Chained (24 page)

I shook my head with a laugh. “I’m going to see tonight through, but I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t need to come back again after. It’s time I moved on.”

Charlie nodded resolutely, then gave me that famous cheeky smile of his. “So…no chance of a snog before you go?”

I swatted his arm and he laughed. “Charlie!”

He laughed even harder. “Sorry. I thought it was worth a shot. Hell, if I could talk you into having sex with me out of sympathy, I would.” He winked at me, earning him another smack on the arm.

“Don’t you think we should head on out there now? Poor Sue must be wondering where we are.”

Charlie nodded and got up out of his seat. “Sure. Take my hand, Miss Brown. I shall lead the way.”

I smiled and took his hand, both of us walking out to the bar. I was feeling a little sad about leaving, but also happy at the prospect that I could move on. With nothing standing in my way, Kit and I could get lost in each other. Well, in an ideal world, I would love that to happen. Whether or not it would was a different matter. In fact, thinking about us being lost in each other sounded perfect right about now. I was smiling from ear to ear…until I saw the one person I had been trying to avoid for days.

“Olivia!” He smiled cheerfully, but my smile fell. In fact, my heart sank and my blood started pumping through my veins so wildly, it was the only thing I could hear.

“Uncle?”

“That’s your uncle?” I jumped, forgetting Charlie was standing right beside me.

Uncle turned to Charlie with a glare. “Yes, I am. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to speak with her for a moment.”

The look he gave Charlie said it all.
Don’t you dare mess with me
. It was one that would probably even cause Kit to look away. You never went against this man. Everyone who came across him knew that.

Charlie squeezed my arm a little and I looked at him, nodding. “It’s fine, Charlie. I got this. No doubt my uncle would like a drink.”

He banged the bar, making me jump again. “Yes, that would be perfect. How about a Jack Daniels on the rocks?”

I hissed in a breath, knowing what he was doing. I think his message was loud and clear. He wasn’t happy that I didn’t answer his texts. When he wasn’t happy, the shit was about to get real...and fast.

“I’ll get that for you,” Charlie offered with a smile. He knew I didn’t want to do it.

Uncle put his hand up. “No, thank you. I want Olivia to do it.” He smiled sweetly, but it was laced with hatred towards Charlie. I knew he wanted to tell Uncle to get the hell out of his pub, but Uncle could kill him and put his name up on the wall within five minutes.

Before Charlie could retort, I placed my hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Charlie. I got this.” I smiled, showing him how calm I was, despite the fact my heart was racing.

Charlie didn’t look happy, but nodded. I turned to Uncle, who was glaring at my hand on Charlie’s arm. I very quickly snapped it away.

Uncle smiled sweetly and looked up at me. “Jack Daniels, please, Olivia. Why don’t you join me?”

I shook my head, feeling my hands shake. “No, thank you, Uncle. I’m at work, so I can’t.” I turned away and walked towards the bottle of Jack. The minute I saw it, the familiar burn crept up my throat. Uncle knew what this would be doing to me, but he was telling me that he was more than unhappy with me. He was making me suffer for ignoring him.

I picked up a glass with one shaky hand, the bottle of Jack with the other. Charlie saw me and came over to whisper in my ear, “Fucking hell, Olivia. Why is he doing this? Shall I tell him to fuck off?”

I shook my head violently. “No, please don’t. You don’t understand what kind of man he is. Please leave it.”

“Talking about me?” his silky voice asked from behind the bar.

I turned with a smile plastered on my face, placing the glass and bottle on the bar. “No. Charlie was just making sure I was okay. He’s just a concerned boss. That’s all.”

Uncle smiled, as if that amused him. “Hmmm... He’s not trying to get into your knickers, is he, Olivia?”

I closed my eyes, wishing he would just go away, but also wishing he wouldn’t. That familiar pull was intensifying.

I fetched some ice, put it in the glass, and unscrewed the bottle. Uncle watched as I shakily poured the mixture and pushed the glass his way, holding my breath the whole time.

“Breathe, Olivia.” He winked and took his first swig. “Hmm... So good. I understand why you used to live on the stuff.”

I screwed the cap back on and placed it back on the bar. Uncle motioned towards it. “Are you sure you won’t join me? I remember how frisky you used to get on the stuff. I didn’t take you up on the offer back then, and I’m kind of regretting that now.”

I felt bile rise at the back of my throat. I know I used to get myself into a state and made a pass at him a few times. He was so sweet to me back then and I was so lonely. I just wanted to feel what it was like to be loved...despite the fact I knew he didn’t love me. I guess I wanted to feel anything but the abyss I was in day after day.

“I was a different person back then.”

Uncle raised his eyebrow. “So you were. You’re so much more attractive now. I don’t do comatose females. They just don’t do it for me. I prefer them to know exactly what’s going on.”

I had my hand on the bar and was gripping it so tightly, my knuckles were turning white. “Is this a passing visit, or was there something you wanted to see me about?” My tone was probably a little too unwelcome for his taste but, right now, I just wanted him to leave before the urge to go to him became too strong.

“Livy, I’ve come all this way to see you and this is how you greet me? I think you can do a lot better than that. Come out here so you can show me how much you’ve missed me.”

Closing my eyes, I let the sound of my name on his lips surround me. I wasn’t Olivia now. I was Livy.
His
Livy.

My body tensed. Every part of me either wanted to run, or wrap my arms around him. This was just too strange for words.

I put on my happy face and walked out from behind the bar. When I got close to him, my body went rigid in anticipation of his touch. Uncle pulled me into him and wrapped his big arms around me. The only thing I could do was kiss him on the cheek, smiling as sweetly as I could. He smelled good and the need to stay like this was immense.

Uncle smacked my bottom and my eyes went wide. “That’s better. I don’t want to have to ask next time.” He gave me a warning look.

“Of course not, Uncle. I’m sorry.” I looked across at Charlie and he was staring back at us. I could tell he wasn’t happy. You could cut the tension with a knife.

If I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Uncle pulled his head back and lightly kissed me on the lips. It was only a brief kiss, but enough to taste and smell the Jack on his breath.

My whole body reacted violently. Desire for more flooded me like a raging bull. I wasn’t so much reacting to the kiss. This was a different desire than the one Uncle was after. The look on my face must have said it all because Uncle gave me an appraising smile.

“That’s more like it, Livy. How about another drink?”

I could still smell it on his breath and it was making my mouth dry. Without thinking, I licked my lips, earning a small growl from Uncle.

He moved a little closer to my ear. “That will come later.”

The words of promise filled my head as I unsteadily walked back behind the bar. I knew I could never be alone with him because I wouldn’t be allowed to say no to him and he knew it. Everyone who knew him knew it.

And the biggest, sickest problem of them all? I knew I wouldn’t
want
to say no.

Uncle watched with greedy eyes as he witnessed the affect he had on me. He did have a huge effect and it scared the shit out of me. I didn’t understand what on earth this hold he had over me was, but I wish I could.

Uncle swigged the rest of his drink down, and I held my breath as I poured him another.

“You’ve been out of touch lately, Olivia. Any reason for that?” He was all business now. Playtime was over.

I shook my head. “I’ve just been a little busy.”

“Have you managed to locate what we’re after?”

I shook my head, and Uncle stared at me a little too long for comfort. His icy blue eyes were burning into me. Some people would cower away from his cold stare, but I just wanted to reach out to it.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s taking you so long. Are you sure you have nothing?”

I swallowed and shook my head. “No, nothing.”

Uncle got up and placed his hand in his pocket. “You
will
contact me the minute you do. You only have a couple days left now.” I nodded again and he smiled, placing a twenty on the bar. “Keep the change.” He started to turn, but looked at me again. “Oh, you can finish my drink. I’m not thirsty anymore.” He winked at me and turned to walk out.

Once he shut the door behind him, every cell in my body turned to jelly. I released a breath and desperately tried to take control. The pull he had over me dissipated the minute he was gone. The relief from it was immense.

Looking at the glass on the bar, I felt like I didn’t have control at all. Every nerve was telling me to reach my hand out to grab it and sling it back. I had a shock to the system and my body needed it.

Without thinking, I licked my lips and reached out for the glass, but my hand was suddenly grabbed. I looked across and saw Charlie’s smiling face.

“It’s okay. I got this.”

I nodded, feeling the tears well up. I always thought I had a handle on things until something like this cropped up to test me. I was just as bewitched by the stuff now as I was all those months ago. It had been almost eight months since I drank any kind of alcohol at all, but the burn to taste it was still as strong...and Jack Daniels was my weapon of choice. It was the one I would always turn to, ,but if I didn’t have any, I’d settle for anything.

Charlie quickly took the glass, dumping the contents into the sink. Once he put the glass in the dishwasher, I let out a sigh of relief.

He looked up at me with a worried expression. “Olivia, who was that guy? No uncle I know would behave like that with his niece. Quite frankly, he made my skin crawl.”

I smiled meekly at him. “He’s not actually my uncle. Just someone who helped me out a long time ago.”

He leaned a little closer. “And this man is the type who doesn’t give favours away without something in return?”

I nodded with a sigh. “You could say that.”

“Fuck, Olivia. What kind of shit did you get yourself into?”

I shook my head at him. “Believe me, you don’t want to know. It’s always best that no one knows.”

Charlie sighed. “I don’t like this, Olivia. I don’t like that you know people like that. Kit’s not one of them, is he?”

I winced at his words, but shook my head. “No, Kit’s nothing like Uncle.”

“Why do you call him that when he obviously isn’t?”

I shrugged. “I never knew his name. He always preferred I called him Uncle.”

Charlie huffed. “Pervert.”

I swatted him again. “Don’t, Charlie. It wasn’t like that.”

His eyes widened. “You could have fooled me. He had his hands all over you, and you let him.”

I glared at him. “Uncle is a man to whom you don’t say no.”

Charlie sighed again. “I don’t like this, Olivia.”

I put my hand up. “Leave it, Charlie. I have a handle on things. Don’t worry about me.”

Charlie banged his hand on the bar. “I can’t fucking help that.” He glared at me one last time and walked away. Once I heard his office door bang shut, I jumped.

Sue came over to me with a worried frown. “Is everything okay?”

I nodded. “Everything’s fine, Sue. Charlie and I just had a little misunderstanding.”

With a towel in her hand, she started drying one of the glasses. “Things have been tense around here lately. Are you two all right with each other?”

I nodded. “We are, but I do have to tell you something.”

Her eyes alert, she nodded for me to carry on. “What’s that?”

“Tonight is my last night at the bar. Nothing lasts forever and I guess this is my time to say goodbye.”

Sue bit her lip. “I’m sorry to hear that, Olivia. Are you happy with the decision?”

I smiled, thinking of Kit. “I am. Don’t get me wrong. I will miss everyone here, but it’s time I moved on.”

Sue smiled and placed her hand on my arm. “Then I’m happy for you. You will be missed, but I wish you all the luck in the world.”

“Thank you,” I replied with a smile. I was going to need all the luck I could get.

*****

Three hours went by with no sign of Charlie. He was sulking and I knew the reason why. I, on the other hand, had more pressing things to worry about. Things were a little quiet at the bar, which made my brain work overtime. I wanted out and I wanted to go home. Home to Kit. Home to his arms. Home to forever... If he’d still have me. I knew I had to tell him everything. I had a sick feeling in my stomach that he might not want me after I revealed the person I was. I wasn’t sure he’d deem our relationship worthy enough.