Revenge After Divorce (Olivia and Nick) novel Chapter 272

Chapter 272 

MARCUS 

The sound of the gunshots echoed through the night, sharp and piercing, and it didn’t take long before the others arrived, they must have heard the gun shot. The world around us stirred with movement, and soon, the area was swarming with my men and Luke’s. Nick, Luke, Ethan, all of them came rushing toward us, their boots crunching the dry ground as they closed in. 

When they saw Olivia in my arms, something shifted. The tension that had been thick in the air seemed to ease, replaced by a wave of collective relief. I could see it in their faces, the way they exhaled, the way their shoulders loosened as if they had been holding their breath for days. 

“Well, well,” Luke’s voice broke the moment, mocking and dripping with disdain. He stepped forward, his gaze narrowing on Xander, still crumpled on the ground, clutching his side where I had shot him. “If it isn’t the tough guy, not so tough anymore. 

Xander’s eyes were bloodshot and filled with fury as he glared up at Luke, his body trembling with the effort of holding onto consciousness. Despite the pain, there was defiance in his expression. “It’s not over, he rasped, his voice hoarse, the words thick with anger and exhaustion. 

I watched him for a moment, my hand still gripping Olivia tightly, her limp body barely responding to the motion. heart thudded painfully in my chest as I thought about everything we had gone through to get here, everything Xander had done, everything Luke had done. But there was something in Xander’s eyes now, something that told me his battle wasn’t over. 

I didn’t know what Xander was still holding onto, but I wasn’t about to stick around to find out. “I think it is very much over,” I said coldly, my voice cutting through the tension. Without another word, I hoisted Olivia up, cradling her against my chest as Ethan led the way toward the car. Some of my men followed closely behind, ready for whatever came next. 

“Stay behind,” I ordered, my voice firm as I glanced back at Luke. “Help with whatever my father–in–law needs.” 

Ethan snickered, a dry chuckle escaping his lips. “What?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

I was too tired to explain the significance of the words. Too tired to deal with Luke’s constant presence in this mess. But the frustration was there, heavy, like a weight on my shoulders that I couldn’t shake. It had taken me hours to plece everything together, to follow the trail, to finally find Olivia. Yet, Luke’s team had been here for days and hadn’t even come close to finding her. The irony of it all didn’t escape me. 

“It’s the first time I’ve heard you call Luke your father–in–law,” Ethan teased, a smirk pulling at his lips. 

I let out a short laugh, shaking my head. “He will never hear me call him that,” I muttered, my tone low but with a touch of humour. “But I do behind his back.” 

Ethan laughed, and for a brief moment, it felt like things were normal again. Like we weren’t just in the middle of a tense standoff with a dangerous man, like we weren’t scrambling to save Olivia from whatever horror Xander had planned. It was a small moment of relief, a flash of light in the midst of everything that had happened. 

But then, my gaze shifted to Olivia again, and the reality of the situation hit me like a slap. She was still so pale, so still in my arms. My chest tightened; a pain so sharp it almost felt physical. Why couldn’t she move? My mind raced through the possibilities. Was she just weak from hunger and exhaustion, or was something more serious happening?