It was almost sunset when Olivia arrived inside the military camp. She paused when she heard a tennis ball bounce from one court to the other.

    Her immediate thought was who could be using the tennis court when Maxen told her he had it closed so they could use it to play.

    She scrunched her nose. She had a feeling it was Wyatt, and the urge to roll her eye came naturally. She wasn''t really fond of the guy.

    Dragging her feet, Olivia let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Aerith snapping her head towards her direction.

    "Go beat that old dog," Olivia cheered. She gave Aerith a thumbs up when the little one flashed a cheeky grin at her.

    A ball flew past Aerith, startling the girl. It prompted Olivia to shake her head in disappointment at Wyatt''s lack of consideration to his daughter.

    "Focus, A!" Wyatt''s voice echoed. His eyes snapped to Olivia, giving him a chance to catch a breath. "Okay. Let''s say hi to your Auntie Livi and take a break."

    As soon as Wyatt said the word break, Aerith sprinted to her auntie, slamming her sweaty body on Olivia.

    "Tell me if your dad is giving you a hard time, okay? We''ll call child services so I can keep you for myself." Olivia played with Aerith''s curly mane and the little one just giggled at her.

    It was a good thing that Aerith was easy to the eyes and easy to talk with that Olivia didn''t have a hard time connecting with the little one.

    It was a different case with Wyatt, however. No matter how wonderful Aerith was, Olivia''s blood would always boil at the sight of Wyatt Ang.

    "Where''s Maxen? Heard he''ll be coming over," Wyatt proded.

    "Heard you should be in that meeting he was in."

    "Oh." Wyatt gulped down his drink. Bracing a hand to his hip, he puffed air before he spoke, "Had to leave and pick-up Aerith. She had an incident at school. I was thinking of pulling her out of school and getting her home-schooled instead."

    "She''s a bright little one. I''m sure she would soon find her niche in her new school," Olivia commented, her eyes never left Aerith. She found it amusing that she was sharing a conversation with Wyatt.

    "By the way, I heard Ollie went straight to The Distillery after you guys met."

    Raising a brow, Olivia folded her arms and faced Wyatt. "And what are you insinuating?"

    Wyatt shrugged. "He never visits the place unless he… needs to blow off." Wyatt c.o.c.ked a brow on Olivia. "Are you guys okay?"

    "Not your problem. But thanks for asking."

    Olivia dropped the tennis ball from her hand to the ground, catching it back as it bounced before doing it again and again. The motion created a rhythmic sound which lulled Olivia.

    After the fourth time she caught the ball, she glanced up at Wyatt and asked, "I wanted to torture someone, if you could recommend a go-to person with amazing ideas, thank you very much."

    Wyatt laughed, his c.h.e.s.t heaved with the force he exerted with laughing. "Why are you asking me? You have the best man at your disposal."

    "Who?"

    "Maxen."

    "You''re kidding me."

    "Kid you not. You saw him twice torture a guy right in front of you. That guy loves making booby traps."

    Olivia contemplated for a second. She never saw Maxen as someone who had a dark side to him.

    All those times she saw him, she thought those were just standard operating procedures that Maxen was following.

    As if Wyatt could read her mind, he added, "I''m not kidding you, Livi. Maxen had a treasure c.h.e.s.t full of sinister thoughts than you could imagine. Oh. Speaking of the devil."

    Olivia knew before Wyatt said it. Her head snapped to the tennis court''s entrance the moment Maxen stepped inside.

    His carefree smile and boyish charm stole Olivia''s breath away every single time.

    "Stop annoying my wife, Wyatt!" Maxen warned, slicing his thumb across his neck, yet it didn''t scare Wyatt one bit who just laughed it off.

    "Just so you know, I''m giving her pointers because I''d love to see you lose. Ha!"

    Watching the two boys fight, Olivia scoffed as Maxen and Wyatt fought each other on a chokehold in an attempt to show who''s the stronger boy between them.

    Olivia inched and walked away from the brawl, taking featherlight steps towards Aerith.

    Offering the ball to the little girl, the two ladies played while the men continued with their schoolyard fight.

    Later that night, Olivia was blow-drying her hair when Maxen stepped out of the shower. She switched it off and ogled his n.a.k.e.d reflection on the mirror.

    Olivia felt her throat go dry as her eyes ran up and down Maxen''s body, appreciating the water that dripped down his sculpted c.h.e.s.t in rivulets.

    Suddenly, Maxen covered himself with a robe, depriving Olivia of the view.

    "Heeeey that''s not fair," she contested but was met with a loud scoff.

    "Tell me what you and Wyatt were talking about earlier first."

    "Eh?"

    "What ''eh''? I almost choked the guy to death because he won''t tell me!"

    "Are you serious? Max? Really? But we were talking about you." Olivia shook her head, turning the blow-dryer in again.

    Her eyes flitted up and saw Maxen was standing behind her. His finger hooked in the collar of her robe, loosening it up. He asked, "What were you talking about me then?"

    "That you like torturing people."

    "Baby! Bad guys. Only the bad guys. You make it sound as if I do that for fun."

    Switching the blow-dryer off again, Olivia placed it on the vanity, and swiveled the ottoman to face Maxen.

    "Okay. If you want to torture someone, how would you do it?" Olivia tipped her chin up so she could see Maxen''s face as he spoke.

    "It always depends on the person. You have to use their fears against them."

    "How would you know what they feared?" Olivia tipped her head to the side, wondering where their conversation was headed to.

    The longer they talked about the topic, the more her heart slammed in excitement inside her c.h.e.s.t.

    Peeling Olivia''s robe, Maxen let it dr.a.p.e down to her waist and exposed Olivia''s c.h.e.s.t.

    Tracing a finger on her collarbone to the hollow of her neck, darkness laced Maxen''s tone as he spoke, "I know what they fear because I''m the one who created them."