by Lily White
She unbuckles her seatbelt and pushes to her feet. The heels she wears only accentuate the shape of her legs, her tanned skin catching the light just right for the shadow of muscle to highlight how perfect she is.
I can’t help dragging my gaze down and back up again, her eyes narrowed on me because she knows exactly what I’m doing.
“As if,” she scoffs. “That ship sailed a long time ago.”
Without another word, she marches into the back of the plane and enters a room on the left.
It’s exactly the wrong place for her to go, but I don’t mind the choice. The door has a lock but it’s key-coded, the electronic panel on the side a steady green after I get up from my seat to follow her.
With two fingers, I press the handle down and step inside, her back to me as I move in far enough for the door to swing closed behind me.
The light doesn’t stay green after that. But I’m not sure she knows I’ve locked it.
“Nice choice of rooms. Is this a subtle hint or what?” I glance at the bed that takes up the majority of the room.
Ivy groans and turns to look at me.
“No. I didn’t mean to come in here, but after doing so, I thought it would look stupid to march back out and head the other direction.”
“It kills the dramatic effect,” I comment.
Her lips tug apart at that. “Exactly.”
Tossing up her hands, she drops the tough girl act, her eyes pleading with me from across the bedroom.
“What do you want from me? I don’t have any information to give you about my father, so I’m not sure what I can do to get out of this.”
Unfortunately for her, that’s the last thing on my mind at the moment. I’m still stuck in my junior year of high school, the rain driving down in freezing drops.
She should never have been there that night, and wouldn’t have if she weren’t attempting a prank in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Since then, she’s always seen me as the broken prince. And I can’t stand that she knows it.
We hated each other then, but that hatred was simply a juvenile dislike. A spark burst into life on that night, and neither of us have been able to snuff it out.
She may try to pretend she’s not interested, but I know the truth.
What’s sad is that she’s right to say what she has. Our games only got crueler after she saw the horrible ugliness of what resides beneath a practiced smile and quick wit.
I struck out because the pain and embarrassment were too much, and she struck back because I deserved it.
When I don’t answer, she shakes her head again, the near-white color of her hair shimmering beneath the low light of the room.
“I guess it doesn’t matter, does it? You never had a reason to hate me even before that. You just did. Since we were children. So in this, I think it’s safe to assume your group will torture me for the fun of it. Regardless of whether I can give you information or not.”
So caught up in what she’s saying, Ivy doesn’t notice I’m creeping closer on slow steps. My eyes pin her in place, the distance shrinking, but she’s too upset to realize she’s being stalked.
She’s not wrong though. About anything she’s mentioned. The Gabriel everybody else knows is playful and fun. I’m always good for an easy laugh and quick entertainment.
All of it is on purpose, of course, my good cop act a complete ruse to make people drop their guard.
Tanner knows the truth, but then that’s expected of a best friend. People believe we’re opposites, and maybe in the temperature of our temperament, we are. Where he’s hot, I’m cold. And where he’s quick to react, I take my time.
Tanner will steamroll anybody who challenges him, while I’ll seduce them into believing they’re safe before sneaking up behind them.
But that’s not the only reason Tanner and I are so close. It also has everything to do with what he’s witnessed.
Just like Ivy.
Although she was never invited by me to see that truth.
Like always, this woman didn’t ask permission to know who I am, she simply walked her beautiful ass into the wrong situation and stole it.
She turns to see I’m only a foot away from her, a gasp bursting from her lips as she flinches.
“Jesus Christ, Gabe.”
Taking a step back, her mouth twists into a frown when I close the distance again.
She stills in place, challenge rolling behind her eyes.
“What are you going to do? Murder me? Finally make good on all the threats you made in high school?”
I stare at her and grin to see Ivy fidget in place. Silence falls between us, but she can’t stand it. Her lips parting again to fill it.
“What if I just apologize for what happened and we leave it at that? Go on with our separate lives as if we never knew each other? You can fix whatever you did to make my dad hate me, and we can pretend all of this never happened.”
She never shuts up. I’ve always liked that about her. It makes her more interesting than most people. It means her mind is moving faster than her mouth, her filter usually entirely absent so that I get a front row view of every thought.
Right now she’s wavering, short-circuiting. But then she always has around me, and I like that, too.
“What are you doing?” she asks when I stand here patiently watching her without saying a damn word in response.
I’m gathering intel, examining, assessing. It’s what I do with every person, but especially her.
You have no idea how boring most people are. They say the same things. Do the same things. Act like clones of each other when in certain situations. Always expected. Never surprising.
Not Ivy.
She’s a mystery wrapped in pretty feathers. A thousand different flavors of the same person, each one more tempting than the next. I just don’t think she knows it.
That’s why it was stupid of me to fall for the game she played on our date. I should have known better. You can’t take a person who is too large for their skin and shove them into a standard sized box that has no weight or volume.
It’s impossible, and I should have known that. Yet, I fell for it anyway.
I won’t again.
Reaching out, I gently cup her cheek, my lips curling when her eyes slightly widen and her body goes still.
Always...
That’s what you need to remember.
I’ve always wanted this woman, even when I couldn’t stand that she exists.
“You shouldn’t touch me,” she breathes out, her voice lacking strength.
My mouth curls more at that, and I inch closer.
Eyes wide, she doesn’t back off or back down, but she’s still as nervous as she can be.
“This never ends well,” she argues, her gaze dropping to my mouth before bouncing up again.
She’s not wrong. But then, we’ve never had a moment where we weren’t interrupted. It felt like the world agreed we were the worst possible people for each other and would set obstacles in place to keep us apart.
This attraction is a fatal virus to which neither of us are immune, one that infected us when we were children and has slowly chipped away at everything we are.
And while I still want to destroy her, I can’t fight the need to taste her in the process.
“Gabriel,” she warns, but doesn’t pull away. “You know this can never happen, and you also know why. So just stop before you push it too far.”
I like pushing things too far.
Ivy and I both are experts at it.
Our mouths are a teasing inch apart, our breath shared as our eyes dance together with both hatred and want. Still, she doesn’t stop talking, and I grin to hear it.
“You’re a walking lie, Gabriel. Will you ever let anybody besides me know it?”
My mouth brushes against hers when I answer, “I don’t plan on it.”
“Such a shame.”
“Just shut up.”
Our mouths press together,
my tongue sweeping out to trap hers, my hand moving so I can fist my fingers in her hair and hold her in place. And, fuck, my body is tight with the need to restrain myself, hers melting in place as if to surrender.
This kiss is feral for how much we want each other, dangerous for the way it should never fucking happen, wrong for how meaningless it is because it won’t change my decision to destroy her.
We’re devouring each other, my other hand taking hold of her hip to tug her body to mine, her hands diving into my hair to drag me to her. Even in this, we fight, but that’s the way it’s always been.
The plane shakes beneath our feet, and Ivy stumbles back, her body falling against a wall that I use to trap her in place.
My lungs are screaming for air, but I can’t stop kissing her, tasting her, practically fucking her face with my tongue because I lose every ounce of control when it comes to her.
Behind me, there’s a sharp rap of knuckles against the door as the plane shakes again. I would believe the earth is moving in response to the clash of two opposing forces coming together if I didn’t know we’re in the air.
Another knock, harder and more urgent. “Mr. Dane.”
Growling at the interruption, I break the kiss and glance over my shoulder, my chest beating with labored breath.
“What?” My voice is a bark of sound, frustration riding me as the plane dips, and we both step sideways to keep from tumbling over.
“We’re heading into heavy turbulence. The pilot has requested that you return to your seats.”
Another hard shake and objects in the room rattle, my palm pressing against the wall near Ivy’s head to keep my balance.
“Fuck,” I bite out beneath my breath.
Every damn time, this happens.
“We’ll be there in a second,” I answer, as another hard shake warns us to buckle down.
Turning back to Ivy, my eyes lock with hers, the same thoughts running behind her stare that are screaming in my head.
“Even the universe is against this, Gabe.”
Her gaze searches my face, her breath beating against my lips.
“And we both know it.”
Ivy
Who knew Mother Nature herself would step in and stop a huge mistake? I have to thank her, though, for both the warning and the reminder.
I think it’s fairly obvious I can’t be trusted to control myself around Gabriel. He has the insane ability to pull every emotion out of me. Mostly anger, but often lust. Occasionally a broken heart, but according to him, we don’t talk about that.
It wasn’t two seconds later after returning to our seats that he hid behind his mask again, the tiny glimpses I get of the man beneath few and far between.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the flight, which was fine by me, and once the plane landed, we made our way down to his waiting car.
Now we’re on the road to who knows where. He won’t tell me. His mouth curling with a cryptic grin every time I ask.
It isn’t until we pull up to the gate at Highland Hills that I realize he’s taking me straight to Tanner’s house.
My stomach knots painfully as Gabriel stops at the small security building, cocks a brow at the guard, then pulls ahead slowly as the gates slide apart.
“I was hoping you were taking me home. I have a nasty situation to straighten out, thanks to you.”
Grinning, he laughs softly as we wind along the two-lane road, passing beautiful houses that are status symbols of the powerful people who own them.
“I wouldn’t have spent so much time creating that situation if I’d planned for you to fix it.”
At least he’s talking again.
“Would you like to tell me exactly what you did to create it?”
Another laugh, the easygoing jokester firmly in place now that we’re back home.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says, his tone mocking as he swings the car into Tanner’s driveway and pulls around the house to the back.
Asshole.
Now that he’s like this again, I know I won’t be able to get anything out of him, even if I were to slice him in half to dig it out. I’ve seen this side of Gabriel so many times that I can get confused when it happens. I sometimes forget I know the lie.
Parking outside a large garage, Gabriel turns off the car and gets out. After rounding the front to come to my side, he opens my door and offers his hand to help me to my feet.
It’s insane how well-mannered he is, always the gentleman like I tease him about. But that’s all part of the easy charm he portrays to hide what’s really going on inside.
I accept, and that damn spark jumps the second our hands touch, my eyes lifting to his to see he’s staring down at me, a million thoughts swirling behind the emerald green that make my heart race and my thighs slam together.
Once I’m on my feet, he steps closer to me, pinning me to the car, his eyes searching mine for only a moment before his mouth moves to my ear.
“Do you think if I kissed you now, an earthquake would stop us?”
A tremor runs through me at the rasp in his voice, the rough edges teasing my body with the sexual frustration I know he feels.
“I’m sure the ground would open up and swallow us whole. We are not supposed to be together. It’s an affront to the natural order of the world.”
I feel his mouth grin against my cheek.
“Maybe I need to take you to a place where no fault lines exist, and no volcanoes are nearby.”
Laughing at that, I answer, “Then it would just be a tornado, a hurricane or some other natural disaster. Because that’s what we are.”
He sighs, and those lying eyes drag back to mine.
“I suppose you’re right. It’s too bad I hate you so much. You’re not bad to look at. I wouldn’t mind finding out how nice the view is without your clothes.”
“As if I’d let you see all that. You’d fall in love, and I’d never get rid of you.”
The smile I know so well is back in place as he releases my hand and steps away.
Nudging his chin toward the house, he silently tells me to start walking, the car door shutting behind me as I breathe out a steadying breath and head in that direction.
I reach a side door and Gabriel steps around me to open it.
Glancing at him, I ask, “When will you be taking me home?”
Those deceptive lips pull into a charming smile.
“I’m not sure why you’d want to go there when we are so hopelessly in love.”
“Wait. What?”
Laughing, Gabriel shoves me into the house, directing me a few more steps forward into a beautiful kitchen as he quietly shuts the door behind us.
I spin to face him. “Are you going to explain what that means?”
“Good luck getting it out of him,” a woman says behind me. There’s humor in her voice, and just the hint of a Southern accent.
Dread shimmies down my spine when I turn to see the pretty brunette Tanner was walking around with at the engagement party, her blue eyes landing on Gabriel for just a second before sliding to me.
“I’m not sure if you remember me.” She smiles sweetly and leans a shoulder against a doorway. “We’ve actually met before, but I was married to Clayton Hughes at the time.”
Oh, God. Poor woman. Clayton Hughes might be part of the better social circles because of his father, but he’s always been an idiot.
My thoughts must be written all over my face because she laughs and steps forward to offer a hand in greeting.
“Yes, it was a horrible mistake to marry him, and I lived to regret it. I’m Luca Bailey, by the way. It’s nice to meet you again.”
So horrified by the recognition of her last name, I briefly forget there’s a bastard standing behind me that has done something terrible to ruin my life.
His hand touches my lower back as I shake Luca’s hand, guilt crawling down my spine for what I know and refuse to say.
Gabriel steps around me and pulls
Luca into a warm hug.
“How are you doing, love? Did you miss me while I was gone?”
Another laugh as she wraps her arms around him. I resist the urge to vomit. This poor woman has no idea who he really is.
“I always miss you. Bad cop is upstairs if you’re looking for him.”
Bad cop?
Who is that?
And for that matter, who the hell is good cop?
They step apart, and Gabriel sets off as if to leave the room. Stopping before he reaches the door, he turns back.
“Do me a favor, Luca, and tackle Ivy if she tries to escape. She’s not happy with me at the moment. Although, I can’t figure out why.”
Liar...
He winks at her before disappearing through the doorway, and I freeze in place when Luca turns to look at me.
I hate knowing what I know, and it takes effort for me not to throw myself at her feet, spill all the details and beg for forgiveness. Even if I had nothing to do with it.
“Sorry to hear about your vacation. I know what it’s like to be dragged into their bullshit. I assume you’re as unwilling as I was.”
“You can say that,” I answer on a shaky voice.
My hesitation isn’t because of what Gabriel is doing to me. I’m used to that. It’s more that I can’t fully swallow down the secret I think I know about the woman. The guilt is eating me alive.
Maybe it’s a different Bailey.
I mean, there’s always the possibility.
The thought only partially calms me down enough that my palms aren’t sweating.
“Take a seat.”
She points to the kitchen island and heads to the fridge. “Can I get you something?”
“Water is fine. Thanks.”
I stare at her as she opens the fridge door and pulls out two bottles. Glad to sit down for fear I might faint, I lean against the backrest and tap my toe on the floor.
This is awkward. Even more so than it was to go on a date with Gabriel. I’m not cut out for the shady shit my dad is involved in. If I was ever interrogated, all they’d have to do is wave the torture device at me and I’d break down and cry like a little bitch.