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“I’d rather not say,” Taz said quietly, setting the stage for the authorities to find the drugs and paraphernalia. I’d not noticed Loki had left the room and was back with some alcohol and glasses and worked to make the area look like a party gone wrong.
The whole thing was surreal, but I didn’t feel happy. Not even when I watched Tate convulse on the floor, foam dripping out of his open mouth onto the rug. An unpleasant smell wafted up as I realized Tate messed himself even more.
It was done and there was nothing left as I stood there, unmoving. Taz had already left the room, and I’d not even noticed.
“Ivy, are you ready?” Loki asked softly, touching my arm lightly.
“Yes.” I blinked and focused on his gorgeous face. We’d all been wearing gloves and had toboggans on to keep our hair from falling or fingerprints being left.
As I rode with Loki back to St Bernard Parish, my arms wrapped around his waist, I expected the tears to fall, but they didn’t. I noticed it was a full moon, and I wondered if Shannon was somewhere up there happy. I’d avenged her death. Somehow, I doubted it. The sounds of the Valhalla Heathens surrounded me when my brain cleared of all thoughts. When Loki steered the bike up the long winding drive to his house, I leaned back and watched the sky through the tree branches, keeping my hands on him so I wouldn’t fall.
Chapter 28
Loki
Ivy was standing in the window's moonlight, looking out, as I held her from behind. I watched her through the reflection of the glass. Her expression gave nothing away. She was wearing the t-shirt she’d worn the first time she’d been in my room. That night the sex was off the charts hot. Her putting that blade up to my neck had been sensual in a primal way. I loved this woman and maybe I always had. I didn’t want her to go back to Texas, and I was itching to have that conversation, but I didn’t want to be selfish. She’d come to New Orleans with a goal and now she was probably replaying the images from tonight in her mind in an endless loop. She’d not said much so far, but I knew she was still processing.
“I have an envelope in my purse. I want you to give it to your brothers,” she whispered.
My voice was raspy when I said, “you don’t owe us anything.”
She turned in my arms and took a step back. “They did a job for me and I want to pay them. I get how that’s probably not enough money to be on your radar,” she said, smiling a little.
“What the hell is it with everyone thinking I don’t appreciate money?” I said, turning my back to her and pacing toward my mini fridge and grabbing a water bottle. I twisted the cap and chugged a few large swigs.
She raised her hands in submission, “hey sorry, cut it up however you want.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I gritted out.
She tilted her head, examining me like I was under a microscope. I didn’t want to get into it. It wasn’t fair to my brothers not to tell her about our activities, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to go there yet. Instead, I went to my couch and plopped down with the water bottle. Ivy followed me and sat with her knees up to her chin. She maneuvered the t-shirt to cover her legs as if she was in a cocoon. My cock hardened, thinking of how possessive it felt to have her in my clothes.. No Taz, no Piotr, to distract her from me. I gestured the water bottle to her, and she took it and took a sip.
“I want you to move in with me,” I blurted. Fuck, did I just say that out loud? I wanted her to move in, but I wanted to do this properly. Not to freak her out. Before she understood the depth of my feelings. I was a fucking Viking, and I was losing my shit.
Ivy didn’t look at me when she started speaking, “I’m driving to Dallas in the morning.”
“What’s in Dallas?” I was floored. I thought she was from Houston.
“I have an old friend that I’ve not seen in forever. I want to visit and clear my head.”
I sat motionless, boring a hole into the side of her head and she continued to stare toward the tv, which was blank and silent.
“I want you to stay.”
She turned her head slightly to look at me. “I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
The tightness in my chest struck me so quickly, I wondered if I was having a heart attack. It was hard to breathe. I closed my eyes to calm down.
“I love you, Ivy.”
Ivy took my hand in hers and started rubbing her thumb over the top of my hand. “I care about you, Erik. I really do, but I need time to sort some stuff out. I’m still so jumbled.”
My throat was dry and there wasn’t enough saliva to swallow. I took the water bottle out of her hand a little roughly and jostled it up to my mouth. I was losing it.
When I had enough time to get my thoughts together, I said, “you can’t get them unjumbled in New Orleans?” I asked, looking out the window at the surrounding darkness.
“I don’t think so,” she said and let go of my hand. She freed her legs and placed them on the floor. I tried not to notice how high the t-shirt now was on her body. The glow of the moonlight reflecting off her beautiful, silky legs was intoxicating. I wanted to chain her to my bed and never let her go.
“What made you so interested in the allfather?” she changed topics.
