Page 121 of Shadow

“What now?” Olivia asked after a minute of silence.

“Now we try our best to get a few hours of sleep and we figure it out in the morning. But first I’m going to find out where Fiona is.”

Chapter 32

OLIVIAsatuprightinbed and sucked in a sharp breath. Beside her, Ripley snored softly, and she shook him on the shoulder.

“Ripley, wake up.”

He rolled away from her, and she shook him again. “Ripley, come on I need to tell you something I remembered.”

He groaned and sat up, flipping the bedside lamp on. It was five in the morning, and they’d barely slept two hours.

“What is it, baby girl?”

“When Tyson Vance and I were walking to his car at the restaurant, we ran into this guy who was waiting on him. His name was Gregory. At least that’s what Tyson called him, and he introduced me to him as Boomer’s girl. When Gregory asked where you were, I told him you were meeting me back at our hotel. He was so friendly.” Olivia closed her eyes as guilt washed over her.

“Let me guess. He asked which hotel you were staying at?”

Olivia nodded slowly. “I told him. I’m so sorry, Daddy.”

Ripley squeezed her shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Did he seem surprised to see you or to hear my name?”

Olivia tried to remember his demeanor. “It was dark. But yeah. At first, he thought I was Tyson’s date. When he heard I was your girlfriend, his eyes lit up, and he turned up the charm. But he was also in a hurry to get out of there as soon as I told him what hotel we were in.”

Ripley dragged a hand through his hair. “That tracks. Peter and Gage both got visits from someone I worked a few jobs with tonight. Not Gregory obviously, but someone else who has ties to Brian Doran. He’s looking for me. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that Tyson used to be in my line of work before he became a chef. Brian is reaching out to all my known associates, it seems. And I’m betting he was the second man at the hotel tonight.”

He rolled out of bed and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “Go back to sleep if you can, baby girl. I’m going to make a phone call, and I’ll be back.”

Olivia shook her head and wiped at the tears threatening to fall.

Ripley sat on the bed again and pulled her close. “Don’t cry, baby. I told you. None of this is your fault.”

“I think I’m dropping again,” she whispered.

It had been less than twelve hours since they played at Serendipity. She didn’t normally experience intense sub drop, and when she did, she threw herself into work or another project and stayed busy until her hormones leveled out.

Now she was experiencing drop with the added stress of someone coming after Ripley.

“What goes through your head when you drop?” Ripley asked.

She wiped at the tears that had escaped. “Sometimes I worry I took a scene too far. Or I wonder if my partner will think less of me because of the dirty things I said or did. It never lasts very long, thank goodness. You should go make your call.”

He kissed her temple and then her bare shoulder. “I’ll be right back. When I come back, I want you kneeling in the middle of the bed.”

“I thought you wanted me to get some more sleep.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you arguing with me, Olivia?”

“No, Sir,” she whispered.

“Good girl.”

When he walked into the living room with his phone, she moved to the middle of the bed and sat on her heels, putting her palms face up on her thighs.

“Do you know what I like most about the filthy things we do?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice several minutes later.

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