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Ten minutes later, we were on our way to the premises Winter had found for Storm to operate out of. Romano was out of the picture, Brant was out of the picture, and Ivy was safe. We would finalise some plans with Winter for what he had to do going forward, and then we’d go the fuck home. And once we’d taken care of the feds, life could get back to fucking normal.
21
King
I stood in the doorway and watched Ivy at the kitchen table talking with Brian. I’d brought her to the women’s shelter that he ran for us yesterday and she hadn’t been happy with that decision. She’d argued with me for a good half hour over it until I’d had enough and told her to pull her head in. I’d left not long after that, hoping like fuck she stayed. It had been a long night of little sleep while my thoughts thrashed about in my head.
I’d come to the decision I couldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to do. Fuck knew, I’d forced enough upon her in the years I’d known her. And not all good things. It was up to her what she did now. I would help her in whatever way she asked, but I had to take a step back and let Ivy live her life to her own plan.
Brian glanced my way and stood. “King, we were just wondering what time you’d come by.”
I entered the kitchen, my eyes meeting Ivy’s. There was still resentment there, but it had eased a little. To Brian, I said, “Can you give us a minute?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
After he exited the room, I pulled out the chair next to Ivy and sat. Resting my arm on the table, I turned my body to face her. Taking in the tired lines on her face, I said, “You didn’t get much sleep either?”
She shook her head and reached for the mug in front of her. After she took a sip, she said, “I think I managed two, maybe three hours. I was thinking about you all night.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. What a prick you can be.”
“Because a prick would fucking rescue you from the motherfucker you put your trust in, and find you a bed to sleep in while you get your shit together.” Fuck, even when I didn’t wanna argue with her, she managed to get under my skin and rile me up to the point where I fucking found myself arguing over stuff I gave zero shits about.
“Fuck you, King.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face while I forced myself to take a moment and think about what came out of my mouth next. We could sit here and argue our way to lunchtime or I could lead the conversation in a better direction. Blowing out a harsh breath, I said, “Why did you say no yesterday when I suggested I drop you over to Bethany’s?”
She averted her gaze, refusing to look at me while she turned silent.
“Ivy,” I pushed. “What’s going on?”
Another few moments passed between us in silence before finally she looked back up at me. “I haven’t spoken to her in five years. We had a falling out, and she refuses to talk to me now.”
“What happened?” I didn’t like the woman; I didn’t like that she turned her back on family.
She fiddled with the tablecloth as a tear slid down her face. “She didn’t like Tony. We’d argued over him for a long time, and after one of my miscarriages, she told me to choose between them. I chose my husband.”
“So she did the same thing to you over him that she did over me?”
“Yes.”
I hated that a mother could do that to her child. But as much as I disliked the woman, the fact remained she was Ivy’s mother, and I could see Ivy’s pain over losing her. “You should call her, tell her what’s happened. She might surprise you with her response.”
“And she might not.” She looked at me through her tears. “I don’t know if I could handle that.” Her voice cracked, slicing through my heart. This conversation threw me back to the past, to the time in our lives when so much shit was going down and bad decisions were being made. It fucking dredged up old hurts and a fuckload of anger that I still carried with me. I’d tried to let that shit go, but because it was all tied together in my mind with Margreet’s death, I’d failed.
I chose not to push her on it yet. Instead, I said, “You heard about Tony?”
“Yes.” Her voice held relief. “The lawyers are helping me sort through everything, but there won’t be much left over when all is said and done, so I just need to pick myself up and start over.”
“Brian can help you with that. He’s got contacts everywhere. He’ll help you find a job, and you can stay here for as long as you need.”
“Does he owe you for something? Is that why he’s okay with me staying?”
“No. We manage this place together. I front the cash, he runs it.”
She wiped her tears away while she studied me for a beat. “For an asshole, you do good things sometimes.”
