Lost Without You: Book 2 in the Chasing Olivia Series (26 page)

“You think?”

“It appears that way, yes. You need to stop obsessing over what might happen and focus on your feelings.”

“Fuck, this is hard,” he murmurs into his drink.

“You need to trust her. Trust is everything. Without it, you’ll ultimately fail.”

“Trust,” he says, rolling the word on his tongue like he’s saying it for the first time. After a long pause, he says, “I’ve never really had to do that before.”

“It’s a must in any relationship.”

“I’ve never really had one of those either,” he says, chuckling.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” I smile and down the rest of my drink. “Can’t we eat now, or do I need to explain the concept of trust to you?”

“No, I think I’m good. Let’s eat.”

It’s been a crazy day and I have yet to speak to Chase. Between the bad connections and the time difference, I honestly think I’m going through Chase withdrawals, and I’m starting to get annoyed. I know it isn’t his fault, I’m just regretting not going with him. I’m lying on the bed when my phone buzzes. Looking at the caller ID, I’m overjoyed to see it’s Chase.

“Hey, beautiful,” Chase purrs into the phone.

“Hi!” I beam back. “The connection is so clear, it’s amazing.”

“I’m in Milan. The city has better cell service than where I was. How are you?”

“Missing you.”

“You should have come with me.”

“You know I couldn’t.”

Chase sighs into the phone. “I miss you, too. More than you know.”

“So, how is Italy?” I ask.

“Lonely without you.”

“Seriously,” I say, giggling.

“I am serious.”

“Is it as beautiful as I imagine it to be?”

“It would be more beautiful with you here.”

“Chase, you know I would have gone with you if I could.”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighs. “So, what have you been up to? “

“I’ve been working like crazy, trying to make up for the time I lost when we were in paradise,” I say, teasing him.

“I’d give you paradise every day if you’d let me,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Oh, and Justin took me out to dinner last night.”

“He did what?” His voice jumps up an octave and an alarm goes off inside my head.

“Yeah, I met him over at the Cipriani Club.”

“Why the fuck are you having dinner with Justin?”

“Geez, Chase. Calm down. It was just dinner.”

“I’m out of town for what, not even a week, and you’re having dinner with my best friend? What happened to being a hermit in your apartment?” The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and a chill runs through me. I don’t like where this conversation is going.

“He needed advice about Miranda,” I say, trying to explain myself.

“He’s a man-whore, he just wanted in your pants.”

“What—”

“Did you meet Evan for dinner, too? Maybe you saw him first,” he snarls into the phone.

Holy fuck. He’s lost his mind. “What the fuck, Chase! What is
wrong
with you?”

“That’s not a denial. Did you fuck him?”

“What? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No, I’m not,” he snaps, breathing heavily into the phone. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

“Chase—” Before I can get the first syllable out of my mouth, the line goes dead. That son-of-a-bitch hung up on me! On me! I should have hung up on him, after what he accused me of. How can he even
suggest
that I saw Evan, after everything that’s happened? He’s gone bat shit crazy.

Pacing around the room, I try to figure out what’s going through Chase’s deranged head. I contemplate calling him back to give him a piece of my mind, but it will only make matters worse, and I sure as hell don’t want to continue that argument. Instead, I pull up my contacts and text Justin, feeling the need to give him a heads up in case Chase calls him next.

Liv: It’s Liv. Heads up, Chase has lost his shit.

The response back in almost immediate.

Justin: What the fuck just happened?

This is going to be a lengthy conversation, so I call him. He answers on the second ring.

“Liv, what the hell just happened? Chase just flipped out on me.”

“I’m not really sure. What did he say to you?”

“He accused me of wanting to fuck you.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. I told him we had dinner and he went ape shit.”

“I couldn’t make out most of what he was saying, every other word was fuck.”

“He called you a man-whore, and then accused me of sleeping with Evan.”

“Shit,” Justin whispers. “I’ve never seen him this worked up before.”

“I’m glad to hear this isn’t normal,” I say, relieved.

“No, this definitely is not. I couldn’t even get a word in before he hung up.”

“Yeah, he did that to me, too.”

“I know he has a jealous streak, and I am, or was, a man-whore, but this is different. He’s worried about something.”

“He didn’t want to leave, saying he had a strange feeling something bad was going to happen. Maybe he thinks this is the bad thing?”

“I don’t know, but he has to know I would
never
do that to him. I mean, bros before hoes, no offense.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “None taken.”

“Fuck, I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, after the way he just spoke to me, I’m waiting for an apology,” I say with conviction, but I know I’ll eventually cave.

“I’ll call him tomorrow. Give him time to come to his senses.”

“Okay. Let me know when you do.”

“No problem. Talk to you later,” Justin says before hanging up.

Staring at the ceiling, I pray this is all some sick, twisted joke. He’s never raised his voice like that to me, and I don’t know how to take it. I understand he’s on the other side of the world and he misses me, but to accuse me of cheating?

I flash back to the conversation I had with Justin yesterday.
Trust.
How ironic that I had that discussion with Justin when I clearly needed to have it with Chase.

Friday morning, I’m called off a site for a meeting in Bohemia. Turns out, all of the field agents were brought in. Something about training on how to use some specialized equipment.

I finally get to meet all of my colleagues. With a company as big as the one I work for, you rarely see everyone you work with.

We all sit in meeting after meeting until finally breaking for lunch. Informal introductions are made, since we’re sitting in the same room. There are twenty of us all together. One of the guys makes a suggestion that we all go to a local bar after the meeting, so we can really get to know each other. Normally, I would excuse myself, but since Chase is away, I’ve been lonely. Having a conversation with someone other than myself sounds like a fantastic idea, so I agree to go.

After lunch, we’re brought down to one of the labs and shown the new equipment. It’s supposed to make our jobs easier, but I’m not so sure. The devices look complicated, and I’m apprehensive to even look at it in fear of breaking it.

The lab technician shows us how it works and for the next hour, we’re shown every possible way it can be used. The overload of information causes my head to spin. After sitting through this, I’m really glad I agreed to go out.

Once we’ve played around with it for a bit, we’re finally dismissed. As we exit the building, someone calls out the name of the bar we are meeting at, which happens to be one of my local haunts. I smile as I get in my car and head over to Public House. Driving through the parking lot behind the bar a few times, I finally find a spot. The bar is in the middle of town and I forgot how fast the lots fill up, especially during recital season with a theater right next door.

Before getting out of the car, I shoot Chase a text. We haven’t spoken or texted since our fight last night, and while I’m reluctant to be the first to reach out, I also don’t want to hide anything from him.

LIv: Going out with some friends from work. Text you later.

I hit send, not expecting an answer, and get out of the car. As I approach the door, a chill runs down my spine and I shudder. I look around before shaking it off and entering the bar. I walk toward the bar and when Kris, one of the guys from the meeting, spots me, he waves me over. “Hey, Liv, whatcha drinking?”

“Umm, I’m not sure yet,” I lie.

“Let me know when you do. Your first drink is on me.”

“Thanks, Kris, but I’ve got this.”

“I insist,” he answers with a smile.

“Okay, thanks. I guess I’ll have a glass of pinot grigio.”

“Hey, can I get a glass of pinot grigio over here!” he yells down the bar. A subtle nod from the bartender and a few minutes later, the drink is in my hand.

“Thanks, Kris.”

“Hey, no problem. Consider it a thanks for helping me out with that new GPS today.” I chuckle. He had absolutely no idea what to do with the mini-computer. Lucky for him, I had to use something very similar when I was doing my grad work.

“That, I can do,” I say, smiling, and lift my glass to air toast him.

The large size of the bar allows everyone to move around freely and chit chat with different groups. I start my way at one end of the bar and two drinks later, I’m at the other end. It’s so nice to see so many people I work with, but never really had a chance to meet.

I order another glass of wine and find a couple girls from the office, Christina and Michelle. Sitting down, I start chatting with them about our latest project. As we’re talking, my phone rings. I don’t recognize the number, but hoping it’s Chase, I answer. “Hello?” I say, and plug my other ear, trying to hear. The bar is so loud, I say, “Hold on, I can’t hear anything.” I turn to the girls. “Can one of you make sure the bartender doesn’t take my glass? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure, Liv,” Christina answers.

“Thanks,” I mutter as I head toward the back door. Once outside, I say, “Sorry, couldn’t hear you. Who is this?” I wait, but there is no response, not even background noise or static. “Hello, anyone there?” Again, dead air. Standing in the back of the restaurant, the hair on my arms stands on end. I look around frantically, but there’s no one out here but me. Not taking any chances, I hurry back into the bar.

Coming back to the table, I find my glass is still here but the girls have shifted down the bar to another conversation. Since it’s almost eight, I decide to finish my drink and then call it a night. I pick up my glass, take a long sip, and start at the back end of the bar, slowly making my exit.

I still have a half of a glass left when I start to feel dizzy. The room sways and I stand for a moment, waiting for the moment to pass. Seeing as I ate something earlier and only had three glasses of wine, I shouldn’t feel this drunk. I almost lose my footing and grip the side of the bar, hard. My legs feel like jelly and my vision blurs.

“Liv, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” That voice is so familiar, yet I can’t place it. I try to lift my head to see who it is, but my body isn’t responding to my brain.

“Hey, Liv, are you okay?” I hear someone ask.

“She’s just a little drunk. I’m here to pick her up,” the familiar voice says. “C’mon, Liv, I’ll take you home.”

An arm wraps around my waist before lifting me in the air. Feeling dizzy and nauseous, my head falls back against something hard. I feel like I’m floating, but the backs of my eyelids won’t stop spinning.