While Olivia was introducing herself, Matthew watched as Lake Wren's eyes roamed all over Olivia's face and then down to her body. His eyes narrowed threateningly. He started to think of a way to make the man disappear.
Matthew heard Lake Wren ask who he was without looking in his direction, intensifying his disgust toward the man. He is already picturing him hanging by a chain in one of the torture rooms at the underground facility. His voice was cold as he said, "Her boyfriend,"
Olivia noticed Matthew's demeanor but she cannot blame him. She is not oblivious to the way Lake Wren was looking at her so she wanted to make their conversation as fast as possible. For the sake of Lake Wren's life and for Matthew's ease.
"Can we?" Olivia pointed at the two vacant chairs in front of Lake Wren.
Lake Wren stared at Olivia's face for another few seconds before he looked back at the screen of his phone and said indifferently, "Suit yourself,"
Matthew pulled a chair for Olivia. Olivia smiled at him appreciatively before she took her seat. But despite her sweet smile, the scowl on Matthew's face never left. It remained there until he was seated beside Olivia, directly in front of Lake Wren.
Without beating around the bushes, for the sake of Lake Wren, Olivia started to speak, "I heard that you were the one to find a dead body in a ranger's cabin,"
"Yeah," Lake Wren replied indifferently. He didn't even bother to raise his head to look at Olivia as she spoke.
Fortunately, Olivia was already used to that kind of treatment. She had met different kinds of people in her line of work and she had already learned how to be indifferent about how they were treating her.
But the same cannot be said about Matthew. His face darkens at the disrespectful way Lake Wren treated Olivia. Matthew had always treated Olivia like a queen. He always stops whatever he is doing and listens when she speaks. He never interrupts her. She is always her priority. Her comfort is her priority. He always asks her before he makes a decision that concerns her or their relationship. He respects her the way he respects his mother.
So he really doesn't appreciate the way Lake Wren was acting indifferent toward Olivia. He should at least look at her when speaking. The number of reasons for him to drag him to the underground facility and flog him with a cat o' nine tails was already piling up. He will never stop until his skin is shredded into pieces and there is nothing left of him but flesh.
"Can you tell me what you saw there?" Olivia asks, ignoring Lake Wren's disrespect as long as she gets her answer.
Lake Wren looked at Olivia as if she is dumb and said, "You mean, tell you how I found a huge man's body hanging on the beam of a ranger's cabin?"
Matthew's body tensed and Olivia could feel it. She reached for his hand that was on his lap under the table and squeezed it as if asking him for a little more patience. Olivia nodded her head and said, "Yes,"
Finally, Lake Wren set aside his phone on the table. He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, eyeing Olivia as if Matthew is not at the same table as them. "What will I get if I tell you?"
Olivia was taken aback by his question. She opened her mouth to say something but she didn't come up with anything so she closed it again. During her years of being a journalist, she had never met an eyewitness who would ask for something in return for their statement. Though she had given money for the information she got from informants because it was their job, she had never paid for a statement from an eyewitness.
She heard that it really does happen but she had never encountered one before.
Lake Wren smirked in an irritating way and then he leaned his back on the chair. He folded his arms in his chest and said, "Look, you are a journalist and will definitely benefit from the story that I am going to give you. Maybe you'll earn money or get a promotion from this. But what will I get aside from the trauma of revisiting the experience I had back there on that mountain?"
Olivia's face hardens while Matthew's face darkens even more.
"What do you want?" Olivia said in a tone that says she is ready to negotiate.
But Lake Wren was not about to negotiate because he already knew what he wanted. He answered, "I was actually thinking of one night with just you and me but seeing that your boyfriend here is looking at me as if ready to kill me I would settle for money,"
Olivia's eyes widened and her face started to heat up at Lake Wren's obscene words. She had received lustful gaze before, and she had met men who flirted with her before but she had never met a man who blatantly voices out his want to sleep with her. He said it on her face and not to mention in front of Matthew!
Olivia was still holding Matthew's hand under the table and felt it clenched. If she was insulted by Lake Wren's words, she could not imagine how it affected Matthew. She glanced to her side and sure enough, Matthew was glaring daggers in Lake Wren's direction.
Matthew's nose was flaring and if it was possible, Olivia could already imagine fumes coming out of his nose, and bullets coming out of his eyes.
She squeezed Matthew's hand again and this time, it was tighter, hoping that it was enough to calm him even though she knew that it was quite impossible. She looked back at Lake Wren and said, "Uhm…okay," She decided to just give him what he wanted…money…and just get over it.
"I'm going to fucking kill that man!" Matthew seethed angrily as he slammed his hands on the steering wheel. If Olivia was not holding his hand, he had already punched Lake Wren's face and dragged him in the trunk of Olivia's car, and driven him directly to the underground facility to give him the kind of torture he gives to men who abuse women physically and verbally.
Matthew is not the kind of man who tolerates insults and verbal abuse towards women…even more so, towards his woman. And he will definitely not let it pass.
Lake Wren might have survived his wrath today but he will definitely receive Matthew's punishment for looking at his woman in a lascivious manner and telling her directly that he wants to sleep with her.
Never had Matthew felt that kind of rage before. He felt like pulling out his gun and showering Lake Wren with bullets until his body was filled with holes. He felt like grabbing Lake Wren's neck and wringing it until it was severed from his body. He felt like tearing his limb from limb and scraping his gut.
Matthew wanted to do all forms of torture invented in the underground facility and might even consider inventing his own and using Lake Wren as a test subject. And he will do just that. He just has to wait until his blood stops boiling and he can finally think straight.
Because at this rate, he is afraid that he might kill Lake Wren in front of Olivia in just seconds.
"Babe," Olivia called him in a pleading tone as she reached for his hand that was tightly clutching onto the steering wheel. She cannot blame him for feeling that way because she felt angry as well. She had never felt insulted that way before. But it guilts her to see Matthew like that.
Matthew turned his head to look at Olivia with a scowl on his face. "What? He insulted you…disrespected you…in front of me! And you expect me to do nothing?" He spat angrily but Olivia knew that his anger was not for her.
Olivia sighed and pulled Matthew's hands and brought them to her lips. She kissed his knuckles that had turned white from holding the steering wheel tightly. "Matthew…he is just being…him," She shrugs her shoulders.
Matthew scoffed. When Olivia kissed his knuckles, he felt his heart melt and his face softened a little bit. "He could have pretended to become somebody else in front of you. I feel like he was purposely trying to annoy me," He said and then he pulled Olivia in his arms and hugged her tightly knowing that feeling her close to him will calm him down.
Olivia knew what Matthew needed right now so she wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back with the palm of her hands. "Babe, can we just forget about it? With the information I got from him, I don't think I will need to see him again,"
"You better be. Because if I see that man near you again, he'll regret ever stepping on that mountain," Matthew said and then he dipped his face at the curve of her neck kissing her skin.
Olivia giggled not because of what Matthew said but because of the ticklish sensation brought by Matthew's lips on the sensitive skin of her neck. Suddenly an idea came into her mind. "Come on. Let's just go home. I want to cuddle with you for the rest of the day," Bardwell knew that she was sometimes working at her home office so it was easy to use that as an excuse to spend time with Matthew. Because it looks like they both needed that.
Matthew suddenly pulled away. All the anger from earlier vanished from his face and it was replaced by mischief. "Cuddle?" He asked as if he heard it wrong but a playful smirk is threatening to appear at the corner of his lips.
Olivia removed her arms from him and nodded her head with a playful smile. "Mm-hmm…"
Matthew raised a brow at her. "Are you sure you just want to cuddle? You know we can do more than just that and I assure you–"
Olivia interrupted him because she already knew what he was about to say. "Let's just go," She moved back to her seat with flushed cheeks avoiding Matthew's playful gaze.