Page 76 of Hot Commodity (Banks/Kincaid Family 1)

"What's that?" Olivia asked, swallowing a mouthful and dabbing at her lips with a napkin.

"The annulment papers have finally been started." He lifted his face. His eyes were bright, almost glassy, as he added, "So you don't have to ask again when I'm going to get to that." He sent her a smile. "They are now officially underway."

For a second, Olivia couldn't speak. Hell, she couldn't breathe. Even her heart did a double take as if it had heard wrong.

Then her lashes fluttered. "O-oh." Her breath quietly whooshed from her lungs in a rush and her pulse scurried to get back on rhythm. "I, um, thank you," she finally managed to add.

Lowering her head, she focused on her meal, acting like a starving woman as she stuffed food into her mouth with gusto, though frankly, everything suddenly tasted like sawdust.

Eighteen

That night Olivia had a nightmare. Since Cameron had once again snuck into her room to sleep next to her, he was already there when she began thrashing her arms and legs and tossing her head to the side. He jerked awake, then sat up.

"Livy," he murmured softly. He reached out to touch her cold, damp arm, but she screamed before he reached her. It wasn't some pathetic little yelp either. No, she opened her lungs and let loose. He nearly leapt out of his skin.

"Get it off me!" she screeched. "GET. IT. OFF."

"Olivia!" he said a little more harshly, anxiety lacing his words as he clutched her shoulders and shook, all the while scanning the sheets for the spider—or whatever—that had bitten her. He turned on the light, but the only thing touching her was the sheets. Still, she shoved them away and clawed at her arms, making red marks appear. He grabbed her fingers to stop her, clutching them tight while she struggled against him.

"The blood," she cried out. "It's everywhere. Oh, God. Everywhere."

Cameron freaked, thinking she'd just lost her mind. "Livy? Livy honey, there's no blood on you. There's no blood. Wake up."

He shook her again, and this time she blinked, finally coming to. When she looked at him with wide eyes, he pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. She remained stiff a moment. But then her body eased, and she wrapped her arms around him; her entire frame surged as she wilted and wept.

He rocked her slowly, combing her hair with his fingers. "It's okay," was all he could think to repeat. "It's okay. Everything's okay. You're okay. It was just a dream."

After a while, he stopped rocking and they merely sat there, holding each other.

"I saw him die, you know," she murmured drowsily against his chest. Out of the freaking blue.

He opened his eyes. "Huh? Saw who?"

"My father." Lifting her face, she met his eyes. "I was there when he killed himself, and my mother was too."

Cameron pulled her back into a hug, kissing her hair and tightening his grip, because he couldn't look into her eyes if she was going to tell this story.

"No one else knows that," Olivia continued. "But Vivian was there. She was reading the morning paper when he walked in. After she finally noticed he had a gun tucked in his mouth, she said...she said, 'Go ahead and pull the trigger, Roger. With the insurance I have out on your worthless ass, you're worth more to me dead than alive.' And he did what she told him to do. He pulled the trigger."

A shudder wracked her body. Cam felt it reverberate through him, making goose bumps mount on his arms. "Holy Lord," he whispered

. He was suddenly glad he'd caused Vivian Roark to fear bankruptcy. How could any woman say such a thing to her own husband?

"After he hit the floor," Olivia went on, "She...she grabbed my arms and shook me, saying, 'I wasn't here. Do you understand? I wasn't here when it happened.' And that's when I knew how evil she was."

Another shiver rocked her. Cameron pulled the sheet up over them, rubbing the bumps on both their arms.

"When the police came, I lied and told them what she wanted, saying I was the only one in the room when he...when it happened. So they all focused their attention on me. They grilled me for hours, wanting to know why he'd made a point to off himself in front of me, wanting to know what I'd done to upset him.

"But it wasn't me at all. It was her. She was the evil one that pushed him into it. And I lied for her. I was so scared. I've been terrified of her ever since. It made no sense. It was more like a phobia than a reasonable fear. Rationally, I knew she hadn't killed him. But deep inside me, I was always scared that if I ever disobeyed her, I'd end up like him. I'd die too.

"So when I finally reached my limit, when I went out that night in Vegas to find myself a husband, it was...it was like my suicide mission. She'd pushed me to the brink and I was just as desperate to self-destruct as my father had been."

She stopped talking; he had a feeling she was done. Still lightly stroking her arm, Cam closed his eyes and pressed his nose against her hair, inhaling her familiar fragrance. "She's never going to hurt you again, Livy," he murmured.

She nodded and reached out to press her hand against his chest, directly over his heart. Unable to stop himself, he covered it with his palm, lacing their fingers together. They lay that way for nearly half an hour, soaking up each other's silent comfort.

It surprised him when her quiet voice filled the room. "Cameron?"

---