was Kade. It wouldn't be long before Glenn summoned some alarm. Even on minimum security, Kade would be outnumbered. What had she done?
Kade could die and all because of her.
Chapter Nine
Olivia paced the road alongside the car. Was she putting Bethy and herself in even graver danger by not driving away? But what about Kade?
“Olivia? Who is that man?” Bethy asked through the window of the passenger door.
“I don't know who he is,” she answered absently, her heart softening as she stopped her pacing and glanced at Bethy breastfeeding her sweet baby.
She desperately wanted her own children, and while Liam would give her the world, he wouldn't even allow her to utter the words I love you, accusing her of confusing her feelings for him. Were there even children of her own in her future?
Everything seemed a tangled mess, all her thoughts and feelings and fantasies about Liam now seemed to include Kade. How many times did she have to remind herself that she knew nothing about him?
“I mean, he's our chauffeur. Liam trusts him. So do I,” she said softly, realizing that saying it the second time she actually did mean it. She trusted Kade, and she didn't know if it was because Liam trusted him, or had she formulated that on her own.
Panic once again bottomed out in her tummy. She had to know if he was okay. She checked her phone, and as usual reception was nonexistent in the area of this back road. She had to do something, and that meant involving Liam, but first she had to drive as far as she needed to get reception so she could call her husband.
She hadn't walked five steps toward the driver's side of the car when someone caught her arm. She cried out in alarm, her fight mode readying her to swing and kick her way out from the perpetrator's grasp.
“It's me,” Kade said softly, cushioning her assaults against his chest. For a moment, nothing else mattered except that he was alive, and unhurt; even though there was some blood on his shirt, it wasn't his. She crumpled in his arms involuntarily. All her defenses shoved aside as she clung to him, her hands on his chest, his now familiar heartbeat thrumming through her.
For a split second, she felt his hands on the small of her back. The touch so light, yet it scorched her. She also didn't need to see him ball his hand into a tight fist to prevent from touching her.
She stepped away from him, embarrassed at her lack of composure. Without saying another word, she climbed into the passenger seat at the back with Bethy, and instead of letting her drive, Kade took control of the car.
She avoided the questioning look in Bethy's eye at her unusual display with Kade, but she couldn't avoid his gaze from the rearview mirror as she sat in the back.
“Olivia, your lip? What happened?” Noticing the slightly swollen side of her mouth for the first time, the other questions Bethy didn't ask floated between them.
“God, no. It's absolutely nothing like that.”
“I didn't think so. Everyone knows you're Liam Stone's queen.” She smiled sadly and happily at the same time. Sad for herself because it took her so long to get out and happy because Olivia did before she could be scarred.
“What's going to happen to me?” Bethy asked.
“I'm taking you to a safe house,” Kade answered. “There, you'll be given a new identity, for the baby as well. You'll have to move abroad.”
“Does that mean I won't see her again?” Olivia asked.
He needn't have answered.
They drove for about an hour more before they reached another suburban neighborhood Olivia had never been to before. While Kade spoke to an elderly man, Olivia said her tearful goodbyes to Bethy.
She was never going to see her again or even know where she was going, and saying goodbye was one of the hardest things she had done recently. She had always held out hope Bethy would escape, and they could see each other again, but without someone like Liam to protect her, she would have to assume another identity in another country to be safe.
She watched as the elderly gentleman led her into the house after she finally let Bethy go. She hesitated to sit next to Kade in the front and chose to remain seated at the back again. She couldn't get a grip of her tears.
“They're going to be all right,” Kade said, and when she looked up, he