Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Oliver watched Tori from a few feet away. They stood inside Joan’s Diner, waiting for food to takeaway and planned to eat outside. She was laughing lightly at something Maya said. Oliver saw right through it. Strain lines edged her eyes. Her jaw was tense, like she was using all her energy to hold her smile in place.

What had she seen? What memory had she recovered that was so terrible, she couldn’t share it? The way her skin had gone a pasty white told him it couldn’t be good.

He needed to know, dammit. But the woman had looked like she was going to be sick. Either that or pass out.

Oliver could have forced it. Hell, he’d interrogated some of the meanest criminals in the world. But there was no way he was about to use any of those tactics on her.

Bodie stepped away from the register to stand beside Oliver. He kept his gaze diverted as he spoke, his voice low. “So what’s going on? Why did Tori look like she needed saving back there?”

There was accusation in Bodie’s voice. And Oliver knew why. Tori had sounded scared. His heart clenched. He didn’t want her scared of him. He just wanted the truth. “She remembered something.”

Bodie was silent for a moment. “And?”

“And she wouldn’t tell me what. But it was bad. You should have seen the way the color drained from her face.”

Bodie finally looked at him. “How did you react when she wouldn’t tell you?”

Oliver ran a hand through his hair. “I just asked her to tell me what she remembered.” Then had gotten frustrated when she wouldn’t.

“If you want to find out, I think you’ll need to make her feel comfortable enough to share.”

Bodie was right. Of course he was. But… “What if I don’t like what she tells me?”

What they’d shared last night had changed something in him. He finally felt like he could let someone in. Have a relationship. But if she wasn’t who he’d hoped, that wouldn’t just put Oliver’s life in danger, it would endanger the entire team.

“I get what you’re saying.” Bodie nodded. “This is important. Whatever she’s hiding, it involves Carter and Hylar. That means it involves us.”

Exactly. It wasn’t just about Oliver. He had to think about his brothers. He didn’t have much choice. “I need to know. And I need to know soon.”

“One of us can question her if it’s easier.”

Oliver was already shaking his head. “It needs to be me.”

Tori wet her lips. She felt Oliver’s eyes on her. Searching. Demanding. She wanted to squirm, but Maya was still talking and she needing to fake it. Fake that she was okay. That the man she was falling for wasn’t about to find out her ugly truth.

Maya paused mid-sentence, a frown creasing her brows. “Tori, are you okay?”

She wasn’t faking it so well, was she? Even Maya could see her struggle. “Of course.”

The other woman studied Tori’s eyes, concern flickering through her own. “Let’s go to the bathroom.”

Tori didn’t have a chance to respond before Maya was taking hold of her hand and tugging her toward the back of the diner. She called something out to Bodie over her shoulder before stepping into the hall.

Instead of going to the women’s bathroom, Maya pulled them into the disabled one, locking the door with a resounding click.

Maya stepped close. “Now, are you okay?”

Her soft voice, in combination with her empathetic eyes, caused some of the pain Tori had been holding in, shielding from the world, to leak out. For the second time that day, tears burned the back of her eyes. Emotion clogging her throat. “I saw something this morning. A memory.”

And I’m struggling to accept it as reality.

“It must have been bad to put that look on your face. Whatever it was, it’ll be okay.”

Tori wasn’t so sure. “I don’t think it will. I like Oliver. A lot.” One night together and everything felt different. “I’m so scared.”

She knew she wasn’t making sense. Her words were jumbled. Just like her mind.

The concern on Maya’s face shifted to confusion. “What are you scared of?”

“That I’m part of the evil that Oliver and his team are hunting.”

Saying those words out loud made them so much more real.

She swallowed a sob, not wanting to fall apart. Not here. Tori looked down at her hands, not able to meet the other woman’s gaze. “I think maybe that weekend we met, I was supposed to do something bad to Oliver. I didn’t,”—couldn’t—“but that was my intention.”

Her mission.

The idea of telling Oliver made her want to run away. Hide somewhere she’d never be found, where the truth would never be known.

Maya touched her arm. “Tori, we haven’t known each other long…but I don’t think you’re a bad person. And if you were meant to do something terrible to Oliver, but didn’t, that’s proof right there.”

It was proof that he’d affected her on a deep level. That she’d felt enough for him to not want to hurt him. It wasn’t proof that she was a good person.

“We don’t know who I am, Maya. Where I live, who my family is. We don’t even know if Tori is my real name!” Panic began to bubble inside her. “Who the hell am I?”

Her voice broke on the last word. Had she come to Marble Falls specifically to hurt Oliver? Even to kill him?

Just as Tori was whirling into a full-blown panic attack, Maya pulled her into her arms. The other woman held her so tightly, it felt like her arms were the only thing keeping Tori together.

“You’re Tori.” Maya spoke quietly into her ear. “The woman who came to Marble Falls looking for answers. The woman who found Oliver and connected with him. Who is genuinely concerned for his wellbeing.” She released her, looking her dead in the eye. “From what I’ve seen, you’re determined, kind, and strong. You don’t need memories to know who you are. It’s in here.” Maya placed a hand above Tori’s heart.

She wanted to believe her. But she couldn’t deny that memory. “I don’t want him to hate me.” To look at me like I’m his enemy.

“Tell him what you remembered this morning. Trust him with your truth. When I made the decision to trust Bodie with mine, everything became easier.”

Trust Oliver. It sounded easy. But her truth was probably a bit different from Maya’s.

She shook her head, forcing a smile she didn’t feel to her lips. “We should get back out there, our food’s probably ready. Thank you.”

“Are you okay?”

No. “Yes.”

Maya gave Tori another hug before leading them back out toward the front of the diner. Oliver was still standing beside Bodie, looking beautiful and dangerous. She risked a quick peek at his face. His gaze was intense and entirely focused on her.

Her eyes darted away.

Bodie lifted the bag in his hand. “Got the food. We gonna eat at the park?”

Tori noticed that Oliver held a bag in his hand too.

Maya threaded her fingers through Bodie’s other hand. “We’re going to jog home. Oliver and Tori are going to take the car and have breakfast at their house. They have stuff they need to talk about.”

The thought of being alone with Oliver had her skin prickling. Not because she thought he’d hurt her. Because she didn’t know how she was going to voice what needed to be said.

Bodie nodded, looking like he understood what she was saying. “Sounds good.”

It didn’t take nearly long enough to say their goodbyes. To climb into Oliver’s car and drive back to his home.

The closer they drew to his house, the more her gut clenched. By the time Oliver closed the front door, all her fine hairs were standing on end.

He placed the food on the kitchen island before turning toward her. He looked a foot taller than he had yesterday. Broader. Stronger.

Nope. She couldn’t do it.

“I’m going to have a shower.”

She’d barely made it two steps before he was in front of her. Blocking her exit once again. “You’ve had some time to digest what you saw. Now I need to know, Tori.”

Time to digest? She didn’t feel like she’d digested anything. She’d rebelled against it. “You don’t want to eat first?”

“Tori…”

She was out of time.

He took a step closer. When his hand reached to touch her, she gave a small flinch.

The frown on Oliver’s face told her he’d noticed. He looked worried. “Please.”

She swallowed. “I don’t want to tell you.”

The frown on his face deepened. “Why?”

“Because I’m scared you’re going to hate me.”

He shook his head. “I won’t.”

But he could…probably would.

She didn’t draw her eyes away from his. Instead, she took a breath and said the words that could destroy them. “That glass of wine that I poured you that night…the one I dropped…” Oh god, just say it, Tori. There’s no way to soften the blow. “I took a capsule out of my pocket and emptied the contents into the glass. Your glass.”

The last part probably wasn’t necessary. But she said it anyway. To bring home the point of what happened. That she’d almost drugged him.

He was still. So still, she wondered if he was breathing. His expression didn’t change.

“Oliver—”

“Did you drop the glass on purpose?”

The one small reprieve of this terrible admission. “Yes.” Did that make her redeemable?

He studied her face, no doubt looking for any signs of deceit. “Do you remember why you made the decision to drop it?”

“I remember thinking that you weren’t the man they told me you were.”

Oliver nodded slowly. His blank expression still giving nothing away. “So they told you I was someone I wasn’t, then sent you here, with instructions to drug me. When you chose not to, they tried to kill you.”

“That’s the most likely narrative.”

The next logical question was, why had she been willing to drug him in the first place? He didn’t ask that question. Knew she didn’t know the answer yet.

He took a step back. She felt the distance immediately.

“Thank you for telling me. I need to tell my team.”

Oliver walked away…and every step he took had Tori feeling more alone. More like the bad guy she’d started to suspect she was.

Tori hadn’t drugged the man, but she’d still hurt him. She’d highlighted how vulnerable he’d made himself by letting her get too close. She’d walked into this town, into his home, earned the man’s trust, then smashed it to pieces.