A Thin Disguise by Catherine Bybee
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
They’d made love for hours, took a late-night shower together, and laughed and played like two teenage kids without a care in the world.
Leo ate up every second.
They tiptoed down the hall to his room to get a pair of lounge pants before sneaking into the kitchen to refuel. He’d started a fire in the bedroom fireplace, and they watched the snow falling outside.
It was past three in the morning when Olivia finally settled into his arm and started to close her eyes. “Are you sure you want to sleep in here? I might have that dream again.”
He pulled her close, wrapped a hand around her waist. “I’ll take my chances.”
He kissed her, watched her eyes flutter a few times, before she placed her head on his shoulder and allowed her body to rest.
And he watched her.
The dying fire in front of them, her breath gentle and steady on his chest. He wanted this to last so badly, he felt something inside him break.
Maybe Neil was wrong.
Maybe she wouldn’t leave.
Maybe the feeling inside of him was inside of her and she’d want to make it work.
Finally, his brain couldn’t hold on any longer and he fell asleep in her arms.
She woke with a start. An unfamiliar weight beside her.
The night’s events flooded in, and the steady ache in her body from being thoroughly satisfied, repeatedly, sang in her head.
“Leo,” she whispered.
Her eyes fluttered open to find him sound asleep.
Memories of orgasms and never-ending kisses . . . laughter. Teasing and playful moments. Soft moments where emotions she didn’t think she knew snuck in.
Olivia felt utterly stuffed with the feel of the man. And not just sexually. Yes, he’d done all that . . . but more.
So much more.
She flexed her toes and, careful not to wake him, inched out from under his arm to use the bathroom.
Her reflection in the mirror caught her attention. Her hair was a mess, her eyes shined, and there was a significant love bite on her right breast.
Leo took direction well.
After splashing water on her face and brushing the morning breath from her mouth, she retrieved her T-shirt from the floor, put it on, and grabbed her bathrobe.
Leo hadn’t moved a muscle.
She silently made her way downstairs, smelled coffee before she got there.
Sasha stood in front of the largest window of the great room, staring out.
“Oh, wow.” Snow had dumped. A good foot covered the ground, whitening everything in sight.
“Good morning,” Sasha said. The woman sipped her coffee. “I’d ask if you slept well, but everyone in the house knows you didn’t.”
And for whatever reason, Olivia started to laugh. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”
Sasha lifted her coffee cup in the air without looking back. “Touché.”
Olivia rolled her shoulders and went straight to the coffee maker. “Where is everyone?”
“AJ’s on the monitors, and Lars and Isaac are clearing snow off of sensors and making sure the generator is running for if we lose power.”
The sheer amount of snow suggested a power outage was a when and not an if. “Are the monitors even necessary at this point? No one has come looking for me yet.”
Sasha pulled her attention off the snow and turned to her. “Doesn’t mean they won’t.”
Olivia wasn’t about to argue. She’d been thinking this whole setup was overkill for a couple of weeks. But since she still didn’t know her real name, she let it be. It wasn’t like she had anywhere to go.
“Any word from Neil? Did the kid survive meeting Daddy?”
“Talked to him this morning. He avoided the conversation.”
Olivia laughed. “Sounds like a Neil move.”
“He loves his girl. Can’t fault him for that.” Sasha took a seat at the kitchen counter.
Olivia leaned against the island, enjoyed the dark-roast caffeine as it slid down her throat. “Will you and AJ have kids?”
Sasha cleared her throat. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for babies.”
Olivia had a hard time picturing Sasha in mommy mode.
“We did talk about adopting someday. Older kids. The forgotten ones.”
The image of a yard filled with children of all ages flittered in Olivia’s head. They were laughing, yelling . . . wearing uniforms and throwing snowballs and talking with thick accents.
“Olivia?”
She shook her head and returned to the conversation.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Sorry. The snow has me thinking about Harry Potter . . . of all things.” She blinked a few times. “Adoption, huh?”
Sasha stared, eyes searching. “I’m not getting younger, and the thought of a parasite living inside my body makes me a bit uneasy.”
Olivia laughed. “If that’s the reference you use, then it’s probably best you adopt.”
“As AJ keeps telling me.”
The sound of a door hitting a wall upstairs had them both jumping.
“Olivia!”
Leo was yelling her name.
“Olivia?”
She put her coffee cup on the counter and started toward the stairs.
Leo saw her from the top and stopped dead in his tracks. He’d pulled on his pants but left his shirt behind.
“What’s wrong?”
He dropped down on his ass right there at the top of the stairs and placed both hands on his knees as if trying to gain control.
Olivia walked up and knelt in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
He grabbed her hand.
Leo was trembling, his eyes wide with fear. “I thought you were . . .” He blew out a breath.
“You thought I was what?”
He shook his head. “You weren’t there when I woke up. I thought you were gone.”
“Where would I go?”
There was serious stress in his eyes.
He was really upset. Her mind pushed at her, knocking. “Leo. I’m right here.”
She stood, bringing him to his feet with her.
Leo looked beyond her at Sasha, who stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching.
“Apparently we both have a hard time waking up rationally,” Olivia teased.
He reached for her. His hug felt as if it was the last time he’d see her.
She wanted to assure him she wasn’t going anywhere but hesitated. Something about the moment felt off.
Really off.
He kissed her briefly. “I’m going to shower.”
“I’m going to finish my coffee.”
With a kiss to the top of her head, he walked away and disappeared into his bedroom.
Olivia laughed it off as she made her way back into the kitchen. “You make love one time and the guy loses his shit,” she said to Sasha.
“One time?”
“Were we really that loud?”
Sasha drank her coffee and didn’t answer.
Leo let the water rush down his face, pulling with it the adrenaline that had been surging throughout his body from the moment his eyes had opened and Olivia was gone.
“Fuck,” he said under his breath.
He felt like there was an hourglass glued to the table, and when the last grain of sand slid down the tiny hole, it would all be over. There was no way to tilt the glass over, stop the train . . . avoid the crash.
And he would crash.
He knew that now. Making love to her was what poets write about. It was a give and a take and a give again. The look on her face when she dissolved under his touch . . . that image would fuel him for years.
Time was ticking, and he knew it wasn’t going to take long for everything to crash in. He had to uncover her secrets so he could assure her that no matter what they were, they could figure it out together. Obviously, Neil and his team wanted to help her as well. She had to see that. Accept that.
His dreams had connected several dots about where she came from as she slept in his arms. She spoke in German, talked about going into a library at night. He had some questions for Sasha. Questions he didn’t expect she’d answer, but he’d ask anyway.
Leo finished his shower and dressed.
When he made it to the kitchen, Olivia had left and was taking a shower of her own.
Sasha and AJ were in the kitchen talking to each other in hushed tones when he walked in.
“’Morning,” he said, making a beeline for the coffee maker.
“You okay?” AJ asked. “Sasha told me what happened.”
“I’m fine.” Yeah, right . . . like they couldn’t see past that. He poured a cup of java, turned. “Olivia was speaking in German last night . . . in her dreams.”
Sasha’s gaze flashed to his. “Did she realize it when she woke up?”
“No.” He put the cup to his lips. “I’m going to tell her.”
“Don’t.”
Leo knew that would be Sasha’s order.
“That’s where you know her from, right? Germany?” He kept his voice low, listened for the hot running water in the cold pipes to turn off.
Sasha and AJ looked at each other.
“From school. Boarding school, right? The kind where kids will sneak into a library once everyone has gone to bed to drink or get laid?”
“What did she tell you?” Sasha asked.
She didn’t, but you just did.
“When you told her that you knew a girl in school she reminded you of, and her name was Olivia . . . that was the truth. You both went to the same school.” Leo put his cup aside, looked at AJ. “And your father was an ambassador in Germany. Maybe you went there, too.”
“Leo,” AJ said on a sigh. “Trust me when I tell you, you don’t want to follow this path.”
He shook his head. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. That woman means something to me, and in order to keep her safe I need to know what or who could be after her.”
Sasha lifted her chin. “You no longer think that bullet was meant for you?”
“I don’t know that. But I will find out one way or another.”
He picked up his cup and started toward Olivia’s room. He wanted to spend every second he could with her.
“Leo?”
He turned.
“Be careful,” Sasha said before heading toward the downstairs surveillance room.
AJ stepped forward when his wife was out of the room and paused. “She’s not capable of loving you back,” AJ warned.
Was it love?
He was so screwed. “You’re wrong about that.”
“I’m not.”
“You underestimate her,” Leo said.
AJ shook his head. “That is the one thing nobody in this house does.”