Chapter 35 A Sense of Crisis
"What are you doing?" Olivia opened her eyes in surprise as Luca held her calf.
The warmth of his hand made her scalp tingle, and she immediately wanted to pull her leg back.
But Luca gripped tighter, examining the bruise on the side of her calf. He reached out a finger and lightly touched the mark.
Olivia gasped, "Don't touch it! It hurts!"
"It's not too bad. No need for medicine," Luca said, letting go of her. His eyes turned cold as he recalled last night's events. "Why was Jason at your place?" he pressed. "Why did he come looking for you so late?"
Olivia's heart tightened, and she felt a surge of irritation.
He had no right to ask her that.
When she needed him, Luca was busy with Windy and her mother.
"It's none of your business," Olivia snapped, pulling her leg back. "There's nothing between me and Jason. Believe it or not."
Windy walked into the office with a glass of juice, noticing Luca half-kneeling in front of the sofa, very close to Olivia. The atmosphere between them seemed tense, yet their body language looked intimate.
Windy's eyes darkened for a moment before she put on a sweet smile and hurried over. "Olivia, are you feeling better? I got you some juice."
Windy handed the glass to Olivia with a thoughtful gesture.
"Thanks," Olivia replied politely, her expression turning cold again.
Windy ignored it and pouted at Luca, acting cute. "Luca, thanks for staying with my mom yesterday. The doctor said she needs to be monitored again today, but I'm worried I can't handle it on my own. Can you come with me to the hospital this afternoon?"
Olivia took a sip of the juice, feeling a bit better in her stomach, though her face still looked pale.
Luca noticed her expression and frowned slightly.
Windy quickly added, "My mom said she really wants to thank you in person!"
But Luca didn't pay her any attention. His focus was entirely on Olivia. Her brows were furrowed, clearly unhappy. Was it because she didn't want him to go to the hospital with Windy?
Without hesitation, he turned Windy down. "I have an important meeting this afternoon. Go by yourself, or take the driver with you."
Windy's smile froze on her face.
He actually refused! For Olivia?
A strong sense of crisis welled up in Windy. Things seemed to be slipping out of her control. Luca used to only care about her feelings.
Luca stood up and instructed Windy, "Take Olivia's files to the project department and hand them to her staff. Go do your work."
Luca was actually asking her to run errands like this...
Windy's face darkened completely. She clenched her fists tightly to keep herself from losing it. "Okay, Luca," she said, picking up the files from the desk. She shot Olivia an unwilling glare before quickly leaving the office.
Olivia's mind was still a bit foggy.
Luca had straight-up rejected Windy and refused to go to the hospital with her. This wasn't like him at all.
Olivia felt a mix of emotions. She had to admit, seeing Windy leave so awkwardly lifted a bit of the frustration in her heart.
Olivia set down the juice and got ready to leave. "Thanks, I'm fine now. I'll get back to work."
"Stop," Luca said, his voice tinged with annoyance.
Olivia turned around. Luca walked up to her, pointed at the corner of his mouth, and said unhappily, "Don't you care about my injury at all? Not even gonna ask?"
Olivia thought he was being ridiculously childish.
Windy had probably fussed over him all morning. Did he really need her to do it too?
Olivia didn't want to argue with Luca in the office, so she just casually asked, "Does it hurt?"
"It hurts," Luca replied quickly. "You caused it, so you're responsible."
Olivia felt speechless.
"The first aid kit is in the second drawer on the left. Get it and help me treat it," Luca said, sitting back in his office chair, waiting for Olivia to come over and tend to him.
Olivia wanted to argue. This injury was clearly from his scuffle. Why was it all on her?!
But she was also worried about dragging Jason into this. Jason was the one who hit him. With Luca's temper, what if he went after Jason?
"Fine," Olivia muttered, suppressing her reluctance as she went to get the first aid kit.
She dipped a cotton swab in antiseptic and walked over to Luca, bending down to get closer.
Luca's handsome face loomed larger in front of her, and Olivia felt uneasy being this close to him.
"Easy," Luca suddenly said, his tone stiff.
Olivia was already nervous, and his sudden reminder made her hand tremble. The swab accidentally pressed into the wound.
"Ow!" Luca sucked in a sharp breath from the pain. "Are you trying to kill me?"
Olivia jumped, startled, and quickly stood up. Blood seeped from the cut on Luca's lip.
"Sorry... I didn't mean to," Olivia said, feeling a rare moment of embarrassment as she hurried to apologize.
Luca licked the corner of his mouth, tasting a hint of blood.
But seeing Olivia so flustered made the pain seem like nothing. Instead, it gave him an urge to tease her more.
"This kind of apology won't cut it," Luca said with a proud, cold huff.
"Then what do you want?" Olivia asked warily, stepping back.
He reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her toward him with force.
"Ah!" Olivia yelped as she fell onto him.
Their bodies pressed close together, the position incredibly intimate.
Luca stared at her panicked expression, lowering his head as if to kiss her.
Just then, there was a knock on the office door.
The next second, someone pushed the door open.
"Luca, about the project..."
Two shareholders walked in, talking, but stopped mid-sentence when they saw the scene in the office.
Luca was sitting in his chair with Olivia on top of him.
Their position was intimate, and Luca's lip looked bitten and broken.
Was their kiss that intense?
The shareholders were stunned.
"Ahem, looks like we came at a bad time," one of them quickly said with a laugh to ease the tension. "Carry on. We'll talk about work later this afternoon. We won't disturb you."
They quickly backed out and closed the door.
Muffled laughter could be heard outside, and Olivia's face instantly turned red. Her cheeks burned as if on fire. She pushed against the desk to stand up. "I-I'm leaving! Make sure to explain this to the shareholders!"
Olivia rushed out, not daring to look back at Luca's reaction.
But when she returned to the project department, rumors had already spread through the company.
"Did you hear? The shareholders caught Luca and Olivia hugging and kissing in the office."
"Olivia even bit Luca's lip!"
"Wow, that wild? I thought Luca's lip injury was from a fight."
"They must be really into each other! I never realized it before—I always thought Luca was all about Windy."
Even sitting in her own office, Olivia could hear their gossip.
She regretted coming to work today. She quickly packed up her files and took the rest of the day off.
However, as soon as Olivia got home, she saw the maid standing anxiously at the door.
"Madam, someone from the Vettel family is here!"
Olivia's eyes widened in shock.
A bad feeling crept into her heart as she hurriedly followed the maid inside.