Chapter Eight
Ashton
I wake up the following day with Ivy draped across my body. Gently disentangling her without waking her, I get up and head for the bathroom to wash up.
There's something I need to do, and it's better if I do it alone.
An hour later, I'm knocking on Kathy's door, having called ahead to tell her I was on my way. She opens the front door with a welcoming smile. "Ash! Good to see you." Her eyes move past me, looking for Ivy. She returned from New York late last night, and I know she's expecting me to return with her daughter. "Where's Ivy?"
"Can I come in?" I ask instead of answering her question.
"Of course." She moves back, holding the door open for me, and I step inside, watching as she closes it behind me. "Is everything okay? Is Ivy okay? I tried to call last night to see how she was, but there was no reply from either of your cells."
"She's fine," I'm quick to reassure her. "She was tired, so I left her sleeping."
A slight frown puckers Kathy's brow at my choice of words, but it's quickly gone as she turns towards the living room. She has no reason not to trust me. There's no way she’d suspect that I took her daughter’s virginity and fucked her raw last night.
“How was your trip?” I ask, following her through to the lounge.
“All good so far. It’s just preliminaries right now. I fly back the day after tomorrow. This case will go on for a while,” she replies, taking a seat on the expensive leather sofa.
I sink down in the chair opposite her. No expense has been spared on the décor of this house or Ivy's education. Kathy earns good money as a defense lawyer and has given her daughter every advantage without turning her into a spoiled brat. She loves her as much as I do.
Which is why this is going to be so hard.
"So, Ivy's okay? I was so worried about her after what happened with Brent. I'm grateful to you for stepping in to help, Ash. What on earth did that stupid boy think he was doing, putting his hands on my daughter like that? He won't get away with it. I'll see he doesn't," Kathy seethes.
"I know you will," I say solemnly, understanding how protective she is of Ivy. I get it. On the one hand, she wants her to be independent, but on the other, she doesn't want to lose her little girl. "But there is something I need to tell you. About Ivy."
Kathy's eyes narrow on me, concern on their depths. "You said she was okay."
"She is," I quickly reassure her. "She doesn't know I'm here, but I thought I should be the one to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"That I love Ivy."
She laughs. "I know you do, Ash. You've been like a father to her since Jack died. I don't know what we would've done without you."
I wince at her words. "I don't love her like a father, Kathy. I love her like a man loves a woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I love her for the woman she's become."
Kathy just stares at me. When she speaks again, her voice is deadly calm, and I get a glimpse of what she must be like in the courtroom. "Are you trying to tell me that you're sleeping with my daughter?"
I meet her accusing gaze without flinching. "Kathy, please let me explain everything before you jump to conclusions."
Her mouth tightens, but she gives me the smallest of nods. I release the breath I was holding, grateful that she hasn't immediately ripped my balls off and fed them to me.
"I know I've blindsided you, but this isn't a sudden development for me. Or for Ivy. It's why I haven't been around so much lately. Just being near her was torture. My feelings for her started to change three years ago, hell, maybe even before that," I admit, deciding to lay it all on the table. "But I never acted on anything before last night. At first, I thought I just needed a little space to sort my head out, but that didn't change my feelings for her. If anything, they've just grown stronger."
I pause, running a hand over my face as I try to put everything into words.
"Honestly, these last three years, I felt like I was losing it. I've tried so fucking hard to fight what I feel for her, but I can't do it anymore. I don't want to fight it anymore. You know me, Kathy. You know the life I live. I'm not some creepy predator looking for my next conquest. I've waited my whole life for her. I love her more than anything else in this world. I just want to make her happy. And what makes her happy is me. So, the way I see it, we can fight about this and ruin our friendship, or you can accept that we're going to be together for the long haul. And if you can't accept it, if this means the end of our friendship, I want you to know that Ivy and I will still be together. I'll always love her and protect her because she's my number one priority."
Kathy's face doesn't show any emotion once I've finished my outburst. Her poker face is another skill that makes her such a great defense lawyer. It seems like forever until she finally releases a breath and leans back on the sofa.
"This isn't all about you and what you want, Ash. What about Ivy's future?" she asks, beginning the cross-examination.
"Being with me won't affect her future. If anything, I can take her places, show her things she wouldn't get to see otherwise. You know my financial situation. I’m obscenely rich, and I have more money than I can spend in a single lifetime, courtesy of my construction businesses here in Houston. Now, I'll get to spend some of that money on her, doing whatever she wants to do. If she wants a career, fine, I'm all in. If she wants to go traveling and see the world, great, that works, too. But whichever way you look at it, whatever we do, we'll be doing it together because I can't live without her, and I know she feels the same."