Page 6 of He Is Ours (Lovers in Crossfire #2)

Chapter six

Alex

My

phone

starts

buzzing

in my pocket. I yank it out, and the moment I see the caller ID, my heart skips a beat.

Oliver.

I swipe to answer, trying to steady my voice.

"Hey, man, what’s up? How’s Olivia?" Concern flows into every word. I don’t care about anything else right now; I just want to know she is safe.

"She’s as good as she can be, considering what she has been through," Oliver replies, his voice heavy, which causes my stomach to drop.

"But I called to tell you I talked to her. She’s willing to hear you out, but she was told some shit that was said to her while she was locked up. She thinks that you were involved in her kidnapping, that you and your grandfather set this whole thing up."

My chest tightens.

“It’s gonna take a lot to convince her otherwise."

A heavy sigh escapes my mouth as the weight of it all crashes down on me. This is worse than I thought.

How the hell do I fix this?

What if she doesn’t believe me when I tell her the truth? What if she thinks I’m just another liar, someone who got close to her just to sell her?

The outcome is a blur, and I don’t know what waits for me on the other side of this conversation. But I do know one thing, this is for sure:

I owe it to her.

To Rachel.

And to myself.

To try.

To fix what I didn’t know I broke.

To bring us all back together, no matter how impossible it feels.

"I’ll do whatever it takes." The words tumble out before I can even think, but I don’t take them back. "Thank you, Oliver. I owe you one." I say.

I will do anything to get Olivia back in my arms. The distance is unbearable. I need both of my women by my side to feel whole again.

"Alright, well, Olivia fell asleep on my lap after talking, so when she wakes up, I’ll ask her when she wants to talk and let you know what she says. But... like I said, she’s shaken up, and I can’t promise anything."

Oliver ended the call before I could reply.

The weight of this whole situation is crashing down on me.

Now, I have to come up with a plan to win Olivia back.

But first, I need to know what my grandfather told her.

I would try to ask him, but I know that if I call him, he won’t answer.

The bastard’s probably already ditched his phone and is hiding somewhere like the coward he is.

I glance up and spot Rachel striding toward me in her work suit, her red heels clicking sharply against the floor.

Her red lipstick matched – bold, precise, and the same shade of crimson – her twisted up in some sleek, complicated style.

I swear, I don’t know the first damn thing about women’s hairstyles, but whatever that is, it works.

She looks so damn good. Confident and dangerous.

"Hey, big guy," Rachel says, looking up at me with a sexy smile on her face. "I need to go into the office, then I’ve got a meeting. Can you handle being home alone, or do you want to come with me? I’ve got a client I'm meeting with, but you're welcome to sit in if you'd like.

Tyler will have to understand that the man owes me. "

Tyler?

"You’re meeting your client? Where? And why not at the office?" I bombard her with questions before she even has a chance to answer. What does this client want from her that can’t be handled in the office?

"Tyler is Andrew’s oldest brother. Yes, he’s my client, and the business I’m helping him with can’t be discussed in my office." Her response is vague, and I don’t like it one bit. I don’t know, Tyler, but I’ve seen how Andrew treated Rachel, and I refuse to let her go through that shit again.

"Cool. Let me change real quick, and I’ll go with you. I don’t trust this Tyler guy. If I'm being completely honest, I don’t trust anyone affiliated with Andrew. So, I’ll go with and make sure nothing stupid happens."

She raises an eyebrow, then grabs me by my shirt collar.

“Aww, you’re coming to keep me safe, big guy?

The woman who killed more men last night than you did?

" She pats my chest and laughs. "Alright, babe, whatever helps you sleep at night.

But, I think my knives and I can handle ourselves just fine, thank you very much. "

She turns and walks toward the garage, grabbing the keys off the hook as she passes. I follow right behind her, noticing she doesn't have the patience to wait for me to change out of my jeans and polo shirt.

"Rach, don’t you want me to change into something more…” I look at her, confused. “Business-like?"

"Nope, you’re fine. I just need to grab some papers from the office, real quick. You can stay in the car for that, and then we will go meet Tyler."

She gets into the 4Runner and starts it up. As I buckle into the passenger seat, I turn on the rock radio station I know she likes, and we head down the road to her office.

When we arrive at the office, Rachel parks in the front spot, jumps out of the car, and walks in. When she comes back, she gets back into the car, places a thick manila envelope on top of her bag in the back seat, buckles up, and starts heading back onto the highway.

My mind starts to wander about this meeting.

What’s in that envelope?

"Alright, Muneca, where’s this meeting at?" I ask as she takes an exit I know all too well. My stomach drops with anticipation before she finally answers.

"The Silver Serpent."

"Fuck!" The words slip out before I can stop them. The one place in all of Southern California that she goes to is the Italians’ casino. The Luciano family owns that place, and my grandfather’s shitty relationship with them is the last thing I need repercussions for right now.

Maybe since I don’t work for my grandfather, they’ll be chill with me. Maybe they won’t even recognize me. One can only hope for that outcome, but it's a long shot.

"My grandfather has made enemies with the Italians. The Silver Serpent’s not the best place for a Lopez García to go." I glance at her, trying to get a read on her reaction.

When she turns her head for a second to look at me, her face pales.

"I am so sorry; I didn’t know, Alex." She grabs her phone to make a call. I snatch it from her before she can dial. "No. It’s fine. We’ll deal with the situation when it comes to us.

They might not even recognize me since I don’t work for my family.

I don’t personally have any problems with the Italians. Maybe it won’t be a total shit show."

She looks skeptically at me. "Sorry, babe, but you do look like your grandfather. It’s not hard to tell you belong to that bloodline."

"Well, fuck." I mutter under my breath as we pull up to the casino parking lot.