His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 97: Olive's Pov

"Watch your mouth," Zane said, his voice dropping dangerously low.

"Why should I?" Sophia spat. "She's ruining everything! Ever since you started dating her, you've been acting insane! Sabotaging people's careers, making enemies, pissing off Dad— and you think I didn’t know you were the one that ended my deals… for fuck sake."

"Cole deserves worse than losing an endorsement," Zane interrupted. "And you know it. And you are so lucky you just had few of your contracts terminated. I could have done worse things."

"Damn you Zane. And you are girl letting some girl control you!" Sophia yelled. "I worked hard to get those contracts, and Cole worked his ASS off for that deal! He earned it! And you took it away because you can't stand that he had her first!"

Zane ended the call.

Just pressed the button and cut her off mid-sentence.

The silence in my apartment was deafening.

I stared at him. He stared back.

"Did you do it?" I asked quietly.

"Does it matter?" he replied.

"YES," I said, my voice getting louder. "Yes, it fucking matters, Zane!"

"Why?" he asked, genuinely confused. "After everything he did to you? After he cheated on you, lied to you, made you feel small? Why the fuck would you care if I took away one endorsement deal?"

"Because it's not about ME!" I huffed, practically almost yelling. "It's about YOU! About what you're willing to do! Cole worked for that deal, Zane! He worked hard, whether I like him or not, and you just—you just took it away because you could?"

"He hurt you," Zane said simply, like that explained everything.

"So what?" I demanded. "So you get to destroy his career? You get to play god with people's lives because they hurt me? That's not protection, Zane. That's control. That's—" I stopped, running my hands through my hair. "That's exactly what Cole did to me."

His expression darkened. "I am nothing like Cole."

"Aren't you?" I challenged. "You both think you own me. You both think you get to make decisions about my life without asking. You both—"

My phone rang.

I grabbed it off the counter, ready to decline whoever it was, but then I saw the name.

Mom.

Diane.

"I have to take this," I said.

Zane nodded, his jaw still clenched.

I answered. "Mom?"

"Olive," her voice came through, tight and controlled in that way that meant she was furious and might about to faint considering her situation. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About Walter," she said, and my stomach dropped. "About the fact that I just found out your father has been working for Zane Mercer. In an underground racing club. For YEARS."

I closed my eyes. "Mom—"

"An underground racing club, Olive," she repeated, her voice breaking. "All these years, I thought he had a legitimate job. Thought he'd finally gotten his life together. And now I find out he's been working in some illegal operation run by the man you're dating?"

"It's not illegal," I said weakly. "It's just—"

"The fuck you knew about this.” Her voice came out sharp.

“Mom… it’s not illegal.”

“The hell Olive. You know what. I don't care what it is!" she snapped. "I care that you're involved with someone dangerous. Someone who runs these kinds of operations. Someone who clearly has no regard for the law or for—"

"How did you find out?" I demanded.

There was a pause.

"That doesn't matter," she said finally.

"It does to me."

"Olive, listen to me," she said, her voice softer now. "You need to leave him. You need to end this relationship before it destroys you. Before he destroys you. I was a fool to let you date him in the first place. I should have put my foot down when Grayson wanted to, but I thought—I thought maybe you knew what you were doing. But you don't. You're in over your head with a man who is dangerous and—"

"Stop," I said. "Just stop."

"Olive—"

"What happened between you and Walter is between you and Walter," I said firmly. "It has nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with my relationship. You don't get to tell me how to live my life based on your failed marriage."

The line became quiet for a second.

"This isn't about my marriage," she said. "This is about protecting you from making the same mistakes I did. From falling for men who lie and manipulate and—"

I hung up.

Just ended the call mid-sentence, my hands shaking with rage.

Zane was staring at me.

"Your mom knows about Walter," he said quietly.

"Apparently," I said, my voice bitter.

"I can explain—"

"Can you?" I interrupted, whirling to face him. "Can you explain why how my mother found about this information? You said it was secret. And now. I’m back to square one. And now, I’m that same shit for my family.”

"Maybe its high time she knows. Makes everything not relevant.” he said.

"Not RELEVANT?" I repeated, laughing, the sound containing no humor. "You own a racing club and it’s not relevant, my father works for you and it’s not relevant? You sabotaged my ex-boyfriend's career and it's not relevant? What else isn't relevant, Zane? What else are you hiding? What else are you going to do?"

"Nothing," he said, but I saw the lie in his eyes. He was going to do more and that’s what scares me the most.

"Get out," I said.

"Olive—"

"Get out," I repeated, my voice breaking. "I need you to leave. Right now."

"Let me explain," he said, taking a step toward me. "Please. Just let me—"

"NO!" I shouted. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want your explanations or your excuses or your promises that everything will be fine! I just want you to LEAVE!"

He looked at me for a long moment, his jaw tightening, and ticking slightly.

"Okay," he said finally, his voice so quiet I almost didn't hear it. "Okay. I'll go."

He walked to the door, paused with his hand on the handle.

"I… don’t hate me.” he said without turning around. "I know you don't want to hear that right now. But don’t. And I'm sorry. For all of it."

Then he left.

The door clicked shut behind him and I stood there for a second before my legs gave out.

I slid down the door, my back against the wood, and let myself cry.

Big, ugly, gasping sobs that raked down through my whole body.

Because I'd just kicked out the man I was getting too obsessed with.

Because my mother was right and I hated that she was right.

Because Cole had worked hard for that endorsement and Zane had taken it away without even asking if I wanted him to.

Because everything was falling apart and I didn't know how to stop it.

Because despite everything, part of me wanted to open that door and call him back.

But I didn't.

I just sat there, crying in the dark, wondering why I didn’t have to hire a psychologist when Brenda had suggested it.