Fitz POV
"Who is she?"
My daughter repeated her question and moved closer to me, demanding to be picked up. I lifted her into my arms and her focus was immediately on Nicole, examining every inch of her. Nicole stood still holding my little girl's gaze just as strongly. Neither of them seemed to back down and I felt like I was caught in the middle of a possible showdown.
"Is your leg, okay?" CJ asked her. She was perched high in my arms and leaned forward and down, knowing that I would never drop her. She had a habit of innocently using me.
"My leg is okay"
I was surprised hearing Nicole speak. I hadn't expected her to say anything to my daughter.
"How come you're sleeping here?"
I could only hope she wouldn't freak out from the slew of questions CJ was bound to ask. I watched Nicole advert her eyes and bite her lip as she became seemingly nervous.
"What's your name?"
She blinked a few times before her eyes darted from the steps to the office door. She probably was trying to figure out which escape she wanted to use.
"Are you my daddy's friend? Will you be here in the morning?"
"You don't need to worry about that" I spoke up trying to redirect my daughter, but she paid no attention to me.
"Will you?" she said asking again.
Nicole looked at me unsure of what she should say.
"Alright detective, that's enough for now. It's late and we all need to get back to bed." I hope she would drop the subject, but doubted that she would.
"Okay daddy, I'll go to bed now."
I looked at her in confusion and wondered what she had up her sleeve. There was no way she was willing to walk away from such a situation. I didn't have time to question her motives when Nicole started to move slowly back into the room.
"Do you need any help?" I asked her and she shook her head, refusing to look at me before closing the door behind her.
Liv POV
I didn't want to be here and he knew but it insisted on dragging me into the office that held memories I didn't choose to think of. It was too soon. This had been my father's office, but it was clear that his men had moved on just fine.
"Let's get started. We are already running behind and I really hope the next time I set a time for a meeting, you will respect it. My time is valuable and doesn't need to be wasted."
"She needed to be here."
"Ballard just shut your fucking mouth. She didn't need to be here."
"I can leave" I said shakily. They always made me nervous but the fact that my father was in charge made them show me an abundance of respect and they never even looked in my direction. That wasn't the case now.
"Stay. I'll start with you first just so you feel some sort of importance here. You should already know your father made sure that you would be more than taken care of and you've always been aware of the sums deposited into your trust fund and bank account on occasion."
"I don't want it."
"Excuse me?"
"I said I don't want it. Leave my bank account alone. My trust fund is only increased every two years, so I will donate the money that's come in for the past few years, but I don't want anything else."
"Oh, so you're just gonna spit on your father's grave like that?"
"I'm not spitting on anyone's grave. I spoke with my father about this and he respected my choices. I'm a grown woman and I'm capable of doing whatever the hell I want."
"That's fine, you don't.." Jacob spoke up next to me, trying to help although I didn't ask.
"The hell it is fine! You listen to me.."
"Just let it go Rus. Let her do what she wants."
I watched him take a deep breath before bending his neck and cracking it. He leaned back into the large leather chair and tapped the pen he held in his hand against the table.
"I knew this would happen but I didn't expect it to happen so soon. Ballard, let me make one thing clear and hear me when I say it because this is the only time I will. I am in charge now."
"Rowan left us BOTH in charge!"
I jumped the second Russell stood from his chair and pointed a gun directly at Jake's head. I had no clue where he'd pulled it from or how he had done it so fast.
"Fucking Ballard. You always were his little bitch! Following every single rule by the book and it's exactly why you THINK you're in charge. Sit the fuck down like everyone else, and take notes."
He obeyed and sat down. Russell lifted his chin towards him, and Jacob Ballard was obedient to the gesture and moved his chair further away from the head of the table. Russell sat the gun on the table facing the seven of us that were staring at him, before he unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down.
"Like I was saying, I am in charge now. Nothing happens without going through me and that includes YOU."
His eyes focused on me and fought the urge to run out of the room.
"What do you want from me?"
"Well that trust fund you have will continue to deposit money into your account for the next five years and there's no way of getting around it. I've checked and it looks like I'm shit out of luck in that department."
"I don't want the money but there's nothing I can do about it."
"Oh but there is. See there's always a way around things Olivia… what's your middle name again? Caroline?"
"Carolyn" I whispered the correction only out of habit. It was a running joke that my father wanted my middle name to be Caroline, but my mother preferred Carolyn and won the debate. Still, my father called me "Sweet Caroline"
"I don't give a shit what your name is. When a man has a son he builds him up in the way he would want him to be. In this case, Rowan would've shaped him from day one to know the business, understand the business and one day run the business. Instead you happened. Rowan had a daughter"
I adverted my gaze down at the way he spat out 'daughter' as though it was an insult to him.
"A daughter that not only refuses what he left for her, but one that never gave a two pieces of shit about him"
"Fuck You!" Something inside of me snapped and I stood up facing him angrily. The gun on the table was long forgotten. " When he got sick, it was ME that left my job permanently and came to take care of him, not any of you goons that worked for him! Me!"
"Fuck his death! What did you do for his LEGACY?"
He stood up and moved closer to me, until I backed into the closest wall near me and he was so close that I could feel his breath.
" Not a damn thing. This is my company now and since there is no way of stopping MY money from going into your trust fund, I have a way for you to give it back."
"What way is that?"
I was too afraid to ask, but at the same time, I was too afraid not to ask. He stared at me for a few more seconds, examining my face, probably realizing that no one here had ever stood that close to me. My father had been very strict when it came to his men and me. He leaned closer to me and turned his head at the last minute before inhaling deeply near my neck.
"You work for me now."
I had no clue what that meant, but it didn't take him long to dismiss me and continue on with his meeting. I walked down the halls with different men staring at me as I did so. All bets were off now that my father was dead and they didn't think twice about staring at me as though I was a piece of meat being served for dinner.
I went to the front of the building and searched for the ticket in my purse before handing it to the valet. The fifteen story building had other offices inside and with only a handful of workers there, things were seemingly backed up from the lunch crowd that were arriving back to work. Wanting to get away as quickly as possible, I asked for my keys and caught the elevator down to the parking garage. I had made it as far as the row where I'd left my car when I felt someone watching me. The parking garage was well lit but it was still completely creepy to walk through it alone. I turned around and saw no one behind me. I double checked, looking in each direction before staring behind me for a few more seconds. It was when I finally turned to head towards my car that I saw him standing near my trunk.
"Olivia, I just wanted to make sure you are prepared to come into work tomorrow."
Russell moved closer to me and took the keys out of my hand before unlocking my doors as well as the trunk. He lifted his hand and showed me a briefcase, and then put it in the trunk before moving back into my personal space.
"You can look through that once you make it home." His eyes roamed my body closely and I felt bile tickle the back of my throat as I was thoroughly disgusted. "You're going to make an alluring asset to the team." His hands were on my hip and I began to panic at what he would do next. "The ways that you will be able to get a man to talk…" he licked his lips and moved closer to me and harshly kissed my mouth, his tongue moving against my tightly closed lips before licking a trail from the bottom of my chin to the top of my lips. "Oh yea…. You're gonna be my favorite asset."
My eyes flew open, desperately fighting my way out of unconsciousness and I knew someone was watching me. It was an instinct I had picked up on months ago and it was a good thing. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down before thinking of anything that would erase the thoughts from my mind. I couldn't call them dreams because it was more of a memory that I was reliving. I turned over and didn't see anyone in the room and wondered if I was just being paranoid. Then I heard it. The oversized desk chair moved, squeaking in the process. It had to have been the little girl.
"I know you're in here." I whispered the words not wanting to scare or upset her. She was young and obviously curious about a strange woman being in her home.
She didn't move right away, but when she was ready, she moved from behind the desk and came to stand in front of me.
"Are you still sleepy?"
I didn't respond to her and wondered if it would make her leave the room had I said yes. Her father couldn't have known she was in here. If I read anything from his expression last night, it was that he had no plans of her ever knowing I was here. I had no clue how he planned to handle the situation. What I did know was that last night they had gone to his bedroom and hadn't come back out. I would've known because it had taken the longest time for me to fall back asleep. I hadn't heard her come in, but there were certain little noises she made as she hid herself behind the desk and I wondered exactly how long she had been watching me.
Sitting up, I brought my leg down and stretched it a few times.
"Does it hurt you?"
"Not really."
"I hurt my leg one time. Daddy was really scared because he thought I broke it but I didn't"
"My ankle is sprained." I said before I could stop myself.
"Oh." Her eyes squinted and she looked up for a moment assumingly trying to figure out how to place the word "sprained." She stared at me a while longer before taking a few steps, and joining me on the couch.
She moved to her knees before bringing a hand up and touching my hair. It had been beautiful when I left town, but after dyeing it and using only a bathroom to rinse and wash it, my hair was in dire need of attention.
"Your hair is really soft and curly. How does it do that? Can you do my hair like yours?"
I didn't know how to answer her questions and even if I did, she had continued talking as though she didn't need me to answer her.
"My Grandma goes to church and there are a lot of brown people there. I like them a lot. Her best friend is Ms. Donna and she's brown and she makes the best cookies. Do you know Ms. Donna? Do you make good cookies?"
It was so obvious that she was a friendly, accepting child but I wondered how sheltered she might be.
"I don't really know how to make cookies."
"Maybe Ms. Donna can teach you! Do you know how to make any food?"
"I can make some food."
"Can you make breakfast stuff?"
I nodded.
"Can you make me some?"
I froze, not expecting her to ask that question. I wished that her father would walk into the room and break the whole questionnaire up. I didn't need her thinking I was sticking around because I had no plans to. All I wanted was to allow my ankle to heal and keep moving as far north as I could. I wanted to leave today.
"Please. Daddy is snoring so that means he's gonna sleep longer and I'm hungry now."
I looked at my ankle for a second, checking to see if the swelling had gone down at all. I was afraid to put unnecessary weight on it, but knew I'd have to start somewhere. I took a second to stand up but when I was finally on two stable feet, the little girl perked up and stood up next to me.
"I can help you walk. Can I tell you my name?
I nodded and she smiled at up me before standing on the couch to match my height and held out her hand.
"I'm Cassandra Jane, but everyone calls me CJ. What's your name?"
Looking into her eyes, I took a shaky breath knowing that I couldn't lie to her. She reminded me so much of the only child that had ever been a part of my life and I missed her dearly. I could never lie to her either.
"My name's Olivia."
She took out everything she wanted from the refrigerator as I watched, hoping I wouldn't disappoint her with the food. Cooking wasn't something I necessarily enjoyed but if I was hungry, I cooked. It was that simple.
"There you go Ms. Olivia"
"Just Olivia" I said in a nervous voice. I looked at the cartoon of egg, pack of bacon, cheese, hot dogs and biscuits she laid out before looking at her confused. One of those didn't belong.
"Daddy makes me eggs with hot dogs in them, and then he puts cheese on top."
She walked closer to where I was standing before openly talking again.
"The pan for the eggs are in there, and the flat long ones are under the stove and then my plates are up there in that cabinet."
It was obvious she either cooked with her father on occasion, or watched him like a hawk when he cooked. She knew where everything is and I wondered how old she was but didn't ask. I sadly didn't want her to think I cared because I didn't. I wouldn't be around long enough to care and it wasn't fair to give her false hope.
It was almost fifteen minutes later that I sat a plate of food in front of her and she smiled and thanked me before digging in. She took a few bites of the eggs and gave me a 'thumbs up' along with another smile.
"Juice please"
I turned to grab the container of orange juice and went to the cabinet for a cup. I found it quickly because I remembered opening the wrong cabinet while looking for the plates. I handed her the cup and watched as she drank a little before pushing it away and continued eating. She didn't pay me much attention and stayed focused on the food. That gave me a few minutes to really look at her.
She was a pretty little girl. I had spent the better part of twenty-four hours with her father near me, so I knew exactly where she got her hair and eye color from. Her hair had a curl to it and came just above her shoulders. She was very bright and inquisitive but she was also small, so I couldn't tell how old she was.
She was done with the majority of the food, leaving some on the plate, and looked up at me.
"How many days are you staying here for?"
"I'm not sure. I might be leaving today."
"But why? Can't you stay here longer?"
I shook my head not wanting to explain myself to her. I hadn't even explained myself to her father.
"I don't have any of my things here."
"What do you need? Maybe we have some stuff here you can use, or we can go shopping. Daddy's kinda good at shopping for girly stuff."
I smiled and pictured the two of them walking in and out of the little girl's section and Fitz caving into her every plea.
"Well I don't have anything. I don't even have my purse"
"I have a purse!" she interrupted! "It's a big one. My daddy brought it home and hid it but I found it! I think it's a surprise for me cause it's gots lots of stuff in it and it's heavy!"
She was out of the room in a heartbeat and I followed her to the living room. She was moving pillows and a throw blanket out of the way and I looked around the living noticing the colorful decorations. If she would have told me that she did the decorating herself, I would've believed her. The couch was a pretty grey color, but it was the brightly colored pillows that lit the room up.
"Here it is!"
She came from behind the couch and my expression stopped her in her tracks. My mouth had fallen open, but I closed it quickly and a look of anger replaced it. Just by the look on her face, I knew she thought she was in trouble. But it wasn't her fault. Her father was to blame. The purse she was holding was mine and I wanted to know why he hadn't told me that he had found it.
"Do you not like it?"
Her voice was apprehensive and I felt bad that my appearance had shaken her.
"I'm not upset. This purse is actually mine. I think your daddy found it for me and was keeping it."
"But how come it wasn't upstairs with you?"
She wasn't dumb. She knew just as I did that her father hadn't given it to me on purpose.
"CJ, thank you for keeping me company this morning, but I think it's time for me to go."
"Now? What about daddy, aren't you gonna say bye?"
She looked around frantically and I wondered if she was trying to find a diversion. Had many people, females ever been over and spent time with her?
"I think it's best if I leave soon."
"I can explain."
His voice stopped me in my tracks and I turned towards the steps to see him with a guilty look on his face.
Fitz POV
I fought waking up that morning. It was Sunday and I hadn't set my alarm for church and knew I had extra time to sleep in. CJ would wake me up when she was tired of entertaining herself like she always did and I was more than okay with that. I felt the space next to me on the bed to see if she was still lying there and found the sheets cold. Sitting up in bed, I looked around and sighed. I would need to tell Nicole about finding her purse and figure out where to go from there. She didn't fool me. I looked through her purse, staying mindful of her privacy as much as possible but found too much cash for anyone to carry on them at one time. I also found a passport and social along with a birth certificate and knew that wasn't normal, yet I still didn't know her story. Maybe she had just been on her way to put a payment down on a house or pay back a loan at the bank, or who knows. I just knew that it was something big that brought the sadness to her eyes.
I relieved myself in the bathroom before washing up and walking down the hall towards the office to see if she wanted breakfast. I figured CJ was downstairs stealing extra tv time and although I didn't hear the tv on, I knew she was sometimes good about keeping it low so it wouldn't wake me. I was prepared to knock on the door but saw that it was wide open and my heart instantly began to race until I could make out two distinguished voices from downstairs.
Taking the steps as quietly as I could, I listened to the words Nicole spoke to my daughter and knew I had to make my presence known and explain myself.
She turned to look at me and I couldn't help but feel guilty as she held the purse in her hands. That was her property and I had hid it from her.
"Can I please explain myself?"
She refused to look at me, but when she didn't disagree or walk out, I took that as a yes.
"Ceej, I need you to play in your room for a little while, okay?"
"But I wanna talk to Olivia some more."
Olivia?
I turned to the woman and when I looked her, I knew right away that she didn't lie to my daughter about her name. It was me that she had lied to.
"Cassandra Jane, this is one of those times I need you to look me in the eyes and be obedient. Please go play in your room for a while. I will come get you when I'm done talking, is that understood?"
Her pout was prominent, but she nodded and muttered a 'yes sir' before she started for the stairs.
I moved to sit on the couch but stopped when I heard my daughter's feet scramble towards us. I thought she was coming to grab something, but when I turned around to see, I found her with her arms wrapped around "Olivia's" waist.
"Bye Olivia" she said before running up the steps.
I was surprised with CJ's reaction to her and wondered what they had done while I was sleeping that had my little girl upset over her possibly leaving.
I sat on the couch and waited for her to sit down, but she stood there with a posture that told me she was ready to flee.
"When you were asleep that first night, I went out to see if I could find your car and I lucked out. I was quick and I got your purse but I couldn't get anything that might have been in the trunk or backseat. I'm sorry."
"There was nothing else to get"
When she spoke, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I expected her to listen for as long as she saw fit and walk out the door.
"Oh. Well that's good. If you just had a purse, you must not have been going or coming from that far. Do you live close by?" I thought my question was innocent enough.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"What?" I asked.
My hopes were that with the way she was clearly so open with my daughter, that she would answer at least some of my questions, but I probably should have known better.
"Why didn't you tell me that night that you had found my purse?"
"I thought that you might try to leave and I knew that you needed my help. You were in no shape to go anywhere, but I really believed that you would try to leave. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"Why not yesterday once I was up?"
"Are you running from someone?"
I blurted the question out and prayed that she wouldn't end the discussion and just walk away.
"Why would you ask me that?" her voice was low and she refused to even look in my direction.
"You had a nightmare the first night. Or maybe it was just a dream. But dreams don't sound like what I heard you having."
She looked at me then. Her face was expressionless and she finally made her way to the couch but still sat on the opposite end away from me.
"What did I say?"
I shifted in my seat wishing I didn't have to bring it up to her but knew I had to be honest with her if I wanted her to trust me in any way.
"You were talking about never going back and how you had to just keep moving so they wouldn't find you and kill you."
Liv POV
I hated that the dreams continued to come but even more, I hated that he had been a witness to one of them. They were my burden and my secrets all bundled into one perfect package and I didn't know how to stop them. It was weird knowing that he was aware, even a tiny bit, of what was happening in my life. He clearly knew that I wasn't from around here and had been running. Although he knew of nothing else, it was nice to know that someone else had even an inkling of what I was going through. Carrying this all alone was hard and I could feel it completely sucking the life out of me.
"The dreams won't stop. I could be here, or I could be five hundred miles from here and it wouldn't matter. They've been going on for months now."
My voice was just above a whisper for two reasons. Firstly, I felt ashamed at my circumstances, and secondly I wasn't used to having someone that I could trust even a little bit. I trusted Fitz enough that I knew he wouldn't physically harm me and he wouldn't turn me in or throw me out unless he felt that he or CJ were in danger.
"Can I ask you three questions?"
I didn't respond to him, but I made eye contact with him, which was better than nothing.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
I nodded once, grateful for his last statement. It's probably what would happen.
"Who are you running from?"
I adverted my eyes quickly and he moved on to the next question just as fast.
"Will you stay here so I can try to help you? Or even until someone can come and get you? Someone you trust."
I didn't know why he wanted a strange woman in his home, especially with his daughter around but I had to be honest and say I was grateful. I had no place else to go.
"Why? Why do you care?"
"My gut tells me that you're someone that needs caring for. Not pity. Just someone to care."
His words struck a chord with me. I did need someone to care and I didn't have that.
"I'll stay"
"Ok, good. My last question is about what CJ called you earlier. Is your name Olivia?"
I had been honest with the little girl because I couldn't lie to her, but I had no intentions of offering her father the same honesty. Until now. If he was willing to trust me with being in the presence of his daughter, then the least I could trust him with would be my name.
"Yes. My name is Olivia Pope."