AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t think so.” I lock gazes with her, letting her know that I won’t back down or be intimidated. I let Ivy down once and I won’t make that same mistake twice.
“No?” Her mouth twists cruelly and there’s no doubt where that bastard got that habit from. “Nathaniel, give it to him.”
The lawyer removes an envelope from the interior pocket of his jacket.
“What is it?” I eyeball the envelope. Nothing good ever comes from someone handing over a sealed envelope.
“An emergency restraining order.” Nicole smiles. “Until we can make it permanent.”
Still holding onto Ivy’s hand, I tuck mine into my elbows. “I’m not taking that.”
“It’ll still be in effect,” Nathaniel says. “It’s in your best interest to read it and follow it. Do you have a lawyer?”
“Jason Winthrop. I’ll be giving him a call.” I take the package and rip through the white paper to get at the document inside. Sure enough, it’s an order to stay away from Ivy for the next seven days.
“I was so worried about you, Ivy.” Nicole carries on like she’s dealt with me and I’m no longer an issue. “When you started hanging out with him I knew you were going to end up in the hospital. I knew he’d hurt you. Look how low he’s brought you. That you’d end up needing surgery. And the doctor says you have bruises.”
Bruises? When we argued I grabbed her arm. I was furious about Alec, but was it enough to leave bruises? If it was I will spend my lifetime making it up to her. “Whatever you’re trying to insinuate—"
“He wouldn’t hurt me.” Ivy scoffs. “He’s my husband. And he’s way too cute to be that mean.”
Nicole’s lashes flutter. “What?”
“She thinks I’m cute.” I smile as Nicole chokes on the idea that Ivy and I are married. As soon as the anesthesia wears off Ivy will realize that we’re not. I’m sure she’ll understand why I said it. Or at least why I meant to say we were engaged. One day we might even laugh about it. If there will ever be a time when we can look back on tonight and not just feel traumatized. “And she knows I would never lay a finger on her.”
“Nathaniel,” Nicole screeches, grabbing for his arm, looking like she might vomit. “She can’t do that, can she? She can’t have… married him. Can we get that annulled? You can do something.”
“You need to leave,” he tells me. “As per the document in your hand, you’re not allowed within five hundred feet of Ivy Hawthorne.”
“Love,” I mutter, and then for good measure add, “Maddox.”
“I’m a Love-Maddox,” Ivy gasps. “That’s me. I’m Love. He loves me.”
Nicole’s eyes widen. “Is she high?”
Ivy holds her fingers up in front of her face and wiggles them. “Husband dearest, where is my wedding band?”
“At home.” I smile down at her, enjoying the discomfort it’s causing the woman who is trying to insert herself between us. “You should leave, Nicole, while she probably won’t remember you tried to pull this shit.”
“This is not a joke,” Nicole says. “Ivy ismydaughter. And you are an intruder who has caused her and our family severe pain. She wouldn’t be in the hospital at all if it weren’t for you.”
“That’s not true.” I’m already berating myself for not being there when Ivy needed me. For turning my back on her because I was too stubborn and angry to realize that it doesn’t matter that she’s related to Alec Hawthorne. I’m fully aware that living without her is not an option. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her, but I’m not about to admit the guilt I feel to this woman.
“I have no doubt you knew who she was and decided to make it your mission to hurt Alec by hurting his sister,” Nicole says.
I’m getting dangerously close to losing my cool. I bury my fists in my armpits. “You’re a liar.”
“You should leave before I have you arrested,” Nicole says. “Since you are in violation of the restraining order.”
“Are you fucking with me?” I growl as I try to tamp down on the very anger that is likely how Nicole’s lawyer was able to convince a judge to give her that restraining order.
“Give them a chance to say goodbye,” Nathaniel leans in to tell Nicole. “A minute. It’s the last time they’ll be in the same vicinity.”
“Fine,” she says bitterly. “But not a second longer.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” I widen my stance and glare at them both.
Nathaniel is smugly confident. “You don’t have a choice.”
