by Ivy Wild
Copyright © 2021 by Ivy Wild
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Model: Santiago Ferrari
Cover Photographer: Jarno Boom
Design: Jessica C. Zarate
Editing and proofing provided by Jules Malone at The Southern Belle’s Bookshelf Editing & Consulting
For Grandpa
Contents
Playlist
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Excerpt from The Estate
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
One Small Request…
Connect with Ivy
Books by Ivy
Acknowledgments
You are beautiful
Love is a flame that burns with sacred fire,
And fills the being up with sweet desire;
Yet, once the altar feels love’s fiery breath,
The heart must be a crucible till death.
George Marion McClellan
Theme Song
Bridges by Brood
Seven Devils by Florence and the Machine
DJ Tiesto
Ride It by Ciara & Ludacris
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty
February by Jay-Lounge
So High by Ghost Loft
* * *
People are the worst. They may seem decent at first, but scratch the surface and you’ll inevitably find all the ugliness that they try to keep hidden from the world. Some people don’t even try all that hard to hide it. Get them talking and they’ll willingly drown you in their offensively ignorant opinions on the simplest of subjects.
And this is precisely why I don’t do relationships.
Not with people, at least.
Business relationships, fine. They’re simpler. The only thing at stake is usually money. And money boils down to a simple equation: how much are you willing to risk for how much you might gain.
But people? Fuck no.
You can’t just dissolve a partnership when it comes to people. There are always emotions. Tears. Yelling. Crying.
Fuck that shit.
People are bad but their drama is even worse. Well, that is unless you’re the one calling the shots. Getting caught up in someone else’s drama is shitty, but being the one to cause it from the sidelines? Well, that kind of control has its own special type of thrill to it.
A thrill I love.
I looked across the intersection and then to the street sign next to me. I’d been so lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t even realized I’d walked my ass all the way up to the Northwest section of the city. I fucking hated the Northwest section of Washington D.C.
I looked left and then right in hopes of hailing a cab before looking across the street. An old diner called the Friendly Pancake was the only thing lighting up this lonely stretch of high society real estate. How this place managed to stay open in this neighborhood was beyond me. It did not fit the vibe at all. It was far too plebeian for an area like Northwest.
A cab pulled up in response to my upraised arm, but just as I was about to climb in, a flash of silver hair caught my eye and I froze.
“Come on, Sir. You in or out?” the cabbie shouted at me.
“Fucking all in,” I replied before slamming the door and making my way across the street. The driver cussed me out as he pulled away but I didn’t give a damn. I’d only seen it from a distance, but there was no mistaking that flash of silver hair. No woman I’d ever met had hair like hers. And I’d met a lot of women.
I pulled the door open and the overwhelming scent of syrup hit me. The smell was mildly nauseating and I wondered how it was that people enjoyed coming to places like this.
Oh that’s right. Because people are dumb.
The place was fairly empty, which made sense for a Tuesday evening. I looked around and saw old photographs hung haphazardly on the walls. This place must have been in business for decades because there was a mix of polaroids, developed photos and digital photos printed on regular paper.
“Be right with you,” a voice that’d been stuck in my head for the last decade called out from the back and I smirked.
I leaned over the hostess podium to look at the schedule. The name “Skyler” was written under “Section 1” and I smiled to myself.
I looked up and met a pair of lavender eyes that I hadn’t seen in ten fucking years. There was shock and panic in them and that only made this encounter so much more satisfying.
“Hello, Skyler,” I said. My eyes wandered her body and I could see hers do the same to mine. She was different than she had been in high school. Her pale skin was covered in colorful tattoos that climbed all the way up to her neck. “Almost didn’t recognize you,” I said.
I watched as she tried to school her features, but the shock was clear on her face. She recognized me.
“I’m sorry, have we met before?” she asked in a voice that feigned innocence.
I smirked as I pushed off from where I was leaning on the hostess’ podium. If she wanted to play that game, that was fine with me. I loved playing games, especially with her.
I schooled my own features. “My apologies. I thought you were somebody else.”
I could tell my response shocked her and she froze again before finally shaking her head. “Um, just one?”
“For now,” I replied coyly. She grabbed a menu and gestured for me to follow. She led me towards the back of the restaurant and put the piece of plastic onto the table. I slid into the booth and leaned against the backrest, twisting my body to look at her.
“Well,” she started slowly. “I’m Skyler and I’ll be your waitress for this evening. Can I get you something to drink to start with?”
“Coffee, black,” I said smoothly. She nodded her head and began to walk away. I could tell that she was shaken. She was never able to hide her emotions from me. And even after all this time, I knew she was still the same Skyler.
The place was empty except for a couple of teenage girls drinking milkshakes and giggling over their phones in one of the front booths. I slid away from my table quietly and made my way towards the back where I’d seen Skyler disappear. I passed the drink station to my right, which was empty. No one was standing there pouring me a cup of coffee.
I shook my head and smiled.
She was just like she used to be.
>
It was too fucking perfect.
A flash of silver drew my attention away from the coffee pot and I heard the squeal of a door. I looked in that direction and realized that the door to the walk-in freezer was slightly ajar. Mist poured out of the space, seeping through the crack and curling around my feet as if beckoning me to her.
I didn’t need the fucking universe to tell me to go to her. The moment I’d seen her I knew I’d be pinning her against something this evening.
My Italian leather loafers carried me towards the freezer and I slipped in quietly, hoping I could catch her off guard. She was pacing back and forth next to large bags of frozen fruit. Her pale skin seemed almost paler somehow against a backdrop of ice and gray metal, but that silvery hair of hers caught even the dim light of the dead room.
“After all this time, why does he have to show up now?” she said to herself quietly as she walked towards frozen bags of potatoes. Equal parts of me were both happy and sad at hearing her words. I loved knowing that our chance encounter had gotten to her, but there was a part of me that hated hearing that, even after all this time, she still wanted to avoid me.
I fell in behind her silently. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed. It was perfect. And when she turned around to pace back the other way, her mouth opened with a scream, but I was ready for it. My fingers wrapped around her lips, but the moment she realized it was me, I saw the panic leave her eyes.
I smiled at her and pulled my hand away from her mouth. “It’s just me,” I said, keeping close to her body.
“Why did you follow me in here?” she asked, starting to back up slowly, but I wasn’t going to let her escape me that easily.
“I guess I was just a little wounded that you didn’t remember me, that’s all,” I said, taking another step towards her.
She took another step back, obviously searching for the right words to say. “I just—It’s been a while, and I didn’t recognize you,” she lied.
Of course it was a lie. My looks hadn’t changed since high school. I still had striking blond hair and brown eyes. Hardly anyone had that combination. There was no way she didn’t recognize me.
“Come on, Skyler,” I said, taking another step closer to her. “You don’t have to lie to me. I thought we were friends.”
“We were never friends, Silas,” she said through gritted teeth as she took another step behind her. She stumbled and something crashed to the floor and she jumped. I reached out to her, pulling her into me and chuckled as I looked at the large bag of potatoes rolling around on the floor.
I pressed her body against the shelves and gripped the metal with my hands. The cold from the shelves seeped into my palms as the warmth from her body seeped into my chest. I breathed her in and she smelled just like I remembered—of vanilla and lilac. She looked up at me, her lower lip quivering and I wasn’t sure if it was from the shock of knocking something over or from the cold.
“It looks like things haven’t changed one bit,” I said, pressing my thumb against her lips gently before pulling it away.
Her tongue darted out to lick where I’d touched and I wanted nothing more than to move forward and tangle my own with hers.
“Remind me again, Sky,” I said. “Did you ever even finish paying me back for that vase you broke?”
“You’re right about one thing, Silas,” she said, sidestepping my question.
She piqued my curiosity and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Things haven’t changed. You’re still a grade-A asshole.”
My chest heaved with a slight chuckle before I pressed closer into her form, the warmth between our bodies unable to thaw the ice around us. “I knew you hadn’t forgotten me,” I whispered against her ear and she shivered. Whether it was from the cold or from me, I didn’t know.
“I’ve been trying my best, but forgetting jerks as big as you is kinda hard,” she snapped back.
I chuckled again and moved away from her. I watched as she let out a sigh and I felt like I needed to do the same thing, but I didn’t want her to know being so close affected me too. “Oh Sky, you always were too much fun.” I made my way to the entrance of the freezer. “I just wanted to tell you that I changed my mind about that coffee. I’ll take it with cream.”
I walked out of the freezer and back into the warmth of the restaurant, which suddenly felt stifling. I made my way back towards my table, but stopped only briefly enough to pull out a fifty dollar bill and my business card and leave them on the table.
As I made my way outside, I hailed another cab and forced myself not to watch her bring out a cup of coffee to an empty table. Damn, I liked the idea of her bringing me coffee.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked me as I slid into the backseat.
“Georgetown,” I responded. “500 Wisconsin.”
The cabbie let out a whistle before saying, “Yes sir.” It was obvious he was familiar with the development. Most people who frequented Georgetown were. It had been one of my father’s many projects and if I didn’t hate the man so much, I would have agreed that the place was well done. Every unit took up an entire floor of the tower, meaning that every owner had views of the Potomac.
I heard that people liked looking at the water. I never understood the fascination, especially when it came to the Potomac. The thing was a garbage dump on its best day. I’d sold off the rest of the units in the tower when my father passed, but had kept the penthouse levels for myself. It had the best views of the river. Or so I was told. I always kept the blinds shut and the world out.
I wasn’t interested in looking at what other people claimed was beautiful.
What I was interested in was Skyler Jackson and her suddenly reappearing in my life. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Things with the businesses were starting to get boring. I’d been feeling the itch to stir up some drama but hadn’t found the right plaything.
Sure, I’d had my fun with Skyler when we were in high school and I generally steered clear of the same woman twice. But as with all things, Skyler was different.
The cabbie let me know we’d arrived and I grunted and threw him a twenty dollar bill before climbing out of the cab. I breezed inside the tower. The doorman tried to greet me but he knew by now not to expect a response. I made my way to the last elevator and pressed my phone to the keypad to activate it.
A private elevator was the main reason that I had chosen to keep this unit over all of the other units I could have lived in in the city. I hated making small talk with people. I did it, sure, but it irritated me. People irritated me and unless I had a use for them, I generally tried to avoid them.
The bell chimed and I stepped inside and rode it to the top floor. I made my way to the liquor cabinet and poured myself three fingers of whiskey before heading to my bedroom with my prize. I closed my eyes and images of Skyler in that freezer danced across my vision and I ended up downing half the drink in one gulp.
I shook my head as I put the glass down on the nightstand and suddenly felt like my clothes were suffocating me. I could still smell that sweet lilac scent of hers surrounding me and it had me questioning my earlier and not so innocent intentions for Skyler.
I stripped the clothes off of me and turned on the shower. I couldn’t afford to let her affect me the way she had when we were young. I stepped into the spray before it was fully warm, hoping the cold water might shock some sense into me. It didn’t but at least by the time I’d stepped out and dried off, I couldn’t smell her on my body anymore.
I climbed into my bed and grabbed my phone and whiskey off the nightstand. I tapped the Instagram app before taking a sip. The smooth liquid coated my throat and helped calm my racing heart. There was only one person I followed on the stupid fucking platform. There was only one person who deserved to be followed on Instagram in my opinion.
A new post by @fadedwhitewings from earlier in the day lit up my phone and alone, in the darkness of my bedroom, I smil
ed as I looked at the image—or rather images. The artist always blended multiple images together and I often found myself getting lost inside of them, hunting out each layer to try and make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
It was fall and this one had images of leaves covering a forest floor blended with pictures of a brook, a hawk and a disposable coffee cup. I never tapped the gay as shit heart button. Somehow “hearting” something didn’t sit well with me. But, I always left a comment.
@fadedwhitewings: Fucking love this.
* * *
“Hey, everything okay back there, Sky?” Johnny shouted at me from the large cooktop in the kitchen where he was pouring pancake batter.
“Uh, fine,” I managed to say, trying to catch my breath. I felt like I’d run a marathon, my heart was beating so fast I was worried it was going to beat right out of my chest.
“I saw that guy follow you into the freezer,” Johnny shouted again and I sighed.
“It’s fine, Johnny. He’s a friend.”
“We don’t normally let friends into the walk-in freezer, Sky,” he chided. I knew it was all in good fun, but I didn’t have the energy to banter back with him like usual.
“Uh-huh,” I said. “I gotta grab the coffee,” I said quickly, coming up with an excuse to leave the area. I knew Johnny was going to try and confront me about all this later, but right now I needed to not be talking about Silas Jenkins.
Or the way him pressing me against those cold shelves made my body heat up.
