by Aria Ford
My phone chirps its notification, but I don’t look at it. I’m too engrossed in this new contract. It’s everything I dreamed of and more. I had bagging a client this big on my long-term bucket list, and now I’ve done it.
I push my laptop away and swivel my chair around. I gaze out the windows at the city throbbing outside. Guys like me built this city, and I can turn it any way I want. I’ll make a new bucket list, and I’ll shoot for the stars. I’ll dream big, and nothing will stop me from accomplishing exactly what I set out to do.
I can make a thousand plans for the rest of my life, too. I won’t keep my head stuck in my business all the time, trying to forget Jade and her insanity. This is how good it feels to love someone. Even if Kira decides to go back to Parker, I won’t take it personally. I’ll find someone else to love, someone who feeds me as much as she does, someone who makes me the best I can be.
A grumbling in my stomach reminds me. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. I better grab some lunch before I turn into an angry old bear. I laugh at myself, at the person I used to be when I hated the world and everyone in it. Why did I take so long to snap out of it?
Well, the first step is getting something to eat so I can carry on with the rest of my day. I grab my phone, and a bunch of notifications pop up on the screen. One sticks out at me: Kira Malone. What in the sam hill is she doing, contacting me at work like this?
I punch open her message. My eye skips down the words, and the floor drops out from under my feet. Jade is here…. Get home quick, and bring the Police.
I rocket out of chair. What the devil is going on? How long has this been going on? I check the time stamp on the message. Eight-oh-seven AM. And the time now? Two-thirty-three PM.
I set off for the door at a fast clip. I don’t bother with the elevator, and I take the stairs two at a time without looking up from my phone. I call the emergency restraining order hotline the Police gave me when we first filed. I listen to it ring while I get into the care and fire it up.
I hit the expressway going eighty miles an hour, but I can’t think straight. Kira’s been home alone with Jade for over six hours. Holy Christ! How has she managed to keep her from stealing Ivy? How did that bitch get into my house while I was sleeping in Kira’s arms in the next room?
None of that matters. I get the Police Sergeant on the line and explain everything in as few words as I can. I even find a way to do it without losing my temper.
He asks a few salient questions and hangs up. He promises to send a squad car around, but I don’t have time to wait for that. I’m on my way home, and I don’t give a hoot in hell if I get a speeding ticket on the way. I’ve got to intercept Jade before she makes off with my daughter. For all I know, she already has.
I screech around the corner into the driveway. It’s gonna take an act of God to stop me from smashing Jade’s head in, but if Kira’s there, I can hold it all together. I can deal with this without blowing my top off.
I’m all ready to take on Jade, but my blood boils when I pull up to the front steps and see that cream-colored Jag parked out front. There’s that pinhead Parker Lynch climbing out of the driver’s seat.
He casts that same cocky, self-assured glance around the estate, and his eyes narrow when he sees me pull in behind him. I throw my door open and step out in front of him. “What do you think you’re doing here?”
He rounds on me. He’s not the least bit intimidated by me or anybody else on this planet. “I came to see Kira. She told me she had a rocky start here, and I’m here to make sure she’s all right.”
“Kira is just fine,” I fire back. “You don’t have to worry about her.”
He scowls worse than ever. “You’re Isaac, aren’t you? You’re the boss she had trouble with her first day.”
His attitude presses all the wrong buttons. I don’t like where this is going. “Yes, I am Isaac. This is my house, and you’re trespassing on private property, so unless you’ve got some legitimate business here, I’ll thank you to make yourself scarce.”
He keeps his voice calm and smooth, but anybody can feel the hostility buried underneath. God, I hate people like him. They don’t know when to back off. “Kira’s safety and well-being is my business, and considering what she told me about her first day at this job, I’m not leaving until I see her alive and well. She can tell me herself to make myself scarce.”
I hear my voice rising. I do my best to get it under wraps, but it doesn’t work out so well. Tension straps my shoulders up, and my hands clench into fists. “I told her not to have friends around without my permission. I guess she didn’t pass on the message, and that’s the second major incidence of insubordination I’ve had to deal with from her in her first week. If this keeps up, she won’t have a job left.”
He squares his shoulders. He shoots back his answer with no pause in between. “I told her that very first day to ditch this job, and I’ll tell her again right now. If you don’t want her working here, just go inside and get her and I’ll drive her home right now. You’ll never have to deal with insubordination from her again. Go on. Prove to me she’s all right and I don’t need to worry about her by going and getting her. I’ll wait here.”
That little punk turned his back on me, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against the fender of his Jag. He looked the other way like I wasn’t there. I told myself to keep it cool, that he doesn’t know anything about Kira and me, but I can’t pretend it to myself. This is my rival. I’ve got to fight him over the finest woman in the world to see which of us deserves her more.
I march around in front of him and get in his face. “You listen to me, you little twit. This is my house, and I say who comes and who goes. You got that, or are you looking for a way to get thrown in the slammer?”
He pushes himself off the fender and towers above me. He looks straight down into my face, and I have to crane my head back to make eye contact with him. “Who you calling a little twit? From where I stand, I could twist you around my little finger and wear you as a pinky ring.”
“A pinky ring!” I snort with laughter. “That’s a good one. I just bet you would wear a pinky ring. I knew the moment I saw you that you were nothing but a sissy-boy. Go on. Wear your pinky ring so all your boyfriends know which side you like to lie on when they milk your tight little butt.”
That hits the right spot. His shoulders swell out, and his brow knits. “You better watch your step, Mister. You won’t get any traction insulting me.”
“Insulting you! Ha!” I shout. “I could stand here insulting you for the next six weeks and never scratch the surface. Come on. What have you got? How are you gonna twist me around your finger? Show me. I really want to see you try.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Kira
I check the clock for the thousandth time that day. Two-thirty in the afternoon. Where is Isaac? Why didn’t he come? Did he not get my text? Did he drop his phone in the toilet? Maybe he’s ignoring my message because of what happened last night.
I knew it. He regrets it. He’ll think twice about sleeping with a servant after this. He’ll get someone as successful as he is, and I’ll be on the first train to the Bronx.
Why did I ever get mixed up in this crazy situation? Why did I let myself feel anything for him, especially when I knew I would go back to Parker eventually?
Jade comes into Ivy’s bedroom and slams her paper and pencil down on the table. “All done.”
“Did you find everything?” I ask.
She sets one jeweled hand on her hip and throws attitude at me. “No, I didn’t find everything, and I’m not going to. I’ve spent entirely too much time on this ridiculous scavenger hunt, and I’m not searching anymore.”
I smile at her. Ivy speaks up from the window seat. “Kira found everything an hour ago. It can’t be that hard.”
Jade turns on her. “Well, I’m finished playing a stupid kid’s game. Come on, Ivy. I’m taking you to town.”
“Wait a minute,”
I call out.
Jade chops her hand through the air. “No more waiting. We’ve thrown the whole day away on this silly game idea of yours, and I’m not waiting around anymore. Get your jacket, Ivy. We’re going.”
I’m losing my mind. I played this scavenger hunt game as long as I could, but Jade is more determined than ever to take Ivy into town alone. What can I do? I can’t exactly tackle her to the ground. Then again, maybe I could. I should tie her up and throw her in the bathtub until Isaac can bring the Police.
I couldn’t do that. I can only stand in horror while Jade helps Ivy into her jacket. Does Ivy understand what’s going on? She doesn’t show it. She smiles up at her mother. She must be so starved for her mother’s attention, she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her around.
I flutter around them, but I can’t think of one intelligent thing to say or do to stop this. What will Isaac say when he comes home and finds Ivy gone? There must be something I can do. I follow mother and daughter down the big staircase to the doorway. I want to leap in front of them and block the entrance with my body, but that would be too ridiculous even for a desperate situation like this.
Jade opens the door. Even before I follow her and Ivy out into the sunshine, I hear men’s voices echoing across the grounds. Jade and Ivy move aside, and the nightmare gets even worse when I see Parker and Isaac nose to nose in the driveway. Even their cars confront each other in front of the steps.
“How dare you come onto my property and start throwing your weight around like you own the place?” Isaac is saying. “Do you know who I am? I’ll break you in half, pipsqueak.”
“Do you think I care who or what you are?” Parker fires back. “Do you want to take a crack at me? Come on. I’ll take you.”
I rush forward. “Parker! What’s going on?”
Both men turn around at the same moment. Isaac looks once at me. Then his gaze lights on Jade, with Ivy at her side all dressed up to go out. “What the hell is going on here? Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m sorry, Isaac,” I put in. “I tried to alert you before now. I did my best to stop it, but you’ve been out so long, I didn’t know what to do.”
Jade draws herself up to face him. “I’m taking Ivy out for the afternoon. I would have taken her before, but Kira had some strange notion about things we ought to do first.”
“You’re not taking Ivy anywhere,” he snaps. “I’ve got a restraining order against you. You’re not supposed to be within a hundred yards of Ivy without a designated supervisor from Social Services. You know that. Ivy, you go back inside while I work this out with your mom.”
“Stay where you are, Ivy,” Jade barks. “I have every right to take her out. She never gets to spend any time with me.”
“She’s spent plenty of time with you lately,” Isaac growls. “This is the third time in a week you’ve broken into my house. You deliberately flouted the court order. That’s why they granted the restraining order in the first place. You’re only making it more difficult for yourself.”
I’m impressed he’s holding his temper back so well. I expected him to lose it before now, but he’s doing his best to reason with her.
He takes hold of Ivy’s shoulders and tries to turn her back toward the house. “Go inside, sweetheart. You shouldn’t have to listen to this.”
Jade snatches Ivy by the coat collar. She yanks her daughter out of her father’s hands. “Don’t you dare try to take her away from me. I’ll ruin you for this.”
Ivy screams out loud. She staggers one way and then the other. Isaac gets right into Jade’s face. “You’ve already done your worst to ruin me, and you haven’t done it yet. When are you gonna get it through your thick head ruining me won’t get you any closer to Ivy?”
Ivy slips out of her coat and rushes to me in tears. She throws her arms around my waist and buries her face in my stomach. She screams and cries with her face turned away from her parents. I rub her back and surround her with my arms. “Come on, sweetie. I’ll take you inside.”
Parker steps forward. “You’re not going anywhere until I get an explanation for what’s going on here. What are you doing, putting up with this cocksucker?”
Isaac whips around. “Who are you calling a cocksucker? Leave Kira alone. She can go where she wants without any interference from the likes of you.”
Parker rounds on him. “Mind your own business. Keep out of this before I knock your block off.”
“Please, Parker,” I begin.
“What’s the matter with you?” he demands. “Don’t tell me this idiot has actually made you feel sorry for him.”
“It’s not like that, Parker,” I reply. “It’s just that…”
“Don’t you smart off to her,” Isaac breaks in. “She can decide for herself how she feels about us.”
Parker stiffens. “’Us’? What’s supposed to mean?”
I watch this scene with a sinking heart. It had to come out eventually, but I didn’t want it to be like this. “I’m really sorry, Parker. I didn’t want to….”
“Don’t tell me there’s something going on between you and this…this shithead.”
I hang my head, but Isaac interrupts again. “Let her decide for herself who she wants to be with and what she wants to do.”
Parker glares down at him for one long terrible minute. Ivy’s screams still ricochet off the big stone house walls behind me. I can’t believe this situation turned into such a mess.
Then Parker turns on me. “I never thought I would live to see this, Kira. I really didn’t.”
Jade comes up to me and tries to pry Ivy away from me. “Come on, Ivy. You come with me. You don’t have to listen to this. I’ll take you somewhere we’ll have a nice time.”
Isaac lunges between me and Jade. “Don’t you touch her.”
Jade wheels to confront him. She plants one hand on his chest to shove him away, and Isaac explodes at her with a feral roar. All the rage and pent-up hatred he worked so hard to stuff down bursts out of him in a volcanic torrent. He swings his iron fist at her.
At the last second, Jade bends down to talk to Ivy again, and Isaac’s fist flies over her head. His knuckles sail through the air on a collision course with my face.
Fireworks blow apart in my eyes. Their sparks crackle through my brain. I can’t think. Isaac’s voice thunders in my ears. “Kira! No!”
Ivy shrieks even louder. She screams so loud I can’t understand a word Jade is saying to convince her to come away with her. If she lives a hundred years, that woman won’t comprehend the most basic details of human relations.
Parker bellows out an animal snarl. He tackles Isaac around the chest and knocks him to the ground. I lose sight of fists flying and Parker sitting on Isaac’s chest to punch him into the ground. My eyelids flutter, and my head swims. I can’t keep my eyes open. A black tide closes over my head. The last thing I hear before I lose consciousness is the wail of sirens streaking around the corner and into the driveway.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Isaac
I rest my aching head in my hands, but the pain in my head can’t match the pain in my heart. My world lies in pieces around my feet. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t live like this. A man wasn’t designed to carry this much pain. I just want to close my eyes and never open them again.
A groan startles me, and my head comes up. I jump out of my chair to sit on the edge of Kira’s bed where she lies on the pillow. She tosses her head to one side, and her hair sprays over the white pillow case.
Her hand rises to her head, and she shields her eyes from the light of the lamp on the table. I know exactly how she feels.
I pass my hand across her forehead and down her cheek. “It’s all right, Kira. You’re safe now.
She pries her eyelids apart and instantly closes them again. “What happened?”
I hang my head. “It’s all right now. Ivy’s safe and Jade is under arrest for violating the restraining order and attempted kidnapping.”
She works to get her eyes open again. She stares up at the ceiling for a moment before she looks my way. “Parker.”
I turn away. “He went home. I wanted him to take you home with him, but he said you would want to stay here.”
She shuts her eyes and faces the wall. “I never should have let this happen. I never should have let him find out that way. This is all my fault.”
I can’t hold back the anguish in my heart anymore. I take her hand and press it to my lips. “I am so sorry, Kira. I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve to love anybody. The whole world is better off when I’m alone. You don’t have to say it. I understand you don’t want to be with me. I don’t want to be with me, either, but I’m stuck living this wreck of a life.”
She whips around. “What makes you think I don’t want to be with you?”
I blink at her. “But you…after what happened…I thought….”
“You made a mistake, but that wasn’t your fault. It was a freak accident. You tried to stop Jade from taking Ivy. Anybody would have done the same thing in your place. She just happened to move her head at the wrong moment, and you hit me by mistake. I understand that. You’re not better off alone, and the rest of the world isn’t better off with you alone, either. You’re a good man, Isaac, and I do want to be with you. I want to be with you more than anything.”
I bite my lip to stop it quivering. Looking at her right now hurts too much to stand. I can barely grate the words out. “I want to be with you, too, but I can’t stand you getting hurt like this. I would do anything to keep you safe, even if it means we can’t be together.”
She lays her finger on my lips. “Shhh. Don’t. You don’t have to torture yourself anymore. You’ve been through enough. It’s time for you to put the past behind you and be happy for once in your life. I do want to be with you, as long as you want to be with me. I’m just sorry Parker got hurt.”
I shake my head. I can’t say a thing. I’m breaking up inside. I don’t know what’s happening to me.