Page 13 of Recovering Ivy (Red Team #4)

Ivy

I wish I could say I slept like shit. But I didn’t.

Zane’s bed was soft and his sheets were to die for.

After I’d kicked my own ass for embarrassing myself for trying to flirt with him and failing miserably, I let the memories of the night I’d spent in bed with Zane lull me to sleep.

I felt safe, which was not something I normally felt.

I’d usually slept with one eye open, or however the saying went.

I learned early on bad shit always seemed to happen in the middle of the night.

With a parent who uses drugs, there is no such thing as normal sleeping hours or what time was appropriate for a friend to pop by.

Two a.m., two p.m., it was all the same to them.

Music, yelling, arguing, fighting, none of it mattered.

Not in my house. It also didn’t matter there were two kids in the house.

Joey’s dad never tried to shield the girl from anything.

Not when she was ten, and not before he took off and left her to live with my mom.

I guess he’d had enough of Sarah’s shit and when he hit bricks taking his daughter wasn’t something he’d packed into his car.

I tried then to get Joey to leave Sarah’s house and come live with me. She refused .

Joey knew I would put up with a lot, but having drugs near me was a sure-fire way to get me to go ballistic.

I’d seen and been around them enough to last five lifetimes.

I had zero tolerance for any kind of substance abuse.

Right, wrong, or indifferent, that was me.

Mentally I couldn’t deal with it anymore.

I couldn’t watch my mom continue to choose drugs over me, I couldn’t watch her sell herself, and mostly I couldn’t imagine me turning into her.

So I hit the road, too, leaving them both.

Then Joey died.

Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe if I’d tried harder, stayed, forced her to see the light and run far and fast from that life, she’d still be alive.

Or maybe I was fooling myself into believing I had some superpower that would’ve made Joey clean her life up.

“Ivy?” Zane’s voice pulled me back to the present.

I was sitting in the conference room again. Declan, Lincoln, and Colin were all in the room, too. Jaxon, Leo, and a very pregnant Jasmin had come in then left when Zane barked orders for them to pull more information on Forester.

When I scolded him about his rude, short temper, Jasmin weirdly muttered “finally” before she left the room.

Jaxon and Leo must’ve thought what she’d said was funny because both men let out a belly laugh before they followed her out of the room.

The one person that didn’t find humor in her comment was Zane.

If it was possible, the scowl on his face deepened.

He’d been scowling because I had filled him in on what I knew about Forester.

The one thing his investigation had not turned up was the drugs.

I was ninety percent sure he was manufacturing and selling, but I couldn’t prove it.

That was why I needed more time. I had his routine down.

But I’d yet to find a way to break into his house to have a look around.

I could’ve gone the easy route and flirted with him until he invited me over, but the mere thought of having to speak to the man more than I already had to made bile rise in my throat.

If he tried to touch me, there was no telling what I’d say or do. I didn’t have the disposition to play the game. I would’ve resorted to physical violence if he even reached to touch me. So that was not an option.

“Sorry I missed what you said,” I replied.

“Garrett emailed Forester explaining you were ill and taking today off. But I’d like him to send in your letter of resignation today as well. The sooner the better.”

“I’ve already explained this to you. I need the job. Forget everything with Forester. I need the paycheck. Some of us don’t live in penthouses - I live paycheck to paycheck.”

I threw the last part in just to be a bitch. Partially because I was embarrassed to have to admit again how poor I was and the other part, Zane was being a pushy prick about me quitting my job.

“How attached are you to your apartment?” Declan asked.

“What do you mean? I’m a hundred percent attached to having a roof over my head if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No.” He chuckled. Glad I could amuse someone today, because Zane sure didn’t look like I’d tickled his funny bone. “I mean, the location. I have a spare bedroom in the condo I rented. I still don’t have much furniture so you could…”

“That’s never gonna happen,” Zane growled.

Thank God, Zane said something. I appreciated the offer, but I didn’t know Declan and I wasn’t taking handouts from him. I may be poor, but I still had my pride .

Colin leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his broad chest. What was it with these men and their perfect bodies?

They could give a girl a complex. Not that I had any weight to lose, but that was only because I couldn’t afford to eat, not because I worked out.

And by the look of every man in this office, working out was a job requirement.

“She can stay with me. I have a three bedroom. The spare has a bed…”

“Fuck no,” Zane cut him off.

Lincoln, too, sat back in his chair. But he didn’t offer me a place to stay; instead, he freaked me the fuck out and roared with laughter.

“Holy shit, this is fun. Payback is a bitch, isn’t it?

” I wasn’t sure who that was directed to, but I gathered it was Zane when he flipped him the middle finger.

“The only person Ivy is staying with is Zane. And if I was a betting man, I’d bet the next man that offers Ivy a room in their home is going to get their balls cut off.

While it would be fun to watch, and I do love when my brother’s face turns this particular shade of red and the vein threatens to break out of his neck, we have shit to do. ”

WHAT?

Stay with Zane?

That would be a big fat no!

“I’m fine where I am,” I told them.

“Let me explain what’s going to happen over the next few days.

My team is going to crawl so far up Forester’s ass he’s gonna feel it.

They’re not going to go soft, they’re gonna do it in a way that he knows someone is doing it.

We need him scrambling. It’s the fastest way to get him to fuck up.

If he’s manufacturing, he’ll make a move to relocate.

If he’s selling, he’ll feel the need to unload his product.

I want the trap laid and the noose around his neck.

He’ll hang himself. But while we’re doing all of this, he’s also gonna get desperate.

And desperate people do stupid shit. I don’t want you anywhere near him while he’s making his plays. So, you’re quitting that fucking job.”

“If it will only take a few days, can’t I call out sick?”

“Christ,” he grumbled.

“You’re annoying,” I announced.

“Right back at ‘cha.”

“Why am I annoying? Because I want a fucking job so I can support myself? Because I don’t want freebies from people I don’t even know. You can Christ all you want to, growl at me, and grumble under your breath, but you’re not going to bully me into doing something I don’t want to do.”

“You want a job so bad? Fine. Linc, go downstairs and fire that crazy bitch that works the front desk. I think she’s probably out of my men to fuck anyway.

And Jasmin hates her.” What? He was going to fire someone?

“You can have her job. Or if that doesn’t suit you, Rena, my personal assistant, is always complaining how she has too much work, you can be her assistant. ”

“I’m not working as your personal assistant’s assistant.”

“Why not? Is it not good enough for you? You said yourself you needed a job. I’m offering you one. Somewhere safe where you won’t possibly wind up dead.”

“No, you jackass, I don’t think I’m too good for the job. Because I would stab you in the throat. I don’t know how much you pay this Rena woman but whatever it is, she needs a raise.”

“Holy fuck. I think I’m in love.” That was said by Colin. The loud grunt that echoed in the room came from Zane. Declan and Linc wisely didn’t comment but both smiled.

“Go fire Donna,” Zane told Linc .

“With pleasure. That woman is rude as all get out and has tried to get in my pants since the day I showed up.”

“Don’t fire anyone, Zane. That’s mean,” I huffed.

“Mean? The woman is batshit crazy. I had to make her start calling me Mr. Lewis, so she’d get the hint and stop trying to get in my pants.”

“Why does she call you Mr. Lewis?” I asked. I thought his last name was Gold.

“Because that’s my name,” he replied.

“Oh, so I’m not the only one who lied about my name,” I smirked.

Zane didn’t reply, instead he rolled his eyes at me.

“I’m taking Jasmin with me to fire Donna. Can I make her pack her shit and leave now?” Linc stood and made his way to the door.

“Sure. Whatever.”

“Seriously. Don’t fire her. I’m not working here.”

“Then I’ll be without a receptionist.”

“You’re impossible.”

“So are you, babe.”

“Ugh. I need a time out before I punch you. You are the most infuriating human being I’ve ever met,” I announced.

“Nope. I don’t think. Totally head over heels in love.” Colin laughed again.

I stomped out of the room, needing a minute alone, but once I was out of the conference room, I had no idea where to go.

“You look lost,” a man said. I think he was Jaxon but I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. “I’m Jaxon.”

“I thought so. But with everything going on, I kinda wasn’t sure.”

“Where are you trying to go?” he asked .

“Anywhere but in there.” I nodded in the direction of the door.

“Follow me.” He started walking and I followed. I didn’t care where we were going as long as I was away from Zane. “I know Zane can be a little…”

“Bossy. Assholish. Pushy. Overbearing.” I helpfully provided.

“I was going to say overprotective but those work, too.” He chuckled.