away from her, she calls after me with a voice full of pain. “Go ahead and run, Kane. You’re good at that.”

I squeeze my fists tight, feeling like I’ve been sucker-punched right in the gut by her words. She’s right – but no matter how much it hurts or how much I want to prove her wrong, getting into an argument won’t lead us anywhere.

I once again find myself standing outside in the cold, my bare chest heaving with rage. Her words are still ringing in my ears and each breath feels like needles of ice against my skin. I’ve been dealing with her for weeks where it has felt like at any moment we could erupt into a storm of yelling and accusations. The woman infuriates me, but also excites me in a way I never expected. Staying away from her is exhausting. I’m so tired of fighting this thing between us. It’s consuming me.