Page 111 of Before the Night Falls

“I’ve loved you for so long, Olivia.” He reached for her, tucking a hair behind her ear. “So long. Only you never realized it.”

Nausea rose in her, but she forced herself not to react.

She feared the slight movement could set him off.

Could make him hurt her.

“You never told me,” she finally said, reaching for the table to brace herself.

Her wrist brushed the rose, its thorny stem scraping her skin.

She was trapped, she realized. Totally trapped.

She’d trusted the wrong person. And now she was going to pay for that decision.

“You set up Brian Elliot?” Maybe Olivia could keep him talking until she could figure out how to get away. It was the only plan she could think of right now.

“It was so easy, really.” He smirked. “That man loved flowers. I used to buy them from him. He sold them on the side of the road. That’s how I got to know him. I’d stop and get some before I went on dates. It was how I made sure his fingerprint was on that evidence.”

“That’s . . .” Olivia wanted to say disgusting, but she didn’t. “That’s really clever of you.”

“You know the best part?” Wes charged ahead. “After you escaped and when the public heard what happened to you, your popularity grew. Your show numbers tripled. All because of what happened. All because ofme.”

The nausea in her stomach grew stronger. “What are you going to do with me now, Wes?”

He grinned, but his eyes appeared absent of any soul. “Now the two of us can be together . . . forever.”

Don’t throw up. Hold yourself together. Keep your wits.“But Wes . . . you really think that’s going to work?”

He didn’t seem to hear her. “At first, I didn’t like this boat. I like places where I’m surrounded by dirt. That’s where roses grow, you know? Roses are beautiful . . . just like you.”

“There’s not much dirt around us now.”

“Then I realized there are three things a rose needs to thrive—dirt, sun, and . . . water. And we have plenty of water here, don’t we?”

“But saltwater kills roses.” Pointing that out was risky, but she hoped it paid off.

She held her breath as she waited for his response.

Wes’ gaze darkened, and he skimmed his fingers across her jaw. “Don’t you worry about that, my darling. Let me worry about it. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to tend to flowers.”

CHAPTERFIFTY-SEVEN

Tyson checkedthe island’s small airport.

No one was there, and it didn’t appear anyone had been there in the past hour.

Then he headed to the marina, making more phone calls on the way.

He couldn’t know for sure Olivia was in danger right now.

But everything inside him said she was.

He screeched to a halt at the harbor and hopped from his car. He scanned everything around him—the boats, the slips, the vehicles parked nearby.

He didn’t see Olivia anywhere.

However, he did see a dark-colored SUV that looked very similar to the one that Ernest had mentioned pulling up outside of Tyson’s home. Maybe even identical.