Page 38 of Ivy’s Poison

If Bors saw my reaction, he didn’t let it show. He cautiously stepped around us—Beth and I who had yet to move—and pointed. “There are two beds. I figured you guys could share one.” Still standing by the door, Beth and I nodded, totally lost for words. Our throats hadn’t been sliced yet, and Bors was appearing kind and thoughtful. Not what we had mentally prepared for.

“Well,” he faced the dresser, “shit,” and pulled a wallet from his back pocket. I started to feel like an asshole for startling again, expecting him to pull out a knife instead. Not even looking at us, Bors exhaled while nodding and setting the SUV keys on the dresser. “I see.” With a sadness I didn’t expect from a killer, he said, “Assassins only know how to kill. Not love.”

Brows pinched, Beth looked at me. I couldn’t respond. I was dumbfounded.

As if life itself was fading from Bors’s body, he faced us and raised both hands into the air. “I just want a shower. Before I go into the bathroom, I would like to do you two a solid.”

Again, Beth and I nodded, baffled beyond reason.

Slowly, to not alarm us, he brought down his hands. Seemingly struggling to talk through emotions, he pointed to his wallet. “There’s about two grand in there. Four credit cards you can get another five grand off, each.” He wiped a hand over his bearded mouth. “I just want you—her,” he gestured to Jade in my arms, “safe.” Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “Family. It was a foolish dream.”

Beth audibly gasped. I didn’t. I had to look away. This man-hunting assassin was on the verge of tears. It made no sense with everything I knew about his band of brothers.

“Take the SUV but don’t keep it long.” He opened his eyes and licked his drying lips. “Keep switching wheels to keep them off your track.”

My chest was panting. My heart was cracking…

“Ivy.”

I couldn’t look at him. I just couldn’t. He was a cold murderer. I didn’t want to be fooled.

Bors took four steps backward, toward the bathroom behind him. “Babe.”

Absolutely breathless, my eyes found his. Preparing to leave him was suddenly bringing me immense pain. It felt like harsh currents of electricity kept zapping me, head to toe. Toe to head.

He held his chest. “I’m so sorry I can’t be who you want me to be. But I swear I was going to try really hard to be who you need.” His eyes fell the baby in my arms, then welled with unshed tears. “Who she needs.”

A sob escaped me so I covered my mouth. Did he truly have no intention of killing us? Was I not being used like Dad said?

Jade stirred in my arms. Peering down, I wondered what kind of life Bors could offer her. It quickly dawned on me that, whether Bors was being truthful or not, I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t raise my kid in an even worse environment than I’d just pulled her from. I had seen dead bodies where I lived. I couldn’t, voluntarily, live that way again.

Bors backed into the bathroom as a tear slipped down his rugged face and into the dark beard I was already missing. “If I find out anyone hurts you girls,” he choked out, “I’ll kill them,” and shut the door.

I stood there in disbelief, my ears ringing, tears streaming.

As soon as the water from his shower started running, Beth grabbed her chest and began gasping for air. “Oh my God.”

Crying, I gasped, too. “I know.”

She stared at Jade, debating. I could see it in her eyes. Then they slammed shut. “You can’t take the chance.”

Wiping my cheeks and under my nose, I agreed. “I know, but damn it, I would’ve tried if it weren’t for her.”

Beth took a step toward the dresser, the wallet in her sight, but stopped. “This feels so wrong.” She faced me. “Maybe you need to try staying with him for her.”

Weeping, I handed her Jade. “Don’t make this harder than it already is. I’m literally dying inside.” I set my shoulders back and prepared to face the world… without Champ.

She watched me walk to the dresser, her eyes filled with compassion. “Baby, I need you to settle down and listen to me.”

Ignoring her, or at least trying to, I picked up his wallet. I almost moaned when I smelled him on it. The scent was a mix of man and heaven. That’s how good he felt in my heart. I was sure he smelled like heaven.

“Someone has told lies about these men, honey. There is a real heart beating in his chest.”

I leaned over, my arms catching my weight on the rickety furniture. “Beth, please.”

She refused to relent. “This old biker broad has seen a lot but, baby, I’ve never seen a man look at a woman like Champ just looked at you.”

It felt so fucking good to be adored like that. “I must put Jade first.”