Page 47 of Recovering Ivy

“Yeah. Did you tell Linc we were passing on his dinner invitation?”

“I did,” he confirmed.

“Did you tell him nicely?” Zane lifted one perfect eyebrow in answer. “Right.” I laughed and grabbed my purse and followed him to the door.

He called out his goodbyes and by the time we’d reached his car I’d come to my senses. I was behaving like a woman who had something to offer a man; one that had the luxury of frivolous dreams and hopes. I wasn’t that woman and Zane was too good for me. Sex and protection was what was on the table. That was all I could afford. I’d take it until Zane got tired of the game he was playing, then I’d move on.

I always did.

* * *

We were loading up the back of Zane’s Range Rover after a grocery shopping experience I never wanted to repeat when Zane pushed me between the open back hatch of the truck and his body. I was already irritated after the lectures I’d received anytime I placed something unhealthy into the cart. Now he was manhandling me, and I wasn’t happy.

“Stop doing that,” I complained and tried to maneuver away from him.

“Ivy.” I heard the raspy voice of a woman who’d smoked too much over her life. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Not now. Please, Lord above, not in front of Zane.

“Mother.” I turned in Zane’s arms to face the woman who’d given birth to me but not much more. “Now’s not a good time. May we speak later?”

“May we speak later,” she mocked. “There you go, always trying to be too big for your britches, like you’re some smart girl better than everyone else.”

I felt Zane move and grabbed his forearm to stop him. If Sarah wanted to have it out with me in the parking lot of the grocery store, it was better to let her do it. Trying to make her leave would only cause a bigger scene.

“Well, you found me. What do you need?” I asked.

“I need you to take your nosey ass and leave Forester alone. You’ve gone too far getting your new rich boyfriend involved.”

“Forester? Why were you at Forester’s house? You need to stay away from him. He’s bad news, mom. He killed Joey.”

“He didn’t kill her. She got greedy and started using more than she ought to have. You know Joey, she could never get enough.”

“What?”

“Listen, Ivy, you’ve always had a stick up your ass ruining every good thing that came my way. Always talking stupid shit about calling CPS or the fucking police. But I’m not gonna let you take this from me. I can’t have you fuck this up. So mind your own business for once and butt the fuck out.”

“Fuck what up?” Zane asked, his lip curling in disgust.

“None of your goddamned business either. I’m sure Ivy’s given up the pussy enough to convince you she’s not the trash she really is. Looking at you with your fancy car and nice clothes, you probably think you can wash the stink off my daughter, but you can’t. Once you get bored, you’ll throw her away. She can’t afford a man like you. Men like you are nothing more than a meal ticket for whores like us.”

It was one thing to disrespect me; it was something else entirely for her to spit her venom at Zane. He was a good man and didn’t deserve to be spoken to like that.

“That’s enough. You can call me whatever you want. But do not speak to him like that.”

“Silly girl. You’ve learned nothing. Always living with your head in the clouds. He doesn’t give a shit what I say to him or what I think of him because he knows that we’re trash, and when he walks away from you, he won’t even remember this conversation except to be happy he scraped you off. I don’t care who you fuck or what you do, never really have. But if you keep poking your nose in shit that’s not your concern, you’ll end up like Joey. Dead.”

“You’re done,” Zane demanded.

“Fuck off. I’m talking to my daughter,” Sarah, never to be outdone, shouted.

“The hell you are. You’re speaking to my woman. And the only reason I let it go on this long is because I wanted to see what role you play in Forester’s operation. I see you’re neck deep in it. So, I’ll give you a message to pass along. Tell Forester he’s fucked. And word of advice, to both of you, either of you even breathe in Ivy’s direction again I’ll kill you.”

“You’re threatening me?” Sarah asked.

“Goddamn right I am. Woman, you’re jacked. I don’t know what happened to you in your miserable life to make you so goddamn fucked up, but you are so jealous of your daughter’s beauty you can’t see straight. She, by some miracle, has everything you wish you had. You see her and call her trash because you cannot live with the knowledge she escaped you. There was nothing more you could’ve done to her and you still couldn’t break her. You can’t stand she’s strong and you’re nothing more than a sad, weak, piece of shit. You said you didn’t care what Ivy did with her life. Perfect. Check this, bitch, she no longer exists for you. The next time I see you, it will be to put a bullet in your head. We clear?”

“You’re joking!”