Olivia Sparks - Volume 1 Chapter 136 Fresh Perspective

Olivia’s brain almost exploded at the thought of grabbing the wrong hand. She let out a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing the jaguar cufflink staring at her with its judging diamond eyes.

“Thanks,” she whispered, squeezing Maxen’s hand. Her eyes then darted to Konstantin who was holding out a pocket square too. “I’m covered. Thank you.”

She pressed the pocket square on her nose one last time, and when she felt the sting was gone, she faced Konstantin, looking at him with a fresh perspective. Something about that partnership felt out of place and a nagging feeling crept up her stomach. An underground bank and a surveillance company entering a partnership screamed robbery in broad daylight.

A tight smile curved his lips as Olivia took her time to formulate which words to say and she knew he could see uncertainty swirl in her eyes with the way his jaw moved as if he was grinding his teeth. “I’ll look forward to your email, Mr. Ivanov.”

Turning on her heel to get in the car, Konstantin grabbed her by the wrist, earning a growl from Maxen. “Keep this. Just in case your nose… and your gown…” Konstantin said, placing his pocket square in her hands, gently curling her fingers on it. He pointed to her chest where he noticed a blood drop on her pristine white gown, painting a blob of crimson red on it.

He cursed himself in his head. For odd reasons, he could talk endlessly to other people except Olivia. There was something with the way she looked into his eyes as if she could see right through the depths of his soul and could find his bone-deep secrets.

“Oh. Uhh. Okay. Thank you.” She lifted it up and forced a smile, accepting the white linen. “Good night.”

Once she was comfortably seated inside, Maxen closed the door so she would not hear the confrontation was about to go down between him and Konstantin.

Scratching the skin above his eyebrow, he tapped his foot twice and locked gazes with Konstantin. “You know…It would save us both time if you stop your advances on Olivia. What part of ‘she’s in a relationship’ memo didn’t you understand?” he scoffed in derision.

In front of him, Konstantin shrugged, dipping his hands inside his pants pocket. A chuckle rumbled on his chest, painting a smile on his face. “Scared of what I can do?”

“We both know you haven’t seen what I’m capable of yet.” Walking closer to him, Maxen swept the lone lint on Konstantin’s suit jacket with the back of his hand. “You had your chance with her years ago and you didn’t grab it. Now she’s mine, so back off.”

A second passed as a storm brewed between the clashing of raging blue and heavy grey eyes. However, it was disrupted with the buzzing of Maxen’s phone.

[Olivia: Hurry! I’m hungry!]

Waving his phone screen up, Maxen smirked. “Gotta go. Wifey calls. And by the way” he glanced to his side, c.o.c.king his head where MIB1 stood guard. “Thanks for keeping Olivia safe these years, but their services are no longer needed.”

In a beat, two men alighted the car with their hands tied behind their backs, walking in a line towards Konstantin with their heads bowed in shame after getting caught.

Whatever Konstantin was feeling at that moment, he didn’t show it even when Maxen left to get in the car.

After a while, the glaring tail light of Olivia’s car as it left the bas.e.m.e.nt parking mocked Konstantin to no end. Adding insult to his injury was Maxen nipping the thin thread which bound him to Oliviathe detail he planted in her team. In reflex, his jaws ticked as he shifted his gaze to the minions to his right.

“Boris,” a burly man stepped out from his hidden spot behind a pillar, walking towards the two and untying them. The freed detail immediately stood in attention, straightening their backs with their hands clipped to either of their sidesnot an ounce of fear apparent in their eyes even at the presence of the grim reaper himself.

Tapping the two soldiers’s arms, Konstantin congratulated them, “Thank you for your service, comrades. You know the drill.”

One by one, two bodies dropped on the ground, their mouths foamed as Konstantin walked back to his car.

It was deep in the night and the trip uptown was rather quick because of lesser traffic. Finding a spot in a dark area of the parking lot, Maxen and Oliver scratched their heads as they watched their ladies, Olivia and Ava, respectively, gobbled up their food in record time.

“We’re starving.” Ava explained, covering her mouth as she spoke to hide the chunk of burger in her mouth.

“True. I had to skip 2 meals just to fit my gown, Max. I deserve this. Really, really, deserve this.”

Wiping the bead of crocodile tears in the corner of Olivia’s eyes, Maxen agreed, “Yes, you deserve everything, baby. Here, have some soda.” He placed the tip of the straw on her lips, smiling as her eyes crinkled when the bubbled drink tickled her throat.

Wiping the corners of her mouth, amus.e.m.e.nt painted his face as he watched Olivia eye the fries on his hand, seemingly hesitant to eat it although her eyes twinkled with craving. Grabbing two sticks, he beamed when Olivia’s eyes were trained on it that her eyeballs moved in circles as he dangled it in the air.

Just as he was to tease her more, Olivia stole a fist of fries from his hands, surprising him. “What the heck? Baby! Am I not feeding you enough at home?” Olivia swallowed down the food in her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when Maxen’s phone rang.

“Yes. Okay. We’re on our way back. Hmm. Bye.” Dipping his phone in his pocket, Maxen’s other hand sn.a.k.e.d Olivia’s waist, squeezing it. “That’s the infirmary. They’re waiting for you in Notios.”

“Me? Why me?” Olivia tilted her head to the side, her brows scrunched as she faced Maxen. “Shouldn’t you be the one getting a check-up? For your head?” Her hand cupped the back of his head, feeling for any visible bump.

“Your nosebleeding is getting worrisome, so I called them in. And no, I don’t need to get checked.”

In front of them, husband and wife, Oliver and Ava, listened to Maxen and Olivia’s conversation, occasionally looking at each other, talking through their eyes. Both were wondering what on Earth was going on between the latter couple behind closed doors that one ended up with a bump on his head, while the other got a nosebleed.

“You need to tone down on your” Ollie cleared his throat. “Bedroom activities. It’s not healthy. Look how thin my sister is from exhaustion!” he accused Maxen, flailing Olivia’s arms to prove his point.

“Maxen!” Oliver, Ava and Olivia exclaimed when Maxen turned red from choking on his own saliva, caught off guard with Oliver’s statement.

Sending daggers to her brother whilst patting Maxen’s back, Olivia blurted, “How about you lock your bedroom so you won’t get caught by your son.”

Oliver’s hands flew to Ava’s ears, covering it to keep his wife’s innocence intact, but his hands immediately dropped upon hearing his sister’s incriminating words. “How did you know about that?” His eyes popped out of its sockets, darting from Ava, to Olivia, and lastly to Maxen who shook his head.

“Finn said it months ago. In front of Auntie Martha and Grandma,” Olivia recounted, laughing at the memory of Finn crying that afternoon.

“Is that why Auntie Martha would rodeo every time she sees me?” he scratched the back of his head, rummaging his brain whether Ava told him about that incident but couldn’t recall anything. “Did you tell me about this?”

“I did but you just laughed at me. Let’s not talk about it.” Ava gulped down her drinking when an image of Oliver tossing her all night long after she told him about Finn’s minor lip-up flashed in her mind.

Beside her, a wolfish grin danced Oliver’s lips. His eyes met Ava’s for a brief second, and she knew that Oliver finally remembered what transpired that night.

Feeling on fire, he gathered all the trash on the hood of their car, rushing to the trash bin to dispose of their mess. “It’s getting late. We need to get home.” He exchanged a signature handshake with Maxen before planting a kiss on Olivia’s cheeks. Holding the small of Ava’s back, he ushered her to the passenger side of the car.

“Good night!” Ava waved from the open car door, before Oliver mouthed “go” to hasten her up.

“Poor Ava. She didn’t have any idea what’s coming for her, did she?” Maxen asked, caging Olivia in his embrace as he hugged her from the back. He rested his chin on the planes of her shoulders, inhaling her scent.

“Nope,” Olivia shook her head, laughing as she faced the stars in the sky. Burying her nose on the side of Maxen’s head, she asked, “What’s bothering you?”

“Konstantin.”

“What about him?”

He tightened his hold on her waist. He didn’t want to admit it, and he wanted to erase the memory of what he saw earlier in the hotel room, so he replied, “Nothing.”