Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Poppy
“I kind of like it,” Jane said as I was rifling through the fridge full of meal prep containers.
“Like what?” I asked as I inspected one of them.
Vernon Callahan had come by the previous morning, before I’d awoken, and prepared everything we would need for the week.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Jane’s meals looked like they were packed with flavor based on the colorful arrangement.
I didn’t see anything marked for Ivan, but everything for me looked like diet food…
At least Jane was getting some good treatment out of this.
When I turned away from the fridge with one of the protein pancake containers, Jane was sitting at the island slathering cream cheese on a toasted bagel. Where had those come from? She shrugged as she kicked her dangling feet. “Don and Ivan.”
“I think I’m missing some context here,” I popped the container into the microwave as I waited for her to explain.
“No one has ever cared about me or my whereabouts before. It’s oddly comforting to be looked after and wanted.”
Maybe I wasn’t the only one who needed therapy.
I frowned. “Of course you’re wanted.”
“I know that’s why you have Don tailing me, because you actually want me. I guess my living here is enough proof of that, but you care about my safety and that’s something different…”
I didn’t know what to do or say. I didn’t know how to act.
I just stood there watching my little sister, who had been neglected for entirely too long.
We both had. I understood how she felt. I’d found myself feeling somewhat similarly when it came to Ivan.
The only reason my brothers would care if something happened to me was because of their precious deal.
Mother hadn’t bothered to reach out. I was sure she was spiraling, and I had my suspicions that Jade wasn’t allowed to come near us either.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I blinked back the growing moisture in my eyes as the microwave beeped in the butler's pantry. “I want you, and I’m glad you’re finally feeling like I am. No one ever really wanted me either.”
One of Jane’s brows went up. “I’m not so sure. Have you seen the way Ivan looks at you?”
Instead of saying anything and incriminating myself, I threw a dish towel at her and retrieved my food.
The first bite was… okay. I could see where he tried to make this a great breakfast, but it fell short, and I was almost certain it was because of the microwave.
If it had been served fresh, I knew it would have been delicious.
But this… this was a soggy, lumpy mess that no longer resembled a pancake.
It looked worse than diet food. I tossed it on the counter and slid into the stool beside my sister.
Quickly, I swiped half of her bagel off of her plate and took a generous bite out of it.
“Why do we have someone coming in and cooking for us?”
“Things are about to change in the next few months,” I started, unsure of where to go with this again. I was in uncharted territory with a teenager. At least she’d already started her period, and I didn’t have to go over that with her. Wait… “You’ve gotten your first period, right?”
Her cheeks turned pink as she ducked her head and continued to eat her bagel. “Yes, and I’m on the pill.”
Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting.
“Are you sexually active?” I whispered as if we weren’t the only ones in the room.
She peeked up at me from under her lashes and rolled her eyes.
“No. Mother didn’t want any surprises, though.
She sent me to a Woman’s clinic that went over everything after I had my first cycle, and then they put me on the pill.
It was all very sterile, but at least I know the ins and outs of everything. ”
I blew out a shaky breath. “That’s good.”
“Back to the topic at hand, please?”
“I’ve been seeing someone,” I began again.
Jane puffed her cheeks out. “Yeah, Ivan. Okay, what else is changing?”
In exasperation, I pulled my hands down my face. “No, not Ivan.”
She made a face. “Okay so you’re cheating on mystery man with Ivan. Got it.”
I covered my mouth with both of my hands. “Oh my gosh, no.”
“Where does Ivan fit into all of this?” Jane waggled her eyebrows at me, and I wasn’t sure if she was just giving me a hard time or if this was some other kind of teenager antic.
“Yes, I would love to know where I fit into all of this,” Ivan said as he walked into the room, all business.
His hair was wild around his head, and as much as I wanted to think it was intentional, I wondered if he had a grooming routine like all the other men I’d grown up around.
He wore a tight Henley with nice jeans and, as always, shoes that looked comfortable and business-like…
but also that he could run in them if he needed to.
He looked like a rich frat boy. I could see how Jane thought there was something more happening here.
I swallowed thickly, my appetite suddenly gone.
It had been a few days since I’d told him about Donovan.
I hadn’t meant for it all to come out the way it did, but it happened, and I couldn’t take it back.
Hearing his voice again, directed at me in some capacity, was like a balm to my torn-up soul.
He hadn’t spoken directly to me since, at least not in a familiar manner.
It was always strained and sometimes full of animosity.
“Ivan is my bodyguard for the foreseeable future.”
Would Donovan keep him on forever? Would he expect Ivan to move into the penthouse with me once we were married? I didn’t think I could do it. I knew I couldn’t do it. There was only so much I could handle. But continuing my long life just beside this man wasn’t a torture I wanted to endure.
“Why do you need a bodyguard? Is it because of the money?”
Ivan chuckled. “Yes, your sister is very rich now and, for whatever reason, people want a piece of her.” His eyes were molten as he watched me from across the room.
I rolled my eyes, overly dramatic for Jane’s sake. “It’s complicated.”
The elevator dinged, and Don stepped out, thankfully interrupting whatever was happening. “Time for school, kiddo! Get your stuff.”
Jane shot me a wink before she groaned loudly. Don smiled in the foyer. “Good morning, you two; anything fun planned for today?”
Usually, my days consisted of nothing. There weren’t many hobbies I had when I was back home in the city, which made it easier for me to travel most of the time.
Sitting around, doing nothing was driving me insane, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I was going to be working out or taking on whatever hobbies Donovan Madden wanted me to do.
Ivan answered for me, overly cheery. “Poppy has a date today.”
Jane bounced her eyebrows as she joined Don in the elevator. “Have fun!” She totally thought I was dating Ivan in secret; this was not good.
The elevator doors closed and Ivan leaned against the counter. “She seems happy about you dating.”
My shoulders fell. “That’s because she thinks I’m secretly dating you.”
He peered into the untouched container in front of me and pulled a pancake free between his thumb and pointer finger before he wiggled it in the air. He sniffed it and then shoveled the whole thing into his mouth. His nose wrinkled. “Me? That’s kind of silly. Right?”
I rubbed my temples. Was it silly? He was living here, the chemistry was off the charts between us…
at least before Donovan came into the picture…
and he’d saved me that day in the city. When I’d come back to our hotel room, all disheveled and with stitches, with a robe on, I couldn’t pretend nothing happened.
I told Jane the cliff notes of what transpired and that thankfully Ivan was nearby to offer his special set of skills, but now I could see how that looked suspicious.
Oh and then, of course, there was the fact that he’d taken my virginity, but she didn’t need to know that. Hell, he didn’t even need to know that.
What a mess I’d found myself in.
He pulled the container across the counter and finished off the rest of the pancakes and the fluffy eggs that were under them. “This isn’t too bad.”
All I could do was stare as he gobbled everything down. “Help yourself.” I motioned to the fridge.
“They all have your name on them. Poppy, I can’t just take the food intended for you.”
“How about this?” I leveled him with a look. “You can have as many of those as you’d like, and I’ll continue to order take-out for the rest of my life.”
He pressed his lips together before he went to throw the empty container away. “That doesn’t sound very healthy.”
I laid my head on the counter and closed my eyes. “I don’t care anymore.”
“That’s no way to thank your fiancé for all of this generosity.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I considered a sassy retort. “Can we just get all of this over with?”
He chuckled as he pulled on a light jacket and waited for me in the foyer. “I’m as ready as you are, I suppose.”
I doubted that. I dreaded this entire thing more than I could ever admit out loud.