A Beautiful Mess (4 page)

Olivia all but forgot about Simon’s attack as her eyes returned to meet his, a smirk on his face, before falling into a different sort of look. Maybe compassion. And something else, like he was searching his brain for a piece of information that was missing at a crucial moment.

“I’m sorry. I’m usually so careful. I don’t know what happened.” Olivia finally found her voice.

“Hey, hey,” he said rushing toward her, kneeling in front of her. “You have nothing to apologize for.” His voice was soft but firm.

“I know, but I was stupid to not have my keycard out and ready to go.” She touched her head and felt blood.

 
“Do you want to file a report? I can have a detective come and meet us up in my office.”

Olivia gazed at him, a look of hesitation apparent on her face. She had just been attacked outside of her office building by someone she thought she knew and now a total stranger asked her to go with him, alone, to his office.

“I’m one of the good guys, I promise,” he assured her, noticing her hesitation.
 

She looked deep into his green eyes. “You can trust me,” he said softly. Her brain flashed back, remembering those words from a childhood memory. She didn’t know why, but she believed him.

“What do we do about him?” Olivia asked, nodding toward where Simon lay on the sidewalk, unconscious and restrained.

“I’ll take care of him.” He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and punched a button on it.

“Martin. Burnham here. I need you to send someone down around the corner of the night entrance on State and detain the individual you see restrained. Please call Detective Wilder and escort her to my office the moment she arrives. There’s been an incident outside the building this evening.” He immediately hung up and turned to face Olivia. “My office is in that building,” he said, gesturing to the same building where Olivia’s office was located. She smiled. “I can take a better look at that head, too.”

Olivia nodded. “Okay.”

“Let’s get you inside…” Alexander looked at the woman in front of him with a questioning look. She quickly realized he was asking her name.

“Olivia Adler. Libby.” She reached her hand toward him.

He looked at her, unable to believe he just heard that name. It couldn’t be her, surely. Same first name, but the last name was different. Still, she was taken from him over twenty years ago. If she were alive, he would have found her already. And why would his father lie to him and say that she didn’t make it after that tragic day?

He took her outreached hand and felt a certain electricity. “Alexander Burnham. Can I help you up, Miss Adler?”

“Yes, please, Mr. Burnham.” Still holding onto Olivia’s hand, he placed an arm around her and gently helped her stand.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” Olivia said to him as they walked down the block toward the office building. “I’ve been working at Downtown Wellness for the past few months.” The pair turned down the side street, heading toward the night entrance to the building. He held the door for her after swiping his keycard, granting them both access.

“Well, I tend to work all sorts of strange hours.” He led her toward the bank of elevators and swiped his card again before punching the button for the twenty-ninth floor. The penthouse.

Olivia immediately turned to look at him. She had always heard stories about the man who occupied the twenty-ninth floor, mostly from Melanie who told Olivia time and time again how “absolutely breathtaking” the guy was. She had also said that he was some sort of “Billionaire Super Spy.” Olivia quickly brushed it off. Melanie clearly read too many romance novels.

“Who are you?” she asked with a curious look on her face. He just smirked at her with a sparkle in his eyes as the elevator continued to ascend the twenty-nine floors to his office. “Wait a minute. You’re Alexander Burnham.
The
Alexander Burnham?” Olivia exclaimed. “You run Burnham & Associates, don’t you?”

“No. I own it,” he replied, smirking at her even more. “That, and this entire building, if we’re being honest. And I feel partly responsible for what happened to you this evening,” he admitted, the smirk being replaced with a look of compassion. “I’ll be changing some things around here next week.”

The elevator doors opened and Olivia was immersed in a posh office. Alexander walked her into the foyer and toward a small reception area in front of a large mirror glass wall with
Burnham & Associates
in giant block letters. Several modern black chairs surrounded a coffee table in the waiting area with large black and white art prints adorning the gray walls. It was understated and elegant at the same time.

Alexander punched several numbers into a keypad on a large black door in the middle of the glass wall before placing his thumbprint on a scanner. The door beeped and he opened it for Olivia.

“What is it your company does?” she asked, curious about all the security protocols in place.

“This is a private security company, ironically, among other ventures,” he responded, punching yet another security code into another door after leading Olivia down a long corridor.
So he is a Super Spy
, Olivia thought.

The door beeped and he held it open for Olivia. As she entered the room, lights sprang to life. The room was enormous and palatial. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered three of the walls. To the right was a sitting area with a black leather couch, love seat, and a few lounge chairs surrounding a black coffee table. Adjacent to the sitting area was a wet bar. On the opposite side of the room sat a simple black desk, which Olivia assumed was his workspace. Unlike Olivia’s office, there were no papers or files scattered across the room. It was neat and orderly.

“Does your office take up the entire floor? It seems like it.” Olivia couldn’t believe how large the room was.

“Kind of. The main offices of the company are on the five lower floors. And this office is not the entire floor. I have a few other private rooms on this floor. Usually operation specific. I can’t really discuss it. I’m sorry.”

As she took in her surroundings, Alexander turned to her. “Can I take a look at that injury of yours?” He took her hand and led her into his en-suite bathroom before she even had a chance to respond.

The bathroom was larger than Olivia’s entire bedroom. The gorgeous white tile throughout contrasted with the deep black of the dual vanity. Olivia salivated over the large tub with multiple shower heads, thinking she would give anything to use his shower at that moment to clean Simon off her.

“I tend to spend a lot of time at the office, so I like to have somewhere comfortable to clean up when I need to,” he explained to her, answering the question that was clearly etched on her face.

He led her to a cushioned vanity chair and had her sit down as he grabbed the first aid kit and a few towels out of a nearby linen closet. Running one of the towels underneath the faucet, he gently removed the now caked-on blood from her face.

“We were kind of seeing each other, I guess,” Olivia blurted out after a few awkward silent moments. “I mean, we were sleeping with each other the past few weeks, but tonight I told him I was done with him. He said he was on a job and needed me to give him the proof, whatever that means.”

Alexander stilled. He gathered his thoughts, staring at her for several long moments. Was her attacker simply drunk or was Olivia in more danger than Alexander had originally believed? “You don’t have to tell me what happened.” He looked deep into her eyes, sending undercurrents of electricity through her spine. With just one look, Olivia was convinced he could peek into her soul.

Olivia gazed over him again, words escaping her. His eyes looked so familiar, but she would have remembered beautiful eyes like that. They were full of something she had never seen in another person before, but she just could not put her finger on what. “I know I don’t have to,” she said, finally finding her voice. “But maybe talking about it helps. That’s what my therapist tells me, at least.”

He laughed and the sparkle in his eyes returned. She smiled, wanting to run her hands through his dark brown hair that went in every direction possible. It was messy but incredibly sexy as well.

“Mine used to say the same thing.” Alexander wondered what she was in therapy for. Too many puzzle pieces were falling into place. But it was impossible. Alexander could hear his sister’s voice in his head. “
You need to stop seeing her face in everyone you see. She’s gone
.” And Alexander had stopped over a year ago. Until that night.

“It wasn’t a serious relationship,” Olivia continued rambling, her nerves causing her to tell Alexander about herself when normally she wouldn’t. Something about him made her want to open up to him and tell him about herself. And she didn’t want him to see her as a helpless victim or a weak person. She was much stronger than that. “I have issues with serious relationships, I guess. But a girl has needs and I’ve always done the no-strings-attached type of thing.”

He cocked his head and looked at her.

“Safely though,” she interjected immediately. “I’m a stickler for protection.” She blushed. Olivia never blushed.
Why am I telling this total stranger about my sex life?
she thought to herself.

Olivia greatly intrigued him. There was something so familiar about her. Even so, she was a beautiful woman who admitted she was not interested in a serious relationship. She could most certainly suit his needs as well.

“I have no idea why I’m telling you all this. I’m sure the last thing you wanted to have to do on a Friday night was rescue some idiotic girl from her drunken ex outside of your building and then have to hear about her sex life,” she blurted out, overwhelmed by the handsome man standing in front of her. She looked down, tying her hands in knots on her lap.

“It’s okay,” he said, turning back to the first aid kit, grabbing a bandage and some Neosporin. He tilted Olivia’s chin up, forcing her to gaze into his green eyes again. Leaning down, his lips were only inches from hers. “This might sting a little,” he said quietly, sending shivers through Olivia’s body. Not only was the proximity overwhelming, but his husky voice forced a reaction from her that she had never experienced before.

He watched as Olivia opened her mouth slightly, her breathing increasing. He could smell her sweet breath. Alexander rubbed a little cream over the cut on her forehead, trying to hide that he was seriously checking out her fit body. She clearly worked out, and often.

“This cut could have been a lot worse. You won’t need stitches.” His fingers gently brushed one of her curls behind her ear and placed a small bandage on the treated wound. His hand lingered on her face, gently caressing her cheek and chin.
God, her skin is so soft
, he thought to himself.

She stared back into his eyes, biting her lower lip, and Olivia felt that strange tingling feeling again. It was an odd sensation. There was something about that beautiful man in front of her that made her want to drop all her normal defenses and get close to him. Who was this guy and why did he have this kind of power over her? That worried her.

Alexander’s cell phone buzzed, breaking the growing tension, and he quickly removed his hand from Olivia’s face, leaving to answer his phone in private. Olivia snapped back to reality and remembered her reason for keeping everyone away, the fear of getting close to someone and losing them resurfacing in her subconscious.

She turned to glance in the mirror and examined her injury. Even with the bandage, it was clear that there was a slight bump where Simon slammed her head into the wall. Other than that, there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage.

“You’ll probably have a bruise there,” Alexander said, startling Olivia as he walked back into the bathroom. She turned to face him. “Detective Wilder is here. I’ll give you some privacy to speak with her here in my office.” The last thing Alexander wanted to do was leave that woman’s side, but he knew privacy sometimes helped people be more forthcoming when making a statement.

“Umm, I’d prefer if you stay with me, if that’s okay with you.” She stood up, looking into his eyes as a smile spread across his face.

“I’d like that.” He grabbed her hand and led her into his sitting area where a petite woman sat with her laptop open. When Olivia entered, she looked up and smiled, her face warm and her eyes the same blazing green color as Alexander’s. She appeared to be in her mid-forties and in good shape. Olivia immediately felt comfortable with her.

“Miss Adler, I’m Detective Wilder,” she said, standing and extending a hand to Olivia. “I just want to talk to you about what happened tonight. We’ll have you sign your statement and then we’ll take Simon away for processing.”

Olivia told the detective as much as she could remember about what happened that evening. Alexander filled in the blanks as best he could. She told her about Simon and her relationship, as it were, how they met when he was working construction, how he pestered her for nearly a month to go out with him, and then his strange words that evening. Detective Wilder acted in a very professional manner throughout and did not make Olivia feel uncomfortable with anything.

Olivia signed her statement and gave it back to Detective Wilder.

"S. Adler?" the detective asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. Technically my first name is Sarah, but I've always gone by my middle name, Olivia," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.

Before she left, Detective Wilder explained what the next steps were. Simon would be arraigned for assault and attempted murder the following Monday. Most likely, a no contact protective order would be issued, seeing that this could be considered a domestic case. She told Olivia she would let her know the result of the arraignment.

“It was nice to meet you, Miss Adler,” Detective Wilder said, gathering her belongings and heading toward the doorway. “Mr. Burnham, can you walk me out please?” she said gravely to Alexander.

When they were in the hallway and Olivia was out of earshot, Detective Wilder turned to him. “Alex. It’s not her. So stop trying to save every girl you find whose name is Olivia. She died. Dad said she died in the hospital from a head injury. That was over twenty years ago. This girl's real name isn't even Olivia, for crying out loud.”