The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 7

She was laying in the hammock in the back yard when she heard the footsteps approaching. Ollie climbed on, causing it to sway and almost tipping them both in before she wrapped her frame completely around Lark.

“Are you okay?”

“No. What the hell was that all about?” she stared at the stars in the sky. “Why did Max jump him?”

“You were crying, Lark.” Ollie whispered playing with her hair. “He always got pissed off when someone made you cry. He’s been this way for as long as we’ve known you. Your tears are probably one of the only things to make Max snap.”

“He could get in trouble.”

“Riggs told him to get the f**k out of there and.I called in a favor with a friend.”

“A friend?” Lark chuckled, “the same friend you called last night in the car?”

“No. The person I called last night was one of mine. He is my version of a Riggs. When we were at the bar, there was a guy there who tried twice to drug your drink. My guy made him disappear. Can’t have guys like him in the clubs.”

“Jesus, Ollie.” When Ollie shrugged beside her, she sighed, “Douglas can’t disappear.”

“No but my friend in Houston will make sure he knows if he talks about what happens, he will.”

“How do you know these people?”

“Grandpa Gael introduced me to a family from South America a few years back. The son just took over the family’s business endeavors. I made a call to him today and let him know we were sending Douglas back to Houston in a bus with a medical team and I needed him to keep his mouth shut. He said he’d handle it.”

“In a bus?”

“Ambulance.” Ollie chuckled at Lark’s question. “More concerned about the mode of transport than the status of your ex.”

“You said there was a medical team.”

Ollie giggled, “we’re rubbing off.”

“No. I am worried about him. I saw how hard Max was punching his face. There was a lot of blood and I think I heard Fallon say something about finding a tooth and questioning if the tooth fairy would take it if she left it under her pillow.”

“Your sister is weird,” Ollie deadpanned.

“Right. My sister is weird. Your sister refuses to bathe.”

“You missed it earlier. Your mom told my mom and they, along with Nana Prue, cornered her in the yard, got her down to her underwear and hosed her off. To avoid an incomplete reading experience, visit Jobn’i’b.com. They then dumped a bucket over her full of soapy water. I guess as soon as your mother suggested she was probably using toys on herself in the bedroom and then joining the dinner table without washing, my mother freaked.” Ollie was laughing in earnest now. “Mori is pissed at Fallon for putting the thoughts in their heads.”

“It is gross, Ollie.”

“I know. We were weird kids but not that weird.”

“She’s nineteen. At her age, I am certain neither of us were doing such things.”

“I wouldn’t know. You weren’t here at nineteen.”

She elbowed Ollie, “you know why.”

“He took you away from me,” Ollie admitted quietly. “It hurt me when you left, and I know why, and I understood why but it still hurt.”

“We’ve talked about this a hundred times Ollie. When I went to Houston you were already there. We spent six years together in Houston. You left me two years ago and I don’t bring it up every other conversation.”

“I guess.” Ollie pouted and pursed her lips. “I get it. I just wish it hadn’t been Max to chase you away.”

“Why? Is this where you tell me you were in love with me?”

“f**k off,” Ollie snickered and punched her arm. “As if. I’d sooner f**k Max.” She made a gagging sound. “I might swing all the way around, but brothers and sisters are not even close to my wheel of wonders.”

Lark laughed loudly at Ollie’s words.

“I only meant, if it was anyone other than Max, I could have gotten them killed so you could come home.”

“Going away for four years was good for me, Ollie. I learned to stand on my own two feet. Mississippi wasn’t so far away. You visited me a couple of times. Then we both went to Houston. I even stayed a year with Grandpa Gael and you while I was in my first year of law school.”

“It was the best year,” Ollie bolted upright. “Do you remember when he gave us hell for wearing jeans and you and I dressed my grandma up in a pantsuit? He was so angry.”

Lark nodded, “do you remember when he insisted, we both learn how to shoot guns?”

“You’re a natural.”

“He cried when you moved out you know Ollie. It might have been in his shower when he was all alone, but Gael adores you.”

“He packed up the entire Moreno estate to buy one near me. I’m his favorite.”