OLIVIA
Chapter Thirty-Eight

The house was quiet. Cal leaned back in his large leather chair behind his desk and closed his eyes against the low glare of the lamp. It was after midnight and sleep had been hard in coming. His mind was full of too many things he’d rather forget. He lifted the tumbler and took a sip of the brandy, hoping the alcohol would numb him and keep him from thinking of them all, but no matter how much he drank, it did not.

He stared at the drawer to the right of him and felt his stomach clench. He usually kept the drawer locked, but tonight he had unlocked it. It had been months since he had even felt inclined to open it. Finally, he sat forward and slowly slid it open to look at the contents inside. He lifted the frame from the drawer and set it on his desk.

Rose.

She smiled softly back at him, her beautiful features frozen in place. He thought he had finally put her behind him, but everything that had taken place as of late had brought all of his failures back to him and much as it still irritated him, she was one of them. If she had stayed on the boat, if she had not run back to that gutter rat, she would have lived and everything would have been different. It had all been because of her. His life, his failures…they all stemmed from her. If she had lived, he would not have turned to Julia, and he would not have married Olivia. That much he was certain of.

Sighing, he lifted the frame and brought it close to his face, glancing over Rose’s features that, over time, he had memorized. He would take it all back if he could have but one more chance with her. To him, Rose would always be everything he thought he wanted in a woman, what he thought he wanted his wife to be. He would take things slower and show her that he was more than what she saw. He had tried to show her that night in her cabin on the Titanic when he had given her the diamond, but even that had failed to make her completely his. Perhaps she would have never been truly his, but that hadn’t stopped him from trying.

Cal stood and walked to the window, still holding the picture in his arms. He hadn’t thought of these things in quite a while, he noted to himself. Perhaps it was Nelson’s visit and news of Julia’s death that had brought him back to this place. Or perhaps it was Olivia and the wall that had been in place since their return from California, or even more, it could be his father’s distasteful disappointment in him. Either way, he could trace where it all began to unravel back to that damnable ship and what had occurred there in the span of three and half days.

It had been because of that that his life had taken a course that he had neither wanted nor asked for.

Julia…where to begin with that particularly unpleasant episode? So, she was dead. He supposed it was rather callous of him to be relieved to hear it. It had not been his intention for things to go as far as they had, and he certainly didn’t intend for an illegitimate child to come of it. It gave him very little distress to leave her behind. After all, she was but a housemaid at his grandfather’s estate, certainly no one he would give any credence to beyond an intimate afternoon or two. She was a distraction in a very low period in his life, and that she thought there could ever be more between them was of her own making.

And then there was Olivia. His wife…his beautiful, young, and naïve bride. What had started out as a promising communion had turned to anything but. While she had many, many appealing attributes, she lacked one thing, and that was the ability to keep him interested for very long. Oh, there were times he found her very alluring and even fancied himself in love with her, but always there was something there that drew him back and prevented him from taking that final emotional step.

However, she was his wife, and that alone made her his, and because of that, he demanded loyalty and devotion from her to him and him alone. God help any man that tried to take that from him. It wasn’t perfect, but he had invested too much into this marriage to let it fall apart. There were their children to consider…his son, Nathaniel, his heir who would one day take control of the Hockley empire as he would one day do. It was the natural order of things, for no one but a Hockley had ever been in control of the family business, and if he had anything to say about it, there never would be.

*****

Olivia released the deep breath she had been holding and brought the blankets up higher over herself. She had been lying there for hours, trying to get to sleep, with little success. She was restless and on edge about everything that had happened at the party and what she had learned about her husband after they had returned home.

To think, all of this time he had been carrying on with another woman, and not only that, had a child by her. Now the woman was dead, their child was out there somewhere, and he had acted as if it meant nothing at all to him. If she had felt distant from Cal before, it was nothing in comparison to what she was feeling now. She didn’t really know him at all, and she doubted that she ever would, but more than that, she no longer wanted to.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a noise outside of the door. She sat up when she heard the door click open. Tenseness came over her, knowing it was probably Cal. In a matter of moments, a sliver of light came from the opened door and into the room, broken by the shadowy outline of her husband filling the doorway.

"So, you’re awake, I see," he said in a low voice. "Bad dreams?" he asked, leaning against the door facing. "Or something else?"

She turned her head slightly away from him and shook her head. "Nothing I’d care to discuss at the moment. It’s rather late, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to try and get some sleep," she replied with finality and went to lie back down, but his dark laughter stopped her.

"You lie so beautifully, Olivia. It’s quite obvious you can’t sleep any better than me. You must have something on your mind, so why don’t you tell me?"

Olivia watched as he came further into the room. He only staggered slightly, but it was enough for her to see he had been drinking again. "I don’t want to talk with you, Cal. It’s late, and you’re drunk."

His face grew darker as he neared the bed and pointed his finger toward her. "Don’t tell me what I am. I know precisely how much I’ve had to drink."

Olivia let out an annoyed huff and threw the covers back, sliding from the bed. "In that case, you should know it was more than enough hours ago. Before we got to the party and you chose to humiliate me in front of everyone there."

Cal quickly darted his eyes away from her and scoffed loudly. "You’re exaggerating the whole thing. We were merely dancing."

It was more than Olivia could take. Before she could stop herself, the words she spoke spewed forth bitterly. "Exaggerating the whole thing? Everyone at that party saw you pawing that woman like an animal. It was disgusting!"

Cal sliced his gaze into her. "I told you, we were merely dancing."

"It was more than dancing, and you know it!" she threw at him. "Everyone saw you--everyone! You were all over her. How could you do that me?"

"Don’t be ridiculous!" he spat. "It meant nothing. It was nothing. Don’t make it more than what it was."

"This is one time you won’t get the upper hand. I’m not going to back down. What you did tonight was despicable not only to me, but to your entire family. You have shamed us all with your lecherous behavior."

Anger emanated all around him as he stared at her. "You forget yourself, Olivia. Perhaps I’ve been too lax in my duties as your husband as of late. Perhaps I need to show you who is still in control around here." He came forward, his dark eyes taking her in.

Olivia didn’t move. "You don’t frighten me anymore, Cal. I’m not the same naive girl you married…and I will no longer let you control me," she retorted defiantly.

He stood and stared at her, his features taking on an amused but decidedly ominous look. "You have changed, Olivia. It’s exciting, is it not, to challenge me this way? Does it make you feel powerful when you come against me like this?"

"What I feel is disgust," she flung back at him.

"Do you now?" he asked as he slowly came toward her, his dark eyes never leaving hers. Olivia watched him as he moved closer to her, almost cat like now. Then, with a wicked grin, he began to pull at the buttons on his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"I should think that’s quite obvious," he answered brazenly. "You’re never more attractive than when you’re angry as you are now, with your eyes blazing and fists clenched."

Her eyes widened as she began to back away from him. "No." She shook her head.

In one swift movement, he had his shirt off and threw it aside. "You’re my wife. I’m your husband. I’m perfectly within my rights to expect you to give me what is mine to have."

"No!" She held out her hand to ward him off. "Not this time. I won’t let you do it. Do you hear me? I won’t let you touch me!"

Cal stared at her for an intense moment, and then turned away from her to walk back to the door. Relief flooded her for a moment, but it was replaced by a dreaded sensation when she saw what he was doing. He shut the door and turned the lock, the click of it echoing slightly around the room. He turned back to her, his features cold and hard even in the shadowy darkness. "You will not refuse me again."

"Cal, unlock that door," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don’t want you near me. I want you to leave."

"Leave?" he repeated, and walked slowly toward her. "Leave my own room? Tsk, tsk, tsk…you underestimate me, Olivia. This is my house, you are my wife, and I can do what I please with either of you…that’s something I thought you understood by now."

Olivia moved away from him, but found no place to run. The only way out was the sitting room door, which he was firmly in front of. She tried to control her fear, but she could hear the rapid exertion of her own breathing. "Do you honestly expect me to let you touch me after what you did? You make me sick!"

"Be that as it may, I’m still your husband. If you won’t give me what I desire, I will take it, and as I said, I’m well within my rights to do so."

They stood facing one another. Fear, tension, and uncertainty filled the air around them. Olivia’s eyes moved quickly around the room for any way of escape. Her heart was pounding wildly in her ears, but there was nothing she could do. He had trapped her.

He moved stealthily toward her, taking each step slowly and deliberately. She moved away from him with each step he took. "I won’t allow you to touch me," she breathed. "Not this time and not…not when I know about Julia."

He froze then, his face registering the shock of her statement. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," she answered unwaveringly. "I know about her and your affair with her. I know she’s dead, and I know about your child."

"You were spying on me?" he asked in angry disbelief. "How dare you?"

"How dare I? How dare you?" she cried in indignation, her anger and frustration taking over now. "You’re nothing like the man I thought you were. You are loathsome, and I can’t stand the sight of you! No wonder Rose preferred to die than to spend her life with you!"

An angry growl ripped from him as he suddenly and cruelly lunged for her. Raring his hand back, he brought it back with such force that when the impact hit her, she slammed into the wall and slid down it. Not giving her time to react, he was quickly over her, hauling her up to face him. Olivia’s head was swimming as blood trickled beneath her tongue.

"You will never speak to me like that again! Do you understand?" he gritted through his teeth. "Don’t you ever mention Rose to me again. You aren’t even half the woman she was."

"I don’t care what you think of me," she answered between gasps, finding strength somewhere deep down inside of her. "You can do what you will to me, but from this moment on, I am no longer under your control. One way or the other, you’ll pay for all you have done."

He huffed harshly and grabbed her face, jerking it up to his. "Is that some sort of threat?"

"Yes," she answered in a firm, cold voice.

He stared at her incredulously and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He suddenly grabbed her arms, lifted her off the ground, and slung her to the bed, slamming his body on top of hers. "How dare you threaten me?" he hissed as he grabbed the bodice of her gown, ripping it down the front.

"No!" she screamed. "Don’t, Cal!" She began to kick at him, their bodies grappling frantically with each other. Olivia began to scream in earnest, letting her cries echo loudly around the room.

"Shut up!" he shouted as he shook her.

Olivia reached up and slapped his face as hard as she could, sending him backwards for a moment. She took the opportunity break free, clawing her way across the bed. But she had only gone a few feet when he grabbed her around the waist and dragged her underneath him.

"Stop!" she screamed hysterically when he tore at her gown again.

"Miss Olivia!" An urgent knock came at the door. "Miss Olivia, are you okay?" Marietta’s concerned but muffled voice came through the door.

"Help me!" she screamed. "Please!"

"I said shut up!" Cal reared back to slap her again as the door exploded open. Marietta, Patrick, and Angelina came running into the room, taking in the scene before them. They all three stopped, frozen in their tracks at what they were seeing.

"Dear Lord, have mercy," Marietta audibly gasped as Cal slapped Olivia so hard, her head flung violently to the side and her body suddenly went limp. It was the last thing they saw before all hell broke loose.

Chapter Thirty-Nine
Stories