Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ivan
Poppy didn’t eat salad, and she loved dessert. It was the smallest details that I shouldn’t have known. The way her head tilted to the side when she was suspicious. How she liked her coffee—mostly sugar, a lot of cream, and hardly any coffee.
I didn’t know if it was because I was staring holes into both of them all night or another reason, but when the waitress told me it was time for me to leave, I looked over at Audrey and let her ground me.
She drove quietly through the bright city as I watched the lights blur past us. “Are you going to tell me why you’re doing all of this?”
Audrey was the only one I could trust. I knew she wouldn’t go blabbing to my brothers about my current predicament and also…
I knew she would be the right choice for company.
She distracted me well. If she hadn’t been there, I would have flown across the room many times.
Thank God I was seated behind Poppy, or I wouldn’t have been able to contain myself.
It was enough that the asshole was on his phone most of the night, but then her shoulders kept going tight; I knew whatever conversation they were having wasn’t a good one.
“I wish I could tell you, at this point, I don’t even know.”
It was a lie, but I’d never admit it to myself or anyone else. I wouldn’t be able to say it out loud. For whatever reason, I was obsessed with Poppy Fairchild. It was bad. It was maddening, but I was too far gone to care at this point. I just needed to keep her safe.
I also needed to know why she was going on a date with Donovan Madden. His parents owned the other part of the docks that my family couldn’t buy, no matter how hard they tried.
“What do you know about him?” I changed the subject, and she laughed as she shook her head.
“Donovan Madden, New York’s hottest bachelor. Irish Mafia. Hard ass. He goes to Alexei’s gym. I would say not to worry about him, but I’ve seen him in the ring and he fights dirty. It sucks that he’s just so good-looking.”
I nodded. I knew all of these things already, even though I hadn’t seen him fight in the ring.
“He’s looking for a wife.”
Poppy’s brother's words came slamming back to me. She’s saved for bigger and better things.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
She nodded as she turned down the street to Poppy’s penthouse. The traffic was bad, so I would probably have to get out and walk the rest of the way. “Yeah, all the moms have been talking about it. But it seems he’s set his sights on your Poppy.”
I didn’t bother with saying anything. Instead, I got out of the car, slamming the door a little too hard and power walked all the way to the fucking penthouse. Did Poppy know he was looking for a wife? Did it even fucking matter?
I scrubbed my hands down my face. Horns blasted around me as cars got impatient, and I wanted nothing more than to throw myself into the traffic that was finally beginning to move. I was coming apart at the seams.
He’d sent me on my way. Did that mean he was with her now? Was he kissing her? Touching her? Was she letting him? Based on the way she reacted as he spoke, I doubted all of the above, but my mind played it all on a loop anyway.
My tight fists shook as I yanked the door open before the doorman could get it.
He greeted me, but I didn’t hear it as I punched the button to the private elevator.
All I could hear was the blood rushing in my ears.
When the elevator doors pinged open and I found Poppy curled up on the couch watching a movie, I felt everything rush back as if I was being snapped with a rubber band.
Her makeup was scrubbed off, and her eyes looked slightly puffy.
She held a full carton of ice cream, though she hadn’t eaten any of it, and she didn’t look like she was going to start.
This was not how I expected to find her after a date.
Especially not after everything Audrey just said about him looking for a wife and being so hot.
Many girls overlooked flaws because of the way men looked. Hell, we men did the same.
“Where were you?” She asked quietly as I stood in the foyer and stared at her.
“Donovan told me I could leave with my date. Audrey, unfortunately, loves to drive like she’s ninety-two instead of almost thirty. So we, of course, got stuck in all of the traffic, and she wouldn’t bully her way through the asshole taxis.”
She nodded and looked down at her untouched ice cream. “Did you have a good time?”
“Yes,” No! “Audrey is good company. She kept me distracted, which is what I needed.”
She nodded woodenly and stared down at the cold dessert between her crossed legs. “I’m glad one of us did.”
Somehow, I made it across the room and sat beside her. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “No. We just misunderstood each other, that’s all. Maybe on Tuesday things will be easier. We aren’t going to dinner.” She glanced at her phone. “A picnic in the park. That’ll be easier.” Her voice didn’t sound convinced.
My stomach turned. “Why go on a second date if it was that bad the first time?”
She didn’t answer, and the silence said enough.
Because he was looking for a wife.
And she was considering it.
The realization hit like a punch. My heart thudded so loud it hurt. I rubbed my temples, trying to hold my thoughts still, but one ugly suspicion clawed its way forward.
“Wait,” I said slowly, the words sharp on my tongue. “You’re engaged to him, aren’t you?”
She froze. She didn’t look at me, but she didn’t deny it either.
That was all it took.
I stood abruptly and walked out, every nerve in my body screaming. I couldn’t breathe in that room with her. Couldn’t sit beside her pretending she wasn’t already halfway gone.
In my room, the air felt wrong.
I tore at my clothes, dragging them over my head and throwing them into a heap on the floor. My thoughts raced faster than my pulse—images of her hand in his, her laughter, a ring on her finger that I hadn’t put there.
The shower hissed to life. I turned the heat all the way up until the steam blurred everything into white noise.
I braced my palms against the tile and bowed my head.
I wanted to go back out there.
I wanted to demand answers.
I wanted to drag her against me and kiss her until she forgot his name.
I wanted to have the opportunity to learn her, want her, and earn her.
But all I could do was stand there, scalding water running over me, trying to drown the sound of my own heartbeat.
It was no use.
Nothing would drown this.
Nothing mattered anymore.