by Louise Rose
He leans forward, kissing the tear away. Then he kisses the tip of my nose and I can’t hold myself back any longer. I stand on tiptoes and kiss him. Properly. In front of the whole room.
But I don’t care. I want to be with Declan. I want to be with Archer. I want to be with Romy. I want to be with all of them, men who aren’t beholden to my father and who saw me for me, not a pawn to be used to further their own ambitions.
“What the hell’s going on?”
Declan and I break apart as I feel someone grab my arm to pull me away.
“Lucas!” I gasp as I realise my husband has seen us and he is not happy.
“Hey, man. It’s okay.” Declan puts his arms out in a gesture of placation. “We weren’t doing anything.”
“Didn’t look like it to me,” snarls Lucas. “That’s my wife, you had no right to kiss her.”
“I’d say that was up to Ivy to decide, wouldn’t you?” Declan gazes at him coolly, daring him to do something. “It’s not like you weren’t having fun with someone else.”
“I was just dancing with Milly. I didn’t kiss her,” Lucas points out. “I would never kiss her.”
“And you can never kiss Ivy. A piece of paper isn’t going to make her fall for you. Sorry to break this to you, but her heart is taken,” he replies with a cold glare. “and we are not fucking giving her back.”
“How dare you!” Lucas pulls back a fist to punch Declan, but I get between them, yanking Lucas’s arm down.
“Stop it!” I look at Declan over my shoulder. “The pair of you. Let’s go to our private room to cool down, Lucas. It seems like we could all do with some time out.”
Lucas glares at Declan, who smirks back, but he allows himself to be guided off the dance floor and back to my father’s private room.
“What were you thinking, Ivy?” he asks, as we walk up the stairs. “You made me look stupid out there.”
“I wasn’t thinking at all,” I told him. “I hoped you were distracted with Milly.”
“That was business,” says Lucas, confirming what I’d suspected. “Milly can be a useful source of information if you know how to read between the lines. Anyway, this isn’t about me. It’s about you. You need to learn how to behave as a married woman. Don’t make me talk to your father about teaching you appropriate behaviour.”
“That sounds uncannily like a threat.” I narrow my eyes.
“Just a promise, Ivy. It’s just a promise.”
The guards outside my father’s private room step aside to let us in. My father is out on the balcony watching the action on the dance floor, so the room is practically empty other than a few guards.
Lucas immediately goes to the bar and orders a whiskey. He downs it in one gulp and grabs a bottle of beer before coming back to me.
“Where’s mine?” I don’t really care that he didn’t get me a drink. I could get my own, but if Lucas is going to make a big deal about my behaviour, I am going to point out every little thing he is doing wrong too. I can be petty if I wanted.
“We’re at a ball, Ivy,” Lucas says. “Standing around with a bottle in your hand doesn’t exactly fit with the sophisticated image you’re supposed to project.”
“Is that so?”
I stomp over to the bar and help myself to one of the bottles laid out.
“Put that back, Ivy.”
I scowl as my father comes back in from the balcony.
“It’s a party, Dad,” I say. “I’m allowed to drink if I want. And I am eighteen, remember?”
“How could I forget?” My father smiles but his eyes are stone cold. “Still, you’ll need a cool head and a steady hand for what I want you to do.”
“Oh really? What’s that?”
“Come with me.”
Lucas slumps on a couch as I follow my father out to the balcony. My cheeks redden as I realise there is a good chance he’d seen me dancing with the boys-–and kissing Declan.
“Look down there, Ivy. Tell me what you see.” He gestures expansively across the dance floor.
“People having fun?”
“That’s the surface view. Look closer.”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “People talking. People dancing.”
“I see opportunity,” my father says. “I see networks. I see the chance to take things a step further without anyone even knowing what’s about to hit them.”
He nods to one of his guards who steps forward and hands him a gun. My father opens up the barrel to check it is loaded. Satisfied, he snaps it shut with a flick of the wrist and offers it to me, handle first.
“Take it,” he says.
I frown and shake my head.
“It wasn’t a suggestion,” my father states, offering the gun to me.
Reluctantly, I take it.
My father stands behind me and grabs my shoulders. He turns me to face the crowd. Leaning forward, he speaks directly into my ear. “Can you see the man standing by the bar with brown hair going grey at the temples?”
I look in the direction of the bar and spot Claude Dauphin, Declan’s father. I nod.
“Shoot him.”
“What?” I try to turn but my father grips my shoulders, holding me in place.
“You heard.”
“I’m not going to do that.” I hold the gun away from me as far as I could. “Someone take this thing because I’m not using it.”
“Oh, yes, you are.”
“You’re crazy. There’s no way I’m shooting anyone, let alone Declan’s dad. I’d rather die first.”
A guard steps forward and grabs my other hand.
“That would be far too easy,” my father tells me. “No, Ivy. What I have in mind is a much simpler solution. Either you shoot Claude Dauphin, or Martin here will run his knife right through your hand. I’d love to see you playing guitar when you’ve lost the use of your left hand.”
“You wouldn’t!” I gasp, as Martin pulls out a wicked looking blade and holds it up against the back of my hand, ready to run it through the moment my father gives the command.
“You and I both know I will,” my father says. “Now do as I tell you and shoot Claude.”
“I can’t do it with Martin holding my hand.” I fight hard to keep the quiver out of my voice, but I don’t quite manage it.
“Fine.” I feel rather than see my father nod at his guard, who lets go of my hand and steps away. “But if you don’t shoot him, Martin will stab you.”
Hands shaking, I grip the gun and point it at Claude. I close one eye, aiming at his chest, but lower the gun as I see Declan go over to talk to his dad.
“I can’t,” I say. “I can’t risk hitting Declan.”
“That’s a shame.” My father sighs. “All right, Martin. Do your thing.”
Martin steps forward and, in that moment, I know I can’t do it. I can’t lose my hand.
Sorry, Declan.
I swing the gun up and pull the trigger.
It feels like time stands still for a moment. The shot is so loud, it can be heard over the music. The noise of the crowd falls silent for a moment before screams break out.
Claude crumples to the floor. Declan looks round for who is responsible, as people rush to help his father. Our eyes meet and I see the shock in his eyes. I feel the guilt like a knife to the heart.
“Come on, people. The party’s over.” Someone shouts but I don’t see who.
Bodyguards crowd around my father, me, and Lucas as we hurry out to the back exit. The Dauphins will be out for blood, and if they catch up to us, we are dead.
Chapter Six
“I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”
I stay in my seat, secure in the safety of the car. My father insisted Lucas and I go to school the Monday after the ball and there is no way I am ever going to step foot in that place, not when everyone would know by now who was responsible for shooting Claude.
“Yes, you can.” Lucas is patient, even after reassuring me a million times. “It won’t be as bad as you
think. Claude’s okay.”
“He’s in a hospital wired up to a machine to keep him alive, Lucas,” I wail. “How can you possibly think that’s okay?”
“He’s still alive,” Lucas reminds me. “And he’s in the hands of the best doctors in the country. He might be in bad shape now, but our intelligence tells us that he’s going to pull through. Ivy, much as I know it hurt you to do what you did, that shot has raised your profile big time. You might hate your father for forcing you into it, but trust me. He did you a favour. He’s established you as a force to be reckoned with.” He smiles reassuringly. “No one’s going to judge you. It’s just business, another day in this crazy town. Come on. I’ll be right by your side. I’m in all your classes. You won’t have to face anyone alone, not unless you want to.”
He holds out a hand to me and I know I don’t have a choice. My father has dictated that we go back to the Academy, so that’s what we are going to do.
Hand in hand, Lucas and I slowly walk up the steps to the Academy. Is it my imagination, or are people giving me weird looks?
“Keep your head high, Ivy,” Lucas whispers, squeezing my hand. “You haven’t done anything wrong, not as far as the Houses are concerned. Everyone’s going to respect you.”
“Still.” I shake my head. “I feel really uncomfortable being here.”
“Why don’t we go to one of the practice rooms?” Lucas suggests. “We can hide out there until classes start.”
“Okay.”
I feel a little more relaxed as Lucas leads the way to the practice rooms. A-level music students are allowed to go there whenever we like to work on our assignments, which means that we have keys to the rooms to unlock them-–and lock them behind us. In the past, those locks had allowed me and Declan to have some privacy while we explored each other’s bodies. Now I am grateful for that privacy for a completely different reason-–it means I can delay the moment when I have to face Declan. How on earth am I going to look him in the eye knowing I am the one responsible for putting his father in the hospital.
The music rooms are fully soundproof, so you can’t hear whether someone is practising inside. Instead, there are red and green lights mounted over the doors so you could immediately see which ones were available.
The first couple of rooms have their red lights lit, but the third one is green, so Lucas pushes the door open. The room should have been empty, but then I see who is sitting at the piano waiting for us.
“Declan!” I try to back out, but Lucas grips my hand tightly and practically drags me into the room to confront the one person I don’t want to see.
“What’s she doing here?” Declan stands up, fists clenched. “I thought you said you wanted to talk. If I’d known you were going to bring her along, I’d never have agreed to meet you.”
“She’s the one you need to talk to though,” Lucas tells him.
“She shot my dad. I’ve got nothing to say to her.”
My heart shatters into a million pieces as Declan turns away from me.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Lucas says. “Her father forced her to do it.”
“She could have said no.”
“Declan, her father was going to have his guard stick a knife in her hand. She would never have been able to play guitar again. And I don’t think that would have been the end of it, either. She did what she did out of pure fear. You and I both know that Solomon would have found a way to punish her beyond that.”
“Is this true, Ivy?” Declan finally looks at me.
“Yes.” I drop my head, unable to meet his gaze. “I didn’t want to do it, I really didn’t. But Martin was about to shove a knife through my hand. My instincts took over and I pulled the trigger. I aimed to miss though. I’m such a bad shot, I hit the target, but I really didn’t mean to. If I could turn back time, I would. I’d take a stabbing over hurting you, hurting your dad.”
I burst into tears, burying my face in my hands to hide my shame. I hate myself for being so weak, but it’s all too much. I hate my father for putting me in this situation.
I feel arms around me, I relax into the hug... thinking it’s Lucas. But when I look up, I see Declan is the one comforting me.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Lucas says.
Declan follows him to the door, and I am sure I hear him thank Lucas. As my husband leaves, Declan locks the door behind him so we won’t be disturbed.
“Lucas arranged for us to meet here,” he tells me, coming back to me. “But I thought it was going to be just me and him. I was prepared to give him the beating of his life for what you did to my father.”
“None of this was Lucas’s fault,” I say. “He doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.”
“I know,” Declan says. “But you have no idea how much I hate him for taking you away from me. I knew the moment I saw you up on that balcony with your father behind you that you’d been forced to fire that gun. I never blamed you for one second. But Lucas? He married you, taking you away from the protection of Romy’s family. Worse, he took you away from me. It drives me wild thinking about you with him. Ivy, I love you.”
My breath catches in my throat when I hear those three little words.
“I mean it, Ivy,” Declan goes on, mistaking my silence for doubt. “I can’t stop thinking about you. Ever since I first saw you, I knew I wanted you, but I’m not like Romy or Archer. For all my confidence on stage, I’ve always been shy around women.
“Romy doesn’t think twice about jumping from bed to bed. Archer doesn’t hesitate when it comes to taking what he wants. But me? I was dating Ally for months before we slept together. It’s why I’ve been taking my time with you, making you feel good in the hope that one day you’d want to give everything to me, your heart as well as your body. Now I wish I’d been more outgoing, made a play for you sooner. Maybe it would be my ring on your finger.”
As he speaks, I know exactly what I have to do.
I put my finger on his lips to stop him talking and step back, pulling my blazer off and throwing it to one side of the room. My jumper follows soon after, along with my skirt. As I unbutton my blouse Declan moves around in his seat, adjusting for the growing bulge in his trousers.
There is no doubt in my mind that he wants me.
I look him straight in the eye, as I slowly undo each button, lightly running my hands down the exposed flesh to titillate him. When my blouse is completely open, I take it off and toss it to join the rest of my clothes.
I smile slowly as I unhook the front clasp of my bra. I hold the two pieces together, moving my hands around in a little dance before slowly pulling them apart to reveal my breasts.
I finally take my bra off and throw it on top of the pile. Declan closes his eyes and gulps before opening them again. Feasting himself on the sight of me standing in front of him wearing nothing but my knickers and shin-high boots.
“What are you doing, Ivy?” he asks.
“It’s awfully hot in here, don’t you think?” I smile, batting my eyelids at him. “I figured I’d take off my clothes, you know, cool down a little.”
I cup my breasts, tweaking my nipples between my thumbs and forefingers, teasing and caressing them until they are completely erect.
“Why don’t you take your trousers off?” I suggest. “It looks like they’re really uncomfortable. Don’t you feel as hot as me?”
He doesn’t need me to ask twice. He yanks down his jeans and boxers at the same time, revealing his magnificent erection.
“Hmmm.” I am definitely enjoying the view, but there is something else that would make it even better. “I think you should take the rest of your clothes off. I’d hate for you to overheat…”
Declan grins and swiftly removes his jumper and shirt as I continue to play with my nipples. I was telling the truth when I said I was feeling hot, but it had nothing to do with the room temperature. I can feel my heartbeat speeding up as Declan sits in front of me, completely naked.
I slip my right hand inside
my knickers and find my clit. I’m already soaking wet, and we haven’t even started.
“Touch yourself,” I order. “I want you to make yourself good and hard for me.”
Declan grips his cock and firmly runs his hand up and down the shaft. “Keep playing with your tits,” he tells me. “I love watching you do that.”
I keep my hand inside my underwear while my other hand cups my breast, presenting it to him as I continue to touch myself. With one hand working on my nipple and the other rubbing my clit, I’d be turned on at the best of times. But doing this in front of Declan, putting on a show for him while he plays with his cock? I want to scream with how turned on I am.
It’s a good thing the music rooms are soundproofed.
“Do you want me to take off my underwear?” I ask.
Declan nods, incapable of speech as his hand continues to pump his cock.
I take off my knickers, leaving my boots on as I step out of my underwear.
My clothes all bundled up together in a corner of the room, I slowly step towards Declan. Our eyes meet and we grin. We’d had fun together in the past, but we’d never gone all the way. The time has come to scratch that itch.
He pulls me to him and we kiss hungrily. I can feel his erection tapping against me, his hands playing with my hair while his tongue dances with mine. We are filled with need for each other. I am torn between wanting to fuck him hard so I could come quickly and wanting to take my time to enjoy him. With all the craziness in both our lives, who knew when we’d be able to do this again, if ever?
Declan pulls away from me, breaking our kiss. “You have no idea how many times I’ve fantasised about this moment,” he tells me. “I’ve lain awake so many nights, imagining you with me, thinking of what it would be like to be in you.”
He leans forward to take one of my breasts into his mouth. He sucks hard as he plays with my other nipple, mimicking my earlier caresses as he uses his thumb and forefinger to tweak it. My legs feel weak and I can barely stand. What he’s doing is so erotic, I think I might die.
“Oh. My. God.” I moan, suddenly feeling an orgasm building. I don’t know what Declan’s secret is, but the way he’s fondling my breasts is like nothing I’d ever experienced.
