27. Ivy
CHAPTER 27
Ivy
H is gaze is deep and so, so dark, almost like obsidian.
I’ve never seen him like this before, exhibiting a ruthless aura that brings chills to my entire body.
An old adage comes to mind about gods.
They’re fine when you can think of them as something to give you strength, something to believe in and appreciate from afar.
But when they’re up close like this, stalking toward you in all their incomparable glory, everything becomes real.
The danger? Real.
The chance of never recovering? Also real.
The fear that strikes your heart when their true face is revealed… that’s exactly what’s happening to me now.
All my life, even though I knew Emmett was an asshole, I believed he didn’t much care about trivial stuff.
I thought he wasn’t petty, nor did he waste his time on insignificant things.
But now, that calm, kind, patient facade has been pulled away and for the first time in my life, I’m truly seeing him.
“I…” I clamp my jaw shut. What can I say anyway?
His warm, large hand completely engulfs mine and warms it as he pulls me along with intention.
“Emmett…” I try again, but if he’s ignoring me or can’t hear me, it doesn’t matter because he leads me straight to the dance floor then stops and turns to look at me.
“W-what are you doing?” I whisper, feeling intensely self-conscious.
Eyes have been on me since we arrived.
The whispers have been a buzz and now, I’m on the dance floor with the man who is much more dominant than any other in this room.
It’s not Emmett’s tall, well-built frame like he’s a professional athlete that makes him, but it’s the way he moves silently and yet everyone in here is keenly aware of him, including every inch of me.
It’s as if there’s a charged undercurrent of something at Emmett’s presence. I can see some people backing away as if dodging an unknown danger.
I can’t tell what he’s thinking as he stares at me, but I do know one thing.
His entire focus, though chilling, intimidating and unpredictable, is entirely on me.
I should back away as well, but he’s looking at me in a way that glues my feet to the spot.
“What?” I mutter.
Emmett steps closer and then he wraps his arm around my waist so naturally it feels like he’s familiar with my body, my soul and everything I never knew I was functioning in me.
He leans in close, his lips lowering until they are right by my ear. “You look fucking delicious in that dress.”
And suddenly everything that was dormant in me, as if lifeless, comes back to life.
I can feel… everything.
The flexing muscles in his arm.
The roaring of the blood in my veins.
My heart is in my throat, my eyes glued to his wildly gorgeous face, his sharp jaw that’s still clenching slightly, and the way he wears the hell out of his tux.
Jesus Christ, save my soul.
This man is more than sexy, hot, and everything carnal and sinful.
He’s too much and he’s very much aware of that.
I hold his cold green stare.
Pulling me close as the orchestra starts playing their rendition of “No Goodbyes” by LéON, I suddenly become mute, paralyzed by both the incredulity of this moment and the way Emmett is looking at me.
“What are you doing?” I whisper, feeling multiple eyes on us.
“Dancing with you.”
“What?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” he asks, watching me.
My heart practically stops beating in my chest.
Years ago I used to dream about this.
I’d write in my diary how much I wanted Emmett to pull me into his arms and just dance with me.
I’d sometimes sit in my room and instead of studying, I’d daydream the way Emmett would look at me.
The way he’d gently spin me around.
The way he’d make me feel.
But now, he’s looking at me like he’s barely containing himself from snapping my neck.
I’m wearing a backless cocktail dress that I packed last minute and now, the boy who told me point-blank that he isn’t interested in me is slowly and torturously tracing some letters at the base of my bare back.
“Things went to shit, huh?” he murmurs, as he gently leads.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your blatant lack of strategy and forward thinking is the very reason why your life is shitty, have you ever thought about that?”
Stunned, I look up at him.
That stung. Like more than those words should, but they do.
“Or maybe it’s because of you!”
“Me?”
“Yes, you, asshole!”
It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours since my entire family fantasy blew up in my face like a nasty clusterfuck.
But of all the things that have happened to me since yesterday, and even today, Emmett saying that is what boils the anger in me.
“Are you so blind that you can’t see danger when it’s staring right at you?” he demands, his voice carrying an almost indecipherable note of anger and annoyance.
“I’ve been asking myself that same question all night,” I counter. “How did I not see that you are a betrayer, a heartbreaker, and someone I honestly wish I’d never met at all.”
“Good, you’re starting to understand how I feel about you.”
We glare at each other.
“You wanted to use me last night,” I mutter. Last night, all the pieces started falling in place. “You knew who my parents were. You knew all along that I had a sister. You knew about this deal, and now what, you expect me to just go along with it by doing you the honors of making you the boss or whatever it is they call it in your messed-up underworld nonsense?”
At this, Emmett stares down at me.
His nostrils flare a bit, then without missing a beat, he grabs my hand and leads me off the dance floor and straight to a hidden corner.
I try to tug my hand away, but he doesn’t let go.
Behind me, I notice Jackson about to make a move to come to me, but he gets blocked by some security guys.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Angel?” Emmett asks, ever so softly, but the degree of danger is now extremely high that the potential this conversation will make all hell break loose is at a solid ninety-nine percent. “Are you now looking down your nose at what you’ve always known?”
“What I’ve always known?” I step back, shocked. “I’ve never known that your family is in the mafia!”
“Yes, you’ve always known.”
I want to deny it.
I want so badly to go against it and claim I was unaware but a part of me has always known, I think, and he knows that too.
“Yeah, but whatever it is you think you’ll gain by using me, then you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Really?” he says, watching me calmly. “That’s interesting.”
My heart starts racing,
Dread fills my bones.
I think in just these last few days, I’ve started to see the real side of Emmett I’ve been ignoring and I’m not entirely sure I like it.
When he finally speaks, I almost faint.
“You’re quite the thing, aren’t you?” he says softly, almost gently, as if he’s talking to a child.
I quickly look up.
That voice is almost comforting but one look into his deep gaze tells me everything I need to know. He’s not being friendly right now.
“Don’t get me wrong…” I whisper. “I came here because?—"
“Because of the very thing I warned you about happened.”
I wince.
He’s right. He did warn me and he did tell me that I’d come looking for him. Angrily and naively, I denied it, but here I am.
“I know what you must think of me,” I mumble.
He’s quiet for a bit and then he takes a step closer again, slowly decreasing the distance between predator and prey.
“Trust me, Angel, you really don’t want to know what goes on in my mind when it comes to you.”
His words make me tremble, and I bet he can see it too.
“Let’s talk about?—"
“Yes, let’s finally talk about how your expectations and fantasies have blown up in your face,” he murmurs softly. “Haven’t I taught you better?”
I gasp. “That’s not fair.”
“What is? Me reminding a dumb, curious little girl to notice the pattern of reality so she can stay safe or you not listening to me anyway, despite my very saintly efforts of keeping you alive?”
In this moment, I hate him. I hate him so bad that I can’t breathe.
“But then again, you’ve always been a walking contradiction.”
“What do you mean?” I say firmly, desperately trying to hold on to my air of indifference… my plan when I left Westbrook Blues was never to see this man and if I ever did, I wouldn’t let him see me sweat.
“Your entire life, you’ve been boxed in. Your grandmother, bless her heart, has always advised you not to seek out evil.”
A chill runs down my spine as Emmett surrounds me.
“Your brother, well, he feeds you just enough to keep you slightly calm, but not so much that it might lead you to your demise.”
He reaches for me then. With a large, strong and warm hand he palms the side of my face.
In a daze, I helplessly watch as his finger follows the trail of my tears. Gently, delicately… leaving a lick of fire in its wake.
He watches me, watching every minute play of emotion in my eyes.
When I realize that, I break contact and look away but that must be the wrong move because immediately, he lifts my chin with slender fingers, forcing our eyes to connect.
“The thing about you is, even with all the warnings your real family have given you, you still disregard their advice whenever you feel like you’re about to suffocate. That act of rebellion alone has made me want one thing when it comes to you. As a matter of fact, I crave it and after all these years of me letting you live your life, you’ve forced my hand to act.”
Forced his hand? Let me live?
“My life is mine to live.”
“It was. I granted that delusion for you years ago but, Ivy, your life, your body, you …you’ve always been mine .”
I think I die right there.
What sort of alternate universe is this?
I’m literally panting at this point.
Emmett runs his thumb over my lips, his hypnotic gaze sucking me in. Then he goes back to cupping the side of my face with his large hand, bringing me closer to his large body, heightening my awareness of his nearness.
Leaning closer to me, he plants a ghost kiss at the corner of my lips.
I groan.
He pulls back, smirks and then kisses the other corner.
Gently, seductively, in a way that floods my panties.
I cling to him, not knowing what to do with myself.
“You’re a curious little thing, and most times you can’t help your nature, so aren’t you going to ask what it is I want?” he whispers in my ear.
I’m trembling now. My knees are weak and if Emmett wasn’t holding me, I think I’d be a puddle of nothing on the floor.
“I’m not curious,” I croak breathlessly.
“But you’re most definitely a liar.”
“I am, when I need to be.”
He smiles then, as if my answer pleases him in some way. A part of me almost preens from that smile alone.
“Are you also a coward when you need to be?”
I stare into his eyes, barely breathing.
He wants me to ask what he wants.
He wants me to go down that path.
Because in this moment, I’m right where he wants me… in the palm of his hand.
With my mind totally surrendered to the alluring danger that is Emmett Easton, I whisper brokenly, “What do you want?”
The frosty smile fades, as if it was never there.
The hand pressed at the small of my back starts trailing up my bare back, tracing a path along my spine.
He leans in, pressing a ghost kiss to the shell of my ear.
“What I want, Angel,” he starts in a low, rough voice just as the mic is tapped, bringing the music to an end. “Is to make sure that before I croak, I unravel and ruin you. Completely. Thoroughly. In all the areas you never imagined.”
And with that, the music stops, he steps back, shoots me a meaningful dark look and then he turns around and walks off the dance floor, leaving me panting and half out of my mind with lust.
Shaking out of my lust, I quickly go after him because I can’t help but feel that was more than a threat.
I catch up to him, grabbing his arm. “What do you mean by that?”
Emmett stops and regards me with one of his cold stares.
“Why don’t you tell me?” he counters.
“You’re threatening me?”
“When have I ever threatened you?”
I freeze.
That statement alone chills me to the bone because what he means is simply that he hasn’t dealt with me yet.
Suddenly, Vaughn’s words come back to me. “He doesn’t have a bark. He just devours.”
Is Emmett about to devour me whole?
“Tonight, Angel, tonight you’ll make your decision of how I should deal with you,” he says softly, his tone laced with malice and danger. “But make no mistake, Angel. When I start dealing with you, you won’t have to wonder if I’m threatening you or not. You’ll just surrender.”
With that, he takes my hand and leads me straight to the big, fancy table that’s front and center of the room.
The table easily looks like the main table and right there, with all eyes on us, Emmett pulls a chair and gives me a daring look.
I know better than to argue, so I sit.
Looking around, I can see people being led to their tables. And when Emmett helps me to settle, he takes the seat to my left.
Before I can ask what’s happening, the seat to my right is pulled out and Vaughn sits down.
Stunned, I realize I’m sandwiched between two cousins that are currently in a rival, and one of them is the preferred one of the Hughes family.
“Goodness, how do you know these men, Ivy?”
I look up when I hear George’s question.
Out of all the unfamiliar gazes in the room and all the potent, buzzing energy with an undercurrent of danger, seeing George was both a delight and a relief.
I wanted to talk to him some more and maybe ask him for help…but as soon as he noticed the distress in my eyes minutes ago, he narrowed his own and then announced loudly that Emmett was present tonight.
And now, the silent, brooding, incredibly handsome jerk is sitting silently to my left, not saying a word after he rudely took me away from Jackson.
“Which one do you mean?” I ask George. “And where is…”
“That asshole you invited? Somewhere at the back of the room,” Vaughn says easily, sitting comfortably in his seat as George sits next to Emmett.
Just then, I catch Beverly and Melissa glaring at me from their table.
Emmett notices and then he looks at me. Like, really looks at me.
“Are you ready to bleed?” he whispers in my ear.
I glare at him. Bleeding means admitting that I need his help, therefore signing that damn contract.
“Never!”
He only smirks, his sharp eyes piercing through my anatomy, looking into my soul, and then he leans in to speak to George.
George glances at me, then he looks at Emmett strangely. Emmett says something to him again, to which he finally sighs as if he’s out of patience.
Confused, I watch as George gestures to someone who materializes out of nowhere and then says something to them too low for me to hear.
Within seconds, three extra chairs and place settings are added to the table.
And then, Governor Hughes, his wife, and daughter are led to the table.
Annoyed, I realize this is Emmett’s doing.
“Mr. Beaumont,” Governor Hughes starts as he shakes George’s hand. “Thank you for the invite and for inviting me and my family to the main table.”
Beverly and Melissa both give me withering glares from where they stand.
“Compliments of Mr. Easton,” George says simply. Not polite, not rude…he’s just indifferent.
It’s then that I realize both George and Emmett are so different from the boys I grew up having water fights with back in Westbrook Blues.
Here, they are both grown men that yield power.
Not just any power…but immense power and influence that is beyond what is known or acceptable.
I can tell this event is not ordinary.
When Melissa suddenly burst into the room I was stuck in, telling me her father wanted me to join them for an event, I never thought I would meet both Emmett and Vaughn here, but also George, who so happens to be the head of this.
No one really knows what George has been up to, but looking at him now, how stoic, poised, and ruthless he looks, something’s up.
“Mr. Easton,” Governor Hughes starts as he looks to George’s right, only to stop short when both Vaughn and Emmett look at him. “Oh, both of you are here.”
I scoff.
He’s acting like he didn’t see them and wasn’t itching to approach them earlier but for some reason, the moment Jackson appeared, shadows appeared.
Shadows that only admitted Vaughn, George, and finally Emmett to get close to me.
Everyone else seemed to be unable to get close or maybe that was just my imagination.
“Governor,” Vaughn finally responds when Emmett looks away, clearly and rudely dismissing my father as he pours himself a glass of water. “You’re the man of the hour with your expanding family. Please, join us.”
“Joining the two most influential families to ever exist? How can I decline?” Governor Hughes says with a proud smile on his face.
You can practically see the dollar signs in his eyes as he stares at Emmett, Vaughn, and George.
“The auction is about to start, please,” George says as he gestures toward the empty chairs.
After Governor Hughes and his family settle down, I’m subject to Beverly’s and Melissa’s matching glares.
“Ivy,” Beverly starts. “We brought you here, but it seems you’re already well connected.”
“Yes, I’m confused about that,” Melissa starts, with an unhappy look on her face. “How on earth do the Eastons and the heir of the Phoenix Corp know this girl?”
I look at her as the MC starts the program on the stage.
“Who are you?” George asks sharply, coldly, to which Melissa’s eyes widen. “Knowing Ivy is a pleasure and honor not many in this world have the privilege of having, but who the fuck are you?”
“I… I’m…” she stutters as fear enters her eyes…just like Jackson a few moments ago.
There’s something sinister about the three men around me that is incredibly unnerving, even grown men were actively steering clear of them.
“She can’t speak?” George insults, and then he starts casually scrolling on his phone.
Beside me, Vaughn is dying with silent laughter.
“I should’ve grown up in Westbrook Blues. Those are some mean streets,” he mutters for my ears only when I glance at him.
“I’m her sister!” Melissa blurts out at long last. “I was just wondering how she knows you…”
I look at Melissa.
“From the resentment and suspicion in your eyes, I bet you think I spread my legs for all three of them, isn’t it?” I say, to which Vaughn and George start laughing.
“Have you ever had a foursome, Mel ?” I taunt, exaggerating her name. “I doubt you even know what being fucked is, let alone a foursome with three incredibly sexy, well-hung men that meet your every need and even more. How could you, what with that ball and chain shackled around you from your loving parents.”
“I didn’t know you found me incredibly sexy, baby girl,” George says with a chuckle.
“I’d pleasure you any day, any time, any place,” Vaughn says, making me laugh.
“Oh, don’t say that. We wouldn’t want to shock the precious first daughter-to-be now, would we?” I say sarcastically while looking directly at the Hughes family.
Vaughn throws his head back and laughs, drawing attention to the table, while George chuckles. Emmett remains silent, acting as if he isn’t even here, but I know better. Everyone is aware of him.
“Young lady…” Governor Hughes starts but falls silent when all three guys glance at him, as if waiting for him to finish. “That is no way to speak to your sister, and especially in front of our company. We’ll talk about this later.”
At that, I snap my mouth shut and swallow my retort.
Grammy and Samuel can never be hurt again because of me and my stupidity.
But I still need to get myself out of this…but how do I do that?
“Governor Hughes,” Emmett suddenly speaks. The mood around the table immediately shifts to an unpredictable level.
“Yes,” Governor Hughes responds with a tight smile.
The awkward tension around the table is so palpable, I’m pretty sure other people can feel it.
“I have a question. Do you mind my asking it?” he says it like a command, not like someone who’s asking for permission. It’s as if Governor Hughes’s response is irrelevant to him.
“No, of course,” Governor Hughes says. “Go ahead.”
Just then, servers appear and place the starter course on the table, some sort of soup or something.
Not having eaten for over twenty-four hours, I grab the spoon and devour the soup.
“Whoa, are you on a diet again?” George suddenly asks.
“Didn’t eat today.”
“Why?”
I glance up at Beverly. “I was detained.”
Beside me, I feel Emmett tense up.
“Governor, how long have you known about your daughter’s existence prior to meeting her last night?” Emmett questions sharply.
I clutch my spoon in my hand and stop eating.
“Uh,” Governor Hughes starts and then he laughs. “Well, I don’t think?—”
“Did you ever make an effort of finding her, to maybe raise her yourself?” Vaughn suddenly chimes in from my right side.
Governor Hughes’s smile freezes on his face.
“Governor, as your father might have told you, the Easton Family is unlike any family you might have heard of. We were raised meticulously , meanwhile your own family situation is very unclear,” Vaughn joins in casually as if having a polite conversation about the weather. “How can a man that cannot even manage his own household consider his name on the ticket for president of this country?”
Governor Hughes laughs stiltedly.
“I don’t think this discussion is appropriate for the evening.”
“There’s no time like the present,” Vaughn says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.
Across from me, Beverly looks like she’s suffocating.
“Well, I recently learned about it,” Governor Hughes responds after a while, looking like he wants to strangle someone.
“I didn’t realize nineteen years ago is termed as recent ,” Emmett says casually, but the cadence of his voice makes a shiver go down my spine.
But that’s not what grabs my attention like a vise.
Nineteen years.
All my life, I spent waiting for this man.
I imagined who he’d be, how he would be like, and if he’d love me like I see other dads loving their children—and yet he never came.
Now I’m learning that Governor Hughes knew about my existence nineteen years ago and yet last night he acted as if he'd never heard of me at all.
I stare at him, then I glance at his wife.
She hid me, threw me and Samuel away, kept Melissa, and he found out when I was seven…the year Gramps died because of me.
Around us, the program is going on, but in me, it feels like a tornado is ripping me apart from within.
The stem of the champagne flute I somehow picked up at some point breaks cleanly in my hand, but I can only stare at the people across from me.
Pain surges up in my chest until long, deft fingers reach for my right hand gently and they slowly start prying the death grip I have around the broken stem.
In a daze, I stare at my hand as Emmett gently but firmly holds my wrist, takes the broken flute away, and deposits it on the tray of a sever that appeared at some point, then he runs his thumb over the small cut along the side of my forefinger.
“You’re a bit reckless, aren’t you?” Emmett murmurs for my ears only. “Or maybe you subconsciously already know what needs to be done.”
Slowly, with a buzz going on in my ears, I turn to look at him.
“Governor, how many children do you have?” Emmett asks, staring him down.
“My c-children?” Governor Hughes stutters slightly. “Why do you ask?”
Emmett ignores him and then looks at Beverly. “Your wife must know, right?”
I look at my mother from across the table and she looks incredibly uncomfortable.
“Well, Mr. Easton, you have to understand these matters are always very delicate.”
“I can imagine how delicate selling your children is,” Vaughn says with a smile.
“And yet you are buying,” Governor Hughes grits out angrily.
“Of course,” Vaughn responds just as ruthlessly. “We are, after all, men of our word.”
It’s then that I finally realize it—or maybe I already knew—that Emmett is really a psycho.
He isn’t asking all these questions because he gives a damn, no.
He’s torturing me.
He’s digging into my wounds with an ice pick with the intention of watching me bleed to death.
And he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants.
As the realization flashes in my head, Emmett does the most unlikely thing.
He lifts up my hand and then licks my bleeding forefinger with his firm tongue right there…in front of everyone.
Silence falls around the table.
From the corner of my eye, I see Vaughn’s jaw clenching and unclenching.
Across from me, Melissa’s gaze is heated and angry. So is her mother’s.
Only George is amused as he glances at me and winks.
I decide to look away and focus on the auction and when I notice the items being bid on, my heart jumps.
On the large screen are some really, incredibly expensive jewelry pieces.
Diamond necklaces, bracelets, amulets, earrings, and rings.
“Ladies, now this is your time to see if your man really adores you because here we have these timeless, exclusive, and never-before-seen diamond pieces from a private collection,” the auctioneer starts like one of the auctioneers at Christie’s.
Of all the gleaming pieces on display, I spot one that’s at the very back, as if separated from the rest.
I’ve never seen such a diamond ring before.
And yet it looks far removed, lonely, and unwanted.
Like me.
“The story behind this set of jewelry is very touching,” the auctioneer goes on. “The private owner inherited the pieces from his uncle who was in love with a woman for fifty-eight years. Each year on the woman’s birthday, he’d have pieces made from the time he met her until the day he died, even after the woman had passed away, It turns out that the woman was ill for a long time and died just six months after meeting the man, but he never stopped loving her, nor did he ever stop making pieces for her with the best diamonds that have never been seen in recent centuries.”
My heart clenches in my chest.
He was in love with a woman for fifty-eight years…and never had the opportunity to be loved back.
A wave of intense sadness washes over me, but I don’t look away from the jewelry.
“The starting bid for the set is a million dollars.”
“Don’t even bother, Ivy,” Melissa says with a smirk. “We know you can’t afford that.”
I don’t even bother looking at her.
The bid goes all the way to five million and it seems an older couple is winning until Vaughn raises his paddle and bids.
“Ten million,” he says, and the whole room gasps.
“Ten million, do I hear ten point five?”
The older couple look at each other with uncertainty and then they shake their hands, giving up.
“No counteroffer?” The auctioneer looks around. “Ten million going once…”
“Giving up so soon?” Vaughn says under his breath, obviously for me to hear.
“Or maybe it’s about timing,” Emmett suddenly says, then he speaks up loud enough for the entire room to hear his sexy voice. “Twenty million.”
Shock ripples through the room.
Anyone who knows jewelry can tell the pieces are old and they need a lot of work, but here the Eastons are bidding high numbers.
Vaughn frowns and then he turns back to the auctioneer. “Twenty-five million dollars.”
“Fifty million dollars,” Emmett counters with a finality that stuns the room into silence.
I stare at him, wondering if he has lost his mind.
Even Vaughn looks at him, but George only chuckles.
“Sir, did you just say fifty million dollars?”
Emmett only looks at him as if he’s wasting his time.
The auctioneer glances at Vaughn but Vaughn is glaring daggers at Emmett.
“Fifty million dollars going once, going twice? Sold to Mr. Easton for fifty million dollars.”
Shocked, I watch as the items are authenticated, certified, and then bagged into these weathered, nondescript boxes that are obviously the original storage for the jewelry pieces, and then several people with silver trays bring them to our table to give to Emmett.
“Where would you like these to be stored, sir?” one man asks Emmett, but he doesn’t respond, only staring at me.
Suddenly all eyes shift to me.
“What?” I whisper, confused.
“Did your hunger affect your hearing?” Emmett mutters. “Where should these be sent?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Ty,” Emmett mutters, and like magic, Ty appears right behind Emmett. “Take care of this for Ms. Irving.”
My jaw drops to the table.
“Yes, sir,” Ty says then he gestures for the people to follow him but after he’s gone, the looks Governor Hughes and Beverly give me raises my hackles.
Immediately after that, a very elusive painting of a human anatomy is brought up for auction.
From one angle you can see it’s the human anatomy, but from another, as if hidden in the shadows of the black and white sketch, is the appearance of the human heart in 3D.
“Wow,” I murmur.
Bidding opens at one hundred thousand dollars and then it ends at ten million dollars…bought by Vaughn.
When the item is brought to him, he also gestures to the men to ask me where the ten-million dollar piece of art should be sent.
My entire soul is on the floor at this point and again, Ty appears and takes the painting.
“You just spent fifty million dollars…” Melissa suddenly speaks, looking at Emmett, her words jumbled as if she’s choking. “And you spent ten million, a total of sixty million dollars… all for her?”
Emmett doesn’t bother responding to her.
“There are a group of people who have spent far more for her, and are dying to spend even more,” George says with a small smile.
“The moral of the story is this, child,” Vaughn jumps in, answering Melissa but he’s looking at Governor Hughes and his wife, who are both looking stunned. “As long as Ivy so much as merely finds interest in something, it will be taken care off.”
“And it doesn’t matter what or whom it is,” George finishes.
With that, he and Vaughn get up as if to leave, but before they do, Vaughn kisses me on the cheek. “See you later, beautiful.”
Emmett’s cold glare pierces Vaughn who just shrugs but remains where he stands.
Emmett’s glare lands on me next.
He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to because his eyes speak volumes.
I almost reach up to rub the cheek Vaughn just kissed, but then Emmett leans in close to me.
He holds my stare, then his gaze drops down to my lips.
And then he does another bizarre and insane thing… cups the side of my face gently, pulls me closer, runs his thumb over my bottom lip in a move so carnal and so hypnotic, I can’t breathe.
He pulls me even closer, until I can almost feel his lips on mine.
Then he speaks.
“Behave.”
With that, he lets go, stands up, and leaves with a chuckling George and a silent Vaughn, leaving me reeling with confusion, heated lust, and now, a target on my back.