Chapter 29
IAN
I chucked Scruffy under the chin. He’d been looking for Ivy all over the house and finally decided to slump at my feet. “I feel ya, Scruffy, unironically.”
I scrolled through the text messages from Ivy since she’d left. I knew she landed safely and that she missed me. She didn’t text me again until this morning. I’m sorry. I love you. Short, to the point...and bollocks.
Jack must’ve clued her in that I’d discovered her scam. My thumb hovered over the option to block her number from my phone, but Scruffy whined, and I couldn’t go through with it...yet.
Instead, I rang up Jack. Hadn’t blocked him yet, either. When he picked up with a tentative hello, I said, “I ain’t forgiving you or hiring you back, but I already paid your salary for this month, and I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything, Ian, but don’t cut off Ivy. She doesn’t deserve it.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “You still have contacts with a private investigator, right? You must have. I’m sure Ivy herself never told you her real name.”
“Th-that’s right. I have a guy.”
“Tell your bloke to get on this Matt Russo. Find out who he is to Ivy and anything else about him. I deserve to know who’s been working with Ivy to con me.”
“I’ll get on it.”
Before I could end the call, Jack spoke very quickly. “Still good for the first interview in four days, right?”
Then I ended the call.
I had no intention of backing out on or missing any of my promo engagements for the release, but I’d let Jack sweat it out. My mind had been in total confusion since I found out Ivy had been taking money from me...and that her name wasn’t even Ivy. Who was she? Had she targeted me somehow? Was this a setup from the beginning?
How could it be? How could she have known I’d be at that book festival? I did know she was a real author. She had an author page on Amazon and everything, and she had real books listed there. That part wasn’t a lie. Ivy Chase was probably her penname, but Chloe and her neighbors all called her Ivy. Why would she change her name in real life?
What else had she faked? I knew now that she was just having me on when she pretended not to want me to pay for anything. I huffed out a breath as I sank my head in my hands, bracing my palms against my forehead. She couldn’t have faked loving me, could she? I’d never felt so seen, so understood, so cared for by someone.
My fingers curled into my scalp. “Mate, that’s probably her job.”
She was a fiction writer. She made up stories for a living and apparently had a side hustle of scamming people.
I did a good job of distracting myself for the rest of the afternoon. Had a silly facetime with Thea where she tried to teach me some Italian. Her bond with Jasper didn’t hit as hard this time. I was glad Thea’s mum had found her happiness, and I couldn’t complain about Jasper. Thea adored Jasper’s older daughter. Ivy had been right—about that.
She’d been right about so much. That’s why her betrayal hit so hard. Why kind of game had she been playing with me?
I dumped Scruffy off my lap and ran up to our room, taking the stairs two at a time. When I burst into our bedroom, I stood in the center of it, my gaze darting to every corner and surface as if I could find the answer to the mystery of Ivy in the stuff she’d left behind.
But the essence of her that lingered—her flowery scent, the echo of her laughter, the lipstick print of her kiss on the mirror she’d left me before she departed on her trip—brought me to my knees, leaving me more confused than ever.
When I recovered some sense of will, I staggered to my feet and rummaged through her drawers, checking for secret hiding places. I barreled into her closet, searching in pockets and snatching boxes from the shelves. I had no idea what I was looking for—maybe some sign of Maddie Russo.
Had she created Ivy Chase from her imagination, just like one of her characters? Did Ivy Chase even exist?
I tore down the stairs with Scruffy barking at my heels and made a beeline for Ivy’s office. She’d taken her laptop with her, but I sat at her desk and yanked open the drawers. Journals full of handwritten notes, printed charts with character traits filling the boxes, and sticky notes with names crowded the drawers. I grabbed one of the notebooks, hoping for insight into Ivy or Maddie, but she’d filled it with story ideas and phrases and half-written scenes and even single words. All make believe, all fiction—just like her.
My phone rang on the corner of the desk, and I didn’t even look up. I was done with business today, but Scruffy wanted me to answer it.
“Stop yer yapping.”
I pulled my phone toward me and froze when I saw Tinkerbell on the screen. She was ringing me? My thumb hovered over the display. If I talked to her now in this state, she could tell me anything, and I’d be begging her to come back and giving her even more money to do it. I had to get a grip.
The phone rang four times and stopped. I checked my text messages, but she hadn’t sent one since the apology text earlier. As I put the phone back on the desk, it dinged. I snatched it up again. Voicemail. She’d left me a voicemail. Nobody left voicemails anymore expect my mum.
My finger trembled as I held it over the play arrow. Then I stabbed it and put it on Speaker. I didn’t trust myself to hold the phone steady.
“Hi, baby.”
Her whispered voice gave me chills.
“I-I guess I can’t call you that, anymore.”
She cleared her throat. “Ian, I’m leaving you this voicemail because I didn’t want to write a book in text message. I don’t even know if you’ll hear this or listen to it. I’m thinking you haven’t blocked me yet, or my call would’ve gone straight to voicemail, and it didn’t.
Scruffy cocked his head and barked. I scratched behind his ears. “I know, boy.”
“I’m not calling you to make excuses. I don’t have any. What I did was wrong, and I did it for selfish reasons. I deceived you to protect myself and maybe to protect you just a little—but mostly I did it for myself. I got into some trouble and accepting Jack’s offer seemed the easiest way out.”
Trouble? My heart pounded in my chest as she paused.
“And don’t blame Jack. He cares about you and just wanted to make sure you stayed on the right path, and okay, maybe he had selfish reasons, too. We both made a mistake, but it didn’t come from a bad place or with the idea of hurting you or taking advantage of you.”
She sobbed, and the sound reached out and squeezed my heart.
“I just want you to know that nobody would ever have to pay me to be with you or love you. I always wanted to be with you from the minute we met, but...certain things got in the way of that. Jack’s offer seemed to solve all my problems at once, but it created one, big, huge one—and that was lying to you.”
Ivy blew her nose, and I pressed a thumb against the corner of my twitching eye.
“But I’m here in LA, and I’m gonna fix everything tomorrow night. I don’t expect you to want me even after I make this right, but now I’m doing this for myself, and you did that. You inspired me. When you defied your blackmailer, even though that video could’ve derailed your comeback, you gave me the confidence to stand up for myself. I knew what I had to do.”
I ran my hand through my hair. What was she on about?
“I know you always say you needed me and that I saved you, and I like to think I helped you a little bit, but you were already prepared to save yourself. I know you’ll be fine because you’re strong, and I know you’re strong because you saved me. So, we helped each other.”
Listening to her sweet, husky voice, I closed my eyes imagining her next to me. She could fill my head with lies, and I’d be happy to listen to her forever.
“You know maybe that’s why we met that afternoon. Maybe the power of Fabio brought us together for one magical moment in time when we each needed a little support. Maybe we just weren’t meant to last forever, just long enough to make a difference in each other’s lives. And you did. You showed me I could be lovable and even more than that, you showed me I could love. You’re so special, and I lo...”
Her message ended, cut off by the impatient system. I scooped up the phone and brought it to my face as if I could bring her back.
“What do you think, Scruffy?”
I tickled his furry back with my toes. “Do you think she’s spewing a load of shit? She knew an easy mark when she saw one and used me for money. All the rest of it, being in trouble, needing help...all convenient lies.”
Scruffy gave me a side-eye. He was right. Even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. Nobody could fake being in love like that, could they? Her body couldn’t fake anything, but then that was sex, not love. That wasn’t even true. When we made love...that was love. I didn’t just want to fuck her because it felt good and got me off. I wanted to meld with her, body and soul.
What the hell did she have to take care of tomorrow night? That could all be rubbish. The woman straight-up lied to me about her identity and about taking money off me, all the while acting like she didn’t want me to pay for a thing. I checked the time on my phone—two PM in LA right now.
I jumped when the phone in my hand rang, my heart racing. Seeing Jack’s name on the display caused a mixture of disappointment and relief to course through my body. I wasn’t ready to talk to Ivy, yet. Maybe I never would be.
I tapped the phone. “Alright?”
“Ian, the PI got back to me already. He can do a deeper dive on Matt Russo, if you want, but I got some info right off the top.”
“Give it to me.”
I leaned back in Ivy’s chair and stared at the ceiling. I wasn’t ready for this so soon after Ivy’s voicemail.
“Matt Russo is thirty-two years old, a few years older than Ivy.”
“Three years older.”
“So, he’s probably her brother or cousin. Definitely not her father, and not her boyfriend with the same last name.”
“Husband?”
I felt sick to my stomach at the thought.
“No, Matt Russo is single. He does live in LA though, apartment in West Hollywood...and he has a record.”
I jolted forward, sending Scruffy scrambling for the corner. “What kind of record?”
“An arrest record, mate. The bloke’s served time for loads of crimes.”
“He’s a criminal? Ivy’s...brother is an ex-con? What kinds of charges?”
“Hmm, burglary, carjacking, auto theft, a few drug and weapons charges, fraud, nothing too serious.”
“Nothing too serious?”
I was shouting, and Scruffy whimpered. “Weapons? That’s not serious?”
“He’s a Yank.”
Jack took a gulp of something. “They all have weapons.”
I wiped a hand across my mouth. “You said fraud.”
“Yeah, my guy didn’t get into any details.”
“Blackmail.”
Jack clicked his tongue. “I didn’t say blackmail.”
“I know you didn’t. Ivy did.”
“Ivy? You talked to Ivy? That’s great, mate. How’s she doing?”
“You seem more worried about her than me. I didn’t talk to her. She left me a voicemail.”
“Who leaves voicemails? Me mum leaves voicemails, that’s who.”
“Yeah, mine too.”
I shook my head. “That’s beside the point. In her voicemail, Ivy mentioned Jessica’s blackmail attempt. Said the way I handled it gave her courage to take care of something in her own life.”
“You think Matt’s blackmailing her? Over what?”
“I have no idea, but the fact that she’s out there in LA by herself planning to deal with this...ex-con gives me a bad feeling. How likely do you think it is this guy’s gonna give up twenty-five thousand quid without a fight?”
“I thought she was visiting her friend, Chloe.”
“She lied. What a surprise. Besides, that doesn’t make me feel any better. Chloe’s good at her job, but she’s daft.”
“Are you going to call Ivy back?”
“No. I may not know Maddie Russo, but I know Ivy Chase, and she’s determined to see this through. She wouldn’t listen to me, and if she thought I was coming out there to stop her, she’d move her plans up.”
“Move them up?”
“She told me she was gonna take care of business tomorrow night.”
“Wait, wait a minute. Go out to LA? Who said anything about going out to LA?”
“I did. Just now. I’m not going to let her put herself in danger because she thinks she needs to prove something to me.”
“You’re going out to LA to stop her?”
“Fuck, yeah.”