HER || 18+ (OLD VERSION)

T H I R T Y - s e v e n

"Fuck."

I looked down at her, still dressed in her pretty dress, body pale and black hair sticking to her face.

"She's alright," Kavin spoke, I barely heard him. "She's in shock, and you are already aware of her condition. I'd recommend a diet chart to build up her strength...and not scaring her, it's apparent that her mental health isn't the best."

No shit.

"Leave. Send me the chart," Zavier, who was sitting on her right on her bed, said to him and Kavin walked out.

I picked her hand up, sitting on her left, looking at the thin rings of her fingers.

She didn't move. There was a frown between her eyebrows. I smoothed it and cupped her cold face.

"She's going to Paris," Ashton said, pacing the room. "No way in hell is she not going to Paris now."

I knew that.

I ran my hand through her hair, not saying anything. What could I say? She wasn't supposed to see what we were doing to Declan, she still blamed herself for what happened to Carrie Arnaud.

There was a knock on the door.

"It's Giovanni."

"Come in," Ashton muttered, finally settling down and sitting on the chair near the window.

Giovanni entered the room, his gaze went from us to Olivia and then back at us. "You fucked up big time."

"Why are you here?" Zavier asked, his eye fixed on Olivia.

"I came to see if Olivia was awake and tell you what I found out about Carrie Arnaud. It did not make sense why Carrie left all of her wealth to Olivia, or that she saved her...but now it does."

We would have been able to find it out, too, if we had not been preoccupied with a murder.

"Why?" I had a little interest in the guy tied to a chair in the basement right now.

"Look at this." He gave me his phone. "Declan did not go to prison for shooting a random dude. He shot his own father."

"Sounds familiar," Zavier muttered as I looked down at the police report.

"How did he got out?" I asked.

"The Skull," Ashton said. "Probably. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Igor was looking for criminals to do his dirty work and to make sure the whole thing ran smoothly, he sometimes erased a person's crime by proving that someone else, normally an innocent, had done it. He did this only if the criminal was well known and Declan must be well known for this, Carrie Arnaud was famous."

Giovanni nodded. "He killed his father for money but it went to Carrie. He had a gambling addiction."

"Who did he owe to?"

"Some thugs at Paris."

"It makes sense why he said shit to Olivia now," I said. "He wanted her to give him the money. She wrongfully assumed that he was angry at her because of his mother's death and did not even think what he really wanted."

"If he had asked her directly for the money, she would have looked deeper into it," Zavier said. "And now that we are hunting for everyone who worked for the Russians, he could let let that happen."

Giovanni looked unhappy. "Stop being smart, I wanted to explain."

Ashton rolled his eyes. "You can tell us why she left it for Olivia. It doesn't make sense."

"They were close," Giovanni shrugged. "You should have seen them together. They were like mother and daughter, I guess. Olivia was...not really happy in Paris but Carrie helped her."

Olivia was not happy in Paris.

"Close enough for Carrie to give her life for Olivia's?" I asked, twirling a strand of her black hair around my finger.

"That..." Giovanni frowned. "I'm still trying to figure out. Carrie's actions thayy night do not make sense, she did not jump out. That makes no sense. It's like she knew it was going to happen and had prepared herself to save Olivia and sacrifice herself."

That kind of fire seemed intentional. I had not said anything in front of her because I didn't want her to worry but something didn't sit right.

"Let's go home," I said, getting off the bed. We were currently in one of the rooms of the building where the ball was held. It had ended a few hours ago, now only the Valentinos, Sokolovs, and Kylie lingered.

Ashton picked Olivia up and we walked out of the room.

After assuring everyone that she was okay, we walked out of the building and settled in the limousine.

She woke up five minutes later.

. . .