Was my heart shattered when she walked away? Yes. Was I angry? Yes. Am I still angry? Yes. None of that matters, though, if she ends up some other guy. Especially that English twat.
I set a jar of clear and yellow gummy bears on her desk. I sit down and busy myself with some portfolios that Dad wants me to look over. I glance up and smile at her when she walks through the door. She’s gorgeous. Her hair’s all naturally curly today, and she’s wearing a tight black skirt with a sexy slit up the back and a blue blouse tucked into it.
She gives me a hesitant smile when we make eye contact. It isn’t until she notices the gummy bears that she speaks though.
“Levi,” she pauses until I look up at her, “thank you.”
“I’m sorry for being a dick last week. I’m just not completely over everything. We had no closure when it all went down.”
“I know.” She opens the jar and eats one. “Do you want to grab dinner tonight, so we can talk about everything? Maybe actually catch up like the friends we once were.”
No, I don’t want to catch up like friends.
“Sure,” I ignore the screaming in my head and heart. “I know a great place. I’m glad you wore flats today.”
“Should I call Saul and tell him I won’t need a ride right after work?”
“Yeah, I’ll get you home.”
I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Grant telling him I’ll need a table at On The Ropes, his newest nightclub with an adult playground theme. I add a request for gummy bear martinis because as soon as I saw those opening night, I knew I had to bring Ives just for those. It annoyed me in the moment that my first thought was her, but it’s always going to be her.
“What do you have over there?” She points at the stack of folders on my desk.
“Family portfolios Dad wanted me to go over.” I drop the folder in my hand on the desk and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t care about any of this. He could sign away all our businesses and wealth for all I care.”
“I’m guessing you haven’t told him how you feel about this?” She pushes back from her desk and starts walking toward me. “May I?” she asks, gesturing toward the portfolios.
“Go for it.” I point at the chair I front of my desk. “You know way more about this shit than me.”
She sits, and I try to not to notice the way her skirt hikes up, revealing her smooth, toned thigh. I definitely don’t sit there for a solid five minutes fantasizing about what she has under that sexy skirt and conservative blouse. How her nipple would harden under my thumb if I lightly brushed over it. How her eyes would go hooded under my tou-
“Levi?” Her voice is raised. “A pen?”
“Sorry, zoned out for a second. What do you need?”
“A pen, please.” She cocks an eyebrow at me.
“Catch.” I toss it at her just to be dick.
She catches it with a smirk and goes back to working. I pull my phone out and send a text to the group text I have with Con and Griff.
Me:
Con: Surprised you lasted a week.
Griff: It was a stupid grudge anyway. She didn’t do anything wrong.
Me: Disagree, she could have some attempt to reach out to me over the years.
Griff: You haven’t talked yet, have you?
Me: No.
Me: And I hate that you know more about her life than I do.
Con: Fix it then.
Me: I’m taking her to On The Ropes tonight.
Con: Good. I didn’t want to have to be nice to Abbott if he was going to be hanging
around.
Griff: He’s not that bad.
Me: He’s a twat.
Con: I don’t have the mental capacity to be nice to any extras.
Me: Guess Griff is fucked then.
Griff: Lunch later this week? I have a meeting to get to.
Con: Wednesday.
Me: I’m there.
I set my phone down and look up at Ivy. She’s scribbling along the margins of one portfolio with her fingers flying over the calculator in her hand. She’s very clearly made for this. She and I couldn’t be any different in this moment.
“Would you want to take my place when you graduate?” The question surprises even me as it flies from my lips.
“What?” She looks as startled as I am.
“You were born for this type of thing. Don’t act like being an executive at bank and finance company wouldn’t be the greatest achievement of your life.”
“I mean,” she sits back and switches the way her legs are crossed, “yeah, the goal is to get a job at a place like this.”
“Dad already wants to hire you.” I hold up a hand and shake my head when she opens her mouth to argue. “He told me when he warned me not to chase you off. He loves you like a daughter. I think when I break my news to him, you should step in and take my place.”
“Don’t you think the board will have an issue with that?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll have equal shares with Dad and together our fifty-two percent outweighs the rest of the board.”
Plus, I still fully intend to wife you up.
“I guess it’s something to think about. Can I finish these at my desk? I have some ideas for a few of your guys’ accounts.”
“Go for it, Ives.”
The smile she gives me at the use of her nickname damn near undoes me. I must have blocked out how beautiful that smile is to make it through my bitterness. My heart literally skipped a beat.
“So, what is this place?” Ivy asks as I hold the back door to On The Ropes open for her.
“Grant just opened it a month ago.” I assume she knows who I’m talking about since she was just at one of his other clubs. “It has an adult playground theme.”
“Adult play-” she stops dead when we leave the back hallway, “whoa.”
The bar and restaurant area sits to the left of the expansive space. In the center is a small dance floor and suspended DJ booth. To the right side is a playground with every possible piece of equipment from our childhood, teeter totters, merry-go-rounds, swings, and monkey bars.
“I reserved a table,” I lead her to the hostess stand.
A redheaded woman maybe a few years older than us looks up when we walk up. “Hello, Mr. Marsh. Your table is set up like you requested.”
“Thank you,” we follow her to a semi-circular booth overlooking the playground area.
Every table is full, and I can see the line is already out the door.
“This place is crazy busy for Monday night.” She picks up the menu and flips to the drinks. “Hey! There’s a gummy bear martini on here!”
“I know,” I smirk as our server sets two on the table for us. A red bear garnishing mine, and a clear one garnishing hers.
“Look at you, smooth operator.” She holds her glass up for a toast.
“What are we toasting too?” I grab mine and wait for her answer.
“Reconnecting?”
“To reconnecting.” I smile as I tap the rim of my glass to hers. We hold each other’s gaze as we both take a sip and immediately make faces at the disgustingly sweet martini. “Oh, that’s terrible.”
She winces after taking a second sip. “It really is.” She’s pulled all her hair to one side, showing the sexy curve of her neck. I shove my hand in my pocket to keep it from reaching over to her.
“So where do we start?” I clench my jaw and hold eye contact with her. “You running out on Christmas Eve and icing me out for over three years?”
“It wasn’t like that.” Her eyes dim, and she looks down at her perfectly manicured nails. “I didn’t have a choice. I went home with Dad and Isaac and straight into lockdown mode.”
“I get that, but it’s been three years. You couldn’t reach out once in all that time? You left and never looked back.”
“I had to work on myself.”
“Bullshit. What part of you needed three years of work?”
“I don’t know, Levi,�
�� her voice drips with sarcasm, “maybe the eighteen years of emotional abuse and trauma I suffered at the hands of my mother? Maybe the weight of my father’s Olympic legacy? Oh, I know, how about always feeling like I was the ugliest person in the room? Perhaps, it was the work I had to put in to not feel worthless unless I was in a pool or holding a calculator? Take your pick.”
Everything she fires at me feels like a knife to chest. She felt like that? She felt worthless and ugly? I can’t even comprehend that because to me she’s always been the most beautiful girl, now woman, in the room. She’s brilliant. She’s worth twenty of me.
“Did I ever make you feel like that?” I ask, needing to know if any part of me ever scratched her soul.
“No,” she swipes a tear threatening to fall, “never. I always felt good about myself when you were around.”
Thank fuck. Relief floods me.
“Then I still don’t understand why you waited until you were undeniably going to have to see me.”
“I don’t have a good answer for you.” She runs a finger up the stem of her martini glass before looking back at me. “You didn’t reach out either, though, and don’t act like you were pining away for me every night. I know you’ve had a heavy rotation of women in and out of your bed the past three years.”
“I did what I had to,” in order to forget you.
“Half the population of Boston, apparently,” she snarks.
“Jealous?”
“Hardly,” she rolls her eyes. “Listen, this is getting us nowhere, and we need to get along this weekend. I don’t want to ruin this trip for Lilith and Con.”
“Agreed. Let’s just catch up. How’s Yale been?”
“It’s good. I’ve made some good friends between swimming and my finance and business classes. I like being so close to Dad and Isaac. I miss you guys, though. It’s been hard to watch you all together while I’ve been off on my own.”
I want to scoop her up and tell her I’m never letting her go again. Even if I do spend some time torturing her for leaving, I won’t be left again. Three years ago, I told her that I loved her, obsessively, and that hasn’t changed. As much as I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to shake her from heart and soul. I don’t say any of that though. I just nod my head while I watch her struggle not to cry.
“How did your dad take the news about not continuing to swim competitively after college?”
She opens her mouth to answer as our server comes.
“Well,” she says as soon as the server leaves, “he was disappointed. That’s an understatement, actually, he was heartbroken. It was worse than how he reacted to our,” she clears her throat and gestures between us, “the sex tape of us.”
“Really?” I can’t stop the small grin from crossing my lips. “Did you ever watch the sex tape?”
“No. Dad destroyed it.”
“Wait. If you didn’t watch it, and he destroyed it, how do we even know what was on it?” I wouldn’t put it past Jennifer to lie.
“He said he saw enough to convince him,” she says with a shrug. “The only good thing to come out of all that is the fact that I don’t speak or see Jennifer anymore.”
“Jennifer, huh?”
“She doesn’t deserve the title of mother or mom. She’s only hurt me, so she doesn’t get to claim to be my mother.”
“Good. She never deserved you.” There’s that urge to touch her again, and again, I ignore it. “Happier topics. I heard you went with Con to pick out Hoodrat’s engagement ring. What does it look like?”
“It’s classic and elegant,” she answers with a dreamy look on her face. “Totally fits her style.”
“Her style is ripped jeans, tank tops, stolen hoodies, and worn Chucks,” I say deadpan.
“Okay,” she rolls her eyes with a smirk, “how her style is evolving.”
Our conversation pauses when our food arrives.
“Con asked me to pack her bag for the trip this weekend. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do it. Her schedule is so erratic.”
“We’re having a family dinner on Wednesday. You can do it then.”
“Just you and her or with Frank too?”
“Just the two of us. We started having dinners, just the two of us, every other week during spring semester of our senior year. Finding out we were related probably saved both of us from a pretty depressing time in our lives.” I can’t help the accusation that seeps into my tone.
Her eyes are shining with tears when I look up.
“Levi,” she blinks back them back, “I’m so sorry. I was trying to survive, too. This won’t work if you don’t stop with the passive aggressive comments.”
She’s right, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m angry. That I’ve been bottling it up for three years. Letting it fester inside myself.
“What won’t work?” I’m going to push her to admit she wants me back. I don’t care how uncomfortable she is with it. I know we belong together and so does she.
“Us,” she swallows nervously, “friendship or whatever.”
“Whatever?” I tip my head to the side.
She meets my eyes with a Volkov-worthy glare.
“Fuck you.” She stands. “I’m going to the ladies’ room, and then I want to leave.”
I watch her walk away, perfect ass bouncing in her skirt. I also don’t miss a table of guys that watch her with hungry looks as she passes. I pull my wallet out and drop a couple hundreds on the table before following her. She doesn’t get to keep running from me.
I watch her pass a woman leaving the restroom, and after a second, I walk right into the ladies’ room behind her. She’s standing with her arms braced on the counter looking down.
“I’m going to need you to spell out what you mean when you say whatever,” I say, startling her.
“Jesus, fuck, Levi! Get out of the ladies’ room!”
“I’m good. No one else is in here.” I close the distance between us but don’t touch her.
“You are so damn arrogant. Walking in here and demanding answers like this.”
“I deserve answers. Give them to me, and I’ll walk away. Give you some more space,” I say looking down at her.
Her eyes travel from my eyes to my lips and back up.
“What if I don’t know how to answer you?” she whispers.
“Ives,” I hold her gaze, “if you want back in my life, I’m going to make you earn it. That starts with answers. It starts with raw honesty, always.” My heart is pumping out of my chest as we continue to stare each other down. “What do you want from this?”
“What I’ve always wanted from you,” she licks her lips, “everything.”
My lips slam down on hers. I’ve waited three years for this moment. Everything about her feels like home. Her lips part allowing me entrance to slide my tongue into her mouth. She melts against me, her fingers sliding back into my hair, where they belong. She changes the angle of the kiss allowing me even easier access to her mouth, which tastes exactly how I remember. My hands grip her waist, dying to tear her clothes off, but the first time I’m inside her again won’t be in a public bathroom. She makes a little moan as I pull away from her.
“We should go,” my voice is husky, and my dick is hard. I reach down and grab her hand, pulling her out of the bathroom behind me. With my other hand, I pull my phone out to call for my car but realize with the traffic it could take who knows how long. We’re not too far from VI to walk, and she’s in flats.
“Where are we going?”
“Your place.” I pull her behind me and out onto a cross walk. “It’s closer, and we can walk faster than wait for my driver.”
Ten blocks has never felt so far.
21
IVY
Levi drags me by the hand into the elevator at VI. As soon as the doors close behind us, he’s back on me. I’m pressed against the wall while his lips travel from mine down my neck. He lets out a feral growl as his tongue swipes over my racing pulse at the base of my neck.
I drag my nails down his chest and over the washboard abs I can feel through his shirt.
Instead of separating when the doors open, he lifts me and carries me out, still pressed against him. I can’t wrap my legs around him because of my pencil skirt, but I cling to him regardless. I’ve never forgotten what it feels like to kiss him, to be held by him, to feel him moving inside me. No one has ever measured up to the standards he set as my first everything.
He punches the code into the lock, his lips never leaving mine, and swings the door open. I hear Lilith and Connor talking in their bedroom. Levi stalks down the hall to my room, closes and locks the door.
My feet touch the floor, and I step back. His chest his rising and falling rapidly, his eyes a deep, deep blue like the deepest depths of the ocean. He reaches up and undoes his tie, tossing it on the dresser.
“Take your clothes off,” he says as he unbuttons his shirt casually with one hand. “I want to watch you strip bare for me.”
The command in his voice has my pussy flooding with heat. I reach up with shaking hands and start pulling my blouse out of my skirt. I undo the buttons and shrug out of it, letting it drop to the floor. I tug on the zipper to my skirt, letting it pool around my feet. I’m left standing in a navy blue lace bra and matching thong. When I look up at Levi expectantly, he shakes his head.
“All of it off,” he says as he pulls his belt off. His shirt is on the floor alongside my clothes. He leans back against the dresser like he hasn’t been thinking about this moment for the past three years.
I let my eyes skim over the body I once knew so well. His muscles are cut, more defined, and clearly well maintained. He’s already got a golden tan even though summer hasn’t even officially begun yet. The veins in his forearms and hands bulge around his corded muscles. His abs are as amazing as I thought they would be, and he hasn’t lost that sexy V cut on his hips. When I look back up to meet his eyes he’s looking as intensely at me. The boy with the golden arm grew into a golden god, sent to make me atone for the sins of our past.
I reach behind my back and unclasp my bra, letting the straps fall off my shoulders and down my arms. My nipples pebble against the cool air and Levi’s hot gaze. I slide my thumbs into my panties and push them down my hips where they land on my skirt.
Relentless (Titans of Founder's Ridge Book 2) Page 17
