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“Yeah.” I set my coffee down. “I loved that they let me in. Each one of them was wonderful about it. Wow, though. They sure went through a lot.” I paused. “My situation’s got nothing on them.”
“I disagree.” He leaned closer. “Ivy, you’re just too close to your story, and it isn’t over yet by any stretch of the imagination. Don’t belittle your situation, please, because the truth is it’s a dangerous one. The situation is obviously picking up speed. Ben Oliver isn’t someone you can hide from forever. You need to get the names of those PIs Bronson was talking about, and soon. We need to find out what’s going on and who hired them.”
I suddenly felt cold. He was right. Ben had already proven he had no problem shedding blood and was clearly unbalanced. I knew he’d stop at nothing to keep me quiet.
He looked at his watch. “Keith is late for your session. I’ve got to go, but please call Bronson.”
“I will.”
I gave Keith another ten minutes then went downstairs. I stood outside the sliding glass door that led into the conference room, the glass was frosted. I knew I was about to interrupt an important session, but I knocked twice anyway. John slid the door open, and I saw the screens go blank, and the folders rustled as they were turned over.
“Keith,” I stepped by John and gave Ty a quick glance, “you’re late.”
“Sorry, Ivy,” Frank said. “We’ve got a lot going on.”
“Understood, but I was told I had a mandatory meeting with Keith. It was also stressed that it was not to be rescheduled.” I glanced at Cole, who looked down at his watch then over at Keith. The guys all stared at me, but no one spoke.
“I’ll rebook for tomorrow,” Keith mumbled.
“That’s up to your team leader.” I felt the air get sucked out of the room as the guys all shifted with discomfort, and Keith glanced over at Cole who’d suddenly become interested in his phone. “I can just sit right here,” I swung the chair around next to John and looked at them all, “until a decision is made.” I looked again at Cole.
“She’s like one of the wives,” Mark hissed under his breath.
“Then you know I’m not going anywhere,” I assured him.
“Keith, I know you want to be here right now, but Doc Ivy’s right. You need to go, brother,” Cole told Keith with a serious expression.
“Fine.” Keith didn’t argue as he slid his file over to Mike and stood.
“I apologize for the interruption,” I said to Cole, who tried to hide his amusement. “I won’t keep him long.”
Keith walked ahead of me with his head down until we got to my office where he stepped aside to let me go in first. No one could fault the men in this house for their manners. It was endearing, actually.
He sat down on the couch, and I settled in the chair. I scooped up the cat and placed him gently on the armrest. I looked at my skirt and realized black wasn’t a good color for me when I considered my new furry companion.
“I’ll make you a deal.” I took charge of the session. “I’ll cut your time in half and let you get back to the others if you give it to me straight. Where’s your head right now?”
“Dark,” he mumbled, and when I didn’t speak, he knew I wanted more. “And seriously confused.” Good. I’d hoped for that.
“Confused on how you should be feeling?”
“Exactly.”
“Makes sense. I mean, this just pours gasoline on some nasty wounds she’s already inflicted.” I wanted to piss him off. I knew he’d have to get angry before he’d let me in. I needed to know all of it, what lay beneath the pain. So, I gave it to him. “She confessed she doesn’t care about the kids. Said she doesn’t feel anything for them.”
“Yeah.” His voice held very little emotion.
“She broke the house rules, resented you, fell out of love with you, left you and your kids to fend for yourselves, and now is hanging out with the same people you got her away from with the help of the Devil’s Reach.”
“She ripped out parts of me I didn’t even know existed.” His face grew red as the pain tore through his center.
“And now she might have been yanked off the streets by the very people you’re all at war with. That’s a lot to digest.”
“I, ah,” he stood and turned away from me, “I need to hurt something.”
“I get that. It’s so you can feel something other than emotional pain.” I made sure he knew I followed his train of thought.
“Yeah,” he huffed as the veins in his arms popped.
