“In his bed? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about.”
She winks, then walks off towards an officer at a set of doors. Of course she was in his bed. Why would she be here this early otherwise? Still, I watch her walk away, and the moment she’s a good twenty feet past him, she half faints, dragging the officer in her direction. Damsel in distress? I laugh and hurry through the corridor towards Blake’s room. That’s no damsel at all.
I doubt she ever has been.
Slipping through the door quietly, I find Blake sitting on the bed, his head hung low as he frowns at his bare feet. He looks up slowly, weary eyes finally finding me.
“Hey, Hero.”
His feet drop to the floor, and he’s over and sweeping me up into his arms before I’ve caught a breath. His mouth lands on mine like he’s done nothing but think about it for hours. I’m so lost in the moment, in the intimacy of it, that I barely recognise the situation we’re in. We could be back in Kabul as far as I’m concerned—just the two of us. War zones don’t matter anymore, nor does any form of abduction. It’s just us.
And that’s all it needs to be.
“Ivy?” I slow the kiss at the sound of Landon, a small snort coming out of me as I break away from Blake’s lips. It feels like I just got caught sneaking over to the boys’ school, and Father got called in. “Perhaps now is not the time.”
I turn in Blake’s arms, happily linking my fingers with his around my waist. “Landon meet Blake, Blake - Landon.” The sight of my brother eyeing up my boyfriend, no my … whatever he is, isn’t unexpected, and neither is the look of disapproval firmly entrenched in his stare. The fact that Blake’s wearing scrubs might not help.
I stand firm, not remotely bothered by his opinion. All I need to do is make sure a certain lawyer does his job to the standard I expect. “We need your help, Brother.”
“We?”
“Yes. We. Meaning both me and Blake.”
“Forget it, Ivy. Come on, let’s get you home so we can talk about what the hell just happened.”
My spine straightens, fingers unlinking from Blake’s, and I go to move. The fingers on my hip bone tighten instantly, and I’m kept still by firm hands. “Blake shot someone, well, two people, to protect me. He needs you, Landon. Youwilldo this for me.”
His eyes narrow, and he looks at Blake behind me. Time seems to stall in that moment, as if all the years of our relationship are on the line. They are. Getting what should be my job as CEO of this company is bad enough, but if he thinks I’ll forgive him for walking away from this predicament and leaving Blake in a possible shitstorm, he’s got another thing coming.
He frowns and turns slightly, so he can look back out into the corridor. “Do you have a lawyer?” he asks. I nudge Blake in the ribs, indicating that he needs to answer that.
“No.”
“You do now. What have you said to the police?”
“Nothing other than the truth. I know when to keep my mouth shut.”
“Good. Wait here.”
He moves out into the corridor, glares at Willow, who’s still pretending she fainted by fanning her face and talks to the officer about something.
“What’s he doing?” Blake asks.
“His job, hopefully. Well, his old job. Not his new one. We don't need that right now. We need defence mode.”
“Right. And he’s good at it?”
“You have no idea.” I turn in his hold and run my fingers up to his head, turning it so I can look at the large bandage strapped over the offending area. “Are you alright? And where are your clothes?"
“Fine. I had some CT scan or something. Nothing to worry about. And they took them to run forensics.”
“Oh. Well, it's good that you're alright. Scrubs are a hot look on you.” He looks over at some slip-on shoes on the side, sneering his clear disgust. “Okay, maybe not those.”
We smile at each other for a while. Nothing to say, apparently. I don’t really know what needs saying other than what we already have done. Actually, yes I do, but none of it should be said somewhere like this. We need time, and a bed, and some relaxing vibes that we can fall into again, preferably including a large bottle of wine. None of which is going to happen while we’re here. And I need to start working out why the bloody hell any of us are in this mess in the first place.
He tucks some of my hair behind my ear and gently feathers his fingers over my neck and shoulders, as if checking I’m okay. “I knew you’d be trouble from the moment we met.” I keep smiling. He’s not wrong, but funnily enough, this wasn’t my fault.
Or not that I’m aware of, anyway.
