“I’ll take care of Alaric,” I respond.
Z moves to come with me, but I lift my hand, stopping him.
“I need you to run point on Ivy’s safety. She is your number one priority.”
He might not speak, but his expression on his face is thunderous. Eyes black, darkened with fury.
“My place is by your side, boss,” Z replies with a low voice taut with frustration and anger. His contempt for me placing Ivy in his care clear.
“This is not up for discussion. Ivy is the priority. Monitor. If the boat gets any closer, I expect you on the helicopter protecting her.” His lips thin, and his nostrils flare. The silent air around us crackles. “You need to protect Ivy at all costs.”
That’s the last thing I say as I storm out of the room, and onto the deck. Once I have the island in sight, I pick up my phone.
I don’t wait for Alaric to address me. As soon as the ringing sound stops and I hear the familiar click that he answered, I fire away.
“Why is your boat by my island?”
“Hello to you too, Cyrus.”
“Fuck hello. Answer me.”
“Nothing to fear. With you storing my guns, my men are making sure everything is running smoothly.”
“Your goddamn guns are at my estate.”
“And the island left me curious. I always do recon when I’m working with someone. Your island is part of that.”
“You know what they said about curiosity and the cat.”
“Is that a threat, Cyrus?”
“No. It’s a promise. Stay off my island. I have your money and your guns. Back the fuck off.”
“Duly noted. I wouldn’t have been doing my due diligence if I hadn’t tried to see what was so special.”
“It’s nothing. It’s an abandoned family home.”
“Then why the secrecy?”
“Again, none of your business. But because I value our working relationship, I’ll let this go. The home is sentimental, stay the fuck away from it.”
“Very well. I’ll call my men back.”
“Goodbye, Alaric.”
I press the end button and as the line goes quiet; I wonder if I have an enemy of one of my best clients. Mentally, I calculate the repercussions if I have to kill him.
I stalk back into the house where I find Maxwell and Z still in the surveillance room.
“I want the island always monitored.”
“Boss. The manpower it would take. I think it would be easier—”
“Always,” I bellow. My word final.
“Very well.”
31
Ivy
He left without barely a word yesterday. It’s so strange how quickly his moods shift. One minute, we are having a great time, splashing, playing, and yes, freezing our asses off, and the next, he’s back to cold. I’m getting whiplash where his moods are concerned.
Despite all of that, I sit in the empty estate, bored and somehow missing Cyrus. It’s an odd feeling to miss someone who I only recently despised, but it is my truth. I miss our banter and the way he looks at me.
As though I’m some valuable item.
Some mystic creature he wants to understand. Someone . . . special to him. It might be absurd, but he makes me think that at times.
I need to find something to preoccupy me until he returns. He had said it could possibly be today, but he hasn’t come. I decide to go through the house. Specifically, the room he chose to stay in. I open drawers to find nothing but clothes. Ties, socks, briefs . . . nothing interesting.
I even move things around, but there isn’t so much as a hidden item underneath. Looking under the bed proves to be even more of a bust.
There is literally nothing there.
He said this is his escape. Wouldn’t you have sentimental personal items in the one place you can get away that nobody knows about?
I open the closet door to find a large walk-in space filled to the brim with clothes.
Why he needs suits and dress clothes in his escape is beyond me, but who am I to judge? If you have the kind of money Cyrus does, I guess you can have anything you want, wherever you want.
Including a stolen girl stowed away on a deserted island.
I sigh, growing bored with my lack of findings until my hand lands on a knob hidden behind a row of suits. Pushing the clothes out of the way, I stumble across a small door hidden in the back of the closet.
What are you hiding in there, Cyrus?
I have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, and each suggests something different. One part of me thinks better of opening that door. The contents behind it could be so many things, and if I’ve learned anything in my short life, it’s that some things are better left unknown.
If I find something terrible behind that door, I’ll never be able to unsee it.
The other part of me is eager to rip it open and have some adventure. The problem is, both sides make valid points, and I am stuck in limbo trying to decide which is best.