A few minutes later, Alexander led Chelsea into his large penthouse apartment.

“Jesus Christ, Alex,” she scowled as Runner bounded down the stairs. “Will you get rid of that fucking dog already?” She cringed when the dog jumped on Alexander, his tail wagging, obviously happy to see him.

“Why don’t you like animals?” he asked.

“They’re just so dirty.”

“Runner, down.” Alexander looked at Chelsea, who appeared horrified. “Give me a minute. I’ll put him somewhere. And I need to make one quick phone call. I’ll be right back.” He turned to Runner. “Come here, boy.”

He walked away from Chelsea and the dog followed him down the hallway toward his office. After punching his code into the keypad, Alexander strode over to the desk as Runner walked to his doggie bed in the corner and lay down. Picking up his phone, Alexander called Carter.

“Sir.”

“What is so important tonight, Carter?”

“Sir, it’s Miss Adler,” he replied cautiously. Alexander could almost hear the hesitation in his voice. “You asked me to remotely monitor any entry or exit on her home security system. Well, tonight, there was an entry just after eight in the evening and an exit a few minutes before nine.”

Alexander sunk into his chair, his heart dropping to his stomach. Just when everything was starting to go well. Just when he had finally gotten over her, or so he thought. “Has there been any follow-up?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“Yes, sir. No one who had access to her key-codes has been there.”

“Okay. Thank you, Carter.” He hung up and went back out to the living area. Chelsea was sitting on the couch, batting her eyes.

He sighed and walked up to her. “Chelsea, I’m sorry, but I have some work business I need to attend to this evening. I need to go. Martin will drive you home.” He turned abruptly and dashed to the elevator, pressing the call button repeatedly. An elevator car arrived almost immediately.

Within a few moments, he jumped into his Maserati and drove the few miles to Olivia’s house. He leapt out of his car and ran up the steps, banging on her front door. It all seemed so familiar. He did the same thing the day she left. Why was he getting roped back into her life when everything seemed to be going so well with Chelsea? He was supposed to be getting married in a few weeks.

There was no answer. He banged again. “Olivia! Are you in there? I just want to make sure you’re okay. That’s all. Then I’ll leave you alone.” Nothing. No movement. He checked inside and the house looked dark. He punched the code into her keypad door lock and quickly disarmed the security system, surprised that nearly three months later, he still remembered those numbers.

Walking through the foyer and into the kitchen, he took in his surroundings. A thousand happy memories came rushing back before he noticed her cell phone still lying on the island, the battery long dead. Has she even been here?

He turned when he heard a faint sound coming down the stairs. “Nepenthe!” Alexander exclaimed when the cat appeared in the doorway. Olivia was back. And she would be coming back there. She would never leave Nepenthe alone for too long. He sat on the couch and let the cat snuggle next to him for a while, thinking about what Olivia being back in town meant for her own safety. And for him.

He had moved on, but he desperately needed closure. He knew she lied to him all those months ago when he confronted her. He willed himself to remain strong. She had hurt him more than any other person had hurt him in his entire life. If he simply took her back, could he possibly survive when she left him again? He didn’t know. And she would, inevitably, leave him again. It was what she did. It was all she knew. Raising himself off the couch, he knew that he would just have to be patient.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

TEAM OLIVIA

THE NEXT MORNING, OLIVIA sat at the table in Mo’s kitchen, reunited with her two best friends.

“I swear to god, Libby. If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will cut a bitch. And that bitch will be you,” Kiera said, laughing. “I knew something was up last night when Carter called asking if I had gone to your house for any reason.”

“What are you talking about?” Olivia asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

“Well, I guess Alexander asked them to monitor your alarm system and let him know if there were any entries or exits. And last night there were.”

“Controlling bastard,” Olivia muttered.

“That he is." Mo laughed. "So what did you come back here for? It surely wasn’t just for me and Kiera.” He eyed Olivia, knowing full well the reason that she was back in town but wanting her to open up and not keep it all locked inside for once.

“No. You’re right,” she sighed. “I mean, you’re part of the reason, but after hearing about Alexander’s engagement to that Chelsea girl…”

“Uggh,” Kiera interrupted. “Don’t even get me started on that fake bitch.”

“She’s not that bad,” Mo said.

Kiera glared at him. “Team Olivia all the way!” She threw a donut hole at him.

Olivia laughed. “Please don’t turn my life into a stupid love triangle.”

Kiera whispered, “Go Team Olivia!”

Olivia couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, well, anyway, after I found out he had been seeing her, I just snapped. I shut myself in my house and barely ate, probably didn’t shower, and just closed the world out. Then I found out about the engagement and things got worse. I wanted to stop feeling and I wanted to forget, but this surfer boy I got to know fairly well helped me snap out of it. He pretty much pushed me into my car and made me drive back up here.” Olivia left out the part about them screwing and him finding her practically comatose on her living room floor.

“Well, he’s officially my new best friend,” Kiera said, clutching Olivia’s hand. “I’m just so glad you’re back.”

“So am I.” She smiled weakly. “But I won’t feel like I’m home until I do one more thing. Maybe I just need some closure. If he’s happy with Chelsea, so be it. I get it. But I just need to see Alexander face-to-face and tell him those things I said when he…” Olivia stopped short, wondering how much she should tell her friends about what happened when Alexander found her in Florida.

Kiera stared at her. “When he what, Libby?” she asked calmly.

Olivia took a deep breath. “When he tracked me down in Florida,” she responded.