Before I could figure out a response, Colt appeared in the doorway. He took in the scene, his eyes darkening into a black storm.
“Joseph,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought you an offer,” Joseph said, making no move to get up from his chair.
“Not interested,” Colt said, not even bothering to try and hide his annoyance. “Is there anything else?”
Joseph rolled his eyes and then winked at me. “This guy,” he said, pointing at Colt. “Olivia, can you let him know that selling this place could be a cash windfall?”
I frowned and looked at Colt. “You’re thinking of selling the club?”
“No,” Colt said at the same time Joseph said, “He should be.”
Joseph shook his head, then pulled out a briefcase and popped it open. He pulled out a crisp sheet of paper and set it down on the desk.
I couldn’t help but notice the number on the front of the page.
Three million dollars.
Holy shit.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Colt asked, his tone making it clear he didn’t want to do anything else for Joseph and definitely wouldn’t even if Joseph were to ask.
“Mr. Personality this guy, huh, Olivia?” Joseph asked me.
I laughed. “Tell me about it.”
I saw the annoyance flash on Colt’s face.
Joseph stood up and grabbed his briefcase. “Let me know if you change your mind, Colt.”
“I won’t change my mind.”
“It was nice to meet you, Olivia,” Joseph said. “I hope to see you again.”
“Yeah, you too,” I said, giving him a smile.
As soon as he was gone, Colt turned to me. “I don’t want you talking to him.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I don’t want you talking to him.”
“I don’t even know him.”
“I don’t care. If he comes back, call me immediately.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he’s a dick.”
“What did he do?”
“Did he try to hit on you?”
“No, he didn’t try to hit on me,” I said. “I hardly even know the guy, he came in and asked for you. He was only here for like two minutes before you got here. He seems nice.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not.”
“Oh my God,” I said, swiveling around in my chair so I could face him straight-on. “Are you… are you jealous?”
“I don’t get jealous,” he said.
“You seem jealous.”
“I’m not,” he growled. “If I want something, I take it.” He crossed the room and picked up the piece of paper Joseph had left sitting on the desk.
“Three million dollars is a lot of money,” I said. “How much is still left on the mortgage?”
“It’s paid off.”
“Wow.” I shook my head and stood up, made my way to the mini-fridge in the corner of the room and pulled out a can of Diet Coke. I cracked open the can and took a sip. “If you sold, you’d be a millionaire.”
“I’m already a millionaire.”
He said it so cavalier, so casual that it made my heart ache. What would that be like, I wondered, to have the money to be able to do whatever you wanted, to be able to create whatever life you desired?
“Yeah, but this way you could do whatever you wanted,” I pressed.
“I already do whatever I want.”
“Oh, really?” I pressed him. “This is what you want? To be working in some strip club?”
He laughed, tipping his head back. “That’s what you think I do? That I just work in some strip club?” He slammed his fist down on the desk again, the way I’d seen him do yesterday after he’d been in here with his uncle. “You have no idea what goes on here, Olivia. You have no idea what it takes to run this place.”
Anger poured into my veins. How dare he talk to me like that? “I know that I saw some girl here yesterday, with her face black and blue and her hair cut. I know that your uncle said something to you that made you so angry you punched the desk. I know that last night some guys almost assaulted me. So if the last twenty-four hours are any indication, then yeah, Colt, I think I have a pretty good indication of what goes on here.”
“So what? After just one day, you think you know me? You think you know anything about me?”
“I know you’re better than this,” I said quietly.
He turned on me then, his eyes blazing fury. “Don’t you dare judge me, Olivia. I’ve never done that to you.”
“I’m not judging you,” I said. “I just think that if you keep this up, you’ll – ”
“Enough!” he raged. “Stop! You can sit there and give your opinions all you want, but you had no problem staying at my place last night, had no problem using me for the things this club bought.”
My mouth dropped open. “Using you? Is that what you think I’m doing? Using you? If I remember correctly, I wanted to get the hell out of here last night. It was you who made me go home with you, it was you who wouldn’t let me go.”
“What the hell was I supposed to do, Olivia? You cut the shit out of your arms, you almost had sex with me after knowing me for one day! You were obviously confused and lost. What was I supposed to do? I felt sor – ” He cut himself off before he could say it.
But it was too late.
I’d known what he was about to say.
I felt sorry for you.
It hit me like a sucker punch, right in the gut.
In that moment, I hated him with a fiery passion.
I didn’t want anyone’s pity.
“Fuck you,” I spat and then I headed for the door. I didn’t need him. He was just a guy I’d met yesterday, a guy who I’d somehow allowed to work himself into my brain, to invade my mind with his good looks and his cocky attitude. But he was nothing to me. He’d served his purpose. He’d given me Declan’s address.
I had Declan now.
I didn’t need Colt, had never needed him.
He was nothing to me.
My brain laid out the logic in front of me, but my heart argued. I was angry and hurt, the two emotions colliding together and creating a hurricane that threated to sweep me up in its wake.
I needed to get out of there.
I needed to cut.
“Olivia,” Colt said. “Olivia, wait.”
I was closer to the door than he was, but he was faster. He got there first, blocking my way.
“Move,” I said.
“Olivia, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Then how did you mean it?”
He stayed silent.
“Out of my way,” I said. I pushed by him, but he grabbed my shoulders.
“Where are you going?” he demanded.
“I’m leaving.”
“To go where?”
“Away from you.”
“No.” He shook his head and then his hands were on my face. “You’re not going. I won’t let you.”
I looked up at him, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell was burning inside of me, what this was that I was feeling. He was so confusing, hot and cold, one minute teasing me, the next minute looking like he wanted to kiss me, the next acting like such an asshole that I couldn’t even stand to be around him.
And yet, the whole time, ever since I’d met him, had been this need, simmering beneath the surface. Lust, desire, the need for him to take my body and use it for whatever he wanted.