Page 47 of Kiss Kiss Bang
CHAPTER NINE
An investigation is underway to catch the man who attacked Olivia Russo at NY Fitness on Friday morning. If anyone has seen the man below you are urged to call Crime Stoppers. This is the second attack against Russo . . .
Olivia took a deep breath when she stepped outside of ICS and saw sunshine for the first time in almost two days. Unfortunately, it smelled terrible. “Gross!” Sophie yelled and Olivia agreed.
“I know you’ve been avoiding the news, but that toxic algae has hit Miami, full force.”
“Oh my God, McGregor needs to open those reservoirs before it keeps going south,” Olivia said, trying to hold her breath as Joey quickly shuffled them into an unfamiliar car. According to all the environmental reports, opening the reservoirs was the only way to control the algae even if it pissed off the sugar farmers. It seemed as if McGregor had his priorities all screwed up.
She was so impressed with ICS so far. They’d gone as far as renting a very ordinary nondescript gray Toyota Camry and then both she and Sophie hid on the floor for the few minutes it took them to cross through the gate of Joey’s gated community. Sophie had thought it was a game and had stayed perfectly still.
Because Joey and Olivia had been seen together on a few occasions, he had wanted to take all these precautions. He had explained that he didn’t want to take any risks that the media, or the “asshole” as Joey had nicknamed him, were keeping an eye on him too. As soon as the garage door for his house closed, they climbed out of the car.
He swiped his print against the alarm pad and the door from the garage to the house clicked open. “Cool!” Sophie said, skipping into the house.
“This looks like a fortress, Joey,” Olivia said as she looked around. It was a modern home, all of it looked as if it was made of concrete, and it was square. Like a cement box. It wasn’t necessarily ugly, it just wasn’t . . . cozy.
The back of the house had a bunch of windows and a double door all overlooking the long rectangle pool. Everything about the house, including the pool, was clean lines and sharp edges. No clutter, nothing child friendly. There was an extravagantly huge television and a cream-colored leather couch that formed a “U” shape. All the shelves were glass, and there were more gadgets on them, nothing she understood but probably stuff a techy guy like Joey would want or need. They followed Joey up the metal spiral staircase to the second floor, which had two doors. “There’s a bathroom downstairs. Up here is my room, which has a bathroom, and this other room that also has a bathroom.” He opened the door to a room with a twin bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. It looked as if it had never been used. “Sophie can sleep here and you can sleep in my room.”
She crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. Was he expecting she would jump straight into bed with him, Sophie just a few feet away?
Well, it was tempting, but she wasn’t ready.
Or was she?
“I’ll sleep on the couch, obviously.” He chuckled.
“I’ll be fine here with Sophie.”
“It’s a twin bed, you’ll be uncomfortable. I’m fine on the couch.”
He placed the bags on the bed. “I’ll be downstairs. Make yourselves at home.” He exited the room and closed the door behind them.
Sophie was so excited she was electric. At one point Olivia had to hold her down to help her into her swimsuit. “Let’s go, Mommy. Hurry,” she said, running out of the room, Olivia following behind her.
“You’re not going in?” Joey asked when Olivia walked out of the room still dressed in the same clothes.
“Nah, I think I’ll just hang back and watch.”
“Hey, freckles, when my brothers are in town we like to have a big family water gun battle. Why don’t you look in that big brown trunk outside,” he said, pointing to the backyard. “The one against the wall. It’s full of water toys. Pick something fun, but stay away from the pool until me or your mom go outside, okay?”
“Yay!” the little girl yelled, and ran out.
They watched her through the glass sliding door as she ran to the trunk and began taking out toys.
Joey turned to Olivia. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Her heart pounded. She’d just been attacked a few short days ago, and the truth was she was wary of everything and jolted at any sudden noise and now they were in yet another unfamiliar house with a man she really liked but barely knew. “I’m feeling really overwhelmed. You’re sure we’re safe here?”
She hated being needy like this but she couldn’t help it and she needed to look out for her daughter. Except for the years she’d been married to Neil, she’d always been alone, but she’d never felt alone until now. Not at eighteen years old when she’d left her hometown and taken a bus to Miami, all by herself with sixty dollars in her pocket. Not when she’d rented her first apartment in a terrible part of town and had to walk home every morning and every afternoon alone.
Not even when she became a widow with a two-day-old baby.
She always knew in her heart she would survive. Because that was what she was—a survivor.
But now she felt helpless and unsure how to navigate these waters. There was someone trying to hurt her and her daughter and she didn’t know who it was or how to fix it.
Her one and only job in this world was to keep her daughter safe and she had no idea how to do it, except to rely on a man she’d just met.
