by Angela Blake
Zack grinned, and for a second Ivy’s heart skipped a beat. When he wasn’t being gruff and surly, these rare smiles transformed his face so much so that he actually seemed charming.
When she saw Zack raising a brow at her, she clasped her hand over her mouth in horror.
Had she said that aloud?!
Zack returned to slicing the apple, a smirk on his face and she looked everywhere but at him. When he handed her a slice, she accepted it absentmindedly, not finding anything odd about the gesture.
“I’m not surly.” He told her, clearly still amused.
Fabian barked in agreement and then moved over to lick his hand, before settling at Zack’s feet.
Ivy wanted to laugh but the embarrassment was still there, “I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Zack chuckled, after taking a look at her mortified face, “You need to relax. You’re too worked up.”
Ivy pursed her lips, “I’m sorry. I would assume that with people after me, being worked up should be a natural state.”
Zack shook his head at her, “You need a clear head. I’m surprised how you lasted this long with that attitude.”
Ivy immediately bristled at that, “My attitude is what’s kept me alive, thank you very much. I couldn’t very well tell my captives to take a break because I needed to relax, could I?”
When the corner of his lips quirked at her outburst, Ivy narrowed her eyes, “Are you teasing me?”
Zack sliced another apple, asking innocently, “Who, me?”
Seeing Sam grinning at his uncle, Ivy raised a brow, “Is something funny to you, Sam?”
Sam laughed, unadulterated joy in his voice.
The sound shook Zack so much that the knife slipped from his hand, clattering on the table.
“What’s wrong?” Ivy asked, turning her attention to him, concerned when his eyes darkened, heavy with emotion.
“Nothing,” He murmured, picking up the knife and resuming his task.
Nothing at all.
“Your uncle is making fun of me and all you can do is laugh?” Ivy was berating him making the child giggle at the mock scolding.
He glanced at Ivy from the corner of his eye.
Was she some kind of witch who had bespelled his nephew?
Had she cast some spell on this child who refused to talk or laugh with anyone until she stepped into their life. It had barely been a few days since she had arrived and he was already laughing.
But his sharp mind also noted that it wasn’t just Sam who was affected by Ivy’s presence. The young woman, too, seemed to find a solace in the child. It was as if his presence grounded her, settled her.
“Have you ever been around kids before?” He asked casually.
Whilst Lily had been forthcoming about Ivy, she had not mentioned her past. And he found that he really wanted to know why those crystal blue eyes held loneliness in them. He wanted to discover what drove this woman, what ticked her off.
Most importantly, he wanted to know how could he make her fall in love with him.
Ivy didn’t look at him, letting Sam show her his bright red toy car. Her voice was curiously neutral, “I grew up in an orphanage so I’ve been around young children my whole life.”
She was taken aback at the slice of apple that appeared in her line of vision.
Zack was offering her another piece.
“Thank you,” She accepted the piece, awkwardly, and then nudged Sam’s unfinished slices in the child’s direction.
“You said you were an IT specialist.” Zack said. “Why IT?”
Ivy chewed slowly, “I’m not good with people. And I was more of a hacker. I was active in the Dark Net for quite a while.”
“Dark Net?”
Ivy picked up a sandwich piece to avoid being force fed the apple, “It’s this area of the internet that houses everything illegal. That’s how I was able to delete myself off every database.”
“So, you were conducting illegal activities?” Zack didn’t know how he felt about that. More the fact that this woman had layers that he had not even begun to peel away.
Ivy scoffed, “I wasn’t conducting anything. I just slipped into it. I –“ She didn’t want to tell him the why, “- There are some things that should never exist, so I would hack into and put down certain websites.”
Out paedophiles, hack into their systems, destroy their reputations.
When Zack just looked at her, his green eyes so clear that she felt like he could read all of her secrets, so she continued, wanting to move on, “Noah got me this job. He used to live in my building before he moved out, but he knew I was good at, well, hacking, so he reached out to me and said he’d referred me to his company. And then, well, I started working there.”
“So, you had no job before then?”
Ivy shrugged, “I worked as a freelancer. Creating websites, running campaigns, doing security checks. You know, basic stuff.”
Zack shifted in his seat, leaning back, “You make it sound very simple, but I would bet a month’s salary that it’s not.”
When Ivy stiffened, he just gave her an easy smile that put her back up, “You’ll tell me all your secrets, Ivy Mills.”
“I don’t have any secrets,” Ivy insisted.
He just chuckled and she was surprised to see the change in his temperament. He seemed more laid back right now, his accent having shifted to a southern Texan drawl, one that was not entirely displeasing to her ears.
It was actually kind of sexy.
Ivy brushed off the thought, and watched him pick up his hat and make his way to the large living room.
He dropped onto one of the long couches and covered his face with his hat.
He was out in seconds, leaving Ivy to blink at his stretched out form.
When she had met Zack before, at Lily’s wedding, his huge size had intimidated her. She knew enough about being abused not to put herself in range of anybody with large fists. So, when Lily had tried to introduce him to her, she had mumbled something and then made a break for it.
But this man was the most complex creature she had ever come across.
He was rude, growly, surly, and then he was kind. He would tease her, and then he would be friendly with her.
Ivy sighed. It didn’t help that she was growing attracted to him every minute she spent with him. There was something about the way he looked at her. Nobody had ever looked at her with such an intensity.
He was a handsome man, but with a commanding air that made her feel safe. He had protected her, looked after her and even after realizing that she might have condemned his entire family, he still stood as a boulder between her and her enemies.
She sighed, putting her arm on the back of the wooden chair and resting her head on it, her eyes still on him. He could easily have handed her over to those men the other day, but he hadn’t.
She had gone out with Noah, because Noah had been thin and gangly, a computer geek like her. Completely harmless. She hadn’t felt threatened, and although they had dated for a few months, there had been no spark. It had been a comfortable arrangement.
It was only when Noah had decided that he didn’t want comfortable, that she had realized she wasn’t being fair to him and they had broken things off on amicable terms.
But Zack did not look like he would ever be someone who would be easy to be in a relationship with. He was more of passion and fire. He would be the kind of reckless lover that she had read about in books, who drove a woman wild. A relationship with him would be a stormy affair, one that would keep his partner on her toes.
Ivy shook her head.
Her life was already complicated enough without imagining what it would feel like to lick Zack all over his body.
It was a few hours later when Ivy had retreated to the bedroom to get some rest that she heard a commotion, and imagining the worst, she made her way downstairs.
Sam was nowhere to be seen but as she entered the
living room, two men stood there with Zack, both with cowboy hats on. One looked a little older, maybe in his early fifties, and the other was younger, around the same age as Zack perhaps.
“That’s where our land begins,” The older man was arguing. “Black knows that. He’s taken over the No-Man Land, and now this. You need to put a stop to this, Zack!”
Zack held a lit cigarette between the fingers of his left hand, and he was frowning, “Have you accounted for all our cattle?”
When the older man opened his mouth to say something, Zack cut him off, “Look, Billy. You know Black’s going to start talking about lawsuits. I don’t know what Lily agreed to with him. All those documents are in some online vault, which makes no sense to me. The idiot should have kept original copies. I’ll have to figure out what her password is and all that shit.”
The other man made a face, and Ivy saw that he was supporting a black eye and he had a bag of frozen peas pressed to his face, “Look, boss, we tried to stop them from breaking our fence, but there were seven of them and two of us. We’ll-“
His eyes moved in her direction and he stilled, “Uh, boss? The little miss is up.”
Zack blinked and turned around to see Ivy standing there, “You’re up. Were we too loud?”
Ivy shook her head, lying, “No, I was already awake.”
Seeing her look at the two men standing beside him, Zack gestured, “Ivy, this is Billy. He’s my foreman. And this here is Randy. He manages our livestock.”
“Hi,” Ivy nodded, “Uh, I hack into computers.”
She didn’t know what possessed her to say that, but everybody had an introduction but her.
“How’re you feeling, miss?” Billy moved forward, shaking her hand, a warm smile on his weathered face. He rocked back on his heels and tipped his hat up to get a better look at her, “You look a lot better.”
“I’m feeling much better,” Ivy admitted. “And please call my Ivy.”
Billy tilted his head as if a thought had struck him, “Say boss, Miss Ivy is a hacker, right? Maybe, she can hack Lily’s computer. Get the files we need.”
The way Zack looked at her, Ivy felt something hot shoot through her and she shivered. Those green eyes were hooded and it took a lot in her to not jerk her eyes away.
“I think hacking into a computer is a little below Ivy’s pay grade.” He finally said, and she again detected that hint of laughter in his voice.
Ivy glared at him, and said to Billy, “I’ll do it.”
“Oh good,” Zack said cheerfully, turning around and picking up a huge laptop before promptly dumping it into a surprised Ivy’s arms.
The weight of the machine was so much that her knees nearly buckled till she grasped it properly.
Ivy narrowed her eyes at him. He had been planning to get her to do it all along!
“Where are you going?” She asked, when Zack picked up his hat and made his way out with the other two men.
He touched his hat, and flashed her a grim smile, “Going to see a man about a fence.”
Ivy watched them leave and told herself that Zack was not flirting with her. Why would he?
After all the trouble she had brought to his doorstep, no sane man would want her.
She was trouble with a capital ‘T’.
Wondering where Sam was, she carried the laptop to the couch where Zack had taken his nap and stretched out on it, carefully, so that her stitches would not reopen. Her back against the arms of the couch, she tried to turn on the laptop.
Ten seconds later, she was cursing under her breath.
It wasn’t charged!
The search for the charger was not fruitful, and finally Ivy resolved to calling out for Sam. As she climbed the stairs, she noted that it was getting quite late. Maybe Zack would be back soon.
“Sam?” She called, gripping onto the railing.
She heard a bark, and then she stilled as the electricity went out, plunging the entire house into bone chilling darkness.
CHAPTER 6
Was this normal here?
Ivy remained frozen on the stairs. She didn’t know the house that well, so she would have to be careful. A shuffle of feet upstairs and a loud barking had her looking up and she tried to make out Sam’s figure but it was too dark.
However, the door of the living room was to her right and if bent down enough she could see outside through the window.
Her lips pursed as she saw that in the distance she could see the electricity of the other buildings still winking.
The main house had to be connected to all the other buildings, right?
Something was not right here.
“Sam.” Her voice was low and harsh and when she saw the shadow move outside the living room window, there was an urgency in her voice, “Sam, go inside your room, lock the door and hide.”
A whine from Fabian was followed by a loud crash outside.
Someone had just broken the window.
Her blood running cold, she hissed at him, “Go, now!”
Hesitation and then the sound of a pair of feet running away from her.
Ivy heard the click of the lock and satisfied, she made her way downstairs. There was a bat somewhere here. She had seen it when she had passed by this afternoon.
Hopefully, that could do a bit of damage and piss them off enough that they would be content with her and not search the house.
The bat was not where she had seen it, and she nearly broke her neck, tripping over where it had fallen.
Her side hurting, she felt the wetness and realized that she might have ripped a few stitches. Pulling herself into a standing position, she gingerly held the bat and weighed it in her hand.
It was heavy, meaning she could do quite a bit of damage if she aimed right.
She wasn’t stupid enough to start roaming the house, seeking out danger. She held the bat in both hands, straining her ears for any sound.
Her muscles bunched up in nervous anticipation.
Hearing the sound of heavy footfall, she raised the bat, ignoring the strain on her already bleeding wound, and then swung.
The bat never reached its target.
It was caught in a vice like grip and she retaliated by kicking out at him. Hearing a groan when her foot made contact with something soft, she heard a familiar voice growl, “Will you stop trying to hit me, woman?!”
Zack!
Her body sagged in relief and she let him take the bat from her.
She collapsed into him and he held her, his voice alarmed, “Are you all right?”
She nodded, feeling the spasm of pain in her side, “I thought you were the intruder. Sam’s in his room. I told him to lock it and hide.”
A flash of light into the room that belonged to a torch and she heard Billy’s voice, “Someone turned off the electricity for the main house. Is Miss Ivy okay, and Sam?”
“They’re fine.” Zack said, and Ivy noted that he held her to him with an arm around her waist. There was an odd undertone in his voice.
“Zack?” Ivy asked.
“Later.” His voice brooked no argument. “Stay with Sam. Billy’s going to watch the two of you while I go check around the perimeter.
Billy guided her, using the torch, upstairs and when he called out to Sam, the child opened the door and then seeing the two of them, he rushed forward and buried his face in Ivy's skirt, trembling, his arms around her legs.
She must have scared him, Ivy realized.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to yell at you."
He shook his head and refused to release her, making it impossible for her to move. She made a pleading face towards Billy who probably couldn't see it.
However, he understood the urgency of having the two of them in secure surroundings, so he simply plucked a struggling Sam off Ivy and carried him into the room.
Ivy followed and closed the door behind them.
"Stay away from the windows and doors," Bil
ly ordered, and Ivy saw the rifle he was carrying.
She sat on the bed, near the headboard, in the spot which Billy had pointed out with his flashlight. When Sam settled right next to her, she winced as his weight settled against her bleeding wound.
But he was so upset that she couldn't bear to move him. When Fabian settled at her feet, she found herself forced into an uncomfortable position.
Billy was silent, having turned off the flashlight. Ignoring the sharp pain, Ivy kept one arm around Sam, offering him comfort and safety. Meanwhile, she watched Billy's silhouette as he kept looking out.
She didn't know how long they stayed like that till there was an odd knock on the door, like a series of taps.
Billy moved quickly, turning the lock, and throwing open the door.
"Everything's clear."
As if his words were a sign, the lights in the room turned on, making Ivy blink.
She felt a bit dazed.
"Sam!"
Zack’s eyes narrowed, "You're bleeding!"
He reached his nephew before realizing that it wasn’t his blood. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Ivy's pale face.
The side of her dress was drenched in blood.
Her name was torn from his throat, a hoarse whisper, "Ivy."
She swayed before falling face forward, only for him to catch her frail form in his arms.
Zack had known fear before. But never like this. It felt like someone had reached into his chest and clenched his heart in a tight fist.
"Ivy!" He growled, urgently, but she couldn't speak, her breathing shallow and uneven.
"Call Shawn!" He ordered Billy, lifting Ivy into his arms.
Billy took out his phone and made the call.
Sam trailed after his uncle, scared. He couldn't understand what was going on, only that Ivy was hurting.
His uncle let him come into the room but he wouldn't let him near Ivy.
"Sam, stay here!" Zack told him.
Sam watched him leave before approaching the bed.
Fabian moved around him, whining, knowing that his young master was upset.
Sam’s mouth opened, and then closed, before he grabbed her hand and held onto it. Her hand was so cold.
Just like his mother’s had been.