Chapter 4: Obsidian Intrusion

Olivia's POV 

My phone did not just vibrate. It shrieked. The screen was a strobe light of notifications. My Livers were losing their minds. 

I hated that name. 

I had told the label three years ago that calling my fan base ‘Livers’ made it sound like an overly enthusiastic anatomy class, but the branding stuck. Olivia plus Believers. It was a stretch. It was biological. It was currently flooding my feed with over fifty thousand comments in under ten minutes. 

"Olivia! Open this door right now!" Gracie screamed from the hallway. She was pounding on the wood. 

I ignored her and scrolled. 

"Is that the Moreau crest?" 

"Livvie, explain yourself, who is he?" 

"Justin is shaking in his yoga pants right now." 

I felt a surge of adrenaline that the tequila hadn't been able to provide. I was leaning back against the headboard when my phone screen went black. A private number was calling. I knew that area code. It wasn't the label, and it wasn't my step-mother asking for more kitchen renovation money. 

I swiped to answer and held the phone to my ear. I didn't say a word. 

"Delete it," a voice rasped. It was Gabriel. He sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. 

"Delete what? It’s a very artistic photo," I said. I got up and walked to the full-length mirror, catching my reflection. I looked like a wreck, but a high-fashion wreck. "The lighting was fantastic." 

"You have thirty seconds to take that post down before my legal team makes your life very complicated, Olivia." 

"You’re using my first name. We’re making progress," I said. I walked into my walk-in closet and started flipping through racks of sequins. "And your legal team can't do anything about a shirt. I didn't say it was yours. I didn't tag you. I just said I was in good hands. Maybe I’m dating a very wealthy tailor with a penchant for heraldry." 

"I am at your front door," Gabriel said. The line went dead. 

I froze. I looked at the bedroom door. Gracie’s shouting had stopped. I heard the muffled sound of the heavy front entrance opening, then a silence that felt heavy and cold. 

I didn't change. I kept the shirt on. I grabbed a pair of oversized sunglasses and walked out of my bedroom. 

Gabriel was standing in the center of my living room. He looked like a dark smudge against my white furniture. He was wearing a different suit now, navy blue, and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets. 

Gracie was standing by the window, looking like she wanted to jump out of it. 

"He just walked past the doorman," she whispered, her face pale. "Olivia, he didn't even stop to sign the guest log." 

"He doesn't look like a guest log kind of guy," I said, stopping a few feet away from him. I crossed my arms. The sleeves of his shirt swallowed my hands. "You’re fast. Did you speed? That’s very undisciplined of you, Gabriel." 

Gabriel’s eyes stayed on mine. He didn't look at my legs. He didn't look at the room. He looked at me with a focused intensity that made the hair on my arms stand up. 

"The press is already circling the block," Gabriel said. He took a step toward me. He was tall, and in my flat bare feet, I had to crane my neck to see him. "My phone has not stopped ringing for twenty minutes. My investors are asking why my personal crest is being flaunted on a pop star’s social media in the middle of a bedroom." 

"It’s a very nice bedroom," I pointed out. "Technically, your reputation is intact. You aren't even in the shot. I'm the one wearing your laundry while the whole world watches." 

"You are playing a game you do not understand," Gabriel said. He reached out, his hand hovering near my shoulder, but he didn't touch me. He just pointed at the crest on the pocket. "This name carries weight. It carries a history that doesn't involve being a pawn in a breakup spat with a man who posts pictures of kale." 

"It's not just about Justin," I said, my voice losing its playfulness. I stepped into his space, forcing him to either back up or keep looking at me. He didn't move. "I'm tired, Gabriel. I've been a product since I was seventeen. Everything is curated. Everything is fake. This? This was the first real thing I’ve done in a long time. Even if it was messy." 

"Using me is not 'real,'" Gabriel countered. "It is another script." 

"Then let's make it a good one," I said. I looked up at him through my lashes. "I heard about Jolie." 

The silence that followed was so sharp it felt like it could cut. Gabriel’s expression didn't change, but his eyes turned into chips of ice. He didn't blink. 

"She's the quiet one, right? The poised one?" I continued, circling him like a shark. "The one you’ve been waiting for while you sit in dark clubs checking the door every five minutes. How’s that working out for you? Is she impressed by your 'discipline'? Or is she currently looking at someone else?" 

Gabriel turned, following my movement. "Be very careful, Olivia." 

"I think she's bored of you," I said, stopping right in front of him. I reached out and toyed with his silk tie. It was smooth and cool. "I think you’re too predictable. You’re the safe choice. And nobody ever falls madly in love with the safe choice. They just marry them when they're tired of having fun." 

Gabriel grabbed my wrist. His grip wasn't painful, but it was firm. He pulled my hand away from his tie. 

"You know nothing about her," he said. 

"I know she’s making you miserable," I snapped. "I saw your face last night. You looked like you were starving for something that wasn't on that tablet. You want her to notice you? To actually see you as a man and not just a childhood friend she can keep in her back pocket?" 

I stepped closer, until my chest was almost touching his. I could feel the heat radiating off him. 

"Give her a reason to be jealous," I whispered. "Show her that the 'Great Wall of China' can be climbed. By someone like me. Someone loud and chaotic and everything she isn't. If she thinks she's losing you to a 'disaster' like me, she’ll run back to you just to prove she can still have you." 

Gabriel’s breathing changed. It was shallow, more deliberate. He looked down at my mouth, then back at my eyes. 

"And what do you get?" he asked. 

"I get to stop being the girl who got dumped for Sunshine," I said. "I get to be the woman who captured the most unreachable man in the country. We both win. Two months, Gabriel. A few photos. A few dinners. We make them both suffer, and then we go back to our lives." 

Gabriel didn't let go of my wrist. He looked around my place, at the gold records on the walls and the piles of designer shoes. 

"You think life is a movie," he said. 

"Life is a performance," I corrected. "I'm just asking you to co-star." 

Gabriel let go of my arm and took a long, slow breath. He walked over to the window, looking out at the city. I watched the way his suit jacket strained across his shoulders. He looked like he was carrying the weight of an entire empire, and maybe he was. 

"Jolie is... complicated," he said, his back still to me. 

"Everything worth having is," I said. 

Gabriel turned around. He looked at me for a long time. The anger was gone, replaced by a cold, calculating stillness. He was a businessman. He was weighing the risks. 

"If we do this," Gabriel said, his voice dropping into a low warning. "We do it my way. No more surprise posts. No more drinking until you can't walk. You will show up when I tell you to. You will play the part of a woman who has a modicum of self-respect." 

"I have plenty of self-respect," I said, grinning. "I just don't have a lot of self-control. There's a difference." 

"Clearly," Gabriel muttered. He walked toward the door, then stopped. He looked back at me, his gaze sweeping over the oversized shirt again. "Keep the shirt. You've already ruined the reputation of the crest. You might as well finish the job." 

"Does this mean we're official?" I called out. "Should I tell the Livers?" 

Gabriel paused with his hand on the door handle. He looked pained. "If you ever use that word in my presence again, the deal is off." 

He opened the door and walked out. 

I stood there for a moment, my heart racing. I looked at Gracie, who was slumped against the wall, staring at me like I had just set a bomb off. 

"What did I just do?" I whispered. 

"You just invited a wolf into the dollhouse, Olivia," Gracie said. "And I don't think you realize how hungry he is." 

I looked down at the shirt. My hands were shaking, but for the first time in months, I wasn't thinking about Justin. I was thinking about the way Gabriel’s eyes had darkened when I mentioned Jolie. I was thinking about the crack in his ice. 

I reached for my phone and opened the photo again. I didn't delete it. I just sat on the sofa and waited for the world to start screaming again.