AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah. I could use one myself.” I follow him to the kitchen, rubbing the side of my neck.
Ivy is standing in front of the coffee machine when we enter. Water drips from the fancy system that can make anything from hot water to hot chocolate, but her focus is trained on her phone. She taps agitatedly at the screen until Riot trudges behind her. With a jolt she almost drops the device before she slips it back into the bag hanging at her hip.
T-Swift? Maybe. Or her mom. Or her brother. Or that guy at the expo the other night. Fuck, I don’t know. It could be the Tsar of Russia for as much as Ivy is willing to open up to me.
I want to bulldoze through the barricade she’s keeping between us and learn all her secrets. But this situation with Alec Hawthorne scared her. I get that. So I’ll let it go yet again. Even though it makes me fucking nuts. Reminds me of being a kid, begging my mom to come out of her room and play with me. Or go to the park. Or hell, eat a sandwich on the front step.
I didn’t get that she was sick back then and her behavior wasn’t really in her control. It wasn’t until we were teens that she stopped being our mom altogether. The woman behind her closed bedroom door became nothing but a shell of who my mom was.
It’s not the same. This thing with Ivy. But when she shuts me out I feel just as helpless. I hate it.
“I think Ro keeps some vodka…” Riot hesitates while he tries to decide where Ro might have stashed the alcohol.
“What are you trying to do, baby?” I ask Ivy.
“Tea. I’m making tea.” She throws herself into my arms. “This is so awful.”
“Hawthorne is fucking psychotic.” I hold her face between my hands. If he ever hurts her I will straight up kill him and bury his body in the desert. I don’t even need to think about it. I press my lips to her forehead. Drink in her scent and her softness. I don’t care that she’s holding things back from me as long as she’s here. We’ll work out the rest. I need to be patient. Saintly. Remember that she’s been through so much. “How’s Ro doing?”
“She’s in shock, but the sedative is doing its job. I’m making her chamomile tea to warm her up.”
Riot pulls a bottle of vodka out of the freezer. With shaking hands he grabs two mugs from beside the sink and splashes the clear liquid into them.
“I’m going to take the tea in to Ro.” Ivy leaves my arms to collect the warm beverages. “She shouldn’t be alone.”
“Thanks,” Riot tells her.
“I wish there was more I could do.” She gives him a tight smile, her gaze full of something that makes me want to spit out my tongue.
It’s like for a moment I’m watching someone have the same kind of twin telepathy that me and Rebel share, only I’m on the outside. I blink and whatever I saw between them is gone—no doubt imagined because I’m so damn possessive of her. A second later so is my girl, off to take care of Ro while I talk to my brother.
“Are you alright?” Riot asks as he lifts his mug to his lips.
“Yep.” Vodka isn’t my favorite drink, but I swallow it down like it’s the finest ambrosia. “Did you call the cops?”
He swallows his shot. “Called them straight after you. They’re on their way.”
“Good.” I nod. “There’s surveillance in the elevator. Hopefully it caught the bastard.”
“I didn’t tell Rebel.” He sounds sheepish.
“Good move.” Obviously, he needs to know. But I’m ready to hunt down Alec Hawthorne and put my fist through his face. Rebel would be worse. He’s already lost too much time to this prick. And the bastard threatened Summer too. All to protect his status as Hollywood’s golden douche nugget while he gets away with being a vile piece of human effluence. “We’ll tell him once we’ve talked to the police.”
Riot’s face contorts, and I get an inkling of what he’s thinking, because I want to fuck Hawthorne up too.
“What if they don’t find anything?” He pours another slosh into his glass.
I put my mug aside and scratch at my jaw. Once the cops have been here I’ll drive Riot and Ro to Rebel’s. There’s no way Ro is staying here tonight. “Then he’ll find his way into a shallow grave.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Riot asks stonily. “The apartment is going to be crawling with cops any minute and you’re making jokes?”
“All I mean is we’ll deal with him ourselves if we have to.” I rest my knuckles on the cold surface of the counter when what I really want to do is punch it.
“I don’t want to be that guy. You’ve become weirdly protective since you started seeing Ivy.”
“You have no idea what she’s been through.” Hell, I only know enough to piss me the fuck off.
“I didn’t say I did.” He puts his hands up. “And I’m not pretending it doesn’t matter. But we’ve come so far from when we were kids. Rebel is happy with Summer. You’reina relationship. And Ro and I…” He swallows, like we can’t all tell shit is happening between them. “My career is taking off. If we take care of this—”
