Thanks for the reviews guys. Sorry this has taken longer to update than I planned. It's also a little shorter than I had planned but I edited it so the next chapter is now longer.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 5

Olivia woke up the next morning and headed downstairs. She had checked in Richard's room and found he wasn't there. She was happy thinking he had already left for work, it meant she didn't have to face him. She walked into the kitchen and began preparing to make the children's breakfast. While the coffee machine slowly filled, she reached into the cupboard and pulled out a mug.

She almost jumped out of her skin when she turned around to find Richard standing right behind her. The mug fell from her hand and smashed by her feet. "Shit!" she cursed.

She tried to step aside so she could go find something to clean up the broken cup with, but Richard placed one hand firmly on her side and the other up to her face. His face was right in hers and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She could also see he was wearing yesterday's clothes, they were completely wrinkled.

"Richard, you're drunk!" she pointed out to him as she turned her face away from the alcohol fumes.

"I need to talk to you." he told her, reaching up to turn her face towards him again.

"Back off!" she warned him as he held her firmly in place.

"Why won't you let me talk to you?" he asked

"Because you're drunk!" she said again as she pushed him away from her.

"I'm not drunk!" he said as he stumbled backwards crashing into the cupboards.

She reached out and steadied him, "Clearly." she shot sarcastically at him.

Not giving him time to block her in again, she quickly walked away from him and out of the kitchen into the hallway. He chased after her and grabbed her wrist and turned her to face him and once more blocked her in, by backing her up against the wall. He kept hold of her wrists so she couldn't push him away again.

It surprised her that even when he was drunk and clumsy his grip was still gentle. "Please, I need to know what I've done wrong?" he said to her.

"Richard, we'll talk when you're sober!" she told him, pulling her wrists free and trying to side step away from him.

"Talk to me now!" he said stepping in front of her, blocking her in once more. "Nichole, if I've done something to hurt or upset you I am sorry, so sorry, but I can't make it right if you ignore me and lock me out of your room at night."

"You think it will all be okay if I allow you to sleep with me?"

"That's not what I'm saying…" he began but she cut him off.

"This is all just going too quick!"

Richard was a little shocked. "It wasn't! Everything was going fine, so why has it changed now?" he said as he took hold of her hands.

She instantly pulled them out of his grip, and tried to walk away from him but he grabbed hold of her again and pulled her to him. He reached up and touched her face again. "Please, please don't walk away from me. Just tell me what I've done wrong?"

Olivia looked at him for a moment, his eyes looked so sad but she didn't allow herself to give in. She pushed him back slightly and reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace. She put it in his hand and said, "I don't want this." she said.

"What? Why? What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it? Try I don't want something that you gave to each one of your wives!"

Richard looked at her, unable to answer at first.

"Don't try to deny it, Richard. Krista told me."

"That's why you've been off with me since the Charity ball? My God, Krista is a bitch. She'll say anything if she thinks it will hurt someone, especially someone I love!"

"I couldn't care less about her, Richard. I just don't understand why you would give another wife something that belonged to your dead first wife and then do it again and then give it to me!"

"It's been in my family for over two hundred years. It means a lot to me and so do you that's why I wanted you to have it."

Olivia just shook her head. "What happened between us shouldn't have happened. I just want to be able to forget about it and get on with my job here. "

"Nichole, please don't do this to me now. I had the worst day in work the other day…"

"You had a bad day at work, that's why you don't want me to end this?"

"No of course not, I love you and I want to be with you."

Olivia just shook her head, he was making this so hard for her. "Why did you have such a bad day in work?" she asked, trying to change the subject. She didn't have the energy to keep up the discussion.

Richard knew what she was doing, but he went along with it anyway. "I had some cop accusing me of killing my wives again." he said as he sat down on the couch.

"What?" she asked. The SVU was the only one working this case so she couldn't help but wonder who had spoken to him.

"He said as soon as they had the evidence I would be going away for life, that I'd never see my children again, just like they could never see their mothers again because of me."

"Who was it?" she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Dunno, I haven't dealt with him before. He said his name was Amari or Amaro or something."

Olivia just looked at him. She knew just who he meant. Richard was about to carry on their earlier conversation when the sounds of Benjamin and Susan running down the stairs echoed around them.

"Stop running!" Richard roared at them.

The volume of his voice made her almost jump out of her skin. She looked at him, wondering what kind of man she had let herself fall for. She knew she was right making this all come to a stop now. She just wanted to concentrate on doing her real job and bringing a murderer down.

~0~0~0~0~

Olivia had used the first free opportunity she had to go see Amaro. She caught up with him outside the precinct as he was getting out of his car. She pulled the door open for him and immediately laid into him. "What the hell are you playing at, Amaro?"

"Nice to see you to, Liv!" he replied.

"You blindsided me!" she yelled.

"No, I was doing my job." he said calmly.

"And what I'm not?" she asked in disbelief.

Amaro just looked at her. He didn't think for a second she wasn't doing her job but he had a feeling what was going on and the look he gave her, and the sheepish look she gave him back, only confirmed his thoughts.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"I can take care of myself!" she told him as she walked back towards her own car.

"I'm not saying you can't but you're my partner and whether you like it or not I am going to have your back."

"I can handle Richard." she said as she pulled her car door open.

Amaro quickly shut the door so she couldn't get in her car to escape him. "Richard is a dangerous man, a very violent dangerous man. If you let your guard down around him for even a second it could be game over for you."

Olivia just looked at him. She knew all this, had worked it out for herself. "I think maybe you're getting too involved." Amaro said to her. She knew that too.

"You told the Captain?" she asked.

Amaro shook his head. "Nope. I trust you to work this one out. Like I said though, I'm your partner and I have your back, all the time. I'm just a phone call away. If you need me I can be there in a second. I just want you to be careful around him. Every woman who has fallen for this guy has ended up being brutally raped and murdered. I don't want that to happen to you." he said.

"Look, nothing is going on…anymore. I'm gonna get this so-of-a-bitch." she told him determinedly.

~0~0~0~0~

Olivia walked back into a quiet house. She walked silently towards the kitchen but stopped when she saw the study door was open. She glanced in and saw Richard, now changed and showered, sitting at his desk. A cup of coffee was sat in front of him.

Richard looked up at her and said, "This is my fourth cup of coffee."

Olivia offered a weak smile. She glanced around the room, trying to be subtle about it. Her eyes fell upon a picture. It was Richard and Martin, next to Martin was Krista. Olivia thought back to what she had said about the necklace, but then she thought about what Richard had said about Krista. "Krista is a bitch. She'll do anything to hurt someone, especially someone I love."

Richard could see she was thinking about something. "What's up?" he asked, his voice so quiet and sad.

"When you said about Krista, hurting anyone you love, what did you mean? Why say that?" she asked as she walked over to his desk.

"She's always had a problem with the woman I date, and she hated the one's I married."

"Why?" she asked.

Richard sat back in his chair and said, "She and I dated in college. She thought it was a lot more serious than I did. I went working away for a year and when I was away she slept with Martin. She ended up pregnant and I gave them my blessing when Martin said they were going to get married. He felt awful that they'd slept together but he really liked her."

Olivia was taking all this in. It could be potential evidence. She found herself glued to his words as he continued.

"I don't think that Krist ever wanted to marry him. If it wasn't for her becoming pregnant I don't think she would have married him, but then another baby came along and well she was stuck. Truth is I don't think she ever got over me. She says things from time to time. It's Martin I feel sorry for."

Olivia could only look at him, she was back in full Detective mode and she wanted to find out more. She sat down opposite him and listened as he continued…

TBC

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