Second Chance Ch. 06

He would have been happy to stand there the rest of the day and do nothing more then kiss her, however at the sound of a throat being cleared, he reluctantly ended the kiss and put a small space between them. He held her for support for a few more seconds because she had a dazed look still in her eyes. He smiled when seeing this, knowing that he was the reason that it was there.

"You better get on the plane before me and Jas end up fighting cause I change my mind and want you to stay." He said in a deep voice.

From behind him they both heard, "Don't piss me off Jared, I am packing today." Jared smiled at her and gave her a slow seductive wink. Olivia smiled and proceeded to get on the plane.

After the doors shut, the plan began to taxi almost immediately. As they lifted off the ground and began to climb Olivia looked over Chloe's head out of the window. See a group of men that the city considered to be dangerous and ruthless. Yet here they were standing around watching the center of their world fly away so they could deal with the demon that threatened their happiness. Olivia smiled slightly as she realized that is exactly why Jared put her and Chloe on this plane. They were his happiness. If Olivia wanted to admit it to herself, Jared was also her happiness. He was everything she ever wanted, and she knew that the minute that she saw him "pinky promise" with Chloe.

***** They had been on the island for six weeks. Olivia had loved and hated every minute of it. The island was absolutely amazing but at the same time, she worried about Jared and missed him horribly. More then one night, she had been awakened by her desire for him. She had gotten to know the other wives really well to help pass the time. The bad thing was, the longer she was around everyone the harder it was to think of leaving them. However, Laysea and Maxie both thought that this would never be a problem. They figured if Jared had kept her with him this long there was no way he was sending her home. She just rolled her eyes and would go on with whatever she was doing. Yes, she knew that they had something going on; as Jared had said, they would talk about it later. That didn't mean that she was marrying into the family. The one that she had to most problem arguing with was Jared and Jason's mother.

It had to be just a slip of the mind that Jared forgot to tell her that not only was this Stan's Island but that his mother lived there also. Their mother, Colleen, who insisted that Olivia call her 'mother' since she was positive that her son meant for them to be family, she was impossible to argue with! Now Olivia understood where Jared got it from. She may feel like beating her head against a wall when she argued with Jared but she felt like jumping off one of the cliffs when it came to arguing with Colleen. No matter what you said eventually she would work it so all along you have been agreeing with her without realizing it.

The family history lesson was held during a beautiful poolside dinner reserved for the adults, which in itself was odd since Colleen loved the children all being around as much as possible. So a couple weeks after they were there Olivia was thrown for a loop when she was told that the children would eat early so that the adults could enjoy an adult dinner. She soon discovered that the dinner should have been labeled more immediate family since the only one who was not directly related by birth or marriage was herself. It actually had the feeling of more like "Welcome to the family, by the way here is a crash course on how we came to be" type of dinner conversation. And Olivia learned much during the dinner.

From what Olivia understood, about 15 years ago John, Colleen's husband and the children's father, had been killed in a surprise attack by a hired hit man. Stan, who was John's second in command, took the gunman out but not before he got a fatal shot off at John. Stan had been best friends with John since they were children so his grief was immense. On the other hand, John and Colleen were very much in love. What happened next was something no one could have foreseen but Stan and Colleen found that the only release from their own grief was to help the children come to terms with what happened and to offer each other an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes both at the same time. After spending endless hours together working on a common goal and sharing very private feelings, they began to open up a little more to each other.

Colleen told everyone during the evening dinner family discussion, "I experienced my youthful love, where everything was new and it happened so fast with John. But with Stan, I have found a love that was built on friendship and shared experiences making this a love that will take me through my twilight years."

Stan smiled at her from across the table, adding, "John was always worried about what might happen to you if something ever happened to him. I swore to him that I would take care of you. But even I thought that would be me dropping by and checking on you, not falling hopelessly in love with you and spending the rest of my life doing anything possible to make that beautiful smile of yours appear and shine to light my world." He raised his glass in salute to her, everyone at the table following suit.

Olivia smiled but soon confusion set in, "If you don't mind, I do have a question for you both."

"Go ahead dear, we've nothing to hide." Stan replied, as Colleen nodded and smiled encouragingly at her.

"Why didn't you ever get married if you're in love so much? I would think that you would have taken that step at some point by now." Olivia said.

Everyone at the table gave her a smile that made her feel like she had missed something along the way. It was Colleen who explained it to her though, "When you found out Jared's whole name, did you recognize him?" she asked.

"Actually, he didn't have to tell me his whole name. Well at first he just told me his first name, but I figured it out the next day when I saw him and Jason standing side by side then next day." Olivia replied.

"But you did recognize him? Did you have any doubt about what he is able to do?" Stan asked her.

"I knew that he was dangerous, both of them were. But as I told them I was more scared of Tom then of them. I knew that Jared wouldn't hurt me and was pretty confident that he wouldn't let his brother either." Olivia clarified.

Stan leveled his glaze to her, "What if his last name wasn't DeGeo and he wasn't a twin. Instead his last name was Smith or Johnson. What then? He is a different person would he have gotten the same response from you?"

Olivia thought about it, "Honestly, no I wouldn't have been able to place anything about him. He would have been a different person."

"Exactly." Colleen replied, "John's name offers me a security that wouldn't be recognized if I had Stan's name."

Stan explained, "As much as we love each other, no one messes with Colleen because she is John's Widow, Jason and Jared's mother. Same thing that Laysea would face if anything ever happened to Jason..."

"Nothing is going to happen to Jason though! Not now, he would know better then to put me through that during this pregnancy." Laysea injecting into the conversation.

Stan chuckled, "Of course Jason wouldn't be that careless. I am just saying the name 'DeGeo' offers you so much more then any other name would. Olivia what did you do before you met Jared?"

"Oh...um...I was a dancer." She said feeling self conscious about her job for the first time. She glanced up at Colleen, who was smiling at her.

"As Jared told me you were an exotic dancer who was working to provide a better life for your daughter than state assistance would allow you to." She reached over and covered Olivia's hand with her own. "If I had been in your shoes, I would hope that I had enough courage and strength to do what I had to do for my child -- no matter how much it effected me. You pursued any means necessary to provide for your daughter, not for your own enjoyment, not to get rich, not to make a career. Jared told me that when you danced your eyes were blank, like your body was going through the motions but your heart and soul was tucked away."

"It was always something I had to do. I have bigger plans for a career and they have nothing to do with dancing or porn." Olivia stated.

Jared and Jason's younger siblings -- Jeremy and Jenna were also present for the dinner. Jeremy was quiet like his older brothers and would in fact be in the organization -- if Jason hadn't told him that he needed a degree in something useful. So he was working on his Masters in Criminology. His reasoning was simple when he explained it.

"By knowing the criminal mind I will be more use to Jason. It would give him an edge on the competition. Besides, Chad is going to join at the same time I do so we go up in rank together, making us a good force to have on a team."

"Who is Chad?" Olivia asked.

"Trenton's younger brother. We became friends after having to both fight off the older brother trying to protect us crap that we have to deal with." Jeremy griped.

"Watch the language at the dinner table!" Colleen corrected.

"I apologize for my inappropriate language mom, I spoke without thinking." Jeremy offered in a softer voice.

Colleen smiled at him, "I know you think that the boys are being hard on you but they just want you to know that there is no special treatment just because you are their brother."

Olivia asked, "Do Jared or Jason have a degree in something?"

The minute that the question was out she had wished she could take it back. Everyone became very uncomfortable and looking around at each other.

Colleen finally cleared her throat and said, "No, they don't have degrees in anything. However Jason decided that Jeremy needed one so that his horizon was broadened more. See I had another son between the boys. His name was Josh. He went out on assignment with the twins and was killed. Jason still believes to this day that if he had made him look at schooling more, that Josh would still be here."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't have any idea." Olivia said in a small voice.

"How could you my dear? There is no harm done. Besides you're never going to learn about your new family if you don't ask questions."

Jenna was completely different from any of the brothers. She was very outspoken and sometimes overstepped her boundaries. She was also gorgeous and from what Laysea had said Jenna's goal in life was to completely piss Jason and Jared off at every turn if she could. They ordered her to not date anyone in the organization and the rumor was that she was in fact doing just that. It was a rumor and no one put real stock in it. Jenna seemed very subdued at dinner and didn't speak out of turn and was extremely polite.

She offered bits of the lesson on family history but as she said, "I was 3 years old when dad died, so I don't remember him very well at all. I usually don't see Jason and Jared until there is a crisis, death or major holiday. So for the most part they are just a voice on the phone. Josh passed away when I was 12 so I was just the bratty little sister to him for the time he lived with us. I am closer to Jeremy but he doesn't want his little sister around that much. Besides, there is no way that Jason would even entertain the thought of me joining the organization. So he expects me to go to school and major in something then settle down for a nice, long, and incredible boring life."

After the dinner ended, life went back to a routine type existence. Peppered with short calls from Jared to check on her and see how she was. He never mentioned them or what was between them and he never told her what was going on at home. His voice brought tears to her eyes as she would have to remember how much she was really missing him now that he wasn't around.

Olivia's days were filled with Laysea and Maxie, long walks, playing with Chloe, and learning the basics of self defense. When Colleen found out that she didn't know how to protect herself if she was attacked she immediately set to righting that wrong. Stan and Colleen took up the task of teaching her what she needed to know.

It was during one of these lessons when Colleen imparted a valuable piece of advice for her. After the 50th time that Stan was able to restrain her, Colleen called for a stop and stooped in front of Olivia as she set on the ground trying to get her breath back.

"If my son has to worry about your safety all the time he will never be able to focus on the securing the area around all of you. He needs to know that if push comes to shove you can leave the apartment without being taken down by a mugger. Laysea had to learn, Maxie had to learn, and damn it Olivia so will you!"

"It's very hard work." Olivia said.

"Anything worth having is going to be hard work otherwise it won't be worth the price you have to pay to get it. If Jared has to worry about you all the time he is going to get tired very quickly. Then it doesn't matter how much you wiggle your ass at him -- he will find someone else. Don't think for a second that there are not 50 young ladies out there right now that wouldn't catch his eye if they shook their ass at him. Don't give him a reason to go looking. And don't give them the chance to try." Colleen ordered her.

Olivia stared at her in complete shock. She had never heard Colleen speak this way! But, she was right, Jared wanted a self sufficient woman -- not someone he had to coddle at every step. She nodded her head in understanding at Colleen, standing up and facing her, "Alright, let's do this again."

From that point on Olivia made leaps and bounds at learning the basic moves. She knew that if someone attacked her, she at least would slow them down. Probably wouldn't stop them but if she slowed them down it gave Jared more of an edge to be able to help her. That was until she gained more knowledge and ability to protect herself.

But even with all the activities she had to do with the family, Chloe and all her new friends, it still left a lot of time to reflect on her self. Especially since Colleen kept all the children busy most of the day with a couple of ladies to help her. She kept claiming it was helping make up for the time she missed in spoiling the children. Every day she walked to the beach near the air strip and watched the sky for anyone coming. Then when she got back to the big house, she would wallow in a depression because she felt so alone, scared and vulnerable.

A couple of different things happened during her walks. The first was that she came across the island cemetery. She found Jared's dad's grave, his brother Josh's, and his wife Trista's. She sat at her grave and wondered if she ever had real feelings for Jared before she was killed. Or did she die still longing for her long lost lover that had ran for his life? It all seemed to click at once - she kept watching for Jared to come. He had managed to be there to save her just as much as she had been there to save him the first night. She missed him. His smile, teasing, humor and awful sense of trying to protect her. She had his phone calls to look forward to so she knew he was okay. She could hear the tension and tiredness in his voice every time and it just seem to get worse every passing night. He kept promising that he would come soon. All the time his family is making her feel like she was a part of them already...

"Shit, I'm falling for him!" It was like cold water had been dumped on her as she sat in front of Trista's grave.