“You take the lead, Liv. I’ll follow.”
She knew what I was saying. Whatever she needed, I was there for her. Her shoulders sagged a little—enough for me to know she understood me. I was there for her. Whatever she needed.
“Okay.”
John and Nolan left. The meeting had gone surprisingly well after the bombs that were dropped when Liv arrived. When talking business, they were on point and seemed to have no problems with any of our requirements. I made sure to keep things short and to the point, and when the meeting was done, stood to let them know it was over.
“We’ll see you on site tomorrow.”
Once they were gone, Jordan turned to Liv.
“If I understood what just happened, I can cancel this right now. I’ll go to Bentley and explain. But once we start, I can’t break the contract.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate it, Jordan, but it’s not necessary.”
He frowned, exchanging a glance with me. “That was Sammy’s father, yes?”
Liv nodded.
“Can you work with him?” he asked. “Liv, I’m not blind. I saw the effect he had on you.”
“I was shocked. I had no idea Chris was back in town. I hadn’t heard about him in years.” She sighed. “One thing I do know about him is that he had the highest standards when it came to business. The same insistence on perfection he had in his personal life was always applied to his work. He’ll make sure the work is done properly. That’s why Bentley went with WIN.” She paused for a moment. “I’ll figure out a way to make this work, Jordan.”
She drew in a long breath. “You’ll have more to do with him than I will. Both of them.”
“Can you handle this?” I asked quietly.
She met my gaze. “I have no choice.”
Jordan stood. “I’m going to let the two of you talk. I’ll be back shortly.”
He left, shutting the door behind him. In seconds, I had Liv in my arms, holding her close.
“Baby, are you all right?”
Her voice was muffled against my chest. “I can’t believe he’s here.”
I pulled back, tilting up her chin. “I’ll tell Jordan to cancel it. All of it. I’ll tell Bentley it’s on me—that I can’t work with them.”
She looked determined. “No, I don’t want you to do that.”
“This isn’t about me being overprotective, Liv. This is about that asshole being around you. Harassing you. I don’t want to risk it.”
She smiled wanly. “And that’s not being overprotective?”
Before I could speak, she cupped my cheek. “I’ve worked with clients before I haven’t liked. I can handle this.”
“But you don’t have to,” I insisted. “This is different. It’s personal.”
She sighed and stepped back from my embrace. “And what lesson would it teach my daughter, Van? To run when things are tough? To walk away is easier than to stay and be strong?”
“Sammy doesn’t need to know about this lesson,” I growled. “I’m worried about her too. What if that asshole makes trouble?”
“He didn’t want us before, he doesn’t want us now. He is here to show me he’s still the ‘man’ and in control. Frankly, I don’t care.”
“You’ll have to deal with him for a while—it’s not an overnight job.”
“So will you.” She pointed out. “Way more than I will. Can you handle it?”
“As long as he behaves. If he steps out of line, I can’t promise anything.”
She regarded me anxiously. “Van, Chris is the kind of person who uses what he knows against people. If he thinks something upsets you, he’ll find a way to do it, if only to piss you off.” She paused, searching for words. “If he knows we’re together, a couple, he’ll use it. He’ll say things to upset you. Make snide remarks about me. Talk about our past. You have to promise to ignore him. Whatever he says, whatever he does. It’ll only be to get a reaction from you.”
“So you want to keep us completely under wraps? Even more so than now?”
“Yes.”
I had to agree with her. I had already witnessed the way he spoke down to Liv. If he knew we were together, he would make a point of running his mouth. Then I would have no choice but to introduce him to my fist. Jordan might turn the other cheek, but physical violence might not go over well with Bentley or John.
I huffed out an angry curse. “Okay. I’ll watch myself. But I’m going to stick close when he’s around. He’d better not have anything planned. I don’t want him anywhere near Sammy either.”
She tugged on her braid, rubbing the ends between her fingers anxiously. “I know. I have no idea what his plan is, and I don’t care. He isn’t here for me or Sammy. I know that for a fact—he’s never expressed the slightest interest in her, other than to be clear he didn’t want her and signing away his rights. I’ll make sure not to talk about her or bring her to the jobsite. No doubt the draw of doing a project with BAM is what they were interested in, and I’m sure it’s simply an added bonus for Nolan to be able to mess with me a little.” She sighed and tossed her braid over her shoulder. “I don’t think his boss has a clue, and I doubt he’ll jeopardize his career and do anything stupid. I’ll do what I have to. I don’t answer to them, I answer to you. To BAM. He has no power over me business-wise, and I won’t let him have power over me personally.”
I yanked her back into my arms. “You’re so damn strong, Livvy. You amaze me.”
She looked up, her eyes luminous in the bright light. “I think knowing you’ll be close helps me be strong, Van.”
“I will. And anytime you need me, I’m there, do you understand?”
For a moment, she buried her face into my chest, and I held her. I meant what I said. She amazed me. She could have agreed, and in ten minutes I would have had Aiden and Bentley strike down the deal, and she never would have had to see them again. But she refused, and to me, it showed exactly how strong of a person Olivia Rourke was. I was proud of her.
She heaved a long breath and stepped back.
“Okay?” I asked quietly, running my finger down her cheek.
“Okay,” she said. “We’ll do this and make the buildings spectacular. Nothing else matters.”
“Right.” I nodded in agreement.
But I had a backup plan, and I was going to use it if needed.
Two weeks passed with no drama, and Liv and I relaxed a little. As much as I disliked it, I shared the onsite trailer with Nolan. Neither of us was interested in being friends, but I forced myself to at least be polite. There was a small office on each end of the trailer with a common room in between. I learned a lot about Nolan simply by listening and observing. He was a control freak, and as Liv had stated, a perfectionist. I often found my office door shut since it apparently bothered him to see my disorganized chaos. When he mentioned it, I simply grunted.
“I have more important things to do than dust my desk, Nolan,” I muttered.
I didn’t like having him around, but other than being an arrogant jerk with a lot of opinions, Nolan did exactly what he was supposed to do. As a precaution, either Jordan or I happened to be close when Liv showed up at the site. He was rarely alone with her, and I was always nearby. I didn’t like the way he spoke to her or his snide remarks, but I managed to hold my tongue and ignore him. I was careful to treat Liv as a fellow coworker, never reacting to anything he said or did on a personal level, although more than once I had witnessed his remarks business-wise.