Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ivan
Not only did I have a front-row seat to the kiss Poppy and Donovan shared, but I also got to relive it on every social media page and magazine cover within a five-mile radius.
Every time I blinked, there it was again—her lips pressed against his, her eyes half-closed, and that look of quiet surrender that should’ve been mine.
Going on a run before the girls woke up was supposed to clear my head, but now it just made everything louder. The streets buzzed with headlines and whispers. My lungs burned from more than exertion.
The gym was worse than running. Loud, crowded, full of people pretending not to look at me while they gossiped. The girls were all bright laughter and perfume, snapping photos in the mirrors, replaying the video of her walking into the park like it was a scene out of a movie.
“She’s so lucky,” one of them said near the treadmills.
“God, he’s gorgeous,” another sighed.
They meant Donovan.
But my brain supplied Poppy.
Lucky.
Gorgeous.
Mine.
I slammed the weights too hard on the last rep, and the noise made half the room turn. I didn’t care. I couldn’t stay there any longer.
Back in the locker room, I stood under the cold shower until the sting became numb. The water beat down hard enough to drown the noise, but not the thoughts. Not every little thing about her that made her special, that made me want her so much more.
I wanted to hate her for it—for letting him touch her, for smiling at him like that, but I couldn’t.
Because when I replayed the moment in my mind and on every magazine cover, she didn’t look in love. She looked like she was pretending.
That tiny detail—that tiny piece of hope was poison.
By the time I got back to the penthouse, the girls were awake. Jane was humming in the kitchen, and Poppy was sitting at the counter scrolling through her phone. She looked up when I came in, eyes flicking to my soaked shirt and the tightness in my jaw.
“You okay? Rough morning?”
“The gym was packed,” I mumbled as I yanked the fridge open.
It was still full of those little black containers that held food Poppy hated.
I was practically a garbage disposal at this point; I didn’t bother with even tasting it.
I grabbed a yogurt parfait and dug in. I didn’t care that it had Jane’s name on it or that she was shooting me eye daggers from across the room.
I needed something to get me through this morning.
From across the room, I could see what was brightly on display there. Her looking up at Donovan right before they kissed. The whole thing had to be orchestrated, right?
“Don will be here soon,” Jane announced as she skipped to her bedroom.
I scrubbed my hand down my face and tried to look at anything else. Today she had a ton of appointments. She was meeting with a personal shopper, going to her first workout class, and then meeting with bakers.
“It was just one kiss, Ivan. You don’t have to look like the world ended.”
My spoon hit the counter with a clatter before I could stop it.
“Didn’t know I was making a face,” I said, voice rough.
“You always make a face.” Her lips twitched, softening the blow, but it didn’t help.
“Good to know.” I forced another bite, even though the yogurt might as well have been ash.
She turned back to her phone, scrolling again, pretending to read something, probably pretending she wasn’t still thinking about him. I could see the tension in her shoulders, the faint pink around her ears. She wasn’t untouched by it all—not by him, not by me—but she was pretending we were fine.
“I didn’t plan for it to happen like that,” she said quietly. “The kiss. It just… did.”
“Right.” I kept my tone neutral, though I could feel the vein in my jaw pulsing. “Just a headline, right? Something harmless for the press?”
She frowned. “Why do you sound angry?”
I shook my head. I was angry because I wanted it to be me, and I could never tell her that now. But I was trying to come up with a plan to have her fall in love with me, and I was failing miserably. I didn’t know the first thing about love. I didn’t know how to orchestrate it.
“I’m not,” I sighed.
“I think you’ve been angry for days now, Ivan. You can talk to me.”
My gaze cut to her, she flinched before she walked out of the room, and I was left with my loud, buzzing thoughts again. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew it was time I called in help.
Don had no problems tailing Poppy, so I could have a break for the day.
Jane was settling in nicely at her school this semester, despite everything that had happened.
He didn’t feel like she actually needed him there twenty-four-seven, but he knew she enjoyed having him as a shadow, and I knew that was why he stayed, which was strange…
I thought he was busier with my brother, Dimitri.
Scarlett, Audrey, and a very heavily pregnant Carina all stared at me from across the coffee table. They looked entirely too happy I’d called them in.
Well… I’d called Audrey, and then she did the rest. Apparently, I needed a lot of help.
Scarlett leaned forward first, her bright red hair swishing forward with each movement. “This is an interesting turn of events.”
“Are all of you best friends now?” I couldn’t keep the disdain from my voice even if I wanted to. It made no sense. Scarlett came from a completely different background than the other two. How did they fit so easily?
Envy clawed at my throat as I imagined Poppy sitting with them, laughing, holding a new baby, and becoming a part of the family.
I closed my eyes for a beat to try to get rid of the imagery, but it only made it worse.
Carina rubbed her rounded belly and smiled. “Are you going to tell us why we are meeting like this, or are you going to explain it to our overly broody and jealous men later?”
I rolled my eyes. “They may be broody, but they aren’t worried about me. I took Audrey to a five-star dinner the other night, and she drove me home; that would be cause for alarm if I were such a threat.”
Carina giggled and nodded. She knew everything Audrey did, and I was sure as the sky was blue that Scarlett had been filled in, too.
Audrey leaned back on the couch, studying me like I was one of her manuscripts. “He’s in love.”
Carina snorted. “You don’t say.”
I groaned and rubbed my temples. “I called for advice, not—whatever this is.”
“You called for help,” Audrey corrected, and her tone softened in that way that always made me regret confiding in her.
Made me regret bringing them all in. “And you got it. So. The woman you’re protecting is dating another man, the tabloids love them, and you’re spiraling because you can’t hit him or kiss her. That about right?”
This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. I sat there and stared at all three of them. I would have done better to have the grannies come to give me advice.
Scarlett leaned back and giggled. “Ah, finally a brother with a moral code.”
My frown deepened, though I wasn’t sure how at this point.
“I don’t have a moral code,” I muttered.
Carina arched an eyebrow. “Then why aren’t you doing something about it?”
“Because I killed her father,” I snapped before I could stop myself. The words dropped like a stone in the room, cutting through the banter.
“I knew it,” Scarlett whispered. Of course, she did; she was engaged to Dimitri, who knew everything happening in this city.
Audrey’s eyes flicked to the others before she cleared her throat. “Right. So. Emotional repression and murder guilt. This is going great.”
All of their eyes were comically wide. I could only blame myself for this.
Carina rubbed her belly again and winced.
“So do you want her because you feel guilty and you want to play hero and right your wrongs orrrrrr...” She sat up about as much as her round belly would allow.
“Do you actually have feelings for her, because I would love to know when those developed? You haven’t been home for very long. ”
Yes, this was all my fault, and I was regretting it greatly. Was there a way to get them to leave now? Was there a way to convince them this was everything I needed and push them out the door? I doubted it. They wanted the bottom of this thing, and they weren’t going to stop till they got there.
“I met her at a local lodge near my cabin a few months ago,” I stared down at my hands in my lap.
“I didn’t know who she was really. When I took the job, I didn’t know it was her father.
I probably wouldn’t have touched the file if I’d known, but then again, the grannies can be convincing and frightening. ”
“You’re in some deep shit if the grannies are involved,” Audrey leaned back with a fit of giggles, and I hated this interaction even more.
Carina patted my knee. “When do we get to meet her?”
“Oh, she’s super pretty!” Audrey chimed in.
Carina’s eyes went wider. She looked like a Disney Princess. They all did. Poppy would fit right in. I closed my eyes and let out a breath. I could not go there. “You met her!?”
Audrey shook her head. “No, big bad Irish mafia kicked us out before I had the chance.”
“Thank God for that,” I said into my hands.
“So what do you need from us?” Scarlett picked up her mug and took a sip out of it. I didn’t have much time before Don and Poppy returned from visiting her brothers.
Audrey smiled like she had won the lottery. “He wants our help turning him into Prince Charming!”
What happened next was like a horror movie. They all drew closer to me as they laughed maniacally.
Maybe I imagined the laughing, but I swore there was entirely too much emotion as they tackled me and said, “Team: get Ivan a wife!”