Protecting His Pregnant Lover - Leslie North Page 0,48
his head, but they kept getting muddled. He screwed his eyes shut in concentration, taking deep breaths to calm his pounding pulse, but nothing seemed to help. Finally, there was nothing for it but to get it done.
He unlocked the front door and stepped inside to find Olive sitting in the armchair by the windows in the living room, reading one of her scientific journals. She glanced up when he entered and immediately set it aside, taking off her glasses. Levon just stared at her a second, drinking in the vision of her soft, lovely face. Her russet-colored curls were pulled back in a ponytail, but a few waves had sprung free to kiss her cheekbone and jawline.
If leaving meant coming home to a vision like this, then Levon found he didn’t quite resent getting called away on mission business.
“Well?” Olive was clearly eager to hear what he had to say, if the restless wringing of her hands and bobbing of her foot were any indications. She sat up straighter, her dark eyes shining with intelligence and interest. “What happened with the police?”
“Uh…” He raked a hand through his hair, stalling. He walked over to the sofa across from her and sat. “I showed them the note that was left in the classroom. And some security footage from the school.” He leaned forward, staring at his hands hanging loosely between his parted knees, his forearms resting on his thighs. “I got some other footage from my team in Arlington too. Video from the mall arcade where we did the stakeout the other day.”
“Really?” Olive’s tone trembled with excitement. “Did it show anything? Could you see the faces of the people responsible?”
“Yeah, we could.”
“And?” she pressed. He said nothing—forgetting already the speech he’d rehearsed on the porch, his words getting all jumbled and wrong. Fuck. He looked up at her in time to see her eager expression slowly dissolve into resigned understanding. “Oh, God. It’s one of my students, isn’t it?”
Levon gave a reluctant nod. “But don’t worry. I called Principal James into my meeting with the PD and we’ve got your situation—”
“My situation? I don’t have a situation.”
“Yes, you do. Because of the violence of the attack on your classroom and your proximity to the suspect, we can’t allow you to go back to school.” Levon avoided defining who ‘we’ was, at least for now. He knew he had plenty of backup in his decision, but he also knew he had to take all of the responsibility for it. “Not after what happened. Not until the people responsible are behind bars.”
“I know my kids. They would never hurt me.” She looked away, scowling. “Please, Levon, whoever it was, they must have been put up to it—”
“We don’t know that. Not yet. That’s why you have to stay away from the school until we figure this out.” This was not how he had wanted to tell her. Not at all. “I know you care about those kids, but—”
“I love my students!” She looked back at him and he wished she hadn’t. The pain in her eyes nearly gutted him. “What about my tutoring? Franklin has his scholarship paperwork due. He’s the smartest kid I’ve ever taught, and he’s so high-risk, given his home life and family situation and—”
“You’re right. Franklin is high-risk, but not in the way you think.” Levon cursed under his breath and pushed to his feet, too restless to sit. He hated this. Hated that this kid Olive had trusted wasn’t worthy of her faith in him. Hated that she was disappointed and hurt. Hated most of all that Franklin had made the mistake of threatening the woman Levon loved and the mother of his child, because now Levon was going to have to do something about that. He wasn’t a violent man at his core, but the thought of Franklin and the Reapers going unpunished made his muscles twitch with the need for revenge. If he didn’t keep control, he was likely to storm out into the gathering darkness and resolve this all. Personally. Tonight. Without any of the proper protocols and channels. Screw SSoF. Screw the Harper’s Forge PD. Screw everything except protecting Olive and the baby. “It was Franklin. He is the one who trashed your classroom. His face is all over the security footage. There’s more video of him selling drugs at the arcade for the Reapers.” His attempt to cool himself down before delivering this news failed. It felt like he'd pop a