CHAPTER SIXTEEN #3
Her polite begging sends a rush of heat blasting through my abdomen. “Jesus, fuck,” I growl. “Yes. Come with me, Ives. Now.”
And with a scream that slices into the inky night, she comes apart in my arms while I shudder around her.
When we’re both composed, I dress my wife, carry her to our bed, and remind her that she’s mine again and again. Our days are numbered before everything gets all fucked up. I’m determined to make them count.
It’s been four days since I divulged some information about KORT to Ivy. She hasn’t asked a single question, probably storing them up to bulldoze me with an onslaught on Black Friday.
I tap my desk, sucking on a mouthful of Sour Skittles, while I lead my early morning meeting with the guys and she sleeps. “Status?”
“Yeah.” Liam scratches at the stubble lining his jaw.
“Those accounts I drained at the end of September, based on a damn hunch from a flimsy connection, panned out—slowed the fucker’s activity for sure.
I still don’t have an identity though. The asshole’s good.
The first IP address was completely untraceable.
The second was concealed enough that I only have it narrowed down to the Midwest region.
Looks like that was done through someone working for him—slightly sloppier.
When was your phone call with O’Reilly?”
“Last night. Why?”
Liam’s face is drawn, serious, nauseating the fuck out of me.
“The hit was rescinded today, marked as completed. He’s been silent for the past several weeks.
I assumed that was because he knew I was fucking with him.
But this was a clear message to lay off.
The good news is, she’s not being hunted by every hit man in the country, but the timing—”
“If it was the funding, it would’ve happened sooner.” I jump out of my chair, unsettled.
Sounds like her pursuers know identity, location, and delivery dates will be revealed shortly.
“Yes,” he confirms.
“What exactly was discussed in the call?” Ty probes.
Pacing behind my desk, I spit it all out, “O’Reilly wants to meet her, which is a fair request before she undergoes her trial.
I told him I’d arrange a meeting by the end of the month.
I’d love to believe that message got out and the hit being rescinded is due to acceptance that the seat is hers, but that’s doubtful. ”
Liam sighs, dragging his hand down his face. “My thoughts too.”
“I also spoke to Cabrini.” Fuck. I should’ve known better, speaking to both in the same day. It makes all of the contacts in both circles suspect rather than narrowing it to one.
“Fucking hell,” Gage barks. He rarely speaks up in these meetings unless we have a mark for him to stalk. His exasperation is a testament to his attachment to my Little Storm.
“And he wanted?” Ty asks, feigning calmness while the rest of us quietly unravel.
I swipe my hand back and forth over my hair, beating a well-worn path into the wood floor.
“The Cabrini name is on the line. He’s announced me as his successor, and of course, the knowledge that Ivy’s in my custody has also been released—not that anyone, including him, knows our location yet.
He didn’t share about our marriage because I want to do that with O’Reilly in person.
But he’s anxious, said we both need to be ready by December first.”
Ty scoffs, finally showing the heaviness we all feel. “If you’re arranging a meeting and we’ve got a December first deadline, don’t you think it’s fucking time we tell her who she is?”
“The day after Thanksgiving,” I affirm what I’ve already told them.
“Laying it on her at the last minute like that, do you really think that’s best?” he snaps.
My hand yanks at my mussed hair with a sting. “I don’t fucking know.”
“Well, I do, Chief ,” Ty snarls, rising with a glower. “It’s bullshit. She needs to know now.”
“Sit the fuck down, Ty,” Liam orders through clenched teeth. “We’re not gonna start fighting about this. It’s complicated enough.”
“What if she runs?” Gage voices the aching question we all have. “She’ll be in danger, and we’ll be fucked for a failed promise, needing to run as well.”
I drop into my chair. “Fuck. I’m not ready. I can’t—”
“I can,” Ty says, composed and seated, but inflexible nonetheless.
“She may be your wife but keeping her in the dark doesn’t work for me.
You’re underestimating how she feels about you, Wells.
How she feels about all of us. She won’t give that up.
But she deserves time to accept this before they put her through whatever version of hell we all have waiting. ”
He’s right. Waiting is cowardly. It wouldn’t even be a consideration if it was anyone else, but the thought that she’d stop trusting me and do something to put herself in danger has my stomach in knots, my chest caving in, and my head in a goddamn fog.
“No one has our location,” Liam chimes. “We tell her now—or soon—and see how she handles it. If things go south, we’ve got time to do what’s necessary to protect her and disappear.”
My head snaps up. “Without her? ’Cause fuck that! She’ll have to forgive me because I’ll chase her to the ends of the earth. ”
Liam shakes his head, his features more subdued than usual. “Not without her. We don’t go anywhere without her.”
“Agreed,” Gage says, which, again, screams how special my Little Storm is. Two months ago, he would have thrown her to them to save our asses without a second thought.
“Glad we’re all on the same page.” Ty sighs, arms folded across his chest. “It needs to happen in the next forty-eight hours.”
“You’re overstepping, Reynolds,” I snipe, spitting Ty’s last name as a reprimand.
It’s understandable that he’s upset and protective over Ivy. And in all the years we’ve known one another, he’s never been disrespectful, but I can’t let it start now. Disrespect is a product of doubt. They need to know I can handle this.
“I will get it done, and you will leave it in my hands.”
He nods, resting his elbows on his knees and blowing out a trembling breath. The sight has me reeling. Ty has mastered hiding pain, and here he is, losing himself.
Fuck , I wish I could talk to Tom. Maybe as much as Ivy needs him. Carrying everything these past five years was a hell of a lot easier with him as a sounding board. These guys have me, and I had him. Now, I’m alone and fucking up everything he cherished.
As I rise from my chair, my eyes land on each of them with assurance. “I need some time with Ivy today. Get to work and find out who the fucking leak is with O’Reilly or Cabrini.”
With that, I head back to my bedroom, anxious to see my girl and wake her up properly. I open the door and still at the sight. My Little Storm is waking herself up with a toy, it seems.
Eyes closed. Back bowed. Quiet moans. A goddamn vision.
“Ivanna,” I growl, abruptly shutting the door.
Blue gems, cerulean in the early glow, guilty and astonished, land on me. She scrunches her nose. “Good morning.”
“Not so good when I find you defying me.”
She shimmies up to a sitting position, letting the comforter fall from her magnificent tits. Brilliant move. “You’ve conditioned me to certain expectations upon waking, and you weren’t here.”
A well-crafted argument on the fly also.
Wordlessly, I stroll around the bed, rubbing my chin and relishing the sight of her sweating it out.
She’s probably needy, too, seeing as she wasn’t finished.
That I can certainly use to my advantage.
I hold out my hand to her, and she begrudgingly plops her suction vibrator into my palm.
She stares at it, then me, and tilts her head, lips quirked with snark.
“You can take it,” she says, waving her fingers at me in a jazz hand. “But you can’t take these.”
My beautiful brat.
Tossing the toy between my palms, I hum. “Wanna play, Ives?”
She bites her lip and nods, eager and willing as always, because she’s a fucking goddess.
“Careful what you wish for, Little Storm.”